Moxie Talent Show

The talent show at the church was a really fun night. So much talent right here in our little part of the world! Everyone did such a fabulous job! What made this one even better than any other one that we’ve ever had is that they included other talents, things not relating to standing on a stage and singing a song, reciting poetry, telling a story, or doing a skit, things like woodworking, drawing, or craft making.

The only thing missing was a presentation by people who are artists in the kitchen, although we did have an intermission and got to sample some of those works of art. Ladies, and even gentlemen, whose talents run to the culinary don’t think of themselves as artists, but if they only knew how some of us are so challenged in that department, they’d realize they really are masters of the art.

I said cooking was the only thing missing but it really wasn’t. There are lots of other areas that had no representation. Like one of my beautiful friends on Facebook is a master at tie-dye.

We have a gentleman in our church who’s a master at scroll saw. He often gifts the beautiful things he makes to the people in our church. He was slated to be there Saturday but for whatever reason, didn’t make it.

My beautiful West Virginia gal makes beautiful cross stitch and crocheted works of art. She paints and gardens, too.

“Gardening is a talent?” you ask.

It is in my book, since I have very little talent in that department.

And my beautiful friend in Missouri dances. She’s a dancing queen! Besides being a master Zumba instructor, she does swing and line dancing, too. “If there’s music at Walmart, I’ll be dancing down the aisles!” she tells me.

I spent Saturday making three different kinds of cookies. Butterscotchies, chocolate chip, and Dream Bars. Then I had to gather a few things for my table. As far as my glass work goes, I don’t keep much of that. Most of the things I’ve kept were only kept because they were cracked or had some other imperfection that made them un-give-away-able. Miss Rosie was kind enough to box up and loan me the pumpkin and love birds I’d made for her. Lamar handed them to me when they came in for the show.

In the way back I have a stand that I used to use to hang things on at craft shows. I dug that out and got it cleaned up. I gathered a sample of my tin can flowers, my copper and bead work, a stack of sepia-toned photos I had matted for an old-timey festival in Lake Ozark, Missouri called Oma and Noma Days, a couple of porch signs, two book boxes, and last but not least, this year’s book of letter blogs. These are not the only things I’ve done, but it was enough.

I spent Sunday, after morning church and lunch, sorting pictures and editing them for my letter blog. It was mid-afternoon when that was done. I had so many pictures of fall foliage that I decided to make a post with just pictures. That gave my faithful readers something to look at as usual on their Sunday night.

Even though today is Monday, even though I’m starting this week off playing ketchup … err… catch-up, even though new writeable things are happening today, we need to talk about last week.

Raini! Raini! Raini!

I was so afraid that our Blue Heeler wouldn’t be a good fit for our family. She is high energy, nips, and jumps on people when they come in, not to mention that I was afraid she’d kill Bondi there for a little while. But, at six months of age, Raini’s getting better at being the kind of dog we want her to be and she’s sliding right into my heart.

Having said that, she can be mischievous.

Raini’s latest game is barking, jumping and chasing the birds from the feeders. She just loves to jump!

I had my long lens on, taking bird pictures when I got those pictures of her.

It was rewarding to see the birds using the natural habit I’d made for them.

         Coming in and landing on the upper-most branches, scanning for cats or yappy dogs, hopping from branch to branch to their final destination, the bird feeder.

Collecting a sunflower seed as a reward and flying off into the trees.

If you listen you might even hear the rat-a-tat-tat as they crack the seed to get at the heart.

Still feeling full of energy, Raini makes several leaps for the hangy-down part of a wind chime, the wind sail, I think it’s called. I cringe the whole time I’m taking pictures thinking she’s going to get it and pull it down, but I don’t stop her. I’m going to have to move that one, I think.  

Do I move it?

NO!

Instead, I’m just watching for her to show any more interest in it, which, so far, she hasn’t. I’ll probably get around to it the day after she tears it down.

At night, getting around for bed, Mike gets out of his recliner and turns off the security monitors. I get out of my recliner, set my phone and tablet on the table under the dining room light switch, turn on the dining room light while Mike shuts off the living room light. That gives him enough light to get into the bedroom and get the light and TV on in there while I take the girls out for the last time.

After the girls have raced around the yard looking for intruders, they’ll do their business and we go back inside. I shut my computer down and start turning lights off.

This is where the problem comes in.

“Problem? What problem?” you ask.

Raini has taken an interest in light switches. She sees me reach up. She hears the click. She sees the light go out. I’m usually okay turning off the light over my desk, but that’s it. We get into the dining room, I pick up my phone and tablet, reach for the switch, and get leapt at.

“RAINI!” I scold.

Thinking she was after my electronics, I changed things up and put them in the bedroom first the next night. We go through our routine, she watches as I turn off the desk light and she’s way ahead of me as she races into the dinning and waits for me to turn that light off.

“I don’t have anything in my hands,” I tell her and wave two empty hands at her to prove it. I reached up and hit the rocker switch to turn off the dining room light and was instantly rewarded with a nip on my arm.

Boy, was I mad!

“BAD GIRL!” I scolded. I was going to spank her bottom but my swat missed its mark. Raini raced into the bedroom and up the steps to the bed where she stood at the edge and waited for me, panting, tongue lolling, eyes looking at me expectantly, her expression seemed to say, “Ha, ha! I’m faster than you are!”

I grinned and didn’t want to spank her anymore but I wasn’t going to pet her either. She was in the way for me to stow my electronics in the headboard where I could reach them after I crawled into bed. “Get down!” I told her and motioned for her to get on the floor. Raini took that for an invitation to jump. She launched herself from the bed and landed about eight feet away.

Wow! I think. She’d be good at a dog long-jump contest!

Once she hit the floor, Raini turned and raced back up the steps. I wanted to see if she’d jump again so I made a sideways throwing motion and she did jump. We did it about four more times then I quit and got ready for bed.

The next night, before I reached to turn off the light, I grabbed her collar with my left hand and held her so she couldn’t jump at me. It worked. She raced in to the bed and stood waiting for me. When I went to put the tablet and phone in the headboard, she made a grab for them.

“NO!” I scold.

We’re still working on this.

You really have to watch Raini. You could be walking across the room carrying something — anything, and she’ll jump and try to take it from you.

I know! I know! All of these things are because of the breed of dog Raini is. That and she’s young. She’s keeping our life interesting.

Just ask Mike.

He came out of the bathroom after taking a shower. “Raini really made me nervous when I was taking a shower,” he said.

“Why?” I asked.

“She was eyeing my hangy-down thing and I thought she was gonna grab for it!”

I laughed. She’d been jumping at hangy-down things all week! Wouldn’t that have been something! His scream would’ve echoed all through these mountains! He’ll have to keep her out of the bathroom when he’s showering from now on because I wouldn’t put it past her. Heaven forbid that should ever happen because then we’d probably be down by one dog.

Raini has caused us a lot of interrupted sleep this week, too.

“What’s up with that?” you wanna know.

We’ve moved Sugar into the house for the winter. She is well protected in the cat condo and Raini can’t get her, however, it doesn’t stop Raini from lunging at the cage whenever Sugar’s in reach. Sugar panics and hides out in the litter box.

“They’ll settle down,” I assure Mike.

Every night, every time Sugar made a noise in the middle of the night, Raini would bark, waking everyone up, fly off the bed with Bondi hot on her heels and barking, too, and investigate. They’d both be back in bed a minute and half later. Raini woke us up three or four times every night for the first five or six nights. She’s starting to get used to Sugar’s noises and doesn’t do it as much the last couple of nights.

We made a couple of trips out this week. Most of the road pictures I’ve already posted under Fall Foliage but here are a few others for your viewing enjoyment — or not!

Haunted House in Meshoppen. 

 In crafts this week I made Night Owl on the back of the mermaid board.

I made a double-sided Halloween/Thanksgiving porch sign.

And I played with a new painting technique. Crackle painting.

I was cautioned about brushing white on top too much or I’d mix it with the glue and it wouldn’t crackle.

When I put my stencil on and painted it black, it didn’t show up well. I’m guessing I should’ve used a little more white. I switched colors and tried orange but orange over the black doesn’t look the same as orange where I hadn’t first painted black. Plus, when I pulled my stencil off, I pulled the paint and glue up, too. Looks like there’s going to be a learning curve here.

Let’s call this one done!