Is It Just Me?

Or does anyone else have pumpkins on the brain?

(Silhouettes by the talented Suzanne Davis from Pear Tree Primitives.)

Mr. Duhgall, Miss Dinky, and the Red Key.....

Once upon a time, 

there were two very special, and very unique, dogs.

One, a sophisticated and dapper fellow of finest Scottish heritage, was named Mr. Duhgall.

The other, Miss Dinkham (a/k/a "Miss Dinky"), was an allegedly sweet, but somewhat brazen sort, from the Land Down Under.

 

Yikes....look at that face...hope she doesn't read my blog and take offense to my description.

 As fate would have it, Mr. Duhgall and Miss Dinky became circumstantial "cousins" of sorts, seeing as Miss Dinky's human mother is the sister-in-law of Mr. Duhgall's human mother, the inimitable and ever-so-sweet Becky from Sweet Cottage Dreams (see, even the name of her blog is sweet).

And as fate would also have it, Mr. Duhgall recently went to visit Miss Dinky, and so begins the rest of the story....

  

Is this photo not the funniest thing you've seen in a long, long, time?

Oh my heck!

Well, Becky shared the photo on her blog and invited readers to submit captions.

And if you know me at all by now, you know I couldn't resist.

  I was humbled and honored to learn that the Sweet Cottage Dream clan chose mine! (Trust me when I tell you, there were some truly clever ones.  If you'd like to read them, click HERE.) 

Oh....and the red key?

Well, that was Becky's amazing gift to me:

A beautiful necklace made by Becky's friend, Kim....A wonderful old red key on a ball chain, accented with the most delightful, diminutive, flower charms....And you all (should) know how I adore RED!  Absolutely and perfectly precious, Becky....I LOVE it!!  Look, too, how cleverly she wrapped it:

   

(Note:  With the exception of the photo immediately above, ALL of the above photos were shamelessly stolen from Becky's blog.  Obviously, I didn't have my own photos of Mr. Duhgall or Miss Dinky, and Becky's photos of the necklace were just too perfect to resist.  Please tell me you don't mind Becky!)

But that's not quite the end, yet.....Becky also sent me this wonderful crow:

 

Sigh.  Other than the dust on my lantern (how did that happen?!), it just doesn't get much better. ;o

Thank you, dear Becky....this was so much fun and I will cherish my reminders of the fun, and of your friendship and sweet kindness, each and every time I wear "the red key," or see my special crow.

The end.

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Oh....and my caption???

"Never mind her, she still hasn't gotten over that house falling on her sister." 

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But my back-up caption is.... "Something tells me I'm not in Kansas anymore."

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G'day Mates! 

The Fullness of Summer....

I see it....I smell it....I feel it....I hear it.....

Autumn....

Creeping in on the shirttails of Summer's winds....

But before she arrives with all her golden and many-hued fanfare, I thought I would share some of Summer's footprints around the nest....

  

(Note camouflaged raccoon trap....)

 (Volunteer sunflower in my herb bed....just for Kim.....)

 

  

 

(Where'd that goat come from?)

(This one's for you Granny Trace....)

(What we caught in the raccoon trap.....)

 

Oh...and look who came back for a swim in the "big pond:"

Perhaps I should get him his own towel.....

Collections - Part Deux

Last month,  I revealed to you one my hoarding compulsions introduced you to some of my "girls"....I warned told you then there might be more to come.  So, this month, I'm sharing my antique toy top collection.

First, your history lesson:  Toy tops date back to the beginning of time, and have been known to virtually every civilization of mankind.  In fact, tops have been found on every continent except Antarctica. In medieval times, most parishes had a "parish top," frequently located in the town square, for all to use.  (Hence Shakespeare's reference in Twelfth Night to “…turn o’ the toe like a parish-top.”) (Stick with me long enough and you, too, will have bunches of useless information stuck in your head.....)

Anywho....There are different "kinds" or classifications of tops, dependent upon the manner in which they are spun:  Twirlers (spun with hands or fingers by twisting the stem - the Jewish dreidels are twirlers); support tops (spun by a cord while the top is held upright with a support); whip tops (spun by whipping the top to give continuous motion); and throwing or peg tops (spun with a string or cord on the body of the top and thrown causing it to spin). (Most of my tops are throwing or peg tops.)  They are known by different names in different parts of the world: trompos, turbos, trottolas, les toupies, kreisels, strombas. But, whatever you call them, they please me well.

 

Blue tops:

  

Green tops:

Red tops:

 

Used-to-be-red tops:

Striped tops:

 

Plain tops:

Really old tops:

Big tops:

Wee tops:

Lots of room for more tops: