Giant Elf Invades Home!

Each Christmas a Giant Elf invades our home and passes out the presents from under our Christmas tree. It's been many years since we first took a picture of this Giant Elf. The first photo was taken with a Polaroid camera! Polaroids do not hold up well and the picture, which hangs year round on our bulletin board, has scratches and fading.



This Christmas we had the opportunity to grab a new picture of the Giant Elf with our nifty digital camera. Who knew that a Giant Elf would become even more giant! Here is what he looks like now.



I also notice that my Santa collection was not very big when the Giant Elf was first photographed.

Santa Is At My House .. Better Be Good!

I thought I would give you a look at some of my Santa collection. What you see above is how our fireplace basically looks every Christmas. I have so many Santas that I cannot put them all on display every Christmas. It's not that I don't want to, I just hate packing them back up. Years ago I had Santas and Christmas trees in every room in my house. I still have all of them, but laziness...ugh ....has taken over.





So every year I get my favorites down and put them in our den where they would be seen the most. It makes me happy to see them every year and they bring back wonderful memories. Included in my favorites recently are my Mr. Bingles, even though they are not Santas, they are Santa helpers! Below you can see my 3 Mr. Bingles are keeping company with my (year round) Buddah in his Santa hat, 2 Coca Cola Santas (neither has a Coke), a chalkware Santa (on right between the Coke Santa and Charlie Brown), and various smaller stuffed and animated Santas. OH, and I cannot forget my husband's favorites! He has 2 Sugar Bear (stuffed) ornaments which you can see hanging on the handles to the firescreen doors, in the company of a sock monkey Santa ornament and a crazy felt triangle Santa ornament made years ago by my favorite "crafty" Aunt Vera in North Carolina.





Here is our tree. By the way, I have a small Mr. Bingle on the tree too. My favorite ornaments are vintage translucent red plastic bells and various colored vintage mercury glass pine cone ornaments. We also have a couple of vintage mercury glass UFO shaped ornaments that are fun. I don't care how old or scratched vintage ornaments become, they are much better than bright, shiny new ones.




See that large stuffed Santa on the left under the tree?? That was made over 30 years ago for our then infant son.




Here are some vintage Santas on a bookcase in the hallway. The large gold one is a favorite. Not sure what it is made of, but the face appears to be painted paper mache or something of that sort. He is very old, I would guess from the 50s. The white Santa on the left and the red one at far right have "bags" that are planters. The small red Santa kicking his leg up is a musical Santa with a red top hat and cane, which was given to me many years ago by my parents.

And, below, is one of our favorite decorations...our LEON....well, to anyone else it would be NOEL, but every year in our house it is LEON!




Finally, here is a picture of a very special little plastic Santa (blowing his yellow horn) that has gone through MANY years with me. I have had him since sometime in the 1950's. So long ago that I don't remember NOT having him.




Hope you enjoyed seeing some of my Santa decorations. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

Merry 1960's Christmas - Our Visit to ATOM

"ATOM is the acronym for the Aluminum Tree and Aesthetically Challenged Seasonal Ornament Museum & Research Center. Established in Brevard, North Carolina in 1997, ATOM is the world's only Museum dedicated to the preservation and public display of vintage aluminum trees. "

The above is a direct quote from the website for the ATOM museum. I have heard about this museum before, but almost forgot about it, until I ran across something on the internet recently. The museum has 2 locations, one in Nashville, TN and the one in Brevard. Since Brevard is not far from our SC home, my husband and I decided a visit to the museum would be a perfect day trip. We own 4 aluminum trees: a 2 foot hanging wall tree, a 4 foot, 6 foot and 7 foot tree. Space is limited in our house and we have not set them up in several years. We like them though, they take us back to the days of our youth...uh, well....many years ago.

So off we went last Wednesday and here is a taste of what we saw...

Above are the Dolly Parton theme tree and the Elvis theme tree.

The tree above that is veiled in nylon net is the Tammy Faye Bakker theme tree. Decorations on this tree include false eyelashes, various makeup, pointy toe high heel shoes, a wig with hair curlers and putty knives which the sign at the tree states are to be used to apply the makeup!

I also found a short video to give a better idea of the museum contents.



Although the museum was small, the visit was fun and we both enjoyed seeing all the trees in their various heights, colors, and decorations.

Merry 60's Christmas!

Jingle, Jangle, Jingle....I found Mr. Bingle !

'Tis the season.....for Mr. Bingle, Santa's little snowman helper. More on that in a minute.

Today we went to Walhalla, SC, for "business" and pleasure. One part of the pleasure was eating at the Steakhouse Cafeteria, where they don't serve steak. Well, maybe country fried steak. We have heard that they only have steak ONCE a year....Christmas Eve, I think. But if you ever go and have their fried chicken, then you are hooked on it! Today they had my favorite dessert, Apple Dumpling.

We missed the Christmas parade this year in Walhalla. We like to attend every year. Their parade is not so "citified" and commercial. They have tractors! Lots of them. My favorite is an old red Farmall. And horses every year after Santa! This years best theme float winner was Sons of Confederate Veterans, Rebels in Gray. Wonder if they fired their rifles this year? One year they did and it was deafening.

After our visit in Walhalla, we came back by way of Seneca and Easley, stopping at several thrift stores along the way. At one store in Seneca, I looked at the Christmas decorations, remembering a couple of years ago when I found a Mr. Bingle at a Goodwill in Greenville, and said to my husband, "Wish I could find another Mr. Bingle." One last Goodwill on our way home was in Easley. I looked at the clothes while my husband looked at other stuff. I wandered over his way and there, sitting right on the top of a pile of stuffed toys was.....MR. BINGLE!! Waiting there just for me!! I have never had a wish granted so quickly! I grabbed him up and hugged him to my chest and off we went to the register to make Mr. Bingle mine. He rode home on my lap. Now, here is my new Mr. Bingle. He is from 1996 and is in very good condition.

For those who don't know, Mr. Bingle is a New Orleans institution! He was created and designed by Emile Alline, an employee of Maison Blanche department store, in 1947. Mr. Bingle shares his initials "MB" with the store.

Here is a video to show you how Mr. Bingle became Santa's little helper.

If you want to know more about Mr. Bingle you can go here:

Mr. Bingle

or here:

Mr. Bingle Fans

Now I have to get my Christmas decorations down so my other two Mr. Bingle's can join my new one. Here is a picture from a couple of Christmases ago. That is me with my 1987 Mr. Bingle (the Goodwill find) on the left and my 2007 Mr. Bingle which I purchased at Dillard's on our trip to NOLA that year.

Jingle, jangle, jingle
Here comes Mr. Bingle
With another message from Kris Kringle
Time to launch your Christmas season
Maison Blanche makes Christmas pleasin'
Gifts galore for you to see
Each a gem from MB!

A Childhood Memory of BBQ

LaMotte's Drive-In Restaurant - West Main Street - Spartanburg, SC (circa ?? I found this picture a long time ago somewhere on the internet and grabbed it for my memories.)

I remember going here with my parents in the early 1950s when I was under 5 years old. They ordered me a pimento cheese sandwich “lightly toasted” and we ate in the car . Although I know that is what they ordered me a lot, I mostly remember the BBQ sandwich....minced pork with a delicious red sauced, finely minced slaw on it and a toasted bun. I remember my mother saying, “It's cool weather now, we can go to LaMotte's and get the BBQ” because she was afraid of spoiled meat in the summer. LaMotte's is long gone. I wish I could find a BBQ like this again....it wasn't REAL (pit cooked) BBQ, but I liked it.

Bunny of the Month....The Wolf Man

I love the Starz Bunny of the Month shorts. Here is the one for October. Bunny Wolf Man! An early Halloween Treat!

Other Bunny shorts can be found at STARZ - 30 Second Bunny Theater

Angel Trumpet Update

Well, I finally got busy and planted the Angel Trumpet and it has been a while, so I am just going to post a couple of pictures.

This one is just after planting and I added some mums to the birdbath "planter" for extra color.

Here it is after a few weeks. No blooms on the mums here, they had just been deadheaded. Cooler weather coming....hope I can get it to winter over. I have seen a few Angel Trumpets in other yards recently. I am going to keep an eye peeled to see how these people handle their "trumpets" in colder weather.

Mein Heino.....fabulous!

We went to Hendersonville, NC, to the library book sale. Today was half-price day, so we bought a good bit. My favorite find of the day was this Heino album...Great Hits No. 6. I could not resist the artwork of this album cover......but should I get it....it's gonna cost me....12 1/2 cents!!!! I went for it and I don't regret it. I have owned this for only a few hours and not even played it yet, but I have received way more than my money's worth just looking at it. Then I decided to see if I could find Heino on the interwebs....of course!.......there he is on YouTube! Truthfully, I really do like his sound. It reminds me of watching The Lawrence Welk Show with my mother. Take a look at Heino in action in the video here. There are more on YouTube if you like, including a 1970's TV Christmas special which is about 23 minutes long.

Angel's Trumpet

My Angel Trumpet is blooming! Isn't it pretty? There are many buds, but I couldn't wait to take a picture. The fragrance is wonderful. I see many of these when in New Orleans, not so much when we return to South Carolina. So this year I decided I had to try my hand at having one in my yard. It is still in the ugly plastic pot from the nursery. I cannot decide where to put it permanently and I am really afraid that if I actually get it in the ground it will die. Meanwhile, I am really enjoying the blooms every evening. It makes me happy like my little Buddha.

Norma Jean and Bubba and Hot Dogs

For lunch today we decided to go to the Wade Hampton Clock. We felt a need for grease....good hot dogs, onion rings, slaw, and sweet tea. Also there for a "grease fix" were Bill and Susan Smith. They are great people. If you live near Greenville, SC, and are able to go to their "place" .... Cafe And Then Some ... you will really enjoy the show. I found a clip of Susan as her alter ego "Norma Jean" and Bill (aka Bubba) is in it too. Enjoy......

Squirrely Antics in My Backyard

This little squirrel usually has a play companion but was alone today, so he decided to strike a pose. I could not resist taking a photo even though I was inside, shooting through a window & screen and had to use lots of zoom. It was too cute.

Now they are ALL gone........

An Honest Scrap Award for me????

It seems that I have been bestowed an Honest Scrap award by someone I know very well.... Mr. X-Ray over at XXX Marks The Plot. My thanks to him for this honor, even though he knows that I don’t work well under pressure. In return for the award, I am to award the Honest Scrap to 10 Blogs that I feel are deserving. Also I need to list 10 honest things about myself. (Now I’m in trouble…..)

So here are the complete rules of the Honest Scrap Award:

1) Link back to the awarder's site (linked above)
2) Pass this award on to 10 other deserving blog sites
3) List 10 honest things about yourself

Here (in no special order) is my list of blogs that I read and enjoy on a regular basis:

1) The Lightning Bug’s Lair - Nepotism here, this is my little bug - T.L. Bugg reviews all sorts of movies - horror, cult, noir and more.

2) HeyUGuys! - Based in London, this is a great site for finding out all sorts of movie news and reviews

3) Rabidly Whimsical Tenacity - Wonderful artist and sweet person who my husband and I met in New Orleans. Check out her work at her other website Marrus Art.

4) Violet Blue - I check out Violet Blue’s posts often. Lots of information here. I value her opinions and love her photo offerings.

5) A Greenville Life - I live in the area and this lady gives “heads up” on some local restaurants, although her recipes sound so good, I really would rather eat at her house!

6) Thrilling Days of Yesteryear - Keeps me up to date on lots of vintage TV on DVD.

7) Chris DeBarr - Chef Chris has a new restaurant (The Green Goddess) in the French Quarter in New Orleans. Yummy food, so if you go to NOLA, be sure to check it out.

8) The Gore Gore Girl - Nice to find another woman who likes porn.

9) Thrift Shop Romantic - I love to thrift and love to see what others find.

10) If I lived Here I’d Be Dead By Now - more nepotism, one of the blogs done by my better half. This is a New Orleans blog that archives our NOLA trips and the food we eat. When we are not there, other New Orleans related things are added like movies and food articles.

Now for the really hard part, 10 honest things about myself:

1) I hate spiders and bugs.
2)I have liked vampires since I was about 12.
3)I won’t dance because I think I will look goofy.
4)I like finding bargains at yard sales and thrift stores.
5)I am a packrat (but not one who cannot move in their house).
6)I like to read books and newspapers.
7)I own my own tools (and use them) and like going to Lowe’s or a hardware store to just look at what they have.
8)I hate malls.
9)I am very afraid of having my front teeth broken.
10)Part of my right hand is numb from a nerve that was pinched when my broken wrist healed.

Coraline .... To 3D or Not to 3D, that is the question.

Coraline is an American animated stop-motion 3-D fantasy film based on Neil Gaiman's 2002 novel Coraline.

My husband and I watched Coraline a few nights ago. I realize that this movie would be much better in a theater, but we did not take the opportunity to see it when it was showing here. So, when the rental showed up of the shelf at the video store, we picked it up. It came with 3D glasses, so we watched it in that format even though regular 2D was on the flip side of the disc.

While both of us enjoyed the movie, we felt that the 3D was hard to get used to. Sometimes when scenes changed you had to re-focus and that was distracting. Also, we both felt that the color was somewhat lacking.

When we finished the 3D version, just for curiosity, we started the 2D version. There was the color that we were missing out on! I know that we would have missed the "depth" that 3D provided, but in hindsight, I believe we would have enjoyed the 2D version more.

Oh Mercy! ....I won .... A Bob Dylan giveaway

I'll never win....I thought. I never win anything.......oh well, I'll give it a try.....

SO, I entered a contest of sorts to win a Bob Dylan DVD Bob Dylan: 1978-1989 — Both Ends of the Rainbow at FLICKHEAD. All they needed was my name and address. I told others about entering and they said they would. Someone else would get it, not me. Off went my email entry and that was the last I thought about the contest and the DVD.

Imagine my surprise on Saturday when I went to get the mail at the post office. UGH....something almost too big for the box. I had to wiggle it out. What is this??? I turned it over and it was addressed to me! I looked at the return address...what?? Flickhead??? I couldn't think. Did I order something and completely forget? Hurriedly I opened the large padded envelope. What is this? It has a paper that says "Congratulations! You've won a DVD compliments of www.Flickhead.net." I turned to my better half (standing about a foot away) and just about shouted "I WON! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! I WON THE DYLAN DVD!!"

Well, I guess I should never say never.

Thanks to Ray at Flickhead and the folks at See of Sound who provided him with the DVD to give away.

GO BUFFY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Buffy Vs Edward (Twilight remixed) from the website RebelliousPixels.com

New Orleans or Bust.......

I (or we ...me & my better half) made it to New Orleans without "busting" and are trying to get in the swing of things in the Big Easy. If you want to read about what we do here, feel free to look at our New Orleans vacation blog IF I LIVED HERE I'D BE DEAD BY NOW.

The Lloyd Thaxton Show

Today I found out that Lloyd Thaxton passed away October 5, 2008. Probably not many people know who Lloyd was. He was a writer, producer, and television host best known for his syndicated pop music television program of the 1960s, The Lloyd Thaxton Show, which began as a local show on KCOP Los Angeles in 1961.

When I was a teenager (too many years ago to even think about), I watched Dick Clark's American Bandstand on Saturday. I also watched The Lloyd Thaxton Show. It seems to me that it was on TV weekdays after school. Lloyd was a crazy man who seemed to really have fun doing what he did. I still have my "Dawk" doll packed away in the attic, a crazy little protest doll that Lloyd used on the opening of the show. Here is an ad for the Dawk Dolls.























Also, here is a video clip of The Lloyd Thaxton Show. It brought back a lot of memories.
R.I.P., Lloyd.

LEGO BEATLES - "I Saw Her Standing There"

NOcrimeline: Riley gets religion

NOcrimeline: Riley gets religion