Many of you have asked where in the world I've been.

All I know is that after 7 plus years of blogging and a different lappy, which I don’t like, I seem to have lost my blogging fervor.

Someday, when you least expect it, I will post again.

For those of you still waiting I say thank you.

Meanwhile, I am rather prolific on twitter. Find me: @KeethaB
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The Eclectic Company - Waitin' on a New Adventure!!
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Sunday, April 28, 2013

Spring Arrives With a Vengeance in My City


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Last Sunday it snowed 

ALL

DAY

LONG

Up here on the frozen tundra.
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But this week warmer temperatures rolled in.  We broke 60 and then 70 for the first time since way, way, way back last fall.
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The snow which blanketed our ground since late December has been slowly melting away. All that's left to remind us of it are the snow mountains on the edges of parking lots.

The largest of these may linger on into early June - - - but they are shrinking fast now.
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The ice is gone from the lakes.  

The fishing shanties were brought onto solid ground back in March.

Fisherhubby and his ilk have been forced to fish from the shore from whence FH has been catching walleye like crazy.  Next weekend lake fishing season begins and they will return to the water in their boats. 
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Suddenly tree branches are swelling with buds of new life - - -
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Some more than others.
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Children are playing in their yards like bear cubs emerging from hibernation.  I've seen t-shirts, shorts, flip flops and even bare feet.

(This child, our grandson Mackinley, is actually in Indiana - thus the advanced signs of spring behind him.)
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Fisherhubby pulled his boat off of a formerly snow covered lot, and began readying it to set sail.
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And I ventured forth to church this morning for the FIRST time this spring in my flip flops.

Yep - - - Spring has arrived with a vengeance on the Frozen Tundra and in my city.
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I'm joining Unknown Mami
For Sundays in My City.
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Please hurry over to Unknown Mami's to see
What's happening in other cities around blogland.
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Friday, April 26, 2013

Lovin' Me Some Fraggin' Wagon!

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It is indubitably my FAVORITE bloggy party of the week - - - Fraggin' Wagon Time!

On Fridays Mrs. 4444 invites us to hitch our weekly frags to her wagon.  If you've never joined in the fun, consider doing so this week.
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Tonight (Thursday 4/25) our friends Bill and Eloise joined us at Lake Aire Supper Club for the 
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Steak and Lobster special.

Good friends, great food, lots of laughs, and the first round of the NFL Draft - - - WHAT COULD BE BETTER???

I think I died and went to sports/food/friends-aholic heaven.
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Very, very soon this cutest EVER little "bad" fairy will be fluttering around Maleficent in "Sleeping Beauty."
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This will be Pipe's first EVER full ballet recital and her Kamma and Papoo will be right there in the audience cheering her on.
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Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the Little "Bad Fairy's" brother Mackinley is participating in "Bad Hair Day" at school.

Oh that MY bad hair days were this cute!!!

Can I get a witness???
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This week we had out-of-state guests for two nights.  They stayed in our basement bungalow "honeymoon" suite and used my beloved FBC - Football Cave.

This is how ONE of them "defaced" my Badger Fans ONLY sign.
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And here's how I feel about the Wolverines.

The perpetrator of said crime shall receive these shreds back with an "On Wisconsin" sign taped to his front door in the very near future.

Then I shall RUN out of his neighborhood and back to Wisconsin where it will be a LONG time before he can "get" me back!
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Fisherhubby had a meeting at the hospital this morning at 7:30 A of M.

At 7:07 A of M he was moving about the house clicking his lighter and whistling Chickadee bird calls - - - just 'cause.

What was that man thinking?  I was TRYING to sleep.
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This is Sister Pam on her way out to do "good" for some Gulf Coast beach.   She and hubby Joe do this form of beach combing once a week.  They're just "righteous" volunteers like that.

Yes they live in South Florida, near Marco Island, for all of you who covet living in that clime.
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And here is BIL Joe soaking up the rays on the beach, texting me this picture to try to make me jealous.

It didn't work - - - I live right in my FAVORITE place in the whole wide world, Wisconsin.  I wouldn't trade my 4 seasons for his monotone climate for all the gold in South Africa.

I know NOT why he appears to be picking his nose.
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Someone you know and love(?) from this blog started a twitter account today @KeethaB

Look for this avatar to see if she's tweeted someone near you.

Oh my - - - first a smart phone, then texting, and now this.

Not too bad for an old fossil dinosaur!!
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Number 1 daughter Keri pexted (that's what I call a picture text) me this gorgeous photo of a Hoosier sky and barn this week.

Isn't it a dandy?
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Youngest daughter, Korie, was watching some old videos this week.  She paused her TV, snapped this shot of Number 1 Daughter and me, and pexted it to me.

Happy faces.

Happy times.

Happy memories.
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When our guests were here from Indiana this week, Fisherhubby did his dead level best to turn Mark into a cheesehead.

It didn't work, but made for a fun photo shoot anyway.

Mark is the "Go Michigan" perpetrator.

He will get his back, I can surely promise you that!
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That's all the frags I've got to
 Hitch to the wagon this week.
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Please hurry over to Mrs. 4444's place
Where you will see LOTS of other frags
Hitched to her wagon.
Why not hitch up some of your own
And join this fraggin party!?
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Sunday, April 21, 2013

Village People in My City

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My friend Eloise, (pronounced E-Lois) has a cute little village of houses above a couple of door frames in her home.

I always admired them, and dare I say it, maybe even coveted them.

One day while at a yard sale, Eloise spied another set of the same type of houses.  She promptly bought them and presented them to me as a gift.
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Now I too have a village above the door frames on one side of the main living area of our home.
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About a year later a couple of little wooden houses came through the Shepherd's Loft where I volunteer.  I held them in my hands and thought about taking them home for my village.  They were, however, a much more country design and ultimately I decided they wouldn't blend with my village and didn't bring them home.
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A few weeks later a lady came into the Loft and picked up the two little country houses.  She had them in her hands ready to put them in her shopping cart when I passed by.

As encouragement to her I said:  "Aren't those cute? I noticed those too and thought they were really cute."

She turned and thrust them into my hands saying, "Then you take them.  I don't need them and I want YOU to have them."

I could tell she was trying to give me a gift and that it would be unkindness itself to refuse.  So I thanked her and took the houses home where I put them above the door on the opposite side of the main room.

I thought - I have the village people on one side and the country cousins on the other.
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Now for the REST of the story:

The next time my very professional mother-daughter cleaning duo came over they spied the country cousins and began to giggle.

Seems Mary, the mom of the duo, had donated those to the Loft.  At one point in their history she and Sara, the daughter of the duo, had repainted the houses into their current burgundy and green color scheme so there was no doubt whatsoever in their minds that these were indeed the same houses.

And to make this even better, Mary and I have been friends since she was a little girl.

I couldn't make this stuff up.
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I'm joining Unknown Mami
For Sundays in My City.
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Please hurry over to Unknown Mami's to see
What's happening in other cities around blogland.
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Friday, April 19, 2013

Rising Like a Phoenix From the Frag-Ashes

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I have been in absentia from blogland for over a week due to circumstances beyond my control - namely recovering from the overhaul and rearrangement of my inner workings.

Aside - why is it that a young whippersnapper doctor who looks about 12 has the audacity to tell an oldie goldie like me that since it is ONLY outpatient surgery you will be right back on your feet the day after???   Hmmmmm???  What in the world was SHE thinkin???

Howsomuchever, I  am RISING like a Phoenix from the frag-ashes of my sickbed just in the nick of time to join Mrs. 4444 (oh I KNOW she says to pronounce it "fours" but I just can't do it, to me she will always be Mrs. 4, 4, 4, 4!) for her wunnerful Friday Frag party.

I surely do hope you ALL missed me last week while I was groveling in my own ashes.
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Well folks, she did it again!  And by she I mean my MIL Robin and her gift-giving gift.

Wednesday I was lower than the underbelly of an anaconda just wishing my throat would stop hurting for even one moment when THIS appeared on my front stoop.
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Everyone needs some chocolate band-aids for the lacerations of life, no?
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If I can't survive with the help of all this, I'm quite hopeless.

Thank you, Robin!  You are better than a personal life coach!
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We're planning a trip to Indiana soon to see our kids and our grans - - - only we'll miss these two, Korie and her hubby Chris.

Korie is a marathon runner and had she been in Boston last week it is highly likely she would have been coming across the finish line right about at the "fateful hour."

I am one grateful momma that she wasn't there.

I am also a momma grieving for the mothers and their families who were not as fortunate as I.
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We will however see these two while we are in Indiana.  This is our oldest son, Kelly and his calm sensible wife, Cathy.

Kelly needs calm and sensible - - - trust me on this.

Remember, he's the one who skied right off a cliff a few short weeks ago.
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This is brotherly and sisterly love at its finest.  

Not sure what our grans were watching here, but their momma said this is what they did and how they got along all afternoon that day.

Precious.

Even if I DO say so myself.
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It is brat fry season in Central Wisconsin.   That is pronounced Br-ahhh-t and not like a mean unruly child.

We are from staunch hardy German and Scandahoovian stock 'round these here parts and we do love our sausages.   We care not how many calories nor how many fat grams they contain.

To us they ARE health food.  We eat them for our health. 

All we care about is their succulent deliciousness.  This one was embellished with Swiss cheese, mustard, and dill pickle relish.   

YUM.

It was my first brat of the season but it shall NOT be my last.
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This little angel is about to be in her first full ballet EVER.  She will be a little "bad fairy" in Sleeping Beauty.

Here she and her mommy were practicing getting her stage make up just right.
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For a modest investment you too can receive refrigerator art masterpieces.  Just click over to Keri's blog and place your order.  ;-)

Does refrigerator art give a whole new connotation to the phrase "starving artist" I wonder?
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Fisherhubby's been at it again.

He found this ecard on Pinterest or something, posted it on Facebook and said it was for me.

(No, I do NOT like to answer my phone, thank you very much.)

Our friend Shawn saw it and gave the original version a little "facelift" so to speak.

I was singing in case you wondered.
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Our Indiana friends, Mark and Annette, are arriving here this evening to spend the weekend.

We have ulterior motives for inviting them - - - we want them to MOVE here near us.

We don't ask for much.

Perhaps one day I shall say more about that.
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And that's all the frag-ash rising I'm capable of for tonight.
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Please hurry over to Mrs. 4444's place
Where you will see LOTS of other frag-ashes
AND where you can do some rising of your own,
Should you so choose.
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Sunday, April 7, 2013

Sunday in My House in My City

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No pictures from out and about my city today because, quite frankly, we still have old, dirty,  shrinking piles of snow on the ground and we're tired of hearing about the snow that we still have in this neck of the woods even though it IS Spring.  Besides that, it was a rather dreary cloudy day and since I hadn't already snapped any shots for this post, I decided to do something else.  Something warmer and more cheerful - I hope.

So - - - I went around my abode snapping things I love because they are, after all, IN MY CITY and they are what I have to share with you today.

You've landed right in the middle of "The Eclectic Company" blog, so named for a very good reason.  I am eclectic.  My "style" is eclectic to the nth degree.   I heterogenously mix colors, time periods, and pieces to suit NOTHING but my own taste.  I like wood,  unpainted "natural" wood.  Well, you'll see.

So, come on in - - - - kick off your shoes  - - - put your feet up on the coffee table - - - and sit a spell in my eclectic little nest.

While you enjoy a little cuppa joe (which you'll find in the left margin) I'll spin my yarns about what you see before you.  Because, after all, the BEST thing about "stuff" is the story it has to tell.
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This antique brown crock on my kitchen table is filled with vintage kitchen implements and one child's toy rolling pin.   I look at these and wonder whose hands used them and what culinary delights were made with them.

I picture a little curly haired child spending hours playing house with the rolling pin.  I sure hope she had a play house in which to do it.
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Several pieces can be seen in this photo, but the character who gets to have the lead in my tale today is the little set of sewing table drawers underneath the circa 1880's dressing table, though there is an awesome tale to go with the dressing table too but we'll save THAT one for another day.

I walked into one of my favorite antique haunts one day and spied this set of sewing drawers.  I HATE to sew, but was taught how by my mother who was a master seamstress.  I fell immediately in L.0.V.E. with the wood tones, the cubby drawers, and the whole look of the thing.  I imagine every one of those drawers held thread, bobbins, and other assorted sewing accoutrements.  I wonder what masterpieces of tailoring were produced from its stores.
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The first home we bought had glass doorknobs like the one on the right.  Our children called them diamonds.  

I never had a sink or tub with this style of hot and cold faucet knobs, but oh how I wish I had!  They bring images to mind of claw footed tubs with lots of bubbles pouring over the sides.
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Here we have a new (two year old) orange basket loaded to the gills with ancient kitchen gadgets.  Girls, (and guys if any are plowing through this post and also happen to DO laundry)  aren't we GLAD we don't have to still USE a washboard like that every time we do our laundry?
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I brought these three prints home from vacation one year.  They aren't old, but I love the old memories they elicit.  Who do you suppose sat rocking on the porches of those two houses?   

How many milk cows passed through that barn?  Oh how glad we are that we can buy our milk in a gallon jug and NEVER had to get up to do "chores" (for you nonfarmers, that means milking) at 5 am and then repeat the whole process at 5 pm.  EVERY. STINKIN. DAY. 365 days of the year.

Cows can't milk themselves, you know.

I never lived on a farm, but some of my Aunts and Uncles did and I spent time there some summers trooping down to the barn before sun-up to "help" with chores.
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I have never owned a hat that belonged in a hatbox.  In fact, these hatboxes are young imposters which I purchased on sale at the local Hobby Lobby one day.

But I can IMAGINE them holding a millinery creation fit for a queen.   I don't mean a strange one like that "cousin" wore to Prince William and Kate's wedding either.
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An old egg crate - the kind the chicken farmer used to bring his eggs to market, sits in a corner holding a picture of our grans and their parents with a replica of our "pet" chipmunk, Chippy.

Chippy keeps us entertained in our backyard and on the patio all summer long.  We know now WHY they are called chipmunks.  Well, we "get" the chip part anyway not so sure about the munk.  Did you know chipmunks "chip" loudly especially very early in the morning and especially right under your bedroom window?   Well they do.
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This is my newest old find.  It is a circa 1900 secretary cabinet combination.  I think I may find a fountain pen, lower the desk top panel, and sit at this desk to write a real live snail mail letter to several of my bloggy friends one day.  You want to receive one?  Well give me a shout-out.
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Once upon a time Fisherhubby had to have a scary surgery for the "C" word.  He was pretty shaken up and worried, being a medical man and all, he knew WAY TOO MUCH.  Our oldest daughter, Keri, brought him this wicker basket chock full of get better goodies - - - including a bicycle horn that he could "toot" to call me to wait on him hand and foot.

Oh trust me, he tooted that thing every minute with such important "needs" as to see how long it took me to get there.

Hmmmmmm - - - I have a little bit of surgery on Wednesday this week - - - perhaps I should FIND that bicycle horn 'cause you know what goes around COMES around!!!  Hehehehe.

The box on top of the basket was my grandmother's glove box.  Back in the day when ladies wore white gloves whenever they were dressed up they had a box in which to keep the gloves between wearings.

I remember wearing white gloves on Easter Sunday when I was about 8.  They stayed white for exactly 10 seconds.
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In my house there are also homages to my beloved Badgers.   Badger banks, Badger bibs, (I'm not above wearing a bib to save my shirt front, though this particular one has only served a decorative purpose so far) football baskets,
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Football tins, and Bucky Badger wearing a badger on his head sitting on the back of another badger, 'cause that's just the way we roll 'round here.

And that concludes our little peek into my home in my city today. 
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I'm joining Unknown Mami
For Sundays in My City.
.
Please hurry over to Unknown Mami's to see
What's happening in other cities around blogland.
.
.