Mossy's Moose!!!!

Clippity-clop, clippity-clop. What an odd noise to hear growing louder by the moment in a hotel hallway.  You know the saying....curiousity killed the cat......  But, admittedly, I prefer the ending of.....satisfaction brought him back!   So with this in mind, I slowly opened the door, peeking out....

  GOOD GOLLY MISS MOLLY (or Mossy, in this case)! Mossy had made it to Wyoming!

The adorable moose moved steadily along as Mossy pirouetted upon his back! Transfixed, I watched as she dropped to each side.  "Just like Wild Bill!" she cried.  Together they rounded the corner with a snort from the moose and a YeeHaw from Mossy.    Wasn't that the moose stationed down in the lobby?  THE BRONZED STATUE?  Where had the little imp been for 2 days?  More importantly, could I manage to get that little moose back to Texas?  Do you think the resort would notice anything missing? 

Realizing that I was standing in the hall alone, with yes, my mouth hanging open yet again.   I jumped back through my doorway  and yelled after the two performers.  "Have a grand day, Mossy!  You betcha!" she yelled back. "Me and this Mangy Moose are heading to Yellowstone!" 

Hmmm.....Yellowstone may never be the same after this particular twosome.  I couldn't help wondering if I should warn a Park Ranger or two!

Walk a caterpillar!

Glancing out the window, what should I see?  Mossy leading the very green creature pictured above with a leash.  Granted, the going was a wee bit slow, but both seemed to be very content and in full conversation. 

 I  love the way Mossy knows how to embrace a moment.

Seriously, she seems to grab hold of it with both tiny hands and absorb every minuscule of it.  Now please don't misunderstand.  I do NOT mean that she is a whirling dervish of productivity, or a multi-tasker extraordinaire or even a mountain moving momma (anthill in her case).

She simply knows (perhaps instinctively) how to embrace the simple things of life.  I heard something today and was struck by the truth of it.

 Dear Diary, I notice we put more and more emphasis on our homes and spend less and less time in them.  I just came back from a neighborhood full of lovely houses in the middle of the day and they were all empty.  They were like vessels to hold the life you want, but have no time to have.

  Mossy gets time.   She knows how to fill a moment, so most certainly a home.  She can rip through it with total abandon or sit still and hear it's rhythm.    She knows the sound of the clock in the hall, the whirl of the living room's ceiling fan, the creak of the pantry's door and the faint music of the fountain outside the window.

When was the last time I "heard" the music of my home and filled the vessel to the rim?  

I WANT TO WALK A CATERPILLAR!

Now having said that, I look out to find Mossy and the wee green creature on the rim of the fountain!  The two are waltzing!   Yes, just picture the commercial of the father with his daughter's feet on top of his and you can get the gist of the two outside my window.  Bells tinkled.  Enchanted,

I watched and wished for myself and you too,

a vessel not only filled to the brim,

 but running oVer with whimsy today!!!!

excerpt from Deanne Fitzpatrick's Diary

DRUM ROLL PLEASE..............

 

mOSSY's first ever contest has a winner:  2dayisgood   CONGRATULATIONS!!  

When I say drum roll please,  I am only stating what I am experiencing!  Midnight, yes, midnight cymbals clashed in the computer room/office/craft room/guest bedroom (a room of many hats).    Five thirty seven found Mossy marching down the hall with a what appears to be a band uniform on and a large baton!  I found evidence of confetti on the coffee table and a wee bottle of champagne was empty on the kitchen counter.  Hmmmmmm........ 

BUT, the ultimate was not a rooster crowing this morning in Tyler, Texas, but a rather noisy series of firecrackers!  I grabbed my phone and got these shots of a display just for Tammie!!!!!! Our total corn count was 1515 and YOU were soooooooo close.  Our second place is a wee dark-haired beauty with 1101!  Mossy insist on a second place prize as well, for Miss Kylee Grace.  We do, however, need a mailing address for our winner.  Please email and a goody or two will be winging its way soon!

Now, with a huge day ahead of us and more goodies to make we bid you adieu!  OH NO!  more fireworks!  I crack the window to warn and hear instead of some talk of another contest..........SOON!  Who on earth is she talking to?

What will it be?

KaPow!

Zing!

Stay tuned...

same Mossy (Batman) channel....

p.s. you have to be oooold to "get" the Batman reference above!  :)

Time's ALMOST UP!!!

Mossy warns all that midnight is approaching fast......  We have been making lovelies all day and I have included a few pics.  We are however, exhausted!!!!!  Forgive us if the winner does not get posted until the morning!  GOOD LUCK!!! 

Everythings coming up RoSeS!!!!

I must confess....I've been keeping a secret from Mossy!  Yes, this morning it was reiterated to me at FOUR O'CLOCK that this was a wise decision.  For you see, 2400 roses have arrived at Harvey Hall for MOssy to play with.  As we both have been counting "her corn" I knew she would be able to relate to the amount (even though she's watching-I'm counting) and I just knew this knowledge would be too much...... 

"Mossy, guess what we are doing tomorrow and WHERE we will be working?" I sorta slid this in while heating dinner.  "Hmmmmm,"  she replied rather distractedly, as she appeared behind the cookbooks carrying something in her hand.  " Mossy," softly I called.  "TWENTY FOUR HUNDRED ROSES"  I yelled this jumping up and down (I guess Mossy's not the only rather excitable one around here).  She staggered to the middle of the counter, she zombie-vied leaned this way and that, she spun, she circled and KERPLUNK.  Unto her back she fell, stiff as a corpse, holding a small rosebud in her hands straight up.  Need I say what she looked like?  The show was most worthy of applause and more jumping up and down which she joined me in this time.  As the evening wore on, I believe her number of questions rivaled the number of roses!  "No, Mossy I don't know exactly how many vases.  No, Mossy I'm not sure there are any Fema Roses (my favorite-she knows this), or Tea Green Roses (her favorite)".  We talked of all the lovelies to be created until the wee hours.  I slept with roses dancing in my head until I awoke with Mossy's feet dancing on my pillow.  The wee one could not contain her excitement.  "Lets go!  Let's go! she nudged as she jumped from one foot to another.  "Oh, oh, how many boxes of moss?" this she asked almost reverently.  "moSSY, SLEEP I MUST OR NARY A ROSE WILL YOU SEE!  I threatened.  This is rather an empty threat.  For how would I keep her from going?  "I want to see sheep not roses, pleeeeeeeeease." 

Let me just interject at this point that it's SIX a.m.!  Neither sheep nor sleep were to be found since FOUR!  I would like to say tis ALL been the pixie, but truthful that would not be.  But then, let's face it......how often do any of us (forgive me) stop to smell the roses?  When, indeed,  will I EVER have twenty-four HUNDRED roses to play with again?  Mossy's right.  Why not fully enjoy each moment we have of the gift of such beauty?  So, eagerly we both await, the moments of today.  Wishing for you, too, a day of roses, of realization, of moments to pause, of roses to see...... 

Columbus Mossy

Need to relax? What better than a hot bath?  This was the thought one Columbus Day evening.  How was I to know that Mossy was wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy ahead of me?  How was I to know that as a Columbus MOssy she had been sailing from one end of the tub to the other discovering the Americas ALL day?  Inform me she did, however, of her AMAZING feat. 

"MOssy I do believe Christopher beat you to it in 1492."  "Humph," she replied as she used my razor to navigate the treachorous waters.  Dodging the rubber ducky she shared her tale.  "We watched him as he landed and THOUGHT he was the first.  Did he realize how many were watching?  Naaaaaaa!  Too busy gloating and demanding and bossing to see what was unseen.  This seemed abit high handed to me, but who am I?"  I thought.    "Can you share how many and WHAT was watching?"  I asked.  Ramping up the back of the tub and back down with a swoosh she simply grinned and saluted.  "Well, will your discovering conclude soon?" I whined abit.    Shocked!   That's what she was at this  mere suggestion of an end in sight.  "Greatness,"  she replied  "Cannot be limited!"  I surveyed the scene before me.  Tub toys danced about Mossy as she rode the bow of a toy sailboat.  She struck a pose, pushing her nose forward, shading her eyes, squinting as if to see the undiscovered shore. 

Honestly, limitations?   I pondered it all.........

Limitations of the tub parameters?  Limitations of her size?  A toy sailboat?  A razor for an oar? The limitations of an imagination? The answer came......nope, none in sight!!!! 

Wal-Mart Mossy

First, I'm just going to get it out of the way......please, forgive me.  Mossy promised her SuPrise pRize to be posted yesterday and YES, I had the nerve to fall asleep on the sofa.......  Of course, sleep has a different definition when EVERYTIME you turn over, Mossy pokes you in the ribs.  It tis a testament to age that I endured and slept on!

Peace (peace from MOssy that is), is what I seek with determination this morning.  Now I must admit I can not completely shoulder ALL the blame.  I have been awaiting the knowledge of the prize as well as you.  It wasn't until a late evening run to Wal-Mart that it became known.  Slipping through the middle of the store (never do I follow the main isles)  there she was!!!!!  Across the top of a jewelry display she was doing Michael Jackson's infamous "thriller" dance! 

'Cause this is thriller, thriller night
There ain't no second chance against the thing with forty eyes, girl
Thriller, thriller night

Let me just say right here....AIN'T NO SIGHT LIKE MOSSY "GETTING DOWN" WITH THE KING OF POP!!!!! Frozen in my tracks, I watched at least 3 rounds of the whole song.  Freezing in her tracks, she pointed down.  There it was (should have known) her pic for your prize.  The little imp would not speak, blink or move until I had deposited the prize in the basket.  Then turning and kicking out a thriller pose and a quick wave goodbye (as if to an audience) she jumped into the basket and POOF.  Do you ever turn a corner in Wal-Mart and find someone staring in a stupor?  I seem to on a regular basis.  Do you think their Mossy is performing?  Thoughts to ponder this thursday morn............

p.S.  Mossy wants me to add that there will be a "wee Mossy touch" to surprise the winner.  And NO, she's not going to tell me yet!    So don't delay, enter today..............

Munday, Munday.....

some Mondays certainly deserve more of the above spelling, don't you think?  Mundane at best......  Murphy's law loves Mondays, etc. etc......   BUT a Mossy Monday, well that is anything BUT mundane.

   She was waiting for me when I returned home this afternoon.  Opening the refrigerator to tuck in a gallon of milk, she awaited me.  She was behind the juice.  If it had not been for the sound of tinkling bells (her laughter) I'd have had quite a fright indeed.  She tossed a grape straight at my nose, shoved an orange out and onto the floor and POOFED as she stood on the bacon.  Mercy, Mossy!  Admittedly, there is a certain look, a pose, a tilt of her head, a toss of a curl........you get the picture, that can strike a wee bit of fear in the even halfway intelligent!  I mean, let's face it,  Mossy has alot in common with the Tasmanian Devil.  Now here, I must share that Mossy can not read!  I have mentioned that she loves her blog, but I read her HER blog.  I sorta leave out some comments (vital to my health).  I circled the kitchen busying myself with putting up groceries, but this time with the eye of the wary.  I felt her presence.  She knew it, too.  Timing is everything.  Stephen King could take notes on Mossy's suspense building, here she comes, appearances.

"Ladies and Gents" I heard her before I saw her.  "In the first ring you will witness my friends as they circle for your viewing pleasure!'  Blinking,  I stood dumbfounded, AGAIN!  A box of animal crackers lay open on its side.  And, yes, animal crackers were circling in the air as if suspended with fishing line holding them, but couldn't see.   "The ring" appeared to be around my head.    Here is where Mossy begins to lay out on the counter laughing!  "Mossy, could your friends perform over, perhaps, closer to you?"  This threw her into another fit of laughter as she threw her hands up in the air.  "You should see your face" she giggled more.  "Your eyes cut from side to side!"  "And yours would to, with animal crackers before your nose," I retorted.   She rolled this way and that across the cutting board and finally coming to a stop next to the Cool Whip.  Flipping the lid off with the blink (or wink) of her eye she scooped up a dollop and..... hurled it into the air!  "Food fight!"  No sooner were the words out, but my performing friends dove straight into the cool whip and out with the speed of light.  Puffs of Cool Whip filled the air like a January snow.  Ducking one or two I searched for a perch to watch the fun from.  That is.....until...... backing up Mossy tipped over the candlestick, which hit the bowl, knocked over a picture frame, shattered a cup and the grand finale was her landing into a filled-to-the-brim pie shell.  If you've ever visited, you know that this is quite possible.  As I tend to "layer" as I call it. any surface or space! :)  Perhaps on any other day without a looming deadline, we might have all continued the folly, but this was MONDAY!  That pie MOssy's behind was in was due to the neighbors in seconds.  That cup was a favorite from a B and B in Vicksburg and now bits of "snow" were scattered onto ALL!  Slowly I turned my head.....step by step...slooooowwwwlllllly I reached for the cherry covered imp....... POOF!  Knew that was coming, didn't ya?  I held my tongue (most unusual), but stomped around as I spiffied and cleaned and started a new pie.  I, fortunately had the ingredients, we were only a "wee" late -me & the pie that is!

Have you a Tasmanian Devil in your life?   Ahhhhh, you need one, my friends:  be it a willful child, a spontaneous spouse, an adventuresome friend.   They will drive you NUTS and then touch your heart as none other can.   On my return in the exact location of all that had gone wrong was such a sweet little valentine by my wee little friend.  The moment I saw it a tear or two sprang.  The moment I saw it she sprung into view. 

"I heart you"  she whispered as she twisted a curl and looked sheepishly down.  Then springing into the air she flung me a kiss and had poofed before landing as she would have!

How does one find a heart of a potato?  I dare say no other exist!   What others can't, those Tasmanians can do!  So for you,
                        this morn
                                    I wish a Mossy or two
                                                       for the mischief and the mayhem,
                                                                                   and MOST of all
                                                                                                 that you may be hearted, too!!!!!

Maddie's Magnificant Mini's

 

grace several corner's of my wee house!  With  teensy tiny lumps of clay she makes magic & whimsy come alive!  In fact, just say the word and it appears in miniATURE encased and ready just for you!!!!!  So on a wee little shelf in a wee little room sits a frog having just captured a fly on his tongue!  Well, that is until in the middle of the night while I was scuffling around with Advil in my hand did I notice the box was EMPTY .   Who took my frog?  Well in the middle of the night, as that time would have it, the next thought is:  uh, I'll take care of that in the morning, or I didn't really notice that, or Mossy, again, etc.etc.etc.  Truthfully, until a morning cup of coffee and breath of fresh air did memory return of the night's discovery.  AND truthfully, I did not remember UNTIL there it was!  Was that it?  I jumped from my chair and grabbed my phone to take pictures.  YES, YES, YES!!!!  The magnificent mini was sitting on a rock!  A rock beside a pond!  A pond OUTSIDE!

Why, oh why, should I ever be surprised, but yes, indeedy, I continue to be!  "MOSSY", I exclaimed, as I moved even closer.  Silence met me.   

 Giving up on immediate answers, I moved back to my perch and was captured by the play of the morning in Pandora.  Pandora is glorious in the morn and this morn twas no different.  Creatures great and small come in to see and to be seen (I suspect).     Cardinals (at least 8) gathered in a rather informal breakfast meeting, chattering back & forth.  Koi swirled in colors of orange and red and gold.  A young squirrel stretched scratching or was it......yes, he was actually putting on deodorant!  Another flicked her tail, challenging the little upstart to a romp on the limbs.  Swooping in from a neighbor's yard were nuthatches and wrens chattering of upcoming events and what the news of the previous day had been.  I caught a snippet of the hawk's ruckus and how disgusted they all were by his deed.  Poor little wren, she'd had not a chance.  And to think he'd had the audacity to sit in the driveway and gloat!  Don had actually snapped a pic of the culprit catching him in the act.  You'll have to look close, that is, if you want to see the dastardly deed!!!!!!

Enraptured by all that was before me and listening intently...... I failed to see... one wee little frog move its locale.  Until..........

Yellow boy was chasing Red-Head and I noticed a tiny frog watching!  Then I heard the bells (Mossy's laughter).  "What are you doing with MY frog, Miss Mossy?"  I asked.  "YOURS??" she demanded stomping her foot.  "Since when does Pearl belong to YOU?"  "Since Maddie made her for me," I quickly shot back. 

"MINE - MINE - MINE" she grew louder with each mine until I saw Pearl cover her ears.  "Okay, FINE (I knew a lost battle when I saw one).   Mossy, Pearl better find her way back unto a certain shelf when the fun of the morning's frolic concludes."      POOF! 

And so the morning progressed and it wasn't long til I roamed into a wee little room with a wee little shelf and a saw a wee little Pearl in her box!

To see more of Maddies' Magnificants and INSANE Envelopes (fantastic cheeky creations), check out her blog at:  Insane4envelopes.blogspot.com   Or link below!

And don't forget to enter Mossy's contest....see the previous blog for details! 

Mossy wants YOU......

Kicking off my shoes, I dropped onto the sofa like a sack of potatoes.   "Pssst...  Pssssst....." she even managed to make this sound screechy.  "I know if I ignore you, you WILL go away."  I mumbled in a barely audible whisper.  With both hands full of my eyelashes, Mossy pulled & tugged to pull open my eyelids,  "You gotta play, you gotta play."    Peace was non-existent,  as long as she was this determined.  So pop open my eyes I did.   "What do you want to play?"  I questioned, as I checked to see if I STILL had ANY eyelashes.  What followed once again left me without words.  NOW, she doesn't just want ME to play, but YOU get to enter into the game, as well. 

She began with her lunch.  It would appear that while she & Crazyhorse had corn for lunch, he more or less insulted/dared/teased (you pick) the little imp.  Crazyhorse told Mossy that corn was good, but she too young to count it.  Okay, I'll say it for you....WHAT?  Yes, Crazyhorse.  Are you wondering, as I, if Mossy now communes with Indian spirits?   When I voiced the question, the eyes did roll.  Mossy, by the way, does this in a superb, drama-mama way, of which, any eye-rolling female could only dream to emulate.   But that ole Crazyhorse BE WRONG!!!  she cried indignantly.  Me & Pearl we counted alllllllllll afternoon and we know the answer!  Guess it, guess it," she chanted.   What am I guessing?   "Follow me,"  and follow I did.  She lead me straight to the jar pictured below..............at this point I just thudded my own self in the head...... I just truly should have known that no vegetable servings had been met that day.

 CAN YOU GUESS HOW MANY KERNELS OF CRAZYHORSE & MOSSY'S CORN THERE ARE IN THE JAR?

Mossy tells me there will be a prize for the most accurate guess and that you can enter as many guesses as you would like.  She will conclude her contest on October 15th at midnight.   

She, ALSO tells me that there WILL be a prize that we will mail to the lucky winner!  She would like to heighten the suspense of WHAT the prize would be, so I am to tell you that the prize will be announced next Wednesday! 

So tune in to find the surprise of Mossy's prize and meanwhile, guess, guess, guess.....