Tuesday, August 5

Odds and Ends + What's Up with That?


Remember the green dresses I posted about here? Some of you asked to see them, and here's one. I was ready to go to a Christmas dance and from the look on my face, I wasn't too happy about it. This was not the Oleg Cassini dress, but it was one of my favorites. That big cattleya orchid looked good with it, didn't it?

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baby blankets, shoe insoles, rubber pants, wedding apparel & garter belts

The list above was included in a longer list of items that were tax exempt on our tax-free weekend. Being tax-free was supposed to help parents of school-age children, so that they could save a little money when buying back-to-school clothing and school supplies for their families. So.......I ask you, what do the items above have to do with getting ready for the school year?

And speaking of underwear, I went to Penney's last Friday to get mr. kenju some boxers and buy a few more bras. I haven't ever had a good fitting bra, but recently I bought two that turned out to be the best bras I've ever owned. Considering I've been wearing bras since 1952, that's saying something. I had hoped to find a few more, perhaps in color. Fat chance. If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all - it seems that Ambrielle has discontinued that style of bra. Pooh. But a silver lining to the story is that they had four in my size, all discounted 70% off the original price. YAY!! I can't believe I got them for $6 each!! (and tax-free, too!)

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Have you seen the current pictures in Abercrombie & Fitch store windows? I hadn't seen them, since I rarely go to the mall, but they were on TV this week. A male shopper who went to the mall with his 4 young children was offended by the very revealing photos and asked the mall officials to move them inside the store. They refused, as did the store. They border on soft-c*re p*rn, and I can easily see how parents of young children would have a hard time explaining the posters. How are you supposed to convince children not to show their 'privates' to anyone if there are posters suggesting that in the windows??? The guy also said he had asked the same of Vict*ria's Secret and they refused. I think it shows extreme disregard for the concerns of parents and I would like to be included in a protest that includes not shopping there. Since I have never shopped there anyway, I don't know how much of a protest it will be. Won't you join me?

And in the What's Up with That department:

I found three dead baby snakes in my pool skimmer this week (on different days), and all of them were different colors (tan, brown and dark brown with darker markings). Was the mama making out with 2-3 different daddies? They were about the size of a new pencil; maybe a little bit larger in diameter. In each case, the skimmer also held huge spiders, some bees, a salamander or two and once there was a mouse. I used to stick my hand in there and remove the basket without so much as a cursory glance inside, but nooooooo more! I use tongs to remove it. The dead snakes are one thing, but the big, hairy spiders are not going to crawl over my hand if I can help it!!

Bees and Fleas: You may remember we have bees living in the walls of our house, and now we have fleas living inside. I found one in my bed a few days ago and one jumped on my arm in the car yesterday! ICK! My cats are treated with flea and tick meds every month, and the last 8-10 months worth were bought off the internet. I thought what I bought was the same thing the vets office had sold me before, but yesterday I learned that it was about half the strength of that the vet sells. Don't be fooled, as I was. Frontl*ne T*p Spot is what you get from the vet. What I bought was Frontl*ne Sp*t On, and I may as well have put water on the cats, for all the good it did against fleas. The vet gave Storm a pill and applied Top Spot, and although it made her sick for about 20 hours, she seems to be recovering well now. I bought some of the good stuff, and Eclipse got her treatment as well. Now I have to vacuum the carpets every 2 days to pull up the fleas and the eggs they lay (ICK again.) The vet told me to put a flea collar into the vacuum bag, otherwise I'd have to toss out the bag every time I run the sweeper.

I hope we have a good, hard freeze this winter, so the fleas and ticks will not be so prevalent next summer.

22 comments:

Star said...

Grea phot Judy. You look very "Jackie Kennedy". You are definately having a back to nature summer. Bee stings,dead snakes and fleas. But you are looking forward to fall. That is interesting about your getting an inferior product online. That is what is often said about buying people drugs online.

Granny Annie said...

Such a beautiful dress on a beautiful lady! I think I recognize that look on your face -- you were farting weren't you? LOL

Unknown said...

Lovely to see the picture before all that icky stuff about fleas and snakes. Wow, you (are/were) a looker! Love the dress. How did we balance those corsages on our shoulders and dance with fellas?

Tony Gasbarro said...

WOW! I thought you were marveling about a dress you saw on that model in the photo, but NO! That was you!

You go right now and ask Mr. Kenju if he thinks he's a very lucky man, and punch him in the nose if he says no.

...though, come to think of it, if you DO punch him in the nose, that'll just further convince him, won't it?

sonia a. mascaro said...

Wonderful photo, Judy! You look very beautiful!

OldLady Of The Hills said...

Love that picture Judy...=You look very elegant and "in Stylr"....! I had an Oleg Cassini dress once...back in the Mid 1950's...I use to use it for my Personal Appearances when I was singing..I LOVED that dress....it was Red. He was a Classic designer, wasn't he?

The Flea problem and the Bee problem sound ghastly! I hope you have a BIG Freeze, too.

tiff said...

You're not hte only one hoping for da big freeze. The vet says this is the worst year ever for them.

Ick.

But that dress? So NOT ick.

Gary ("Old Dude") said...

being new to blogging I find myself inspecting others pages to see how they do their layouts, what if any buttons they are running etc.
I noted that you have all your older posts listed in one small button "My Archives", I was curious to know how you managed that, and is it possible for me to do with the blogger template that I am running. If it involves messing with the HTML codes I will say nevermind----but its a nice feature. I also got into the technorati button your running labelled othe blogs linking----I guess I need to go back and play with my technorati account and learn how to do that one.

Garhttp://threescoreplusten.blogspot.com/y (aka old dude)

Ginnie said...

When I lived in NY City (1956 to 1962)I used to love to go to Abercrombie and Fitch. Their clothes were in very good taste and, altho I never could afford them, I loved to wander the store. They have descended to the depths of poor taste as far as I'm concerned...but, guess what? It's what the "public" wants and it's what sells !!! GRRRRRRR.

whimsical brainpan said...

That is an absolutely stunning photo!

A good bra is truly hard to find.

So sorry to hear about your fleas. I hope they are gone soon and stay away.

Joy Des Jardins said...

Well, you may not have been happy about it Judy...but you look beautiful. That shade of green was definitely a good color on you with your gorgeous dark hair. Lovely.

Carolyn said...

Judy, what a beautiful photo of you! I love that dress too!!

I'll join in not shopping at those stores. I hadn't even thought of the message until I read yours. You are spot on! And I also think Victoria's Secret undies should remain just that-- a secret!

Evil Twin's Wife said...

Love the dress - and you look really gorgeous!

As for the fleas, if you have a vacuum bag that can be popped out and in with no disturbance of contents, you might want to take the bag out after every vacuum and put it in a large Ziploc (freezer type) bag and put it in the freezer. That will kill the fleas. I've had to do this with pantry pests before.

bobbie said...

Don't they always discontinue the item that you find that really fits?

I've never shopped in those stores either, but I'll join you. And it would also be nice if we could protest the movie commercials shown during the daytime which aren't fit for kids (or me) to see.

Oh yes. And the dress is very beautiful.

Kay Dennison said...

I remember my first "grown up" party dress at 13 and the red carnations that adorned it. It had a black velvet bodice and a black and white plaid organza bouffant skirt. I started on the road to "little black dress" addiction early. (My daughter counted my black dresses when she was home leave a few years ago -- there were 18. Yikes!)

Re: bras. The best thing I ever did for myself was go and have the "Olga" lady fit me at a local dept. store. I had been wearing the wrong size and it was worth the expense. (The fitting is free but I was so comfortable, I bought one.

Fleas! Ugh! Makes me glad I haven't a cat!

JeanMac said...

That dress is nothing short of divine.

Rue said...

Gorgeous dress on an equally gorgeous woman!!

You have quite an animal/insect circus going on. What's next?? Yikes!

rue :)

Anonymous said...

You are so beautiful and look fantastic in green.

You might have fleas in your walls, but we have rats in our backyard. Ick.

Pat said...

A beautiful bo - I nearly said a beautiful bosom because it is. Great to find bra bargains - your embonpoint deserves them

Anonymous said...

Sweet dress and model!

Why does Mr. Kenju need a bra? I didn't think his moobs were that unruly...

You could call JC to clean out your pool filter. I hear she's good with snakes.

The fleas are a big wad of suck. I hope they die, every last one of 'em. I just treated 3 animals this morning, and there was only one dose of the Good Stuff left. The indoor cat got it.

Anna said...

Oh, I love that picture and that green dress is stunning!!!!

Shephard said...

Love the dress!!
~S