From the Garden of the Unusual and Temporarily Ruining Your Life

Sorry that I've been rather scarce lately, I have been undergoing one of worst things that a you can go through, something that can and will test your resolve, sanity, marriage and temper...

A kitchen remodel.

But first, a bit of garden fun....
I have a bit of a soft spot for unusual plants...

Red Passion Flower (although a bit out of focus).  This was taken with my iPhone about 8 feet up. This one is the first to bloom, I have 3 other varieties that are all intertwined together.  These are truly more drag queens of the plant world, big, showy, beautiful and over the top!

Corsican Mint...I don't know if it's edible or not but you can pet it and your hand will have a wonderful minty smell.

Anise hyssop, otherwise known as licorice.  Yes, I didn't know it looked so bright, green and cheerful either! Where they got the color black associated with it I'll never know.  It's wonderful in tea, makes you feel a little closer to Hallowe'en.

Patchouli, it has a deeply mysterious, sensual smell that is supposed to make you frisky.  It's a pretty bushy plant that is fun to smell, although I can't attest personally to the frisky part.

Coconut geranium...my favorite.  The leaves don't really smell all that much like coconut but they do remind you of some unusual tropical flower.  Not really all that showy, this plant is a trailer and the leaves are HEAVILY scented and will linger long on your skin if you rub one on you.  I love this plant!  Hint: buy the trailing variety and not the upright one, it smells WAY better and stronger.  

The Flying Dragon citrus or the I will %$#@ you up bush as I call it.  This weird plant is covered with sharp spines on its twisted branches.  It makes an orange fruit (unripe in the picture) that I have heard is inedible and I have heard it is just so sour you can't stand it but not poisonous.   It's really hardy and a fun plant, something that Morticia Addams would prize.  Just don't get near it, the plant WILL win!

I'll spare you the gory details but we went from this....

To this...

Then this...

To this...

I watched my absolute favorite movie today...Julie & Julia.  I caught myself smiling several times throughout the movie and afterwards grabbed Mrs. Macabre's Ipad and ordered Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child.  Yes, I know, I got caught up in the movie (love me some Meryl Streep and Amy Adams!) but even though I ordered the book, don't expect me to make aspic (look it up, it's like meat Jello! BLARG!!!)! 

Bored you enough? Want some Hallowe'eny stuff?  Stick around, I'm going back into the shed tomorrow and start working (had the Hallowe'en dream again last night, I think it's a warning to get my rear in gear).  This kitchen remodel has consumed my life lately, and the horrible stifling heat and humidity we've had.

See y'all real soon!

10 Most Unusual Cemeteries

Don't know if they're all THE most unusual but I'd LOVE to see at least some of these.  Can anyone verify is Stull Cemetery is indeed a portal to Hell?  I thought my bathroom was by the smell but that was before I took a hammer and chisel and Clorox napalm bomb and cleaned the toilet.

Or was that too much information?

Via TopTenz.net

The Dream

I had that stupid dream again.  Not the one where I suddenly find myself naked in the middle of Kmart either (not joking, it's a reoccurring dream of mine), but the one where it's Hallowe'en and I have forgotten to put everything out.  Except this time it has a twist, I put a couple of pitiful props on the front porch and think 'that will do' and then just leave.  These dreams are even more disturbing than the I-can't-find-my-classes-to-take-the-test-but-know-that-I've-already-graduated-years-ago-so-why-am-I-stressing dream!

I do like flying dreams though, although mine are more of a jump and float kind of flying.  I guess when you sleep in a room with over 50 skulls (my skull collection), one should expect some rather peculiar dreams from time to time.

Still haven't figured out the naked in Kmart thing though.

The Ghosts of Hallowe'en Parties Past...

Mr. Macabre and dear friend at a kickin' Hallowe'en party years ago.  There is/was this really goth vampire guy in New Orleans named Chaz that gave ghost and vampire tours and I loosely modeled my outfit from him.  The nails were super-glued on...I had to soak my hands in acetone for about an hour to get them off.

Memo to self...super glue works too well on fake nails.

This is Chaz.  If you go to New Orleans, do NOT take any other ghost or vampire tour but his...there is no other.  The guy is unbelievable!

Rolling Right Along...

Routed the cemetery arch yesterday from 1/4 inch luan plywood (was going to use foam but was itching to play with my new Dremel tool!).  It's going to be lit from behind but should it be ghostly green/blue or red/yellow?

More to come...

A Fiend In Need Is A Fiend Indeed

Alright, I know that was just a play on words but it seems appropriate in reference to that mac daddy of macabre, Eric "Unkle" Pigors of Toxictoons.com.  Eric had a heart attack Memorial Day weekend (which sucks unto itself since that's like getting sick on a Saturday when you were a kid), a BIG heart attack.  I encourage you to read about his ordeal HERE, it's not only fascinating but also terrifying and not in the good way (he had to be CONSCIOUS during the procedure!!!  That means memories!!!  That would mean for me, lots and lots of time on the psychiatrist's sofa and lots and lots of Xanax!!!).    


But I digress.

Bottom line...please think about buying some of his cool products to help him out.  Hospitals and doctors are not cheap here in America (%$#@& expensive is more like it, I have some orthotic inserts for my shoes that billed my insurance company 800.00 NOT including the office visit and 2 cortisone shots in my heel!  Health care is doggone high!!!). I can attest that Eric and his very lovely wife Denise are wonderful people and would appreciate you finding that special something on their site that makes your life complete.  They love Hallowe'en, so how can they be anything but nice?

So help a fellow fiend out and traipse on over to Toxictoons and look around.  I bought one of his Ouija boards this morning to go in the yard haunt and if it's half the quality of the shirts, prints and other cool stuff I collect of his, it's going to be fantastic.

Retiring and rebirth

Rest in pieces, dear Aggie...

Today I retired one of my props...Agatha, my cauldron-stirring witch.  All in all I was very happy with her but the character of the Unresting Place has been and is changing to a more lighthearted tone (as if it wasn't already).  I guess this is what I mean by haunting who you are, haunt what you are comfortable with and what feels 'right' to you.  Agatha was a severe character, like the skeletal corpse bride (who is getting retired this year also), she was less and less congruent with the rest of the graveyard.  So with strange feelings and a heavy heart, my fingers cruelly tore latex, modeling clay and hair from the skull base; all being left was a Bucky and a hinged jaw with motor.
But from the ashes, a phoenix awakens.  I am pleased to introduce the next incarnation of Aggie's head, The Hatbox Ghost...

Dental work is definitely on the way, including a gold front tooth.

Model Magic has improved their formula and is MUCH easier to work with.  This guy will be standing alone, headless while holding a hatbox.  His head is going to slowly rise out of the hatbox while jaw moves in laughter and then goes back down again.
At least that's the plan. I have an ever-so-slight idea of how to do it but nothing in stone.  I might just have his head float randomly around his body, I dunno.  I'm going to try and experiment some with him, using black lights and ultraviolet sensitive or phosphorescent materials to give him an unearthly glow.  I'm rather excited about him, he is going to feel right at home.  But don't feel bad for Aggie, she requested that her body be left to Ignatia so she can finally sit after standing for 8 years over a hot cauldron.

First Ghoul of the Season

Meet Ignatia Scritch, the medium.  She and her enchanted seance table will be raising the dead on Hallowe'en night here at the Final Unresting Place Cemetery.
Bucky skull with Model Magic and moving jaw so she can make her incantations known....


Crap!  That eye is looking straight at me!

Zombie fun and KILL IT WITH FIRE!

So this has happened to someone else besides me...


Really stupid zombie jokes...



Some more really stupid zombie jokes (some are a bit off-color)....


KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!!


*shiver* that last one was hard-down scary.

Be Sure Your Sins Will Find You Out...

The Visa bill came yesterday, I guess they didn't process my "paperless statement" request in time.  I'm going as the Hessian Mercenary this Hallowe'en because when Mrs. Macabre saw the 650.00 for the face creams, I got my head bit off!


Did you know that you could feed 4 third world countries for 7 years with the money that I wasted on that cream?  It's true!  I was told this by Mrs. Macabre....repeatedly.  Over and over.  And over.

Petrified Pumpkin

I went to a customer's house today to work and I noticed this in her carport.  I blurted out "What IS that beautiful thing?  It looks like a pumpkin!"  She proceeds to tell me that this was a pumpkin and it dried this way. She said that she bought two and one turned to pumpkin soup and this one just continued to dry.  I asked her if she did anything to get it this way and she said no, it just happened, and she had never seen anything like it before.

Truth be told, neither have I but I have strong inclinations to think that this is a very large gourd that is perfectly shaped like a pumpkin.  It's incredibly light for its size (about 18 inches tall) and you can hear the seeds rattle inside but still, the size of the stem along with the roundness and indentations make it look just like a ghostly pumpkin.

Anybody out there might know what species of gourd this might be?

Kreepee Board!

For you persons of age (like, nearer mine), you might remember The Ben Stiller Show.  I personally thought it was comic genius.  I ran across this and kept playing it over and over as it got funnier and funnier to me.



Now THAT'S comedy!

The 600.00 face cream results...

Before the 600.00 face cream

After the 600.00 face cream

I might just have to order a couple of backup jars...just in case.  

The 4 Horsemen Were Coming?! I would have baked a cake!

Imagine my surprise when I wake up yesterday and find that the end of the world was Saturday, my birthday!  Wait a minute, I was coming back from Las Vegas Saturday, the Sin City of the world (if you don't count my other favorite city, New Orleans), could it mean that it happened and there's no one here left but us heathens?! Well, at least we are all in good company and all my friends are here.  I was going to get all preachy and all on people trying to predict the end of the world but then I found this cool app that let me draw smoke coming out of my mouth and that was more fun.

To anyone out there that lives in Las Vegas, let it be known I'm jealous of you.  While out there I had great hair (just a dab of gel and I was good to go), was dry from a shower in record time, was allergy-free and could walk outside without looking like I jumped into a swimming pool of sweat (that was gross, wasn't it?).  I touch down in Birmingham and I'm sweating with an afro looking for my Afrin in my man-bag (which gets hung up in the closet until next vacation).  HOWEVER, each time I'm there, I have to fall for something.  Last time, some unscrupulous chick rings me up with a 400.00 pair of jeans that had no price tag until she swiped my poor card and announced no returns (insert Tex Avery style cartoon mouth dropping, eyes bulging and high-pitched woman scream).

I had to send in the big guns and got Mrs. Macabre to do some "convincing" that I needed shirts instead.
This year was worse.  I was walking around by myself (Mrs. Macabre was doing something else that night) and a BEAUTIFUL young lady with an exotic accent (and keep in mind that I'm not influenced by beauty that much. However, you can charm me and all my defense shields go down and she WAS charming) gives me a sample of some facial cream in Caesar's Palace Forum Shops.  Should have said "I'm allergic to everything over 2.00 a quart from the lotion aisle at the grocery store" and kept on walking but noooooooo, I had my butt hugger jeans on, black roach killer boots, my hair was looking all good and I was wearing my rhinestone club shirt looking like I was ready to take to a stage and scream "HELLLOOOOO LAS VEGAS, ARE YOU READY TO ROOOOOOOCCCCCCKKKKKKK?!!!!!!!"
I sat down in her chair and it was allllllll over. "You're about to be 47?  I would have thought 39 at the very most", "You have such good skin, you need only the best to keep it so beautiful", "I like you, I'm going to give you the facial cleanser at my cost".   I was (hold on kiddies) 600.00 poorer by the time she was done with me, had a sack of facial products that I was going to have to sneak back 1300 miles that are still deeeeeeeeeep under the bed and I can see myself dashing to the mailbox for the next couple of weeks until the credit card statement comes in.  I will have to say that they DO make me look a few years younger and my skin does feel better but I feel like such a Benedict Arnold to my Mary Kay lady now.
All I can say is, next time I'm in Las Vegas, I'm staying OUT of the Ferrari dealer showroom!

Weird (Kinda Scary) @$$ Alabama...The 13 Year Plague Returns

Every 13 years, something strange happens here.  You hear a high pitched whine in the air and a hissing sound all around.  You look up and Tippy Hedren should have been thankful it was only birds...we have swarms and swarms of cicadas.  From sunup to sundown, getting louder and louder as the temperature climbs, millions of these creatures have been burrowing for years and now come up from the ground and split in two where a large flying bug with red eyes makes a shrill noise and flies off.  Nightmare fuel.

I held my iPhone up to the trees and recorded them singing.  Imagine this sound amplified about 200 times.

a better sounding one...

They like to swoop down in great numbers and get tangled up in women's hair, buzzing loudly as they dig deeper and scratch the scalp with their claws.  Ok, I made that up.  They're actually harmless, aside from making the birds morbidly obese here.

From the Huffington Post:

While many people see the mysterious cicadas as a nuisance and some find them frightening, they are actually harmless creatures that don't bite or sting in any way. According to the Jackson Sun, the red-eyed cicadas can even be eaten, and in some countries "are considered delicacies because of the high amount of protein they provide."

From The Tennessean

“There is no toxic component to cicadas,’’ [Grassmere Animal Hospital Veterinarian Carol] Machery said. “I’ve even heard of people storing them in a freezer for dog treats.”

WKSR reports that the cicadas should be around for 5-6 weeks before returning underground for another 13 years.

One word on eating them, not no but h-e double hockeysticks no!!!  And I'm NOT storing them in my freezer for the dogs!  My doggies can have their Beggin' Strips but no bugs, thank you so very much!

A kitteh nom nom noming on a cicada...I have had this happen with my kittehs, in the middle of the freaking night...not something fun to wake up from a dead sleep to!  SPOILER!  wait for the crunch and see if your back teeth hurt and got cold chills like I did!

Hallowe'en Comes In The Oddest Places

I'll let you folks decide...

This rug has been in my mom's house for years.  It's not particularly old but it is wool.  Strange how I noticed this the other day.  This conversation ensued...

"Mother, do you know you have a blue skull in the rug in the living room?"

Tromping feet down the hall to address this apparent blasphemy.

"See, it's a little blue skull."

(inspects in disbelief) "No it's not, it's a....motif.  It's just a design or something."

"Uh huh, the design and motif of a skull. You have a blue skull in your expensive ru-uuug (sing song style from her eldest impertinent son).

"No, it's not a skull or I wouldn't have bought it.  It's some kind or flower bud or something."


"It's a sku-ulllllllllll."

"It is not and don't backtalk your mother"


So, my lovelies, is it, or isn't it?  Do you side with your dear friend and Hallowe'en loving Mr. Macabre who has tried to find and spread the joy of Hallowe'en all around the world (and who has a  4 year interior design degree, class of 93, and collects skulls so he should know a %#@$ skull when he sees one!) or his mother, who albeit is a designer herself, hates Hallowe'en, thinks that it is the devil's birthday (which it isn't because it's actually in August because it's so hot and miserable here it would HAVE to be) and would love nothing more than to see her son in a 3 piece suit instead of a pair of shorts and and a Hauntcast tee shirt and his high top Converse sneaks.  But don't let me sway you, you just decide on your own without any influence from me...

Repost-A Call For Help For Our Tornado Stricken Animals

Just in case anyone might have missed this, I'm doing a repost:

From the Tuscaloosa Humane Society Website:

Storm damage - The Humane Society Adoption Center and Cat Care Facility on Veterans Memorial Parkway (15th), one block east of University Mall, did not suffer major damage in the devastating storm of April 27th. The power is out, and the water needs to be boiled or carried in, but all of the cats are safe. A large tree fell near the Adoption Center, and the upper part of the tree is resting on the roof (our NEW roof!) of the storage/garage building at the back of the Adoption Center. The parking area is completely blocked. The Dog Care Facility near Northport was not damaged, and all the dogs are safe.

As most of you know, I am an animal lover. With 7 cats, 2 dogs, fish and anything else that comes up that I feed (including a wild raccoon that just made his presence known), I can't stand to see any creature hurt, homeless or hungry. I spoke with the director this morning, they are scurrying to collect food, shelters and medicines for hurt and wandering animals displaced. I recently learned that each animal that is taken in the Humane Society's care is fully examined, vaccinated, treated and housed, and the veterinarian services and the medicines are not donated. This is and will strain the already thin budgets. People here have been generous and I would like to ask for your help if you feel like you would like to.

You will see a Paypal Donate button to the right: this will allow you make a donation. I give you my word that every cent goes to the care, feeding and housing of the animals of Tuscaloosa.

Thank you

Destruction, Devastation, Decimation

You have no doubt by now been inundated by news of the town Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I live in Northport, a suburb of Tuscaloosa, less than 5 miles from the tornado path that ripped the city to pieces. Parts are unrecognizable even to someone like me who has lived here all my life. We never lost power but estimates of more than half people are in the dark here tonight. We were lucky/fortunate/exceedingly blessed.




Please send thoughts and prayers to those that have lost loved ones, homes, livelihoods, and possessions. Thanks.

Fuzzy cute widdle Easter Bunny!

Now you should know better than that from little ol' me!

Happy Easter y'all!  I've been MIA for a while but that's about to change...



MORE kick @$$ action!



Stay tuned...

Winner, stalker and lateness!

Through the magic of Random.org, we have a winner....

Kara of Wicked Crochet!!!

So sorry about the lateness of this, there's really no excuse except temperatures in the low to mid 70's with a delightful breeze blowing in the backyard with the warm sun reflecting off my glistening white legs, (looking not unlike the legs of an albino gorilla).  I've got spring fever...bad!

Oh yeah, my stalker...went to the grocery store last night to pick up some milk (and came out 20.00 poorer with a handful of other needful things like Bailey's French Vanilla Coffee Creamer and some Little Debbies).  Came back to the car and noticed a piece of paper on the windshield under the wiper.  Thought it was one of those annoying advertisements so I got in and drove home with it still on my windshield.  I snatched the paper along with my bags and went into the house.  I looked down...

I'm watching you!

Be careful


Should I be flattered or terrified?  And this is real, I did find that note last night.  I feel all famous now with my very own stalker!  But if you're reading this, Mr. or Ms. Stalker, I should only warn you,  I take my shower with the blinds up and usually sing and dance to Bad Romance by Lady GaGa.

I'm just sayin'...