Fur Ball 2011

By SKEETER We left our Georgia Gardens for a bit to attend my hometown of Clarksville, Tennessee best annual party! The "Wags to Witches Fur Ball" is the largest benefit for the local Humane Society. Those volunteers sure know how to throw one awesome party. This years theme was Hollywood Horror. As you enter the Ballroom of the Riverview Inn, one is greeted by Pinhead of the movie "Hellraiser" . One cannot help but feel important walking down the red carpet of Hollywood.
Here you see poor Melanie Daniels being attacked by a flock of birds in the movie, "THE BIRDS"...
Who does not remember the scary shower scene of movie "Psycho". Thanks to this movie, I still have thoughts when in the shower and hearing a strange noise.
I wanted to skip my Senior Prom after seeing the movie "Carrie".
Each of these awesome horror movie scenes were set near delicious foods prepared by the American Culinary Federation of Clarksville, TN.
The food is worth the price of admission alone. Desserts are great as well with chocolate fountains and ghoul cakes! Yes, those cakes are edible.





Here is a short clip of one food area with the special effects. Watch out for Jason!The Silent Auction outside the ballroom is a big part of this event. Lots of items were donated for the event by local business as well as individuals. The Saint and I donated a Garden Caddy filled with goodies a gardener would enjoy.
There is something for everyone to bid on such as a Football helmet signed by the Tennessee Titans. A great gift for the football fan in the house. Art work, lamps, TV's, Gift Certificates, gift baskets of all types, etc were great bargain buys for Auction participants. This way, not only are you making a donation for the Humane Society, you are getting something in return! Some people get a bit of Christmas shopping with this auction! The Dance floor was not only decorated for kicking up our heels, which I did a lot of, it was the platform for the Costume contest as well.
Here you see "Foxy Brown" and Hunk, oh I mean "Hulk Hogan" vying in the Sexy Costume Contest. The women brought the roof down with cheer when Hulk ripped his top off. Sorry Foxy, maybe next year... I have fun creating a costume each year. I have used this dress above 2 times in the past as my basic costume. I stitch this and that to make a one of a kind costume. Nothing more embarrassing then going to a costume party dressed just like someone else. Urmp, and they are slimmer, LOL.









One year the dress was an asset as a Spider Witch and one year it helped me become a Gypsy. As you can see the Saint does not really partake in the costume portion of this event. He did go as a Cowboy once and he enjoyed wearing his hat, boots and belt buckle he acquired when we live in Texas so many years ago. I cannot complain as dressing up is not his thing. Our friends are determined he will dress up at some point. They think they can shame him into it. Ha, they don't know my Saint very well. LOL. I had the idea to become a Black Widow Spider type gal. A trip to the Goodwill and I found this lacy blouse...A Crochet top that reminded me of spider webbing. I thought that would be perfect for the Hour Glass shape on a Black Widow Spider. It was tough to take the scissors to this top as it still had the tag on it from the purchased store. I paid a mere $3.75 for it at the Goodwill but someone had paid $20.00 for it and it had never been worn! There are some great bargains at the Goodwill store.I also found this cape to add to my costume. A trip to JoAnn Fabrics and I came home with lots of half priced netting with spiders in the material. Perfect for a Black Widow.

A stitch here, a bleeding finger there, some safety pens here and there and Voila. A Black Widow Costume like no other! I found an inexpensive simple hat at the Party Store and I added feathers, netting and a Spider to the side and created a fun Veiled hat. Accessories of Black Widow Glass and big necklace and I was complete! My goodness, they even got the Saint to smile in a picture!
I posted last week on how we had entered our Fur Girl Cheetah into the Pet Photo Contest portion of this fun event. I had no idea that our family and friends would help Cheetah earn the most donations collected by any single pet! There were 71 pet photos submitted to this contest. Our little Cheetah earned $691.00 in Votes and the title of MISS WAGS! The entire Photo Contest earned $5,727.00 for the Clarksville Humane Society! Now Miss Cheetah will be on the front of the Calendar with Mr Wags for their next fund raiser.

Mr Wags is a little cat name Bruce that has cancer and a short time left on his life. Click HERE to read his story. We were so glad he won his category. He earned $467.00 in vote's thus the first time ever for Cats to be both Mr and Miss Wags! CATS RULED the night. At least that night anyway.

I am happy that Miss Cheetah won as there are times that Black Cats are pushed aside by fear and superstition. Our two beautiful Black Cats have done nothing but bring joy into our home and life. So forget all the negative things you have heard about Black Cats. They are just silly myths...

I have yet to hear the total amount raised at this awesome event but will post when I know myself. All I can say is, it was a lot of hard work by a wonderful group of volunteers and the place was crawling with laughter and good memories and donations made. I would say another success as in the past 4 years!

Tomorrow, I shall get back In the Garden...

words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Reaching out for Charity

By SKEETER
Here I am in my Georgia Garden standing under the tall Banana Tree. Thus far, the cool Fall nights have not harmed this beauty. Soon, she will be cut to the ground by the Saint. I normally over winter a baby plant in the house but this year, the tree and 2 babies will remain in the ground. I have yet to have a banana survive the winter in my gardens so it will be interesting to see if this one will return next year.
We welcome many different animals in our garden. This picture shows a young Buck and 2 fawns getting a drink out of a birdbath during our summer drought.
CoCo Bean belongs to our neighbors but comes to visit us in the garden. She was a stray that came out of the woods just like our 2 Fur Babies came to us. I just love this baby's beautiful Blue Eyes.
Harley does not trot freely in our gardens but has been known to bring his owner over for a visit at times.
Zip, well what can I say about this little fella. He is our buddy and drops by often to visit us in the gardens and even has sleep-overs with us. He loves to roll around in the green grass. Here you see him at a nearby lake we took him to visit while in our care.
The newest visitor to our gardens is Lilo. He is still a bit shy at times but here you see him enjoying our brick wall in the gardens.
I have shown you OJ many times before on this blog. He is a sweet boy that loves to explore our gardens and get himself rubbed as we sit on the swing. He also showed up as a stray from the woods behind our homes.
This past weekend, we had our first fire going in the living room. It was a bit nippy outside and we decided a fire would be nice. Here you see The Saint with our Fur Baby Sheba napping in his lap. The Girls love the warmth of the fire and a nice soft lap. The Saint rarely smiles when I have the camera in my hands but as you can see, he is very happy in this picture. The love of an animal can get him to smile every time.
As you can see, Animals are a big part of our every day life. From the wild critters in our gardens to the domesticated ones we call our very own, we love animals. We take great strides to keep harmony with all animals (even pesky squirrels) in the garden. I cannot imagine our life without some type of animal in it.

Since 2007, in late October, the Clarksville Humane Society puts on an awesome event. This event is called the "Wags to Witches Fur Ball Bash" We leave our Georgia Gardens each year for the drive to Tennessee to attend the Fur Ball. It is the biggest fund raiser for the group and we have a blast at it each year. I have been busy working on my costume the past week.

A portion of the Fur Ball is a Pet Photo Contest. We have never entered one of our girls in the contest as we normally vote on some one else's beautiful Furry Friend. This year, we decided to enter one of our girls. Above you see the entry photo of our Cheetah kitty. Our pets are lucky and have the best in life from a warm lap to plenty of food for their belly's.

Not all domesticated animals are so lucky. So today I am Reaching out in the name of Charity to ask for your Vote for Cheetah. Voting for Cheetah will be a donation for the Needy Animals of my beloved hometown of Clarksville, Tennessee. $1.00 equals 1 vote. The winners will receive prizes (which I plan to pass onto another event) and a spot in the 2012 Calendar, which is yet another charity event. So if you have a buck or two or feel the need to donate to a wonderful cause, please go to the CLARKSVILLE HUMANE SOCIETY Website and Vote for Cheetah Birdsong as Miss Wags!

Today, I am REACHING OUT FOR CHARITY, In the Garden...
Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Freedom Fest and the 4th of July

On a recent trip to Evansville our family attended the annual "Thunder on the Ohio"; which is a part of the Evansville Freedom Fest. Military families will want to travel the two hours to Evansville to participate in this fun and free event for veterans and their families. The festival is not crowded, offers lots to do, and is very inexpensive. People in Evansville are so friendly and nice it is worth the trip just for that reason!

Evansville is a city on the Ohio and is very similar to Louisville; which is also located on the Ohio River. There is something about rivers that people like, and the Ohio is one of this areas best and most important rivers.

Thunder on the Ohio is an air and boat show on the river-the Ohio River of course. Some really cool aircraft we were treated to were: F16s, the stealth bomber, an acrobatic airplane, and helicopters. The boats participating in the races were hydroplaning boats. I don't even know how the pilot of the boat fits in the boat because the profile looks like it is about two feet high. (See how low it is in the first picture?) If you are into car races, you might really like the boat races. Occasionally they even have crashes! None while we were there, but a barge did come through and absconded with all of the buoys marking the course. Needless to say, the races were delayed until the buoys could be secured and repositioned for the races. This was a major setback for the event, but a funny one that no one seemed to mind.

Evansville's riverfront is an awesome place to go and just hang out. There are multiple memorials to veterans of all wars. I know it sounds like this post should be more of a Memorial Day post, but the Hoosiers living in the Evansville area celebrate all veterans, both living and deceased, by celebrating freedom in honor of Independence Day. Hence, the Freedom Fest and Thunder of Ohio, sponsored by Vectren, the major electrical company in Indiana, and several other businesses in Indiana.

In addition to several veteran memorials, there is a memorial to the 50 states. I snapped this picture of Maine's marker, as I knew my family and friends reading in Maine would get a kick out of it. Each state has its own marker around the tall pillars you see in the background. The date represents the date the state officially became a state. Upon researching Maine's date, I found several dates annotated. March 15th is a good as any because all of the dates I found were in the month of March in 1820.

I am not going to post a picture of the stealth bomber due to my sensitivities of being in the military. I am not sure if it is authorized. I have a feeling it is, but to be on the safe side I will refrain. That picture was VERY hard to take. You had to lead the aircraft (and boats) and hope you caught it just right. Not fun pictures to take at all. I like photographing flowers much better (not on windy days though). I will end with a picture of the Vietnam Veteran Memorial. My father and uncle are Vietnam veterans, so this picture is in honor of them.

Jimmy had a super great time at the festival. There was a motion rider he rode, the bull shown in the video above, and a bungee trampoline jump. He loved the bungee trampoline the best and could easily have stayed on it the whole day. You can find further information about the Evansville Freedom Fest and Thunder on the Ohio here.

in the garden....enjoying freedom on the Ohio River.