June 04, 2026

149 days! Thoughts & acquisitions

Let's start out with this moth that was on the wall next to the door at work.  
Super pretty! 

Where is this year going?  Less than 150 days until Halloween and the little weather app at the bottom of my monitor has been saying near record high temperatures for today & tomorrow!   Ugh. 

I love my blinged-out skelly that I got from Halloween Express. 
Except I had it delivered to work and when I opened it - it showered glitter all over my office floor!  So, I had to apologize to the cleaning guy, but since he knows me well, it didn't really surprise him where said glitter came from. 

I got some clear gloss spray paint and put several good coats on her, so the glitter seems to be somewhat under control.  She's still hanging in the garage, tho.

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I had no idea that Etsy sold anything other than crafty type stuff! 

I saw this on Instagram - there are Etsy stores where they have real blowmold-inspired dollhouse decor.  As I was growing up, we had one of these cat / JOLs so I had to go check it out. 
Lo and behold - I found REAL blowmolds!! 
Of course, the same guy is selling at least this particular little haunted house on eBay, too, but it was neat to see a bunch on Etsy. 

At Home Stores have a bunch of H'ween "sneak peeks" out now.  So far everything I bought from them last year are showing up as the same prices, so I'm glad about that.  

I am mildly interested some yard stakes and mugs, but nothing I feel the need to stalk them for.  I have a 15% coupon to use by July 4 so I'll keep watching. 


I've also checked out Tractor Supply (because I'm a glutton for punishment!) to see if they have anything skeletal out yet.  Nope.  Mostly just inflatables - I wish there was a way to filter those out of searches!!!  T-shirts & dog costumes / toys.  They had some animatronics, too but I don't know if they're left over from last year or what. 
They also have a variety of these "Ekkolights" that look like infinity mirrors, which are pretty cool. 

And of course, since I logged into their website - they sent me an email with a $5 reward on it to use before June 7.  I don't see anything I want to use it on!  Maybe my sister could use it for legit farm stuff? 

Cracker Barrel is another one with H'ween out. I'm currently 13 reward pegs away from getting $10 off (to be achieved in about 2 weeks) and I'm signed up to get the military discount.  But of course, all the scalpers snatched up their haunted house blowmolds to resell at twice the amount.   Guess that's a sign I'm not meant to have one. Maybe something else will grab me. They have some really cute sparkly skeleton earrings and a keychain......

Funny story - the Friday before Memorial Day, a random guy knocked on our door and told the Spouse that it looked like our yard needed some attention before the long holiday weekend - and offered to mow the lawn for a very reasonable price.  The Spouse agreed.  Of course, Steven couldn't help but notice the piles of skeletons on the giant totes & patio table and commented about them.  I'm sure he thinks we're weirdos, but he's making $ and I don't have to mow the lawn - so win / win!   Plus, he helped the Spouse move the Shack from the front yard into the back and now the grandkids are using it for a slide, but it's out of sight from the road, so also OK!  

 I've been thinking about making a video of opening the shed where all my critter skeletons got hap-hazardly tossed last fall - but I'm sure the real critters have made a giant mess!   That'll just have to wait until I'm ready to start repainting & repairing headstones later this summer. 

Later for now!

 

May 23, 2026

Belmont Cemetery

Here I am playing tourist in Ohio again!  This time again in Belmont County, OH. 
I (obviously - due to green grass, etc) visited this cemetery last July.
This sign about Harley Warrick is what caught my attention, since we (me, Mom, Sis1 & Sis2) had driven past several barns with the Mail Pouch ad painted on them. 
"Belmont Walks"
I don't know if this was the "main" street thru this part of town, but it appeared to be the only one paved in bricks. 
The placement for this sign was bad, since it looks to be pointing in someone's driveway!  The road to the cemetery is just to the right of the shot. 
Most of these stones are perfectly legible and a lot of have beautiful, personalized etchings. 
The golf club & ball caught my attention!
At first, I thought the red flags were USMC, but they're actually for firefighters.
I love this that his name is carved on the page of the book (I assume her info will eventually be on the other page) and the white plaque at the bottom has the intertwined rings and wedding date.
From above...
His obituary is in FindAGrave - he held the world's altitude record for small planes and was killed while testing a Herrick-Vertaplane. 
example of a Vertaplane, thanks to Google
I got front & back of Harley Warrick's stone. 
James T. Brown
1847 - 1931
Sarah E.
1846-1928
Maud
1877 - 1921
Sisters
I'm making some assumptions here - 
Eliza is buried someone where else and Anna was their daughter?
I searched for "Schooley" in FindAGrave and Dr. Lindley was not listed! 
But this stone matches all the others. 
They are now in the database. 
I love this dove!
This mismatched row of the Carter family is neat.  
I obviously missed getting a close up of Eliza (the brown one)
Mother
Amanda Carter
May 9, 1821 - June 7, 1901
Father
Richard Carter
1803 - August 3, 1875
Brother
Henry Carter
May 19, 1848 - June 22, 1878
Our Brother
Richard Carter
1848 - June 9, 1878
These next 2 were hard to get pics of (see above) since there were right along the tree line, facing the trees.... 
I had to look his stone up in FindAGrave, he belonged to the
3rd US Colored Heavy Artillery.
I bet these 2 had some stories to tell!
All I can make out is "Sarah, wife of ???"  and there's no headstone matching it in FindAGrave. 
In memory of our dear son
1st Lieutenant
Harold E. Williams
452 Bomb Sqd 322 Bomb Grp
February 19, 1921 - March 25, 1944

There's a newspaper article saying he was the pilot of a 2-engined Marauder and was reported Missing in Action over Axis-held territory on March 25, 1944.
Dedicated May 26, 1997
By Belmont American Legion Post 312
and Belmont Ladies Aux Post 312
Took a minute to figure out this police chief's name..
Tim Zdanski

He passed away in July 2012 at age 57.
In honor and memory
Col Robert L. Neff
US Marine
Helicopter Pilot for presidents
Nixon and Carter. 
I should have looked at the other side of this - I'm not sure if this is a monogram or some sort of other symbol. 
In memory of
Corp Willis Elbridge Toothman
Med Det 145th Inf 37th Div
Killed in Action New Georgia Island
Buried at Munda
March 28, 1918 - July 28, 1943

New Georgia Island is just east of Papua New Guinea
Munda is a city there. 
Reuben W Cumberlidge
Ohio
something Sig Corp
World War II
September 16, 1927 (stone says April) - September 8, 1947
I wonder what the "Casual Co" was?
Google keeps giving me Company C of the 127th Infantry and talks about a book written by Capt Paul W. Schmidt called the Story of the 32nd Division. 
I like the monogram on the side.