LITTLE BITS OF CHARLEY

Today I found a small hairclip in the recessed handle of my upstairs dresser as I went to open a drawer. My Charley put it there on her last visit. For the past year when Darrin & Charley stay with us, we find all sorts of pleasant little reminders in various places around the house.

I have tons of old costume jewelry in a big box on my dresser. The huge majority of it I never wear so it has become Charley's "treasure" chest. For years she has known she can play with all of it. Necklaces & Mardi Gras beads are hung over every doorknob, every handle & every place that something can be hung. My straw hat that rests on a small table upstairs is adorned with a beaded necklace & an earring hung through the brim.

The most fun are the surprises. A few weeks ago, I was dusting the top of our huge king size headboard upstairs. It has a mirror behind it & cupboards on the sides. In order to dust the top I have to stand on the bed. To my delight, I discovered a bright pink feather from her boa & a bracelet perched on top of the headboard!

Following a previous visit, I noticed my old watch laying on the edge of the stand that holds our world globe. The globe resides on the landing halfway down the stairs where they change direction. Every time I walked down the stairs I noticed the watch & smiled. After several days Lou asked, "Did you know Charley put your watch on the globe?" I grinned & replied, "Yep, makes me feel all warm & fuzzy every time I see it." I didn't move it until a few days before her next visit.

Our downstairs bathroom has a jungle type theme. On top of the toilet tank I have three small animal print votive candles. I normally arrange them in a single level triangle. Every time Charley is here she stacks them on top of each other. They stay that way for days or sometimes weeks - again, always bringing a smile to my face each time I see them.

There is also a small leopard print decorative box on top of the toilet. The lid flips open & inside I have a couple of plastic bugs. The story behind the bugs is that many years ago, Lou & I stayed in a castle hotel in Wales. There was a huge tower with turrets & a tall spiral staircase that guests could explore. A few tiny bedrooms were passed on the way up. Finally there was another small room with a bed, table & lamp at the very top. The bed was made but turned back as if it was ready for someone to climb in. Being nosey, I pulled the covers back a little & squealed when it revealed a giant plastic spider!

It must be human nature to look into or under things so I bought the bugs to good-naturedly startle people who might peek into the little box. Charley knows they are in there but rarely plays with them. A couple hours after they left, I observed the two plastic bugs relaxing on top of the box. They will likely remain there for several more weeks.

My dad still has necklaces, beads & rubber bands hanging off of his exercise bike & has no plans to move them anytime soon. He has an old small straw broom which now has multi-colored pipe cleaners sticking out all over it. That, too, will stay put. It really is an interesting piece of "Charley art". He has the same feeling as I do - that they make it seem just a little bit more like our Charley is close by.

We put up my dad's four foot artificial Christmas tree & decorations with Charley last week. She really wanted to do the decorating so we let her put the ornaments & candy canes on the tree all by herself. I showed her how to stand back to see where she needed to put another ornament. She was thrilled to be completely in charge of the decorating pointing out that she had never decorated a Christmas tree all by herself.

Sure, the ornaments aren't spaced evenly & there aren't any at all on the back - the candy canes seem to be lumped together near the bottom within easy reach. But it is the most beautifully decorated tree I have every seen! We were all in agreement that we wouldn't change a single thing since our Charley was the sole designer. She will be back on December 29th & we are having what her daddy has dubbed "Second Christmas" with all our presents under her perfectly decorated Christmas tree!