Coming Soon...and Random Thoughts

Redo "transformation" coming soon...

a tease of what's to come!

And please remember our fallen soldiers and those who served and are still serving who fought and are still fighting for us to win and keep the freedoms we have in this great God blessed country.
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Random Thoughts:

For those of you on PCs, which don't have a forward delete key, just simply use your function key—FN—with the delete key and you can delete forward. Macs have their own key for it, but just wanted you to know so you can use it if you wish. I use my forward delete key almost as much as the backward delete key.
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I'm appalled most times by the language we hear—not from men so much—as society seems to have become immune to them using vulgarity, but women. Where did the softness and femininity go? I hear so much come out of the youth's mouths today, young women I mean, that their vocabulary sounds like that of a brothel owner specializing in service to sailors with Tourette's Syndrome.
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That brings up another thought. Morality was a primitive concept, useful in earlier stages of societal evolution, perhaps, but without relevance in the modern age for most of the people today. I'm here to tell you: Morality is still the same as it was 6,000 years ago to God. It's the people who have changed the standards. Truth is Truth; Morality is Morality. It didn't change; we did. It saddens me deeply.
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It's amazing to me how many people don't read the sidebars. I'm trying my best to clean up my blog on the side so it won't go on forever as seen on some blogs. I'm going to be listing my favorite blogs on one of the new "Pages" blogger came up with a few months ago. I just haven't had the time yet to compose the list. But, I have a new blog for Romantic blogs and so far there have been only 18 people sign up. I think it's mostly that bloggers don't look at the sidebars much. Plus when I list an event on the sidebar that has an ending date, I delete that logo when it's over. Why keep it on there for 2 years? Just wondering.
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I've started walking on our treadmill. It's time! But I was a bit bummed the other day when I took a piece of gum Love Bunny keeps on the treadmill for himself and realized I actually could not chew gum and walk. This is true! I was almost thrown off of it.
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A Prize, A Birth and a Tribute

The winner of the Cottage Charm Giveaway of 6 paper roses is

Debbie of Debbie-Dabble

Congratulations, my sweet chick!!
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Oh, and for those of you who commented on my Pink Saturday post about the paintings, the artist is Marty Bell (she's a fantastic artist), not Thomas Kinkade. I didn't think to mention her name and didn't mean to mislead you.
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Now for the 2nd event...

Fresh from Heaven

Introducing our first great grandchild—a great granddaughter. After having gone through 9 months of trying to select a name they've decided on Caroline, probably Caroline Emperatriz. When I told Love Bunny today, he replied, "Huh? That wasn't even on the list? Where'd that come from?" Total surprise after Isabella, Violet, Natalia and numerous other names. But it's a beautiful name. I told Mandy I was going to call her Rosebud, and she said, "Nana, you can call her anything you want." Great grandmothership has its privileges. :-) I think her little mouth looked like a little rosebud in the womb. I think she's a beauty and there is absolutely no prejudice in that statement, right? :-)

Here she looks like she's smiling at her mom on the right. I'd recognize that nose and cheek anywhere! ;-)

She has light reddish brown hair just like her mom did when she was born 30 years ago. Her dad is from Guatemala and has black curly hair and he's very pale. So she's Hispanic on both sides of the family!

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I also want to take this opportunity to thank all of our military fighting men and women for the sacrifice they give for this darling little baby above and me, hubs, and the rest of the U.S. for protecting our freedom. Tears roll down my cheeks at the thought of what they endure for me. I am so grateful for them and their wives, husbands and children who allow them to do this. I can't imagine what they go through when they lose one of them. I've been fortunate that the Marines and Sailors in my life have returned. I don't think some of us realize what it is like for these families. I would gladly pay more in taxes if these men and women could pay absolutely no taxes for the years they are in the service.

I was thinking about them yesterday as we were driving to WM. Did you realize that during World War II we here in the USA couldn't even purchase candy bars or chewing gum? It was all saved for our troops. It wasn't even available, but some of the troops would send care packages back home to their families of chocolate bars. Even fruit like bananas weren't readily available either and you had to be the first one to the store when and if they happened to get them. How fortunate the people today can freely have what we sacrificed for our men and women fighting for us.

As so many of us believe today, freedom and justice and good will prevail. I know Jesus Christ is in charge here and when He comes it will be glorious beyond all imagination. I pray that day comes quickly. My tears wet my desktop this day for all the love I feel for those military men and women.
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Pink Saturday 5/29/2010

Happy Pink Saturday and congratulations to Beverly of How Sweet The Sound for hosting it for two years now. It's the 2nd anniversary of PS. I wish to thank you profusely, Beverly, for taking on this enormous task.

I visited with Tracy of Honeysuckle and HissyFits and LV of Livinatmemescorner.
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Also I want to encourage you all to visit this blog post about the new Collection of Romantic/Lifestyle Blogs I've just started. It's all about getting the word out. Visit it and read it very carefully and join if you wish.
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Okay, okay, I've been extremely busy with life, but I did want to participate because of the 2nd anniversary. So, I just thought I'd share more photos of one of my favorite artist's paintings. Aren't they romantic and serene and wonderful? How could you NOT be enchanted with these hanging on your walls?

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Oh, all right, let's see some more pretty photos I've collected over the years.

Back in the 80s when I saw this I made a topiary like this one out of dried roses so it would keep forever. I don't have it now and have no idea what I did with it. It probably got lost in our moves.

Just a sweet little cottage kitchen a man who lives here renovated. See, men DO like romantic settings also.

I have always and will continue to always love checks—the large ones!

When I saw this chair I thought I just might pass out! Another brave woman who loves pink. ;-0

This chair is the one that inspired me to get the one similar to it that is in my living room. I absolutely love this one with its red color against a yellow background. As I've said before, pink and/or red is my favorite color combination—mostly pink, but this is beautiful.

A little antiques shop in San Francisco. Sqeeeeeeeeal, look at that little lamp and that bureau. Ooooohmy!

Isn't it outstanding?

And again, happy anniversary to Beverly! Great job handling all of us. ;-)
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The Eyelash Caper

I have saved you chicks scads of money, do you realize that? I look so pathetic in some of these photos I'm almost ashamed to post them, but I'm shameless and this is a teaching moment from a GREAT GRANDMA(!) so here we go. Yes, Miss "A" arrived 5/27 at 5:15 am Pacific time. Of course pictures will follow you know!

Now, remember the mother's day present from my son and daughter-in-law—the false eyelash extensions done in California.

And then they start to come off and I looked like this. See pink arrow and also the inside of that same eye had lost some.

So I got home and tried to find someone here in Boise to do them. These are each individual eyelash extensions that get put on each lash. This procedure took about 2 hours. They do NOT look as good or lush as the ones that were in a clump and glued on to eyelashes and took less than 1/2 hour. Those looked fabulous, but can't find anyone who does them here like that. I prefer my normal lashes with mascara on them to this irregular look.

See what I mean? And you cannot curl them with an eyelash curler because it will stick and pull them off. I don't like these at all. Plus the glue used in both applications is a bit irritating. Tiny bits of it were always flaking off into the eyes. It didn't hurt, but it was irritating to me most of the time the extensions were on.

Not nearly as lush or pretty. Now, these were all black, just like the "clump" ones.

And while I'm showing you up close and very personal parts of my face, take a look at this lip gloss. I purchased it at WM. It's called NYC and is really thick and moisturing and it only costs $1.72!! I'm going back and buying every single tube of it they have. This shade is called cappucino.

Please bear in mind that I had to Photoshop a few of these because the camera was not kind. I did minimal Photoshopping though. Do NOT let those ads in magazines fool you; every single photograph is Photoshopped. Every single one!!!

So $30 for the "clump" extensions; $85 for the individual extensions, but another place in Boise wanted $200 and I was NOT willing to pay that much for something that didn't last. Make up your own mind but all-in-all, not worth the effort when my own are just fine when I put mascara on them and curl them. ;-)
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Don't Forget the Cottage Charm Giveaway

Do not forget the Cottage Charm Giveaway on 5/29, chicks. These are the exact little coffee filter roses to be awarded on that day. Six of them. All scented with Crabtree & Evelyn heirloom rose oil. Who will be the lucky one to win them? Hmmmmm???? Just comment on the Cottage Charm Giveaway Blog post here and it certainly could be you.

And, also, you might want to check out yesterday's blog or the sidebar for the announcement.

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Redoing Some Old Lamps and Something New Coming!

First of all, let me just tell you that I have a bit of news that I hope you'll enjoy. I've been setting things up the last week or so to do a blog where there is nothing but a list of lifestyle bloggers: romantic, country, shabby, chic, gardening (because what is more romantic than flowers?!) whatever—just so it's more about lifestyle than anything else. It's just links so it's not hard to do or to keep up because I can't keep up much more than I'm doing right now!

When you go over and see the logo, you'll see some absolutely stunning roses on the logo that are by Ronda Juniper Ray, who graciously and enthusiasticly gave me permission to use any rose I wanted in the making of the logo and also sent me the original photos to use in my PhotoShop. She's a dear and another Mac user. ;-) She's also a fantastic artist. When you go to the blog and see the logo, you'll see her roses; these in this little button are MY roses. Pathetic, but I did paint them. Do not get the two mixed up; it wouldn't be fair to Ronda. ;-)
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I bought these lamps several years ago when we were thinking of moving here to this house. I think I bought them at Home Depot. They are extremely heavy for lamps and the shades were a kind of "pull up" kind in the box. In other words, they were flat in the box and we had to lift them from the bottom up to the top of the shade and secure it. When we did that we realized that when the lights were on you could see they weren't on properly or evenly. I kept them like that with the intention of fixing them someday. I tried and tried but they wouldn't align properly—the wire showed through and no amount of tugging and pulling would get them in proper alignment. But we absolutely loved the lamps, even Love Bunny. They truly made a dramatic statement and he even agreed, which is no small feat, trust me! I even tried finding new lampshades but these are so big I couldn't find anything as big even in the best lamp stores in Boise. So I kept them and just recently decided what I could do.

I bought some braided gimp trim and put it over the shade where the cloth met the wire of the shade form. I had to put 2 strips about 15 1/2" long down each one, and there were 8 "ribs" on each shade. It took about 13 - 14 yards to do it but I was thrilled that the ribs don't show now when the lamps are lit at night.

I then added some white lace around the top, an organza bow, some faux pearls and some pink paper roses to the top. The roses around the bottom were already on it so I had to work around them, but I love how they look now. What think you, chicks?

Full photo of the lamps and the ambiance they bring into our home at night. It's almost a magical place.

Full photo of lamp during the day. This photo was taken before I added extra pearls to it later in the day.

Closeups of each shade with light off and light on.

And if Mum, my sweet adopted mother in Texas, is reading this then here are some smooches for ya, Southern Belle. I spent a great deal of my childhood in Orange, Texas and I can do a wonderful southern belle impression that would astound you! LOL This is true!!
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Porches #1

Obviously I love porches as do most of you, and I'm going to share some photos from a book I've had for many years. Porches are not limited to the quintessential one with white porch railings; they come in many sizes as well as styles. Any one of which I'd love to have but I do have a favorite of course.

Brick home. White railing. Covered. Inviting seating. Yuuummm...

Flowers on display. White slatted blinds. Wonderful wicker table and chairs. Antique bench.

This is probably out here in the west somewhere, but it is stunningly beautiful even if it is a bit off the beaten path of porches.

Hammock. White floor boards with a rug. Roses and flowers on a wicker table. Roll up blinds.

Aaaaah, the seashore and most likely a beach for walking on.

Mountain view. Lake. Adirondack chairs. Stately columns on a round porch. Boat house. Lush lawn.

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Pink Saturday 5/22/2010

Happy pink saturday and a special thank you to Beverly of How Sweet The Sound for reminding me of PS. I've been a bit lax and ditzy recently so I'm gonna blame it on th' trip to California and getting back into the swing of things. DUH!!

This past week I visited Kathy of Life in the Slow Lane and Elaine at At Home with Elaine. Thank you. And this is NOT a trend, chicks!
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Okay, so it ain't all pink; adjust!

I have some photos from an old magazine that I've scanned to show you some darling rooms. This one is a beach type bathroom in a startling shade of green. (I said adjust!)

A little girl's bathroom with murals and lots of faux painting.

Even a little quilt is painted above the tub. Isn't it darling?

No fabric curtains needed; just paint them on. Clever, est il pas?

Another bath just as adorable with the two children of the house painted on the ceiling as if they were looking down into the room.

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And although I'm tag and award free, I can be a sucker for a pretty face! :-) So I promised Sherry from Alabama over on her blog that I'd accept her sweet award.
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I found this "getting to know you" over on Lara's blog and thought that it was kind of cute and kind of interesting so I'm participating. Visit her blog to learn more about it.

1. The most expensive thing hanging in my closet is.....?
Surely you jest. There isn't one thing in my closet over $50 now. I go for cheap usually since moving to Idaho, where "dressed up" is a crease in your jeans!



2. Have you ever played a team sport?
Nuuuuuu, and never want to. I don't want to break a nail or get my eyelashes dirty.



3. If you were a bug, what kind would you be?
I really don't want to be a bug since everyone is always trying to kill you, but if I had to choose I think ladybug would be nice, although, I'd prefer a red or pink shell instead of orange. ;-)



4. Where on your body is the worst place to get sunburned?
My face, definitely. It causes wrinkles and I've got all I ever want to have now.



5. Are you happy?
I'm so happy people think I'm clueless! What's there to be unhappy about anyway? I smile and jest with people. Why, just a couple of weeks ago in Barnes and Noble an employee in the ladies room told me she liked my very bright pink t-shirt. I told her my whole world is pink because it's my favorite color. She replied that I must be happy. I said, "You betcha, sweetpea!" I think I made her day. I'm always smiling.



6. People are always abbreviating..are there any abbreviations that make your skin crawl when people use them?
It isn't exactly an abbreviation but I can't stand it when people say "no problem." The proper response is "thank you" not "no problem." But I think an abbreviation that is overused is TTYL. Don't like that either. I usually say "goodbye" to a person. Much better.



7. Do you love where you live..or could you live anywhere?
I absolutely love where I live—Idaho. Just wonderful living here. Seattle area would be a good choice if I could afford it, but Idaho is a great place to live.



8. What, if any, extreme measures do you go to to keep yourself from overeating when you're full?
I don't do anything. I usually know my limit and stop. There are times when I overindulge and regret it though. Miserable when that happens.
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