Morning in the Garden

I spotted something on the back patio recently and thought it would make a great photo. So this morning after hubby left I tracked out there barefoot—my usual mode of foot attire—and just took in the wonders of the garden, so to speak. This little sign hangs on the back of the house near our vegetable garden.

This little flower pot needs another coat of paint but I like it like this so I'll leave it alone. The little hanging candle holder I fashioned from an old canning jar was taken down from the top of the patio recently to give it a good scrub or something like that and I've yet to hang it back up.

We bought these grapes last year to train them to go over a trellis we bought about 3 years ago. The name of the grape is Himrod and they are the sweetest grapes I've ever eaten. Delicious! Love Bunny brought me in a bunch of them last night and I had the whole bunch almost eaten when I spied a bug on my pant leg and then another one on the arm of my chair. He hadn't washed them and I wondered just how many bugs I ate before I noticed those two. I feel like something is crawling on me as I type this post. ;-) I'd like to say I was aiming for an artistic photo of the leaves, but truthfully I was aiming for the grapes but this turned out even better than I'd hoped. So see, mistakes can be nice after all.

Same here. ;-)

Ahhhhh, now we've got it! Luscious grapes.

Just my view of the trellis from where I was standing. You can see my neighbor's tree in the middle of the background.

Maybe I'm on my way to be a vintner, huh?

My footprints as I was heading into the house. It truly was quiet and beautiful out there in the morning with the dew lapping over my feet. Quiet and cool.

UH!! Now, how did Caroline get in here? LOL This is your eye candy for this morning. She's wearing a dress her great grandma wore almost 70 years ago. ME!

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Hydrangeas

I'm doing something just a tad different in our family room entrance so I brought a mosaic from the entrance to the family room to the entrance to the house. Ever changing, as I've said before.

I had to show you the hydrangeas and roses once more. I thought they had finished blooming but not so. They were planted a couple of years ago and didn't really take off well until this year. Each year they keep getting bigger and bigger like those we had in California. They struggle but I do believe they'll bloom in abundance in the next couple of years. Isn't this bloom gorgeous?

This one on the other side of the plant is withering slowly—playing out its existence for the year.

See how much thicker it's getting.

Again, the opposite side is dying its natural death.

And the roses. I didn't think this bush had that much left in it after Love Bunny's severe pruning thinking that the season was over for it, but I was wrong. (Yeah, let LB know I was wrong! He'd croak for sure.) :-)

Another bush has burst forth in all its glory also. We are truly blessed this year with roses.

And the hostas and day lily are flowering also.

Would you just look at how wonderful God is to bless us so abundantly with this marvelous garden area.

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Porches #4

Fall in the woods with the leaves changing color and the American flag add a touch of nostalgia to this lovely porch.

A beautiful farmhouse like this could be anywhere in the midwest. Starched curtains hanging in the windows. White with touches of black and red just grip my heart here.

There's a trend toward this sort of home in the southeast vacation places. While I can surely appreciate its beauty, it isn't a style with which I'm particularly fond. Very stark and clean looking.

The typical farmhouse found in just about any area, state or county in America. I know many women who would absolutely give up anything they could for a place like this.

I could spend summer mornings and evenings on this cute porch. I like the circular shape and the woodland view. But the wicker really captures my heart.

Mid America? Western America? Northern America? With the basement window barely visible I'm guessing it definitely isn't California!

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Curtains I Love for Pink Saturday 8/28/2010

Happy Pink Saturday! Please visit Beverly and the other participants by clicking on the logo below:



This past saturday I visited with Ineke at Ineke Original so pay her a visit. Delightful blogger.
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There is a celebration of life going on over at Kelee's blog for Colette who has survived cancer. It's a wonderful story of faith and life. But I also have a personal story to tell you.
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Hubs and I were married and started our family immediately. We had a daughter within 11 months and our son came along 11 1/2 months after her. When I started in labor with him I went in to the doctor at the military hospital in Oceanside, Calif. twice and got sent home. The 3rd time they knew I was in trouble. There were about 9 doctors in that examining room poking everywhere they could. Finally, they could see I was in trouble. They looked at my fingernails and knew I was dehydrated and then found out I had uremic poisoning and my kidneys were hurting pretty badly. (Later we found out I have medullary sponge kidney, which means I have stones TNTC (too numerous to count) and have passed 14 so far in my life.)

Anyway, they admitted me and I was pretty much out of it but Keith has born within a day and they whisked him out of there before I could hold him. I was alone and in very bad shape for about a week. Then on the 8th day I saw this bright light in my room. So bright I couldn't figure out how I could look at it because it was brighter than the sun. It was a sort of tunnel of light beckoning to me but I knew I was "not going", that I needed to be here. I later learned the doctors all told hubby to come and say goodbye to me for the last time because I was so sick I wasn't going to make it. Hubby told me he just sat in our home and cried and cried with our 11 month old daughter. But that day I knew I was going to get better. I tried calling the nurse because I wanted a drink. I was thirsty beyond belief because I was just getting IVs for all the time. Finally at the 9th day they let me walk down to see my son. He was in an incubator with no diaper because of all the antibiotics he and I were given, his diaper area was a mass of sores. When we took him home on the 11th day we couldn't put a diaper on him. Just let him lay on top of the cloth diaper.

Now, I wasn't religious at all at that time but something like that spiritual experience got me to believe in my heart that I'd live a long time. I really was looking beyond the veil that day into the next life. I absolutely know that now without any equivocation. Our son was just fine after that except for an episode of convulsions at about 2 than ended after a couple of months. He's perfectly normal now and a good son.

When he was attacked in April of 2009 we were devastated but we KNEW he would survive the beatings and trauma. I just never wondered about it because I believe God gave me the peace to know he would be fine. Prayer does work and also the father's blessings my husband—his father—gave him. He's pretty much healed from the beating they inflicted on him for trying to rescue that girl from them at the gas station. I trust God to take care of my kids and grandkids and me and hubs. Yep, prayer does work. We're a religious Christian family who attend church every sunday and try to live a holy life.
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I have a short story to tell about this fabric, so bear with me.

For one thing, they are sheets—Fieldcrest called Cassandra. I spotted them over 20 years ago in our local Macy's store in California. I loved the fabric and bought several sheets that day simply because of the fabric. (This is probably my all-time favorite fabric. When something grabs at your heart like this, you never want to see it disappear.) I wanted more, but when I went back another day there were no more sheets. BUT standing in line was a woman with some of those sheets in her arms, and I found out she was returning them! Oh be still my heart. I told her I wanted them. So the saleswoman took them, gave her credit and turned right around and sold them to me. I thought I was in heaven for sure that day. One moment sadness and the next moment extreme joy! But I later thought about having even more of them for a stash of fabric in the most beautiful print I'd ever seen. So I called around to other Macy's in our local area but no one had any.

Then one day as Love Bunny and I were traveling over past Sacramento to someplace forgotten in my memory at this point in time, I decided to stop at Gottschalks north of Sacramento in Auburn. Just happened that they had more Cassandra sheets. I bought a couple of sheets there as I thought I'd probably have my "lifetime supply" at that point.

I made some pillows and curtains for our home in California. But when we got to Idaho I wanted some more curtains in our first Idaho home. We had 7 huge windows in our living room. They were about 6' high. That living room was about 20' x 26'. I loved it being so large. So I made 4 pairs to frame the banks of windows on each wall. One wall had 3 windows and the front wall had 4 windows with just a few inches in between the windows so I couldn't—and actually, didn't want to—frame each individual window. And because I had bought all those extra sheets I could do it.

So now how did these sheets look in the first Idaho house? Let me show you. But first be forewarned: these are NOT digital photos and I was absolutely the worst photographer there ever was with a regular old camera. This is not stated to get a 'oh, no, you weren't.' I take full responsibility for these pathetic photos, but they are all I have of this house. Betcha didn't know digital cameras didn't always exist, huh? And these are scans of bad photos to begin with so you see how horrid they are.

It was a wonderfully large room to decorate and as I look back I see how pathetic I was 20 years ago. I even covered a chair with the sheet I loved so much. The chair on the right by the window and the same one in the foreground is a Baker chair that has seen 3 different fabrics on its self. It is such an expensive and well made chair I've been able to do that. It pays to buy good furniture. Trust me on this.

I did these pillows in California and brought them with us to Idaho and just loved flopping them on this old sofa. That sofa today would be 38 years old. When we bought it, it was avocado striped green velvet. (See how we all make mistakes when we're young?!) It was then recovered in burgundy as seen here and everyone just loved it. I actually gave it away to a young couple and since I take excellent care of my stuff, it looked brand new when they got it. They were thrilled.

So why talk about them? Well, hubs was up in the attic again yesterday and found this box of 4 curtains left. I'm going to sell 2 of them, but I'm keeping one set of 2 for who-knows-where in the house. I just cannot see myself parting with this fabric. They are still as crisp as the day I bought them. I've never washed them, just threw them in the dryer to be dusted off when needed. They look and feel like new. I'm a bit sad selling even one pair but I know I'll never use 2 pairs in this house since it is our last house to occupy. You'll see them on eBay probably very soon. ;-)
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Froufrou Friday #4 8/27/2010

Inspiration finally struck.

Remember this post here? Well, Love Bunny dragged me off to the wilds again so I had to wait until we got back to do something with these tin pots. I decoupaged them with some old flowers decoupage I've had for years and then added a little clay rose I made. Add a bow and voilà, how vintage shabby french cottage can we get here?!

I just have to make some more roses for the other pot and decide where they'll go in this house. I'm quickly running out of space!

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Painted White and Some Random Thoughts

I bought these in June but didn't know what I was going to do with them, but that hasn't ever stopped me yet, and they were a fantastic steal. Squeeeeeal! They are both metal but the small one was tin colored and the large one was a coppery color. I painted them both white and am waiting to receive inspiration.

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Random Thoughts:

When we go camping, to look at me is to see the definition of boredom. Luckily, Love Bunny has purchased a camping oven for me. Squeeeeeal!! Now I can take some clay to make little roses for crafting. He does love me so!!!
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Several months ago on a trip to Washington to visit our granddaughter we were listening to the local radio station in La Grande, Oregon, about a woman in Oregon begging/panhandling for college tuition by the side of the road. Has she never heard of work?! A new concept, perhaps, for her. She can't get a loan and family gave her as much as they can. Lazy! You want an education, then find a way to pay for it, not beg. Work for it; don't beg for someone else to pay for it.
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Mothers remain unshakably convinced of their babies being gorgeous or breathtakingly beautiful even if she lives to be 100 years old and her child has been harrowed by 8 hard decades of gravity and experience. She will also believe that her baby is smarter than other babies. Sadly, time and the child's choices in life usually require her to adjust her opinion on intelligence as she never will in the matter of physical beauty.
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Bugs, spiders, birds, etc. will NOT nest on blue. So if you paint the ceilings blue (I use a faint Wedgwood color.) it keeps them away. Great when you have high ceilings, and yes, this works (oh you have an occasional probably colorblind subject, but it does work!!! I just thought I'd share this with you... HUGS, Donna... [This is from a fellow blogger I thought I'd share with you.]
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Why do some people not follow the covenant they make in marriage that says for better or worse? I've had friends and acquaintances whose spouses left them when they've contracted a serious illness. It breaks my heart to hear of such things, but I know personally of situations where it has. I know Love Bunny would never abandon me if that happened. I certainly wouldn't consider it if he were struck with a serious illness. What is the matter with some people? Does for better or worse mean just until the going gets rough to some people? It's a covenant you make with God. To some, it is meaningless and that's truly a shame that they can abandon someone so easily.
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Picnic at The Park

Okay, enough of the banners already!! I'm tired of showing them as much as you're probably tired of seeing them. Anyway, while I'll probably still make them for some giveaways, I'll try not to show them unless they ARE giveaways. So I'd stay tuned if I were you, chicks! Just a little eye candy of the cupcakes that turned out better than the first batch. I absolutely looooove doing them. Very fun and relaxing for me. I always have to be doing something or I get fidgety.

So now for a little update from this past weekend.
Love Bunny and I, actually I, decided to take a saturday and go to a local lake just a few country miles from us. It's called Deer Flats Park at Lake Lowell and it's very shaded in this hot desert. The lake wasn't crowded at all.

We ran to the post office and store to pick up some potato salad and then picked up some sandwiches at Subway. We got there and laid on a blanket under some trees while eating lunch. As we were ready to leave and go to our car in the car park, which was dirt and gravel, there were stanchions with a thick cable to prevent cars from driving on the grass. I'm not very tall and lifted my leg to go over the lowest part of the thick cable. I had my drink in right hand, my purse over my left shoulder and the blanket under my right arm. I told Love Bunny no problem; I didn't need his help by holding my hand. Then things went awry and got hazy from there.

My foot got caught on the thick cable. I quickly grabbed it with my right hand, lost footing and did a 180° over the cable and landed on my back in the dirt and gravel. Hubs quickly asked if I was all right. I quickly asked if anyone saw it. He said, "Only the guy in the car next to us." I started laughing and couldn't stop. I asked him for a hand up and was just a bit dazed. My pocket recorder, which is always in my pocket, fell out and I dropped the blanket but I didn't lose a drop of my soda. Whew! But I couldn't stop laughing at how a 70 year old chick must look sprawled out in the parking lot of the park. Trust me when I say it wasn't a pretty sight. LB later told me I looked graceful in the execution of the flip and if I were an Olympic gymnast he would have given me an 8.75 score. Yep, he actually said that.

My left leg near my buttocks was aching pretty badly, my right knee and right hand had a "road rash" and the front of my foot at my ankle must had scraped some gravel because they all hurt. I didn't have any ice in the house because we don't use ice unless the kids come to visit because I keep cold water, juice and sodas in the fridge at all times, so I had to use a bag of frozen vacuum-sealed corn on my bottom.

It is now monday morning and I'm still in pain, but I AM fine. I never thought a fall could hurt so much.
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For A Special Blogger and Some Random Thoughts

I've done another one. I think it's the one that will go to a special person.

Back is still pretty enough to be the front part if wanted or can hang it in a doorway and both sides be displayed prettily.

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Random Thoughts:

I cannot abide stupidity but ignorance can be tolerated to some degree because we're all ignorant to at least some degree.

But when I read recently that Stephen Hawking, who is a theoretical physicist said we need to abandon earth I just about lost it. He is an example of how extremely bright, talented men and women can be led astray without the gospel in their lives. Abandon earth?! What in the world does he suppose it's here for? Just shows you how stupid AND ignorant even bright people can be! Puhleeeeeeze.
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When hubs calls me Connie I almost want to psyche up. Now where is that pepper spray? Sigh.
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To calm myself I eat a candy bar. NOTHING works like chocolate and/or sugar.
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God tries to teach us the great virtue of patience by refusing to show Himself in this world.
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All time is eternally present, leading inexorably to an end that we believe results from our actions but over which our control is mere illusion.
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We have the RIGHT to life, liberty and the PURSUIT of happiness. That's it, so get over it!
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