Pink Saturday 1/8/2011—Something I Couldn't Live Without

Welcome to Pink Saturday. To view all the participants visit Beverly of How Sweet The Sound.
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I spotted this darling little clock on Linda's blog site recently and decided it was something I couldn't live without. No, not really, we just needed another clock in this house with an alarm to remind me of pill taking. Noooo, nothing serious, just my usual pills I take at night. This happens when you age, ya know. ;-)

This sweet shopkeeper and blogger also included this for me. Squeeeeeal! A crown key chain. What a sweetheart!

And this also. All the way from Australia.

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Expectations for 2011

The blogs have been very quiet for the past few weeks so I'm giving a heads-up to some of you who haven't checked out the giveaway here. You probably won't want to miss it. ;-)
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I am not a goal setter in the formal sense of the word. It's too hard for me to figure out goals. I more or less have certain expectations for myself. Call it what you want but I call them expectations. I don't believe in resolutions set for a New Year because the average length of such resolutions is perhaps maybe 2 weeks. I'm no different from the rest of the world; I get distracted by things going on around me in life. So I never set lofty expectations because I'm realistic and also because I'm pretty simple in what makes me happy: a loving relationship with my hubby and the Lord. (I'm working on both, by the way!) But I'll tell you about some things I believe are important—at least for me in this coming year.

But first, I thought these vintage roosters/chickens were just adorable and wanted to share them with you. Like me, a lot of you are fans of majestic roosters/chickens and these are certainly majestic in my opinion.

I'll do my best to view things differently than I have before, like looking through this archway and seeing things I may not have caught on first glimpse. I must have looked at this picture and those chairs 5 times before I noticed they had straw seats. I only noticed the cushions. And then while composing this post I noticed light casting its rays on the back wall. Then the enfilade of this home.

To see things to use in a different way from their original purpose.

To write more letters to some people I admire. This is a very high priority for me to do this year as I've found some wonderful people I admire. Some new authors especially have brought me much pleasure from their books.

To look out the windows more often and take walks on the greenbelt near our home.

To be of more service to people who need me and help my community more. To be more patriotic and encourage others to be more patriotic also.

To eat on our back patio more this year and enjoy being outside. This is truly a great pleasure.

To spend more time on my front porch reading than sitting in my home reading. I think the fresh air is important!

To take even more pleasure in the simple things around me. I know, I know, we all say that, but I truly mean it. It isn't the grand stuff for which I lust, it's simple things. I don't need a lot of money or things to be happy. That's an illusion most people fall into I think. But also to get rid of even more clutter in my home. Last year was a good start but it's not over yet. I'm not going to turn into a minimalist but I sure am going to get rid of a lot of stuff around here. It just isn't necessary to make me happy anymore.

To be more proactive in our garden this year. I'm a horrid gardener. I'll try to improve on that.

To spend more time with hubby without nagging him. This is a huge challenge for me. I am by nature a nagger.

To bring more roses to the world. By this I mean being cheerier and glowing and being a good example to others. I am also judgmental by nature. I'll pray for help and guidance to see the hearts of people, not just their actions and outward appearance and to love them much more than I do now. This is the biggest challenge for me.

And if more roses just happen to fine their way into my home so much the better. ;-)

Happy New Year to all of you and may your year be as blessed as last year was for us. I am truly a blessed chick!
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Starting Off the New Year With A Bang or...

If 2010 wasn't a very good year—and personally, I think it was a wonderful year for us with our first great grandchild—I hope this year will bring you blessings beyond measure.

I certainly try not to bore in my blog. But being a realist, I'm sure some of you are. Sorry about that, but I can't always be humorous, witty, of good cheer, funny and your ONLY entertainment. But first things first. And when I tell you to keep reading or to watch out for something or that something is coming I think you'll like, then you had better listen up. (This is for my new readers. My OLD readers KNOW my surprises!) And, yes, I ramble. A lot. ;-)
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Just a couple of pix of Caroline. These are among my favorites. Please don't be bored with pix of great granddaughter; there is more to come so keep reading.

The photo on the bottom right is one of my favorites. She's getting her first bath and isn't quite sure what to make of it and looks as if she's saying to her mummy: "Do I have to take one every single day for the rest of my life?! I'm just not too sure about these baths." I'm sure it was a traumatic experience for her!

The one with her kitties—bottom middle—is another favorite. She loves her kitties. They walk past her now and she grabs onto them with both hands and pulls them to her mouth much to their dismay. The top second from left is one taken in my bedroom when she visited us for her baby blessing in church.
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Next is this. I received this mouse pad from a woman in my eBay group called Pretty Romantic Homes. She made each one of us in the group one for Christmas. I was astounded that she would think of this, but she is such a kind and sweet person and is always thinking of others. It has all of our names on it.
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Remember this post here when I made this. I decided since it didn't sell that I would do a Giveaway. It's been a long time since I've done one, and I thought that doing one at the beginning of this new year would make someone happy. ;-) So leave a comment. I'm not going to be like those people that say you have to put it on your blog or do several different things for more chances. Just leave a comment and you have a chance to win it. It's truly that simple. And I want to thank every single one of you who follow me and who leave comments. I love each and every one. Thank YOU! I'll draw the winning name on Thursday, January 6th, in the afternoon so be sure and check it out. And if you think someone else would enjoy looking at my blog, then tell them. I'm always happy and upbeat and that can make a difference in someone's life, chicks.

Another view.

A closeup of the tree.

This is perched here for safekeeping for the moment.
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Black, White & Chartreuse for Pink Saturday 1/1/11

It's another Pink Saturday with Beverly of How Sweet The Sound. Click on the logo below to visit all this week's participants.

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I know this is a busy day or maybe just a lazy day for sleeping in but I thought I'd show you more of my favorite rooms from Ethan Allen.

Essence of a French garret. Ooo la la.

Beautiful black and white.

More red and yellow with a bit of black and white thrown in.

Chartreuse! I just love this room color, very bold and beautiful and very elegant.

And the matching bedroom.

The colors in this room remind me of my mother because her favorite colors were orange and green. She would have loved this room I think.

I like this sofa but the room is a bit too modern for my taste. Remember, I grew up with MODERN when it was original in the 50s. I hated it then and still don't like it.

This would make a cute family room for a country house. Just showin' ya some ideas, chicks. Much more to come in the New Year.

And just some beautiful roses boxes I have on my plant shelf. I don't like plant shelves but I'm stuck with them in this house so I must grow to like them. These little boxes were purchased back in the 80s however and go perfectly up there.








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Kitchen Cabinets Knobs

The kitchen cabinets are needing more pizzazz. Why, you ask, would I be so concerned about them when I would eat every meal out if I could because I hate cooking anymore? Because I'm a woman, that's why. At a certain age, we would prefer to eat out, being lazy in our older years. I know there are women who just love to cook for their families for the big holidays. I ain't one of them! I'm sure there's a self-help group somewhere for them. I'll look into it if requested!

So, I decided to use some decals I made a couple of years ago of my own pathetic little rose. I think I used the wrong sealer and they sort of crackled. I did the top cabinets—all 9 of them—trying to convince myself they would be just fine once they set and dried. NO luck! Never fear; I am never without decals in this house, purchased or made by me.

So I took them off and replaced them with some I had in my stash of decals. I like these much better.

Here are a few different angles so you can see them better. It's difficult photographing them up this close with the flash, but I get much better photos with my flash than without when inside this house.

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Random Thoughts:

We have 2 kids—a daughter and a son. They were born 11 1/2 months apart. Hubby had her potty trained and broken from the bottle while I was in the hospital having Keith. Yes, you can believe that; she was potty trained at 11 1/2 months.

While giving birth to Keith I almost died, but I didn't realize he didn't know this until this year when I mentioned it while we were all together for the blessing of Caroline, our newest addition to the family. It was just a casual mentioning of being in the hospital for 11 days and not seeing him for 9 days because of how sick I was. He was shocked. I never thought much of it and just never mentioned it to him I suppose. I had uremic poisoning.

But this isn't about the birth of him; it's about how I don't usually talk about one kid to the other. It's just how it's been in this family. Hubby and I keep our counsel to ourselves about our kids. But to think I'd never let our son know how sick I was when having him was a bit surprising even to me. I just don't pit one against the other. They're both mine and loved equally.
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Recently I read where the government is mandating work places be given rooms for mothers to breast feed their babies. I think having a private "mother's lounge" would be fine, but does that mean the child is in the building and readily available? Let me tell you about my niece.

M works for a think tank in Washington, D.C. They are providing a room where mothers can pump into a tube that goes down to the nursery through the walls (not hand carrying!) and is available for the child. No contact with the child, just some person puts it into a bottle for him and he eats. What is this world coming to when mothers won't stay home to be with their infants and give them the personal attention they deserve? I was just astounded at this revelation. Institutionalized babies. Horrible. Human beings are a precious resource!
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Pennies are made at the rate of 1,000 a second. The U.S. mint took more than 2 years to produce its first million coins, but today can make that many in 45 minutes.
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The greed of today.
We talk all about the greedy evil bankers but they wouldn't have been paid all those millions if we hadn't been willing to buy the fantasy they were selling. So don't blame them; blame the people who were so greedy they thought they could buy anything they wanted. All of this got worse when we were willing to believe all that popular culture was feeding our desire for more and more stuff. It's one thing to see sports and movie stars in their mansions in a rarified world and we thought if they have it I should be able to have it. We bought that we felt we were entitled to. We thought we could buy what we wanted. This caused our values to change. Things don't matter; people do. And that's just one of the reasons we're in this situation today.
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I hear people regularly say they have issues with something. It's not an issue; it's a problem or opinion. Calling it an issue tries to give it a "lofty" feeling. Call a spade a spade here and get over it.
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To see the condition of the human heart, you must look first to where scientists will not admit to looking at all. It's that simple. ;-)
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