Hubs and His Vegetable Garden

My hubs was the best catch of the day when we met 51+ years ago. It's been quite a journey for us, probably more trying for him than me. Hah! He would never say that but it gets a bit crazy living with a compulsive person. Me, not him. He's quite easy going. I like everything organized just so in my house. He doesn't care what I do except I'd better not touch his train room. I rarely ever go out there.

But his garden is his pride and joy, both the flowers and the vegetables. He can grow tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers like crazy and therein lies the tale.

I don't can anymore. I hate it. It's too hard and time consuming and isn't worth it for two people. I can buy it cheaper at the stores without all the work. I got rid of my canners and jars about 5 years ago and haven't looked back. I did keep my dryer because we like to keep our granddaughter and great granddaughter in dried fruit. Plus it's not hard to do it.

But we can't eat the tomatoes and cukes fast enough around here. They just keep multiplying like crazy. I'll make a cuke and tomato salad, or just slice them and put them on a plate to eat. Or he'll make tomato sandwiches or we'll have them in a salad. OR we'll give bags of them to the neighbors. I'm sick of cucumbers and tomatoes. But he'll bring in a bag full and put them in the fridge. They will "disappear" every day or two until they're gone. He doesn't even seem to notice, which is good. I'll just leave them on the counter for a day or two, then put them in the fridge for a day or two while taking several out and throwing them in the garbage. It's gotten so no one wants any more vegetables from us! But the truly funny thing is that he doesn't notice at all. ;-) I think I have some rotting in there as I'm typing this post. They'll be gone tomorrow! ;-)
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I think this is a very pretty room. Nicely arranged and pretty colors.

While this is a lovely room, that side table is what caught my eye before that gorgeous bay window. Lovely and elegant while romantic and liveable.

Another bedspread from the same place I bought my ruffled quilt. It's gorgeous also.

Just some pretty embroidered pillows and a decorated box.

This wallpaper reminds me of the 1990s and the plates on the wall also but still gorgeous.

I'm sure this is something Rachel Ashwell came up with but isn't it adorable and wouldn't it be fun to have in a bedroom?

Some happy hats to make you smile. :-)

A bold color on an old French building. Love the color!

What an outdoor room! Frankly, I don't see how people keep white so clean though. In our desert, they'd look filthy all the time. Winds blowing the sand and dirt from nearby farm fields would destroy them within a couple of years at the most.

Truly eye candy. ;-) Gorgeous.

Another beautiful bottle.

A sweet card.

An adorable kitchen but I love the bright red touches. Could that be red chalk paint?

This wouldn't have to be for a wedding but could be for a fancy luncheon for friends.

Aaaaahhh, the luxury of windows to the world such as these. Beautiful.

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A Prepared People

This is an extra post as I usually try to keep it at every 2 days but some important things need to be said here after what happened recently. If you're of a mind to, please refer people to this post—friends, neighbors, etc. It truly can save lives and is very important.

I've sadly been thinking about the devastation in New York and New Jersey lately and how it could have been better for the people there. I'm definitely not judging and I mean that as I'm a very soft-hearted person. I do believe that if they had done as their leaders had advised, their circumstances might have been better. When Katrina struck, the LDS Church was working before it even hit landfall. Salt Lake City had trucks at the borders of the states affected waiting to be given the word that they could go in. Trucks of food, water, clothing and essentials. We're a prepared people.

We, as Mormons, are told to have a three day emergency kit available, water storage, and a year's supply of food and essential items. Now, not all listen and obey but hubs and I do our best to do what we are told. But I'm going to reference a couple of articles and for those interested you can do what you want with it, but this is how The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints works.

First, at the lowest level are the wards. A ward has about 250-300 people living within neighborhoods or close proximity to each other. Then we have Stakes. A stake may be about 2,000 people, usually within a city. Then we have areas, which are within several cities close to each other and it goes up from there. We try to help each other, especially when a catastrophe happens. At the lowest level, we have a bishop and he has counselors and men within the ward who are his "helpers" and or advisors. (Let me say here that this is their calling in the Church, not their job. Our current bishop is a pediatrician.) He gets paid absolutely nothing for doing anything in the Church. Not one of us does. It is all volunteer work we refer to as "callings". Each organization in that ward is responsible for a group of people. This article and this article will reference the Teton Dam break in 1976 and through the Church's system of helping, only one person lost his life. No one went without the basic essentials of life for even one day—food, water, clothing—because we were prepared. We had tractors to help, short wave radios, food, clothing, water stored and people who helped. Most lost their homes but the local college opened it up to all those families who were left homeless. That's what happens when you have good organization and don't depend on the government for help. They really can't help as evidenced by Katrina and this hurricane last week, Sandy. But if you don't listen to the people who tell you to get out,  you're in trouble. I feel so sad over those who lost their children, one woman in particular I read about whose 2 little toddlers were swept from her arms and found hours later drowned. I truly am devastated for that family. I can only imagine how the mummy and dada felt. No one wants to experience that. I cried when I read about those two little boys.

We had a flood in the small town we first lived in when we moved from California to Idaho in the 90s. Hubs and I were high up so we didn't have to worry, but our bishop then was near a creek that overflowed and he and his family were stranded. He was gotten out posthaste through our system of phones and being in contact. We had four-wheelers out there immediately, short wave radios and a church building where he was able to take his family for the night to consider all their options. Help was immediately available to all. Phone calls were made by all the Home Teachers and Visiting Teachers to their groups of people they were responsible for—usually this is 2 to 5 people for each of us. Keeping in contact with them saved many lives and we were able to help them immediately. Say what you want but it works, people; it worked that day and in 1976 at the Teton Dam! We really and truly do have to look out for our neighbors and each other.

Food? Yes, hubs and I have a year's supply. Water? We have a 200 gallon tank full for emergencies, a generator and gasoline. (I never go below a half tank in my car for that very reason. Look at all the people striving to get gasoline in NY and NJ now.) But if something happens devastating to our area, we are commanded, and I mean commanded, to share with others. I could not sit by and watch our neighbor with 2 small girls go hungry while hubs and I had plenty of food. I'd choke on the food. But we can't feed the whole neighborhood. So I advise and admonish those of you to get prepared. Things will not get better in the coming years. They'll get worse. If you're religious, you know what I'm talking about. I'm not a fanatic; I'm prepared as we are told to be. And if you doubt me, just look towards NYC and New Jersey. I want you all to be prepared and alive.
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I've had two of these wall pocket holders for several years now, but in redoing the walls, this one has just sat on a table in my living room until I figured out what I wanted to do with it. Then I came upon a photo of one and thought I could imitate it. This is how it turned out. I just stuck some pink crinkle paper in it, added feathers, a piece of lace scrap, a pink polka dot ribbon, a snippet of pretty pink trim, a string of faux pearls, a pink rose and a bottle of Christian Dior "Poison" to spray on as I get ready to go out the door. Worked out rather well.

This is another of my favorite rooms as I absolutely love pink and white stripes.

Cute eye candy for ya.

Sweet vignette in a kitchen.

Another gorgeous bottle.

Cute cottages on a river.

Gorgeous purple flowers.

Lovin' the lace and ribbon roses.

Cute idea for necklaces.

A stunning and dramatic room in blue.

And another one in red and pink.

;-)

Cute getaway when it's not raining.

Fruit growing on a balcony in a big city.

Sweet.

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Linking up with NMH Open House Party.

Just Some Pretty Rooms

In a recent post I mentioned uploading my photos to a website for you to view so you didn't have to wait to see the more than 14,000 I already have on Photobucket. It would take me a long, long time to show them all to you within the boundaries of my blog and to start another blog with just photos isn't conducive to what I wanted to do. So with this post today, I'm telling you that I'm putting them on Pinterest. I have almost 2,000 of them on there at the moment. I truly didn't want to have anything to do with Pinterest, and there may come a point when I'll delete it if the situation with issues on copyright changes, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. That would be no problem at all for me. I do this for no other reason except to share beautiful photos with others. Again, I don't post anything political or religious on anything. My views are my own. So, if you'd care to view them, look to my sidebar and you'll see my Pinterest identity there starting sometime this morning. I hope you'll enjoy it and become a follower or whatever they call it.
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Here's another favorite room of mine. I love everything about this room.

Same here. I love the reds and yellows together and the luxuriousness of the sofa and chairs.

Remember when country was really in? I do because I tried that decorating theme. It didn't last very long for me though. I found something I liked better.

Elegant chairs in an entry way. I even tried the pictures under tables decor. Actually, I still do that.

I adored this room when I saw it in the magazine. Pink? Why yes, I believe I love it! And this was the mid 1980s.

It would be wonderful to have this little dining deck. I wouldn't care about being on the water, just the deck would suit me.

Another "country" room from the 80s. French country at that.

I never could pass up a red sofa or chairs but in this sun room they look extra magnificent.

Pretty rose clock.

While I love white, I need color too. Maybe this is Photoshopped to be all white.

I had a bed like this when I was young. I'd love to have that bed now.

A cute small kitchen with a lot of pizzazz.

This would be nice if we had a pool like we did at our other house. We could rinse off before coming in. Actually, I'd love to have one just for fun.

I've been decorating more perfume bottles as I've emptied them. These aren't it but I'll show them when I'm done.

And extra teacups can hang from a wrought iron rack I bought when we visited Pennsylvania many years ago. Clever idea.

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What Makes Us Different As A Country?

I've been thinking about this for some time now. Do you realize how un-modern Europe is? It's amazing to me how they don't even have plumbing as modern as we do. We have toilets that are above anything in any other part of the world. I mean no disparagement to our sister countries in Europe; it's just a fact having been to several and relatives visiting and/or living in several other countries. Those civilizations have been around thousands of years longer than we have. How is this possible? Based on a curiosity of here we are as a people, and we're no different than anybody else—less than 300 years as a nation. So many of these day-to-day standards of living things regarding hygiene and so forth are far advanced beyond people who've been around thousands of years—nations, cultures—at least many more hundreds of years than we have. Is it the entrepreneurship of this country? The rugged individualism? What? I'm asking. I won't even mention the countries on other continents. To me, it's puzzling. Some of our inventions have come from ideas the early Romans gave us. What happened over there that they don't have the conveniences we do?

When we were in Dublin, my hair dryer demolished the electrical outlet and we had converters! I tried to look innocent when we went down to breakfast that day. But I've never blown out a circuit in a U.S. hotel or motel.  
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Another thatched cottage for you.

An antique French daybed with pillows.

A pretty table setting.

A cottage in Carmel. I may have posted this one before but it's still beautiful. Just look at that eyebrow window.

A gorgeous patio I'd love to have.

A beautiful entry into a backyard.

I can never, ever resist a pink room to show you!

A most unusual room and lamp. Notice the pillows are a pumpkin color but also reminiscent of pumpkins. The lamp looks like it could be in a witches house, too. ;-)

More delightful linens. Some of my favorite things to post.

I've just been struck by an idea. But isn't this display gorgeous?!

Lace, beads, ribbon and the beginning of roses being made.

A curious lamp inside a bakery. Delightful indeed.

How sweet is this breakfast room.

A pretty bow.

Trellised roses.

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