A Few Thoughts on Womanhood

My favorite instrument is the cello. I love to listen to Yo Yo Ma play. Here is a video of his music playing one of my favorite songs. He's one of the greatest musicians in the world. Enjoy while reading this post. If this doesn't touch your heart, there is no hope for you. ;-)

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Many years ago I was a die-hard feminist. No more. I actually had an epiphany and that changed my whole life. I love and appreciate men. They are as necessary as women are. I'm just a woman who loves her husband more than anything. So I'd like to post a few things about womanhood for all of you because no one else can do womanhood or mothering like a mother can. Now, I don't want to hear about men. Yes, they are absolutely special also, but we women give birth to the child. No man can do that, only women. Neither can a woman take the place of a father in the home. Men are necessary for children. Women are necessary for children. Nothing replaces a mother or father in the home.

There is great nobility in Motherhood. God planted within women something divine.

  The only way to get through this life is to laugh your way through it. You can either laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. And I sure do a lot of laughing. Crying gives me wrinkles and destroys my mascara and makeup.

The Lord uses us because of our unique personalities and differences rather than in spite of them. He needs every one of us with our blemishes and weaknesses and imperfections. Trust me, I definitely have mine, more than I'd care to have.

As you create your home, don't get distracted with a lot of things that have no meaning for you or your family. Don't dwell on your failures, but think of your successes. Have joy in your children. Have joy in your husband. Have joy in yourself. Be grateful for your journey.
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Stunning vintage cabinet. The way she decorate touches me as she has a very humble bench with a large dining table with glass on top. Some chairs are slipcovered and some aren't, just have pads on them. Everything topped off with a chandelier. Extraordinary!

I like old scroll work like this in a verdigris finish. To me it's one of the prettiest colors in the world.

A truly unique wall covering. I don't think I'd do it but she pulled it off rather well.

Who can resist pretty pink cookies in a flowered box, even if they are in a photograph?

Another French style dining room. Different chairs around the table and an old store scale for pizzazz.

I thought this was cute with the little soldiers hanging from the chandelier. Maybe it's for Christmas decorating but it would still look cute all year round.

Another cute room from one of our Swedish friends. I can tell from the flags.

Truly, for me, I'd rather have my cook top in a corner like this. That way you can work from both sides. I believe this is the ideal kitchen with the sink to the right but down a bit more from the stove. Our last house had it that way and it was perfect for me to cook.

Just a bit of whimsy for you today.

If this didn't start as a barn, you could have fooled me. It's just adorable, especially with all the vivid colors and that pool.

Greengate items. One of my favorite stores on the internet. They have the prettiest items for sale I've ever seen.

Maybe someone should coin the phrase rusticglam. (Hmmm, I think I just did!) This would be the lead photo. Very pretty.

By now, you should know I love clothes pin bags. I've made several unique froufrou-y ones for my laundry room to just hang in there along with decorated clothespins in them. Make your laundry room pretty!! You'll love being in there more.

We'd all love one of these tables in our kitchen or living room.

Simply beautiful tassels.

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Tidbit:

London's smallest house is only 3.5 feet wide and forms part of the Tyburn Convent on Hyde Park Place, where 20 nuns live. These nuns have taken a vow of silence and still pray for the souls of those who lost their lives on the "Tyburn Tree," London's main execution spot until 1783, where about fifty thousand people were executed.
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Linking up with Pink Saturday.  

Green Salads vs. Jello Cool Whip Fruit Salads

Since I've had so many "medical" things done to me lately with the skin cancer, surgery on hands for trigger fingers...sigh, endoscopy, where I never shut up talking when they pulled the tube out and I have no recollection of it to the delight of my hubby's warped sense of humor, etc., a friend sent me this. It's so funny I have to share it with you.

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I love salads: green vegetable salads, chicken salad, ham salad, Italian pasta salad, macaroni salad with olives, celery, onion and mayonnaise. I'm a salad girl. We always had a salad in my parent's house. I grew up eating salads. Then I joined the LDS Church and salads changed.

When we would go to a friend's house or a ward dinner, salad would be what Love Bunny and I called dessert, usually consisting of Jello in some form or another and fruit and whipped cream or Cool Whip in it. To us that is dessert or a fruit dessert. Fruit salad for us was apples, oranges, maraschino cherries,pineapple and sugar and the cherry juice. When hubs is in charge of a ward dinner, he tells them green salad, not a dessert salad. They will inevitably not listen and will bring a sweet dessert salad. I'll bring the vegetable salad. I'll then eat their dessert salad after the main course. Now, truthfully, I love the salads some of our friends make but nothing is a salad without lettuce and tomatoes to us. Here is my regular salad if we're just having a salad for a dinner.

Lettuce
Tomatoes
Carrots
Cucumbers
Red bell pepper
Kidney Beans
Pineapple
Craisins
Red onion, not yellow, love the color!
Shredded cheese, preferably extra sharp, our favorite
Pecans for me and sunflower seeds for hubs
Poppy seed dressing for me and Fat Free Italian for him
Topped off with salt and freshly ground black Tellicherry pepper. I love pepper, but especially freshly ground, which we use around here a lot. I have to limit my pepper because of my kidney stones (too numerous to count, as the doc says). And pepper is not good for people with kidney stones.

It's delicious. I love pineapple. A lot! I might throw in strawberries if I have them but don't always and they don't come in cans like pineapple. These fruits are my favorites—watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple, coconut, strawberries.
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The woman who took this photo is a woman who understands my heart. It's perfect in my eyes.

A beautiful home in Europe. Yep, we all love these old stone homes that recall petite pleasures to our hearts.

A beautiful door with a gorgeous patina. This is one of my favorite colors. I love to see it on outside faucets or lead pipes.

An old forgotten wood box brought to its magnificence by a few pots of flowers.

A little french soap dish holding geegaws and buttons.

A pleasurable area to dine with friends.

A beautiful vintage pink enameled pitcher.

I found this pillow stunning! She probably had a "bad spot" in the petit point and did a creative fix to it. Gorgeous!

Another bedroom I find exceptionally appealing. That step-up area with a chair for reading is a plus. Just lovely.

One of the most colorful and delightful photos I've ever seen. I couldn't resist showing it to you.

This reminds me of Southern California and I have no idea why. Maybe it's the lusciousness of the garden or the way the golden sun filters through the trees of wisteria or maybe it's the smoginess of the sky. I love California.

I don't think I've ever seen such pretty pink frames all clustered together like this and I love it.

This homeowner has exceptional talent decorating like this. I find it lovely.

Now this is a true tree house! Isn't it cute?

For a tiny kitchen, I love this layout. Mine's small, but not as cute as this one.

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Tidbit:

When a male skier falls down, he tends to fall on his face. A woman skier tends to fall on her back.
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Maria

Maria is my friend and masseuse. I met her several years ago at Massage Envy. I asked for a deep tissue massage and got her one day. She's one of the best I've ever had. She knows my body well. But we are also sisters of the heart. She's from Mexico and a religious person like me, though not of my religion. She has 2 daughters who have given her 2 grandchildren.

Maria is lovely and has a gorgeous and sweet heart. Her life has not been easy and she suffers from depression. But I loved her from the first massage. She's intuitive. I tell her what's hurting and she fixes that hurt. Once I told her I was having a problem with my stomach I believe it was as that was several years ago. After she did a special thing to my stomach, it wasn't hurting! She is truly amazing. She is one of the most amazing women I've ever met and is in the top 5 of best masseuses I've ever had. All five I speak of are great, but in different ways. I don't think I could get through some days if I didn't treat myself to regular massages.

Maria is working at another place now and I'll follow her. She wants more freedom to use oils and such but also other techniques she likes to use. I'm excited for her. If you've never tried massage, I recommend it highly. I feel so much better after having one that I feel like a new person.

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A beautiful display of flowers from a lovely balcony.

I love the tablecloth draping on the floor. Sometimes I think I'd like one to drop to the floor but I love the scroll of the legs of my dining table and the claw foot at the bottom so much that I'd hate to cover it up though.

The white flowers I find stunningly beautiful amassed together as that. I don't know what kind they are as I'm pathetic at horticultural names. I once read a book about a landscape designer with 2 boys and her boys knew the Latin names of all the trees and flowers instead of the popular names. What a treat to be taught by a mother like that!

A heavenly haven for a walk or picnic or just to sit on a bench in here from the sun.

I love these old tins and the glass bottles of soda pop. I got one recently at World Market with a rubber top with wire that can be snapped back on fizzy or carbonated drinks. I love it for my Henry Weinhard's Roob Beer, the very best in the world!

A simple contrast in whites in this light-filled kitchen.

This reminds me of a Mexican restaurant in Old Town San Diego we used to frequent. We loved sitting under banana leaves in the hot sun and eating.

A most striking table setting with fantastic pink roses and stemmed glassware.

Another sweet getaway in a home where pink is a favorite color.

While this room looks more like something a man would like, I find it very appealing to my sense of aesthetics.

That white curved sofa is gorgeous!!!! I'd love one like it.

Cute wire basket with six places for glasses filled with roses. I wonder where these can be bought. I'd love to have a couple.

Another dream kitchen with lots of fabric embellishment along with pretty things strewn around the kitchen counter tops and island.

Oooooh, my! Yes, it's a beautiful hallway with beautiful rooms off the entrance to a lovely home.

Some woman has taken some lovely jewelry and made it into...whatever this gorgeous thing is called. I don't know, but it sure is stunning.

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Tidbit:

More than half of all doctors in Finland are females.
[I once read Cancer Ward by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. In that book he told how women are encouraged to become doctors in Russia because it is considered a second-rate job and very low paying, extremely low paying and not prestigious at all. It's a tough book to read but I recommend it.]

Lunch with th' Girls

The winner of the giveaway was Jeanne of Backyard Neighbor. Get in contact with me, Jeanne, and I'll get it off to you asap.
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Three of us girls went to lunch the other day. We aged from 50 to 70 years of age but we still consider ourselves girls, just with more experience than 16 year-olds...well, most of the time. ;-) We had a wonderful time. I've not been so picked-up and jazzed in a long time and definitely needed it and so did each of them due to family matters.

We went to a very small girlie cafe in our small downtown. It's a boutique kind of place where they sell cutesie items, have tea, breakfast and lunch. We closed the place down. They're only open until 3pm and we noticed them bringing in the table and chair from the outside in as we sat near a window, so we thought it was time to go.

 The food is very good and the atmosphere is like your grandmother's dining room. Soft lighting, different tables and chairs all around, tablecloths on some tables and privacy.

We each talked about home, hubbies and kids a bit, what's going on in their lives. One woman's hubby is just out of a serious physical problem and getting back on his feet. One woman, whose hubby is a pediatrician and the bishop of our ward talked about her upcoming events—sending a daughter off to college— and wondering what she can do to keep herself busy when the next two leave home, which will be several years yet till the youngest is gone but she's planning for the future, which I think is a good thing. Some women are lost without their kids. I'm not one of them; I enjoy the freedom of being with Love Bunny more than anything since we got pregnant within 2 months of our wedding. We've always had kids! ;-) I love them and the grandkids and great grandkids, but I love my hubby more and want to be with him more.

Then we got to talking about books. Well, that took up about an hour and a half as we're all voracious readers. We each had recommendations for the other so we'll see how they like some of the books I read. All-in-all, a very relaxing, fun day for all of us. We've committed to try and do it once a month. Maybe add a 4th person, maybe not. We'll see.
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This would have been a great place to lunch also.

The flowers would have pulled me in, but the ladyfingers were a plus on this one.

I love the color of these flowers: periwinkle. I've always loved blue, but not as much as pink.

I know, I know, you want this backyard. So do I! Beautiful.

I'll bet none of you know what this is. Well, I'm here to tell ya! It's a fortune teller's hut. Isn't that interesting? I find it adorable. She even has her wood stacked outside. What a lovely place. I'm betting it's in Romania though and not the U.S.

Gorgeous pale pink roses.

A neatly organized kitchen sink area.

You want atmosphere? This woman got it with no trouble at all. Even the building adds to it with the crumbling stone walls.

This little ottoman reminded me of Mary Kaiser ottomans. I've always loved them, just didn't know if I wanted to spend the money to buy one.

I have some of the fabrics pictured here. Maybe I'll make my pillowcases instead of buying them. These certainly look cuter than the ones I buy. Actually, I'm sitting on a pillow case I made from a beautiful toile I bought from a place in NYC, online of course.

Can pin cushions get any cuter? I have one someone sent me as a swap gift years ago. It's a sugar bowl actually and decorated darling and I do keep my craft pins in it. This one I love because of the fabric in the cup.

Forget the beautiful chest and cabinet, I'll just take the pies. I love pie!

A cozy place to relax.

Lacy cupcakes!

I do like this space but it was that lamp that drew me in. I love those kinds of lamps for reading and crafting. I have 2 pink ones. One over my sewing machine and one on my craft table and they give the greatest light that can be directed just exactly where you want it. I don't know if they make them anymore but I sure would like one for a floor lamp, just exactly like this one but on the floor for my reading. I use a pharmacist's lamp now and it works well, but nothing like these old lamps from the 70s.

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Tidbit:

What do you call the noise your epiglottis makes when it flaps? A burp.
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Linking up with Pink Saturday.