Eating with the Family and Just A Thought

Recently during my break from blogging I gave some very, very serious thought about giving up my blog. It takes a lot of time for one thing but there were several other things I considered also. I don't have a great following like some do. But some who have thousands of followers are rather quite boring in my opinion, i.e. there are some who rarely blog even with several thousand bloggers and when they do it's maybe once a week or they don't give much thought to their blogs just posting the same "event" over and over and over each week without any thought as to the people reading it, or something like that. I truly don't waste my time following them and only occasionally look at their blogs when I'm at another blog and they recommend going to that blog for something interesting. But it's their blog and they can do with it as they wish and I'd never discourage that. Mine is probably boring to a lot of people also. Of course, there are those blogs that do nothing but whine about their lives. I've stopped reading those as I can't stand whiners. Your life is what you make it! Grow up.

I'm enjoying Pinterest and pinning there, so I thought I'd do that instead of blogging. It takes much less time to pin an image and since I've only been doing it for 6 months and have over 6,200 followers to see the 10,000 images I've already posted there and post several more each day that would be a lot easier to maintain as beautiful images are what I love the most as they are truly candy for my eyes. I'm very visual.

Then, as I was giving it a lot of thought on quitting blogging, I remembered that I love it. I miss it when I take a break. I enjoy reminiscing about things in my life and that hit me mostly because of my daughter's visit this past weekend and how we laughed and talked about some old memories, not many, but a few. Her hubby laughed at the dynamics of this family and just kept shaking his head. We're a very interesting family with a very interesting dynamic that intensifies when at least 2 of us are together. (Drives the hubbies to distraction but who cares.) I wish some of you could be around when that happens as you'd just stare at us in awe—look up the true meaning of that word; it isn't what most people think it is and use it inappropriately 90% of the time. (I learned that in 10th grade English class by a very wise teacher.) We yell at each other in a loving way. We're boisterous (look up that word also as it definitely applies to us in the proper way of using it). We are absolutely funny. But we're also a loving family although we don't exhibit it as much as some families. There was also an event that just about tore us apart, but it will be rectified in the coming days. But that's the way families are.

So my decision is to keep it up for as long as I feel it's appropriate for me. Yes, I absolute LOVE blogging and I sincerely hope I bring pleasure, a bit of humor and interesting family stories to all of you.
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A dinner with friends a while back brought up the subject of bars for eating, the counter top kind, I mean. They said that's where they eat all the time. I told them we took out the original bar in our house and had it walled in separating the kitchen from our living room. I wanted the extra wall space and don't like people entering our house to see into our kitchen, plus the smells of cooking permeate easier. I like it much better. They were abhorred at that. I told them that people sitting at a bar can't converse well and the stools would have been in our living room. Ain't happening in this house! How in the world can a family sit side-by-side like that when eating? Conversation would be stilted as you couldn't see the person unless you looked over the other person.

There was a General Conference talk years ago at our church about the decisions that are made in a family are generally made around the proverbial "kitchen table". What has happened to our families who eat in a straight line without chatting about the days activities across from each other? I just don't get that concept. I want my family around the old-fashioned kitchen table looking and talking to each other. I think the kitchen table is extremely important to our society.
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I love this tablecloth and think I'll make one someday. Adorable.

A stunning small living room made gorgeous with its colors.

This gentleman must love gardening...and he has his own well. Beautiful garden.

Susan Rios is absolutely my favorite artist. Her paintings appeal and speak to my heart. She's a kind person also and her granddaughter, Rosie, the subject of some of her paintings, is a U.S. Marine. Need I say more!

Loving the stripes and flowers together in this room.

An arbor we all wish we had. I could have one, but then the smell of territorial bloom of testosterone from hubby talking about how HE would make it for me would quench the desire quickly, and since he does enough for me, I don't have the heart to ask him to do this.

An ideal afternoon party with cool fruit, cakes and beverages in lovely bottles. I love beverages in glass bottles as they are colder than the one in cans.

A very clever way to store extra bath items.

A long stool in a gorgeous pattern provides extra seating without the cost of extra chairs.

All of my clothespins are decorated. I think this is washi tape, which is adorable on the clothespins.

Another gorgeous way to decorate a small dining area in a kitchen.

Gorgeous roses.

Another room typifying American cottage style.

A beautiful decanter.

This dramatic living room is actually very simple but packs a lot of pizzazz with only color. Gorgeous!

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Tidbit:
A homing pigeon became a star after completing a 3,321 mile journey across the Atlantic.
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Talking Mushrooms

Near the end of last year, our great granddaughter started talking about 
"talking mushrooms." She told her mummy and Santa Claus that she wanted mushrooms for Christmas. None of us—she absolutely stumped Santa—could figure out what she meant. My granddaughter asked the teachers at her daycare/pre-school if they had read a story or mentioned talking mushrooms at all to Caroline. They said, "No."

Then one day while they were eating breakfast out at a restaurant, a little boy heard her talking about talking mushrooms and said he loved them too, more than the current "hero" to that age group. So he grabbed Caroline's hand and off they went in the restaurant, their own little world.

So I went online and googled talking mushrooms and came up with a book and the old Mario-type movies of talking mushrooms. We asked her if this was what she was talking about but she said no. I bought the book to the tune of $25 and sent it to her and she loved it anyway, but in her 2 year-old mind she couldn't explain exactly what she meant.

Then one day at Michaels they had some candy called talking mushrooms so I bought that for her and she was fine—candy cures everything, ya know. But we've never been able to figure out what exactly talking mushrooms are. So if anyone out there knows, we'd be grateful for the information. We're still stymied.
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Isn't this exquisite? I don't think I'd like to clean it but it is beautiful.

See, flowers can make anything look gorgeous.

While it looks like it's crumbling, it still has a lot of character with its verdigris shutters.

Just beautiful plates.

Even grunge can look pretty if done correctly. ;-)

I like the red and white checks on this chair.

Those verdigris shutters again on a different house, but notice the gorgeous roses also.

I cant quite figure this out except that it's a kitchen somewhere but the banner looks like a medieval joust is about to take place.

I love this little vignette of pink and white striped candles, roses, pink ribbon and pink candy.

Such a pretty solitary place to sit, shaded with an arbor and clematis.

I believe this is a section of a store with all that stuff around but it is none-the-less gorgeous. I see some things I'd like for my home.

How cute are these red and white checked shoes!!

Regular old jars done up pretty for a party. Take a hint for your next party.

Just because I love roses...

I like what they've done with the lawn chairs but the setting is quite striking also.

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Tidbit:

The average person in the UK drinks as much tea as 23 Italians.
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Some Friends Returned from Zimbabwe

We had some friends who had recently returned from a mission in Zimbabwe over for dinner a few nights ago. He brought his computer with a slideshow of their mission for us to see. They loved their mission of 18 months, but said it was definitely time to come home. They did, however, go on a couple of safaris and loved that. They also dearly loved the people of that country. It was quite an experience though.

All the senior couple missionaries lived in a small area with tiny houses close together and were warned to not travel alone, to try and always travel with other couples. The doors and all the windows had bars on them with locks. They were told by their Mission President to be sure and keep them locked at all times unless coming or going. They also had their generator fenced and locked as it would have been stolen immediately. The car also was kept in a locked garage. They were told to never leave anything in the car, whether locked or unlocked. They didn't but one couple locked their computer in their car and it was stolen immediately. The country is very, very poor. Nothing like what we experience in this country. Even the poorest here have more than the poor over there. It's very sad, but they are a happy people in spite of it. They even told us of a village called Landfill People. Yep, it was in a garbage dump. People actually lived there in cardboard boxes right among the trash around them. It was certainly heart rending to see that kind of existence.

But two things happened that turned out to be miracles.

The first one was Thanksgiving and the senior missionary couples fixed dinner for about 100 young missionaries. They wanted to have gravy and someone made it in their home. When Connie (our friends are Connie and Paul) looked in the pot that was about 10-12" tall and not big around, she saw about a third of that pot was full. Well, there was no way that was going to feed 100 missionaries who wanted gravy on their turkey and mashed potatoes. Connie prayed quickly with a lot of hope. When all the missionaries and everyone else finished going through the buffet line, she looked into the pot and there were about 2 or 3 cups left! She said there was no way humanly possible for that to have happened. She was in shock. And all the diners partook of the gravy liberally!

Then another time they were to hand out 300 loaves of bread in the back of their truck to the people. When they saw the long, long line of people wanting bread, Connie told Paul there was no way they would be able to have enough bread for them all. She again agonized on what they would do. Another woman told her to just start handing them out to each person in line and when it was gone, it was gone. Nothing they could do. Again, she prayed. When the end of the line came, and it was a very long line estimated to be about 500, she looked in the back of the truck and there were 5 loaves of bread in there. She was astounded. I think I would have been also, but I do know prayer works.
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What can I say about this dining room? Gorgeous and perfect for the lovers of French style.

I just like the colors and style of the plates. Just a gorgeous setting.

I love this color of aqua or verdigris. Stunning.

A lively vignette with all kinds of color.

Another beautiful setting for an intimate dinner with friends.

This pretty house just struck me as very friendly with the lights glowing from within.

I don't think I've ever seen a chair like this but I'd sure love to find some.

The chairs at the table are exactly like mine with the chair covers over them. Of course, I do love that huge island and its magnificent color.

A cute bunch of flowers brought in from the garden.

While the headboard is very unusual, it still strikes a nice decorating note in this bedroom.

Such a teensy cute kitchen.

Lots of candy colors here.

If only I had this many chandeliers to hand in my windows!

Some beautiful handmade crafts. Darling!

I also display all my aprons in my kitchen. I actually use them also.

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Tidbit:

Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work.
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Just Some Thoughts 7/10/2013

I'm back. I really didn't get all done that I wanted to, but I'm a blog junkie so here I am. Is there a cure for it? A shot? Therapy? Rehab? Sigh. I may not post as often but I'll definitely be around at least a couple of times a week.
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I saw a blog the other day, not a fashion blog either, which are very popular, but it had over 18,000 followers and one post had 751 comments! WOW! That's astounding.
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Imperfect people are all God has to work with. That must be terribly frustrating to Him but He deals with it. (J. R. Holland)
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I've had this insatiable thirst for root beer lately, but not just any root beer, only Henry Weinhards Root Beer. I sent th' hubs to Wal-Mart the other day with a very small grocery list, about 4 items. I had told him to get 2 cases as we've been drinking a lot of it lately. So he got there and they didn't have any cases of 12. He called me to tell me. Sigh. I told him to go ahead and get 4 of the 6-pack cartons. No, I didn't scream or have a breakdown; I very politely told him even if he insisted it would cost more. When I'm in the mood for a H.W. Root Beer, don't even question the price! Double sigh.
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I don't let anyone dull my sparkle. One woman had a good shot at it several years ago and it sent me to a therapist because of it. I told her after that I didn't want her in my life. Period. She kept insisting as she thought I was something special. I'm not. Well, to my family I am, but that's about it. She even had her hubby call me to let her back in my life. We moved to another town about an hour away after that. So, a couple of months ago I met up with her daughter at Costco and tried to ignore her but she's as bad as her mother. Well, her mother was there also and she called her over from another aisle and I just about wanted to fall through the floor and get out of there as soon as I could. That didn't happen. (Plus the fact that it was a hurried, emergency trip to Costco and I looked like a hag. Why don't you run into people you don't care for when you're looking your absolute best?!?!) She wanted my new phone number and I'm not a good liar so I gave it to her. Aaaarghh. Hubs and a dear friend said I should have given her a false one. I just don't think fast enough in those situations. Since she asked for it several times putting it into her cell phone, I'm hoping she copied it wrong. I've since turned off our home message machine and gone with the phone company generic one with the generic voice. I'm such a wimp! Well, not usually, but this was a shock. Plus I didn't want to be nasty, which I can do very well. ;-)
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Many people prefer the comfortable lie. Oooooh, do I cry now or tonight.
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Squeeeeallllll!!!! I'd love to have this for my very own in my backyard. Just a dream, not going to become a reality.

I'm not a big quilt fan but this one is gorgeous with all the pinks and flowers.

Another cute and quaint kitchen.

The color of verdigris is what I loved about this door.

A charming little home in France, Italy or Spain. They have really cute stone homes.

This is one spectacular lighting fixture. It would look grand in my backyard. ;-)

This looks like it's copper but I think it's beautiful even if it isn't.

Can you see yourself strolling down the petaled pathway here?

More lovely flowered china for you.

Our roses are blooming prolifically now. These aren't ours though.

A most unusual tablecloth. It looks like petals. I've wondered how she did it.

If I had a work bucket that looked like this, I might just dust more often. Then again, maybe not. :-)

I love everything about this room. Beautiful!!!!

Another patio to relax on.

Vibrant roses against a vibrant sofa and pillows.

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Tidbit:

In 1928 travel writer Richard Halliburton paid
36¢ to swim through the Panama Canal. [This just goes to show you nobody gets a free ride through the canal.]
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