Okay, Ranting About a Few Things?

I'm updating this here at the very top to alert those of you who are tired of ads—any ads. It eliminates ads for most websites and blogs. I understand people having to make money with their ads, but I think we deserve a choice to view them or not view them, if we so choose. I've had AdBlock for my Safari for a couple of months now and love it. I installed it on hubs' computer recently and he likes it. (It's a shareware, free if you're too strapped to pay the couple of bucks he asks, but I plan on sending this man and his wife a payment.) Anyway, go here for AdBlock for Safari—and you can use Safari on any PCs, even though it's an Apple browser and I think you'll like it a lot. If you're running Mozilla or Firefox, which I think is one of the best browsers ever and very fast, go here to download the AdBlock for Firefox. Firefox and Mozilla are actually one and the same. Mozilla is the foundation that took over Netscape and it created the Firefox browser. You can also get it for Chrome if you are running that browser. Here it is for Chrome. You can also block ads on Facebook and YouTube. Enough of this, just download them and have no ads to disturb you. I did and I'm loving it. Since this post won't be seen by many people after a few days, spread the word around. I've also put a button on my side bar to let people know they do have a choice to eliminate annoying ads; well, most of them anyway.

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Okay, vent time here. I have a couple of them today.

First, let's talk about ads on blogs. You must know by now I absolutely do NOT like them. I believe it destroys the beauty of a blog. I know, I know, some people need the extra income in this horrific economy and I can definitely understand that. But I sure wish you had control over what you have to advertise. I'm seeing some absolutely disgusting ads. Plus, if you perchance accidentally "roll over" them, they will start playing! Loudly!  Now, the music is bad enough, not that all the music is bad because some of it is wonderful, but I find it too distracting. I have to turn off my sound if the phone rings or if I'm already on the phone, my caller will hear it. Not just the music but the ads! I'm not going so far as to say I'll never view blogs that have ads because a lot of my favorites do and I don't want to give up reading their blogs at all. I love reading them; I just don't like to see toilets, personal hygiene and various other ads for which I have no use. Cars in Detroit, Florida, Maryland, etc? I live 2,000-2,500 miles away; I'm not going to Michigan, Florida or Maryland to buy a car.

The next vent if this new blogger interface. This post right here has been the absolute hardest ever to post. I even used a template for it and it wouldn't show my photos! Now, I know HTML and it was all good. I have no idea what was going on but I actually had to do the whole thing over about 3 times. I was getting so frustrated I almost gave up on this one but I didn't as you can see. Blogger, please fix this interface and not have it so "glitchy." Please!
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This is one of the most unusual colored living rooms I've ever seen but I really do like it. That sofa is very unusual and the rug is a bit modern for my taste but the room has a lot of pizzazz, which just goes to show you that if you like a color, then you go for it. Don't let anyone else set your standard for you. I think that's why we see so much "off white" and beige in living rooms. I find it a disgusting color actually. Be brave, use more color!

These chairs were the type we had in furnished housing in the military. They are really comfortable, too. Ours weren't this pretty; we had red leather cushions but I'd take another pair of those chairs again in a heartbeat.

Okay, I think this room is adorable! Mostly, it's the furniture I think is so cute.

Ooooooh, yeaaaaah! I love the red sofa.

What a wonderful place to be able to have.

While I like this and it's lovely with blue, I'd have pink with the white.

Summer nights on the porch.

The pink of this kitchen is wonderful and I like how the undercounter lights up the walls so sparkly.

What an unusual door. Kind of halloween-ish.

Elegant french doors.

I'd like these chairs in white, please.

Pink cabinets. Yellow walls. Squeeeeeal....

Quiet area made adorable!

Ooooh, yeeeeeah, but then I'd have to cook.

This painted window is gorgeous. I have no idea who did it but I sure would want one.

Oh, yes. Yes. Yes. Yesssssss!

My grandmother, mother, and even I, had one of these dryers. I think I must have thrown mine out at some point thinking it was too old-fashioned. :-(

I do my lamps with silk roses also. I saw one of these done in pink. I think I like the white better though—more elegant.

I'm afraid if I got in I'd never want to get out. Beautiful.

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Sweet cottages and a Story about Hubs

Welcome to the world, Mason. We're so glad you're finally here with us. Born on 5/30/12. Gramma and Grandpa are Mike and Sherilynn, my sweetest friend. He's a cutie for sure and much loved by all of us. Weight 7 lbs. 9 oz. First child so far for them
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Now, for the rest of the story on the toilets.

Hubs took the old toilet out to the driveway and emptied the water from the tank in the gutter—this is clean water, remember—then he carried the new one in and installed it and it leaked. For 2 days he couldn't get it to stop leaking and was hesitant to tighten it any more for fear of breaking it. I finally called a plumber. Men are always so hesitant to call outside help. "I can do this, no problem." Sigh.

The plumber took the tank off and saw the problem. A common problem. The huge "nut" around the hole wasn't lined up as it should have been. It's marked with a magic marker slash across it but hadn't lined up. Hubs later told me he didn't turn it upside down to see that mark. But it worked perfectly after that even though I was afraid to sit on it for fear of doing something to make it leak again!

This isn't the end of the story.

A few days later, I was sitting here in my office and hubs came it sweating violently and said, "Get me to ER." After asking what was wrong while jumping up out of this chair, he said, "I don't know." I'm suspecting heart attack or stroke or something equally horrific. He just kept saying, "Get me to ER."

Helping him into the car and exiting my garage, I turned on my flashers and headed out of the neighborhood onto the main streets hoping for a cop to help us break the speed limit to get to the hospital, which is about a 7 minute drive. No cops! But people did see we were in stress mode and pulled over for us.

I entered the reception area of ER and said, "I need a gurney." Blank looks! I repeated more forcefully, "I need a gurney!!!!" (I'm a very assertive person, very.) That got them moving.

While driving there, hubs finally told me what the problem was. While standing at the bathroom vanity, he felt like he'd been kicked in the lower back. It almost took him to his knees. He lay down on the bed, got dizzy and started perspiring profusely. That's when he came in here. He was pale and drenching by the time he got in here to tell me.

Bottom line: They did urine tests, CT scan and blood work. No kidney stone, which they suspected at first. After 4 1/2 hours they let him go home. The doctor, who looked like he just graduated middle school and had hair curling at the nape of his neck and wore a braided necklace (sigh, so 1960s Berkeley) finally said he thought it might be shingles. Shingles?!?! Nope, he never got shingles and it's been several days now.

I think he pulled that lateral after lifting 2 toilets, one still with water in the tank!, and carrying them in and out of the house. HE says he's never felt anything so intense and such pain and it couldn't be that. I'm convinced that's what did it. Sometimes, wives/mothers know best. Right? Yeah.

An aside: Once I got to the hospital, I called my young friend, Stacy, told her to get two elders from our church over to ER to administer to him. I can always count on this woman! I simply said I needed help and that was all; she took it from there. While they had him in the CT scan room, Stacy and I went out to lunch at McDonalds, just in the next block and enjoyed ourselves immensely. We knew he'd be safe after that blessing. We have a lot of faith in the power of God. And I never miss the opportunity to eat out, never!

He's been fine since. ;-) And for that I'm most grateful to our Lord.
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A sweet container for holding your lovelies.

Just look at how individual flowers decorate a table. Just cut them from your gardens when available. Stunning!

Beautiful vintage armoire and chandelier in a room with beadboard ceiling.

Love those shutters. Can you just imagine closing them in the evening for privacy and then opening them up in the morning to beautiful sunshine? Oooh, yeah!

Abundance in blooms.

A wonderful old kitchen made to look new or is it a new kitchen made to look old? Hmmmmmm.

Sweet pillows and roses for a vignette in a bedroom. Beautiful.

Here we go with the ivy going to rot the shutters again. ;-)

Easily made hanging craft you could make for your child or a gift for a wedding or baby shower.

I think this is a "Cleaver" house. Doesn't it look similar?

A lovely vintage chippy table and an ice cream parlor chair.

How does this family see out the windows? It's also covering the chimneys so they obviously can't have a fire in the fireplace. Personally, I'd love to have light come into a home.

Cute little shed or kids playhouse.

Beautiful in whites. Notice the faux fireplace mantel? And hubs thought I was crazy for doing this in our family room. Hah!

Quaint cottage probably in England considering the stonework and the windows.

Cute little french blue shutters on a cottage.

Rustic, yet gorgeous kitchen.

While my actual coverings and colors are different, this room has the same symmetry as mine.

I love what this homeowner has done to this room. Very sweet and feminine.

Isn't this adorable?

A very small cottage in the woods.

White and luxurious.

Cute little gingerbread house with pink frills.

Could be a cottage in Monterey from the looks of it.

Sweet!

Pretty pastoral scene somewhere in merry ole England.

Some of the prettiest cupcakes I've ever seen.

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Now go have a cupcake or something so rich it'll hurt the glands in your mouth.

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Photos courtesy of pinterest and tumblr.

Lasagna and a New Lampshade

This is a story about lasagna. Yes, lasagna. Bear with me on this one, chicks.

Now, since I hate cooking and want to eat out every single chance I get except on Sundays when we do easy peasy meals at home, I've let Mrs. Stouffer's do it for me when it comes to lasagna. Well, actually her meat sauce lasagna because we tried the 5 cheese lasagna with sundried tomatoes and neither of us liked that one so we won’t buy that one again. Otherwise, she does it pretty dang good in my book. Even my son thinks so and to him Mom’s cooking is fantastic—right after his wife’s, of course. ;-) I’m not stupid when it comes to my daughter-in-law. She’ll never read this but I ain’t takin’ th’ chance. Understand?

Anyway, we recently ate some lasagna at a party that just about set me retching. Actually, I pretty much stuck to the French bread and dessert that night. It had pepper jack and cheddar cheese only in it. Love Bunny said it wasn’t too bad, but we’re talking about a man who loves scrapple and if you don’t know what it is, google it. It’s a meat they eat in the southeastern part of Pennsylvania and it’s gross and I mean gross!) Plus, my hubby will eat anything and I mean anything! He is not finicky in any way. I have never in my life eaten a lasagna with those 2 cheeses in it. Lasagna is an Italian dish and only Ricotta, Mozzarella and Parmesan should be the cheeses in it.

Okay, competition reared its ugly head here as I had not made lasagna in years and I mean years. I was determined to find my old lasagna recipe. I couldn’t. I had no idea where it was.

When we were down visiting our daughter the middle of May, she said lasagna was the dish for dinner on Sunday night. Hubs and I agreed and when I went into the kitchen to see how it was coming, she showed me my old recipe card! I almost fell on the floor. This was after I’d already fallen twice before in her house the previous 2 days. Anyway, it had tomato soup as the tomato part of the dish. I cannot ever remember making that dish with tomato soup, but it was in my handwriting and looked 50+ years old with all the food stains on the card so I acquiesced to reality. Love Bunny and I didn’t particularly care for it that night and we talked about it later and neither one of us could remember making it that way. Okay, I’m getting ahead of myself here.

Anyway, after the pepper jack/cheddar lasagna, I got out my recipe cards and the one my sister-in-law gave me with her version of lasagna she got when they lived in Italy. I loved that version. Hubs? He thought it was wonderful, but he wanted a little more sauce. So, I decided to alter her recipe with a bit more sauce for hubs. Personally, I thought it was the best lasagna ever, but next time I’ll add a bit more tomato paste to it. So that episode got me to making lasagna again. Nothing like a little competition to make me start cooking, right? ;-)
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I recently bought a cheap lampshade at Wal-Mart. I had an idea for it but it wasn’t turning out like I envisioned. Luckily, I knew that early on so I didn't waste too much time on it. This is the shade.

Another blogger did this with a lampshade but she took the entire fabric off and just used the wire frame. I tried it with just Mod Podge glue and covered it with lace as there wasn’t the glorious frame this woman had. My lamp had a beautiful shade on it but it was beige and I wanted white. You can see the shade that was on the lamp in the box with the arrow pointing to it.

Using clothespins to hold it on, I went around it with 3 pieces of lace. I think the lace was a tad to thick for this kind of project though.

Seams hide pretty well though or at least blend in well enough to not be noticeable.

I even made a mistake and added a small piece to the top just to the right of the middle of those clothespins. It doesn't show much, but afterwards I wasn't too thrilled with the way it looked. I had plans to do a bit more to it but I stopped right then to think about getting another lampshade to do what I had in mind. Just not sure if I like that lace on this one.

This is what I intend to do. I’ll put ribbons around the bottom—pinned on here— and add something to the top. I wanted to do a French type decal on the base of the lamp but it would have to be a small one considering the contours of the lamp base. We’ll see. I’ve only got ribbons half way around the bottom part so far.

My next door neighbors, a young couple—he’s a teacher and she’s a psychologist—and their 2 little girls brought me over a Mother’s Day gift. That was so sweet of them. A basket full of soaps, fizzes and bath salts, made in a small town near us. My guest bathroom smells so wonderful now with all those soaps fragrancing it. The girls are Ella and Hadley. Hadley had open heart surgery just after she was born but is a typical active 5 year old now. Ella, the 7 year old? Well, she will someday run this country! ;-) Hubs calls them "his girls" since Caroline and her mummy and my daughter don't live near enough to see frequently.

Okay, continuing on with the lampshade redo. I had to take a break from the redo overnight because I was becoming frustrated. But I got to thinking. I’m dedicated to thrift for a while and will not spend more money when that lampshade will do perfectly with a little bit of fixing on my part. The vision continues. I photographed it in the early morning in the back yard. It’s so dewy, quiet and green out there with shadows dancing across the grass and I just couldn’t let the extra photos not be shown. It took about 16 photos to get the ones I wanted. I love this one of the bird bath and aspen tree shadowing it and the lamp.

Here also. Did you notice our glorious blue desert sky this morning?

Close up of the bottom. I tied on a red check ribbon around its neck just for the fun of it and have decided it’ll stay.

I have a plethora of pink roses so I didn’t have to buy much at all for this lamp.

Ta Da!! And here it is in our living room. I’m now in love with it and didn’t have to buy anything but a cheap lampshade and a few ribbons.

Just a bit of eye candy for you from here on out.
 Beautiful cabinet.

A tiny very efficient office.

What a beautiful shower curtain and shower!

Where can I find a pink polka dot spatula? Isn't this cute!

I saw those curtains in the mirror and just about lost it. I love this color combination—yellowish green.

Okay, just because I cooked lasagna doesn't mean I'm going to cook much more so this wonderful, beautiful kitchen would be lost on this old lady. ;-)

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