I Love Bookstores

I thought I'd share the ottoman I've refurbished since I've ironed it. Looks great to me. I am very pleased with it now.

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A sweet fellow blogger, Claudia, did a post on bookstores recently. She and I are avid readers. I'd bet I read more than she reads though. But I read so much and am rarely without a book to read. Once I get down to 2 books left, I start visiting the local used bookstores or order on Amazon. Claudia was extolling the virtues of small or individually owned bookstores as opposed to the giants that dot our cities now. Frankly, I'll buy a book wherever I can find it, but I do love the 3 we have in our town that I visit. But since I may have read all the ones I'm interested in here in town I have to order online. But I love perusing bookstores and getting recommendations from the knowledgeable owners. It has opened my mind to a lot of books I may never have read had it not been for their recommendations. For instance, Janet Evanovich.

I had never read or heard of her until a man at Bent Corners Used Books mentioned her. The first book had me hooked. I went back and bought every single book of hers he had in stock. She is one of the funniest writers I've ever read. I laughed myself silly reading about Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter, and her sidekick, a former...uh...woman of the night. Hilarious!

I love Jeffrey Archer and have read every single book he's written so far. To me, he is the best writer alive who writes about different things. Most authors stick to one subject. Not him. He is a fantastic author.

Then there's David Baldacci, Lee Child, Michael Connelly, Harlan Coben, James Patterson, Daniel Silva and a few more. But these are my favorites and I buy everything they write. But I digress.

There is nothing like going in to the one downtown here called Yesteryear Book Store. It looks like it may have been an old department store at one time because there are 2 levels. Actually, it's more of a mezzanine but it has books all over the place. There must be hundreds of thousands of books in there. So many that there are stacks on the floor even. I love going in there and the books are pretty cheap also. But I'll always read books I can hold in my hand to feel the paper. I doubt I'll ever succumb to e-books; I just love holding the book too much.

My go-to bookstore. Not very big but I can usually find 10 or 12 books in there to buy.

This one is in the basement of an old church but the books cost a bit more and it's hard to navigate around in there as you can see. I have a friend that works in there a few days a week and she helps me locate books, but I'd spend more money in that one than Bent Corners, which is very, very cheap.

This truly is the biggest supply of books I've ever seen. Our local library doesn't even come close to it in size or number of books. Actually, our town library is rather pathetic and there is parking for a very few cars only, just not worth the time going there.

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Now on to the beautiful photos.

 Apparently, a lot of people, me included, loved this fabric enough to make tea towels out of it.

It's pink, what can I say?!

Roses and laundry hanging on the line. My favorites. ;-)

Beautifully photographed close-up of a flower.

Pretty pin.

One of the most beautiful entry staircases I've ever seen.

Mexican foliage. Beautiful.

They're even doing these craft folded roses on haute couture now. Lovin' it!

Benches with pillows instead of chairs.

Prettily made up vignette.

Nice night for a picnic. :-)

And your favorite: French chateaux.

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Tidbit:
The Cullinan Diamond is the largest gem-quality diamond ever discovered. Found in 1905, the original 3,100 carats were cut to make jewels for the British Crown Jewels and the British Royal Family's collection.
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The World's Ugliest Ottoman Transformed!

You get an extra post this week. Isn't that exciting? LOL Anyway, Happy Valentines Day to everyone and hope your sweetheart makes you as happy as mine makes me.
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This is the world's ugliest ottoman and I am almost ashamed to admit I bought it in 1973. Yes, I did! But the upside to this is that as ugly as it is, it's been used every single day since we bought it and hasn't lost its foamy-ness (just try to figure out how to spell that since there isn't a word) or its usefulness or its cushiness. It was well worth the price. The chair it came with is long gone. I just couldn't stand it anymore. Gone to chair heaven with all the other hideous stuff I've bought over the years. Remember, when hubs was a Marine, we took hand-me-downs and whatever we found cheap at garage sales. This was the sixties so you can imagine what we had. This ottoman and its matching chair I actually picked out myself new. Bleecchhhh!! Must have been cheap because I wouldn't even consider it today. That's why I gave it a new cover. This is what I made for it a couple of years ago. It's in the forefront here.

Here it is uncovered, ready for a new fresh cover.

I used a $20 drop cloth from Home Depot and had some left. Now, here's the story.

I used the old cover as a pattern so that worked out well. But when I put the skirt on the two seams were inside out. Now, I did this over a couple of weeks to not get frustrated and hurried and make mistakes. Sigh. Mistakes happened anyway. I ruffled the skirt and them sewed it to the border around the middle with the seam showing on the outside. Hubs told me to just take it apart at the two seams and turn them. I started doing it for then I realized I not only sewed a straight seam but I also sewed a overcast seam and that wouldn't come out as easily. So I thought I'd be creative, leave the seam inside out and add a feather stitch up the seam. Turned out fine. I simply didn't want to take it completely off and turn it around after sewing it on and overcasting all the edges.

This is the top with a ruffle of rose and cream stripe. I still need to iron the whole thing and hem it. But it's pretty much what I wanted to do.

Here is the seam if you look closely. Just a cute embellishment, I must say and there are only 2 seams so that's a bit of luck.

A fence with a plethora of roses on it.

I thought this wintry snow-covered road was beautiful.

Look at those darling little crocheted shoes for a little baby. And those little legs? Adorable!

Just a beautiful look at fall foliage.

Another look at a European village and the beautiful homes and walkways.

A lovely study in blue.

Just can't get enough of these thatched cottages and will display them as long as I can. They are so serene-looking.

And I love looking at dining chairs now that I am on another quest to find 2 more chairs for my dining room.

I love this setting but I think it's more than one tablecloth. I could do this and think I shall when I get some time. First come the dining room table and 2 French chairs, painting them with some chalk paint. This may take a while though. I'll be looking for some old cotton sheets for making the 2 cloths.

I thought this was one of the cheeriest 2 rooms I've ever seen. Just so bright and cute.

This has also given me an idea. I have a chandelier just like this over my dining table but done in pink. But I am going to add some little roses to the lower arms like this. Truly, I can't get enough roses! :-)

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Tidbit:
Worldwide, Norwegians drink the most coffee and have the highest rate of anxiety disorders.
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Linking up with Inspire Me Monday.

Goals, Resolutions

I've been reading blogs with New Year's resolutions and wondered about that. I don't think I've ever made resolutions for the New Year. I tend to just go about normally like I always do. What comes will come and be happy or not so happy about it. I don't think I've ever set goals or if I did, I didn't realize they were goals. I just do what comes naturally for me.

I'm a pretty simple woman; although, there are some that would disagree with that. Just seeing eye candy on blogs makes me happy as I'm very visual. Things like laundry drying on the line, pretty decorated bottles, flower gardens, beautiful rooms, an oldie song on the car radio, my great granddaughters playing around sillily and those type of things really do bring solace to my mind.

I have friends who say reading scriptures brings solace to them. Since I'm a late-bloomer when it comes to religion, I don't understand them as much as if someone tells me what something actually means. Think Isaiah! I'm amazed sometimes when it's opened up to me. I've been know to say, "How did you get that out of that paragraph?!" Okay, so some of you are better at understanding than I am; that's just fine. I try.

But to soothe this soul, pretty images do it all the time. I could lose myself in pretty magazines or online photos much of the time as you can tell from all the photos I post on my blog and on Pinterest. I've committed—is that a goal or a resolution?—to read the scriptures every day. Maybe I'll start to understand them better. I need all the help I can get, trust me.

I've never "dreamed" big. I'm pretty happy with my life. I'm happy with what I've got. This realization has come to me many times over the past years, but more so lately. We're still trying to give things away to friends, granddaughter, thrift stores, etc. Does this come because we're in the winter of our lives? I think that's part of it.

Most of the gals I run around with are just a few years older than my granddaughter. (Most of my granddaughter's friends are surprised when I am introduced as her grandmother. I don't think it's that I look young but that I sound, think and act young.) We have the best time eating lunch together. I rarely socialize with people our own age. There is only one couple we go out to dinner with and she's about 6 years older than me, but they think young like we do. And we have a really fun time with them talking about our lives and what's the latest gossip. They're the only couple our age with whom we go out to eat.

I just cannot think old. It's not in my makeup. I wonder if all older people are like that. Hmmmm.

I was sitting next to a teenager in church today, a beautiful 16 or 17 year old girl. I had taken a dinner in to her family Friday night as her mother had been in a car wreck and was pretty banged up and her father was just diagnosed with cancer only men can get. But they all looked so happy today. But anyway, I turned to the teenager and said to her teasingly that I'm a girl just like she is and think girly thoughts. She smiled. I told her she'll always be young in her mind, even when she's a grandmother. She smiled at me again. Give her 20 more years and she'll know exactly what I mean. I just love life, even when it throws me a few curves sometimes. But I have been happy with my life, truly. And if you're someone who isn't then you need to rethink your priorities in life. I did.
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Don't you just love the sereneness of this living room?

As I've testified before, hubs and I love trains. I can just picture us going through this beautiful snow setting and cuddling in a small suite on a train. I just might treat him to one this year. He'd love it.

A gorgeous metal gazebo with glass sides.

Delightful vintage, rustic window with a lilac wreath.

A "purple" party!

Another water feature I love with old stone tubs and rusted water spigots.

Folded roses are so very easy to make, even and especially out of scraps.

Beautiful earrings.

En pointe!!

A beautiful old window updated for a homeowner's preferences.

An antique door still in use.

Pretty pots holding roses and posies.

My kind of eye candy—you can really eat these cookies on a stick. ;-)

Beautiful crochet on pillowcases or potholders.

A very romantic bedroom.

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20th Century Fox has a trademark on "the spoken word 'D'oh' ", but not the written word.

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Yeah, Yeah, Another Great-Grandma Brag

We were gone a week but we're home now. I'll have more on the trip to our granddaughter's house later; however, just let me say this. I take my laptop when traveling but this time I forgot my passwords for everything, including my Google Reader and my blog! I wasn't able to get in; I could only read it. That will never happen again! I have so many passwords that I couldn't possibly remember them all. I store them securely and I mean securely. Even the words themselves are coded. ;-) I trust no one when it comes to passwords. And, unlike most people, I don't have just one password for everything. My passwords cover 2 sheets of paper—single-spaced. Call me paranoid, but this happens when you get robbed three times. You learn to trust no one and nothing. :-)

And this is them while we were there.

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Remember, I'm the great grandmother here and it's my blog so every once in a while I have to feature th' girls. ;-) This is one of those times. Christmas picture taking. I cannot tell you how much joy these two little chicks bring to me and hubs.

We start with their first shot together. Notice Juliette looking warily at her big sister.

Now we see her starting to get in the spirit of things.

Now she's really groovin'.

Then she sticks out her tongue at her big sister, Caroline.

"I need my own show here, people!"

"Aaaah, nuts, Sis is stealing th' show from me."

"My big sis is so "out there!"

"Do I have to do this every single Christmas?"

"I think I'll take a nap now."

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Another gorgeous decorated bottle.

This would make a really great family room with all that seating.

You could make a wreath like this for Valentine's Day next easily with roses or peonies from the garden.

I like that large sink but I prefer my stainless steel one that's not so deep and back breaking.

Just beautiful linens.

Another birdhouse I found on the internet.

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Useless Information:
The Statue of Liberty's fingernails weight about 100 pounds apiece.
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