My last post was almost a year ago on December 21, 2015. I am not sure why I stopped it except that perhaps it was a health issue I was being diagnosed with then and devoted a bit of time to do things I just needed to do.

I went on Facebook after a little while so I could see pictures of my great granddaughters because my granddaughter got a bit caught up in the social media and started posting photos of the great grand girls on there for all her family to see. She doesn't post much as she is busy as a computer scientist (for real) at Microsoft and the mother of 3 girls under the age of seven. So, therefore, I became caught up in the frenzy of FB. I have since learned I really don't like it. I love blogging more. But I didn't delete my FB account and that is simply because I can see daily pictures of them. I just refuse to comment on there. I truly do NOT understand how people can post some of the things they do on there. That being said, there are probably people who don't understand how I could post some of the things I do on a blog. But, no matter. I like posting gorgeous photos on here and commenting on life in general. It might take me about a week or so to start, but I simply wanted to alert any who might have liked the "eye candy" I posted to come back and look at it.

Blogging is cathartic for me. I'm almost three quarters of a century old. But no one ever believes me because I don't act it and am really a humorous person. I am also lively and love life. So come along and read sometimes. I think you'll like it.

Our Heritage Is Important To Our Progeny

I'm going to remind you again of my Pinterest page where I have almost 14,000 photos of nothing but eye candy. If almost 11,000 followers find them interesting and beautiful, I'm sure you'll like to at least view them. I promise you won't be disappointed. Nothing BUT eye candy. A feast for the eyes!
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There are times when I need "comfort" food. Hubby always knows because I look at him with puppy dog eyes, put my curled hands up to my chin and whine like a puppy. He knows what that means. He's a sucker for it and will run to the store for whatever I need: Blue Bunny Bunny Tracks ice cream, cinnamon rolls, Häagen Dazs butter pecan or some kind of vanilla with caramel, cake or Drumsticks ice cream cones or even Werthers caramels. It depends on how I feel as to what I want. Since I've had this terrific cough for a week, it's been especially bad. I don't feel sick, don't hurt or ache, just coughing my head off. It started when we got an inversion in our city and the cold air just made me cough when I went out in it. Know what I mean? I'm sick of it. So I sent him grocery shopping a few minutes ago and put a few "comfort" foods on the list. ;-)
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My great grandgirls, C & J, have become interested in our heritage, which is important in our church, and the oldest one who is almost 4 years old is asking about her great great grandmothers and great great great great grandmother also. I've sent my granddaughter the information but they also want stories. Stories are a big part of their lives as their Dada and Mummy read to them a lot, every night at least. So granddaughter wants me to send stories to them so they'll be acquainted with MY history. It's been a chore but I have to do it since I'm in my 70s and don't have a whole lot of time left and certainly want those little munchkins to have some memories of me. I'm also including some photos with each story so they'll know what I was like as a kid. I think it's a good idea.

While we were over there in February we saw this painting done by the one who is almost 4. I was stunned that she could actually paint a dog. You DO realize it's a dog, right? I can't even draw a stick dog!! Her father and uncle are artists though so she's inheriting it from the other side of the family. Her dada can draw just about anything. I truly have never seen so much talent in a man—computer scientist, artist, handyman extraordinaire and a story teller with a fantastic imagination.

I don't know if this photo has been photoshopped but it doesn't look real to me—beautiful!—but not real.

There's always a bit of French and a bit of English in my home, 2 groups of my ancestry besides Dutch and Mexican.

Isn't this wisteria just beautiful? Goes perfect with the shutters on this shop.

How fortunate for this homeowner to have so much light in her kitchen. But if she lives in a warm climate it must get pretty warm in there in the summer season...if she lives in the northern hemisphere, but if it's in Australia or New Zealand then it would be the winter season that's warm. I knew a guy from Australia once and he was shocked upon his first day in the U.S. because our toilet flush water swirls in the opposite direction. He thought the toilet was getting stopped up.

Just yum!!!!!!! Hubby made me a chocolate cake last night as I'm having a terrible time with a cough. Not sick, feverish, just coughing. So is he. But I wanted comfort food and that's what he baked. Wonderful hubby. ;-)

A room I love and think is very cozy.

I like this sofa but I'd probably never buy one like it. A bit too busy for my taste.

But I do love this distinctive dining room. Great for entertaining and it's made to stand out in this home. Marvelous!

Oooooh, yeah!! I could live in this home in a heart beat. Only I'd have to have someone else clean it.

A cute English cottage with pretty windows, curtains and flowers with a lush green lawn.

Another darling living room.

I love this room and the way it's arranged but that painting on the back wall would HAVE to go. I mean GOOOOOO!!! Maybe it's their kids' school/fantasy project. ;-)

Another cute pillow.

There's always room for apple pie with ice cream. I think they put a dollop of cream on this. Let's not cut corners here, just slather it with premium vanilla ice cream!!!!

And a home in Greece. They seem to love blue and pink with white the main color. Beautiful!

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Linking up with Pink Saturday.    

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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A Veteran Story

My hubby is a retired Marine. While in the Marine Corps, he was a drill instructor during the Vietnam war. It compromised his hearing as he was just like the teenagers of today who think that the loud music they listen to—especially with the ear pods in their ears—won't affect them. It did. He's lost a great deal of his hearing though gradually. But we have many blessings and one of them is that part of his retirement is not taxable. He also gets free hearing aids from the Veterans Administration because teaching recruits how to shoot diminished his hearing, so it was job-related.

The VA takes really good care of its veterans. A golfing buddy and friend of our son's had cancer and survived it, luckily. Our son, who is a nurse and works for a VA hospital in California, plus was a Marine for about 6 years, kept telling him to go to the VA as the man served in Vietnam during the agent orange era. He kept saying no as it was too much trouble. Our son told him all he had to do was tell one person (an advocate) his name, serial number and years in Vietnam. That's it. Then the advocate would handle it from there. Well, he finally did. He called our son a few months later to thank our son profusely. Not only was he awarded a pension of a couple thousand dollars a month but it was retroactive. He got $36,000 in a lump sum that he never would have known about if not for our son. He was ecstatic. He now doesn't have to worry about money as much with that veteran pension.

As I said, the VA is an advocate for veterans and my hubby is also. He was contacted by the VA a couple of weeks ago and asked to come in to reevaluate his hearing again. (He normally does this about every 3 years, but this was a bit early and he was perplexed.) They wanted to see if he could get his hearing evaluated for more money that would be tax-free. We're waiting for the results but as his wife, I can guarantee they'll up it as it is getting worse. We were even thinking of getting a hearing-aid dog for him in the future if anything would happen to me because when he is in certain parts of the house he cannot hear the doorbell or even the security alarm if it goes off sometimes.

Well, while he was being evaluated, they told him they're going to get a louder doorbell chime for us and also an alarm clock that is louder and has a vibrating pad for underneath his pillow so that can wake him up. He's a sound sleeper. I was thrilled as these things will cost us nothing. While not every man is meant for military service, I thank those that have given up years of their life to protect this country. I cannot tell you enough what it means to my hubby and me. I honor them profusely and their wives and children who don't have them with them all the time. Also, the ones who have sacrificed their lives for the freedoms we have are greatly honored in this family. Thank you all, military men, women, wives, parents and children of those who serve or have served. You're special in this household.

Oh, btw, we received a box just 8 days after the evaluation. It contained a door chime with a very bright blinking light when the doorbell is rung—and it's portable so he can take it to any room in the house or garage—and an alarm clock with a large dial and loud ring and vibrator to put under his pillow. Yep, his advocate came through for him. (You can also tell I prepare these posts well in advance as this happened in early May.)
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Now you tell me, what could be so cute and this work space?! Just adorable.

I've tried this with sheer curtains on our patio but it didn't work well as hubs' grape vines tore through them as fast as the wind could carry them. I'd suggest heavier fabric if you intend to do this. The wind in our desert can be very fierce sometimes.

Just a beautiful fabric wrapped sweetly. I've seen women's closets where all their fabrics are stored beautifully. This doesn't happen in this house. I can't keep them arranged that well as I'm always digging around for something I try to make work for a project. Just one look through it and they're all messed up. I could take on a permanent job of arranging the fabric I have!

A vintage table painted white with a white vintage bench and white "schoolhouse" chairs and a chandelier adds about as much elegance to this dining area as you can get. I think it's gorgeous!

Personally, I love the look of lavender but the smell is overcoming to me. Not the best fragrance but its healing properties can be wonderful when applied to burns. I've tried it on burns and it works wonderfully.

Just a celebration of red here. Love this color along with my favorite color pink.

Now, as busy as this room is, it's colorful. It isn't something I'd try as it's too busy for me, but for a tropical paradise decor, this would be perfect. Looks more like a teenager's room though.

It would be heaven to have this kind of garden. Most of my favorite flowers are here in pots and it's an easy way to garden without tearing up your yard. It would also be a place to garden that might not be conducive to a yard in your area. I love this look.

Just a cute piece of ephemera for you.

This bath is a bit exotic for me but it is beautiful.

Hopefully our clematis will grow this huge with time. Ours is still struggling a bit. This one is astounding though.

Just a cute little thatched cottage somewhere in the world. Love its symmetrical design with the blue trim and pink flowers, plus being on a body of water makes it somewhat desirable also.

When I saw these I thought how cute they were to decorate an egg cup when not in use at the breakfast table.

Looks like a garage sale, but I see a couple of lamps and shades I'd like to transform.

This says it all. Endure to the end, my blogger friends. It will be worth it. :-)

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Tidbit:

The basis of the Macintosh computer was Apple's Lisa, which was released in 1983. This was the first system to utilize a GUI, or graphical user interface. The first Macintosh was released in 1984.
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A Question I Asked Hubby

When my granddaughter was here in March, I had her try on my wedding dress. I just wanted to see if it would fit or, truthfully, see how much larger than her I was as a bride. She's normally a size 2, but is probably a 4 right now because of the pregnancy but she gets weight off so easily I could scream. Ain't so with her grandma! Anyway, it wouldn't even zip up past her hips. Talk about depressing. I thought I'd cry since I was smaller than her when I got married. She's always been tiny even at 5' 4 1/2" tall, exactly like me. My daughter, her mother, is 5' 11" tall. I am the shortest one of our family. Granddaughter is also endowed with the family chest. We all have more than is wanted in that department. Just our heritage as my mother, all my aunts, my maternal grandmother and most of my cousins are well-endowed in that area. Why is it that all of us who have it don't want it and others who don't have it want more? A friend of mine is small and would like a bit more, but I'm always telling her: No, you don't. You really don't.

But that brought me to asking hubby about it. I said, "As a man, why do all of you look at the chests at women?" He, being a man, should know. His very serious answer? "We're hard-wired." I nearly fell over laughing. He's so honest about it. He looks at women just like any other man. I doubt most women are that concerned about the size of their chests.

Oh, and granddaughter? She eats like a horse. I mean she packs it away. Candy? Loves it! Pie, cake, ice cream? Eats it often. Always has to have dessert when we go out to eat. And just like me, if I bake a pie or cake for a special occasion, I have to eat some as soon as it cools from the oven. Drives my hubby nuts. That happened at Thanksgiving at her house. I baked the pie the day before and she and I had some. Hubby just glared at us both. She's so like me, more than her mother really. She just never seems to get fat. Life is not fair!
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A beautiful clearing in a yard for this dining setting and torches walkway, lots of plants and a building with a canvas top. Perfect for warm evening dinners.

Looks like a large kitchen in the mountains if looking through that far window. It looks like snow covered mountains back there. But it is a huge kitchen.

This must be a very northern European country photo of a living room. You get such marvelous light in that part of the world and simple lines of furniture with bright coverings for the furniture.

Another way to store your bedding and laces. Charming.

A sweet setting of flowers on a charming table.

What a tub to bathe in. Lots of room around for setting soaps, towels, bottles of scents and perfumes, and candles.

Another beautiful purple decorated bottle.

Aren't these cute?! A really fun way to jazz up your paper clips.

Has to be in Europe somewhere. Beautiful lavender and periwinkle wisteria.

A door to an old cottage with a purple door, knocker, mail slot and a #10 on its door.

It took a brave person to paint her gate this color, a woman with vision I think. Just beautiful!!!!

Another compact kitchen but elegantly appointed with essentials.

A bed or sofa to dream in with a canopy overhead and done in relaxing white with 2 splashy throw pillows for color.

I. Want. This. Purse! It's the cutest thing I've seen in  froufrou bags.

I'm still working on my 2 French cane chairs. Maybe soon I'll have them all done and can show them to you.

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Tidbit:

Spam filters that catch the cord "Cialis" will not allow many work-related emails through because that word is embedded inside the word "specialist."
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