A Travel Story

This is a story about traveling to another country. Since some of you have read me long enough to know how I feel about traveling, flying, and other countries, this story just may help you understand my feelings. (I hate traveling and flying even though I've been to other countries and refuse to do either anymore.)

My daughter's husband died about 3 years ago now and you can read the blog post about that here. It was a very sad day for all of us. But her in-laws treated her to a Mediterranean cruise 5 months after their son's death. It was a sweet and gracious thing to do. But it got ugly real fast.

My daughter hadn't ever traveled to any place beyond our continental borders, except for Hawaii several times, and wasn't used to the culture shock. And, truthfully, I don't think those countries were ready for her. Before the trip, she had traveled extensively in the U.S. and her choice for the worst drivers in the U.S. and the worst city in the U.S. are recorded forever in my memory. I won't mention which were her choices here on the internet, but if you ask me through an email I'd be happy to share with you. I just don't want rants from people about a city which just may well be their city.

Anyway, after crawling through the pyramids of Egypt (scary and suffocating—her words), trekking through the filth of some of those countries and experiencing the ports of call in that area of the world, she told me her experience in Turkey, which she now says is the worst country for drivers. Their laws for motor vehicles are taken as just a hint, never enforced really. Traffic jam? They just pull on the sidewalk and drive. Now, that alone should be your first clue but I'll elaborate. Second clue is my daughter is very demanding—very. This is important to the story.

A relative is a travel agent (Terry) and sets up all the trips for the family and always travels with the group. This is also important to this story as I don't think most travel agents would go as far as Terry did in helping daughter. They spent a few days in Turkey off the ship.

When time came to return to the ship and they got to the dock to get back on, her passport was missing. She looked through her purse, pockets, everywhere and they couldn't find it. The border agents put her in detention. Terry, travel agent, was beside herself. She couldn't leave her in Turkey but the Turkish government wasn't about to let her go to the ship without a passport. Finally, she thought it could be somewhere in her luggage that went on back to the ship and was on board at that point. (Luggage goes on before you do.) So Terry went on the ship, waited for  ALL the luggage of all the passengers to get on the ship, rummaged through hundreds of suitcases until she found daughter's luggage and finally found the passport. Now, the relevant part here is that took hours. SEVERAL HOURS! Daughter was in tears because she had absolutely no control if they wanted to keep her there. (I'm sure some of you have seen the movie, Midnight Express.) Plus the cruise ship would sail on time, with or without her. They did give her some things to eat and Terry or her in-laws brought her food. She was scared to death when in that detention. She just wanted to come home to California. She said she'll never leave the U.S. again.
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Another cute pink vignette I like. I think I say “love” and “adore” too much, but it is actually how I feel about these photos.

I saw this pool on this high-rise home and just can’t see myself ever swimming in it, not that I’d ever get the chance, but I’d get dizzy just approaching it.

Do you remember these old 1950s dining chairs? I certainly do and it looks like this one had been given a fresh update. Cute!

Beautiful for French, English or any décor actually.

Sweet.

A teapot from Green Gate.

Bedroom with Green Gate accessories in it.

Green Gate tea tin. You’ve really got to visit their website. I’ll be posting more Green Gate items here for you to see though.

A mews in England somewhere. I think mews are very quaint places to have a shop, office or residence. Mews are a row or street of houses or apartments that have been converted from stables or built to look like former stables.

While I doubt this is really pink, I thought it was clever the way the photo turned out sort of pinkish.

Cute way to do some used eggshells, if one can paint! I can’t. Read about that here if you'd like.

A cute little thermos.

Another divine old lawn chair with a cover for the sun.

Fun place to watch the ocean.

I can’t believe this is available somewhere for sale. Surely the owner spray painted it and painted or decaled the BREAD on it.

~*~

Vignettes Can Be a Lot of Different Things

People think vignettes have to be a book and a vase of roses or something similar. Not necessarily true, chicks, although that can be quite stunning and original if taken the time to think it out "creatively." It can be anything you want it to be as long as you assemble items in one particular space - a little space with items that evoke emotion is what works best for me. Something pleasing to the eye. I've gone around my home and just photographed some little descriptive vignettes to show as examples.

A pedestal rose plate with bars of fragrant soaps - some hand painted - and some little fizzie bath hearts given to me. They are absolutely sweet smelling and fragrance my guest bathroom.

A stack of white towels in a little pink wire basket. They are in there for guest's immediate pleasure and convenience so as not to have to go rummaging around underneath the cabinets. Just a thought to the comfort of my guests and family. ;-) I have a friend with a teenage boy who is meticulous in his personal grooming and will not use a towel after someone else. So I decided to do this with him in mind. Always a fresh and scented one for that young man. He steals my heart with being so well groomed.

Some little birdhouses on my mantel - one I made and three my friend, Rhea, made. Hers are stunning and I have a lot of items from her - so many, in fact, that I may have to dedicate a room to her! ;-)

Some old vintage rusty finials on my mantel also. I love the patina and rust of these old iron objects. These don't have much verdigris on them but I especially love the verdigris on old copper objects. And, of course, the proverbial "rose" to add to their beauty. If you knew how many roses I have in this house you'd faint. I have several hundred ribbon roses, many silk roses, dozens of paper roses, millinery roses and porcelain roses. I should call this the Rose House. Well, actually some of my friends do call it that.

Starfish that I spray painted pink and sprinkled on german glass glitter. I just love the look of them on the mantle. I love "fluff" everywhere I can arrange to have it.

Even my craft paints and paint swatches from a paint store can be a vignette when arranged on a vintage old shelf with snippets of leftover lace tacked on the shelf. I think you'll have to agree it adds "color" to the place!

As simple as some vintage salt and pepper shakers painted pink and set on the shelf with paints.

Even little sachets scented with fragrance oils lined along another shelf can add not only beauty but a wonderful scent to enjoy in any room. Yes, I actually do this in every single room - living room, family room, baths, office, bedroom......every room. And these certainly add beauty to the room.

And then there are the tops of book cases that aren't really conducive to hold actual book on the top so I just put some vintage sewing drawers with CDs or DVDs in them and little boxes I've tried selling but didn't. So buyers loss is my room's gain! LOL

One of my favorite vignettes is artist paint brushes. I just love seeing all the brushes in a pretty vase or container. These are mine and I would NOT call my self an artist. I call myself a BEGINNER!! ;-)

I have a bowl on my coffee table that has some pink sea shells (I painted them pink) and I love the juxtaposition of them with the roses and faux desserts I have on there. This one below is not in my home but I think it's stunning. Just simple everyday things gathered together in one spot for a lovely vignette. Rocks in a vintage yellow bowl, starfish and old ephemera.

The roses, sea shells, starfish, a wicker basket leaning against a wall, attractive statues, a container of nails and a plate of fruit.

I liked this room when I first saw it and was drawn back to it because of the table vignette near the dormer. I also stack pictures on the floor leaning up against a baseboard. I just love the look of "high" and "low" pictures. Most people hang their pictures too high on a wall. That's fine if there are other pictures below it but the room looks out of whack if all pictures are at one level in a room and that level is 6 feet up the wall. Lower your pictures so that the lowest part of the frame is no more than 46 - 48" from the floor. It will make quite a cozy difference in the look.

More Practice Photos #2

A tiny fragment of the corner of a frame makes a delightful practice item. Give it a try sometime, my little chicks. Set your camera to "close", which on most cameras is a flower icon. You'll have to read the instruction manual. Ooooooooh noooooooooooo, you're saying??? Yep, that's right. Put your camera down, step away from it, pick up the "i n s t r u c t i o n" manual (bad word, huh?!) and start reading at least where the "far, near and infinity" settings are on the camera. Sheeeeeesh, do I have to tell you everything?!?! Now, it's not hard, just DO it. Continuing right along...........

I did use PhotoShop Elements on this little picture. It is called "feathering" and I do it around the edges. In fact, I do it on most of my photos to give them that soft look. If you have PhotoShop I imagine it's the same thing. For those of you who don't have anything to play around with for your photos, PhotoShop Elements is about 1/10th the price of the full version and it does a fantastic job for what we regular gals want to do. If you going to go seriously into photography then go right ahead and buy the full version one for about $500 - $600.00. Your decision. If you are on a regular PC you might have Paint on your computer. I'm not familiar with it at all. Paint Shop Pro is another one that is good. I just prefer saving money for " just playing around with my hobby" but, hey, if you have the money, go right ahead. PSE is a fantastic program though. One tenth the price of full version, remember!

An up close shot of a clock. Look at the texture of it. Don't see that in a full shot.

Same clock.

Roses on a painted sign I bought a couple of years ago. I can't even remember who painted it, but it was NOT me. :-)

Just a simple little candy dish. I didn't have my camera adjusted quite right for this close up but I doubt many people could tell. I still feathered the edge and it blends in quite well with the "messed up" shot I took. Fooled ya, huh?!?! ;-)

An extreme close up of a toile roses fabric I have. If you enlarge this photo you can see the weave of the fabric. Believe it or not, these kind of photos have helped me make the decision on buying fabric on ebay. If the seller gets it this close I can tell how "heavy" the fabric is. It has helped me immensely when making a selection.

This is on a vintage tin tile I bought about 3 or 4 years ago on ebay. I really like this woman's roses and she says she can whip out a canvas in about a half hour!!! Makes me wanna cry....... But it is simple yet lovely when viewed up close like this.

Another view of that ceiling tile. See what a difference "eye candy" can make "up close and personal"? You can see each brush stroke, each color variation and each color she uses. I love it!

I love the juxtaposition of something old and rusted with something new and elegant. Just a different kind of "eye candy" for me. Truly "shabby and/or chic"!