Rambling and A Warning Today 5/20/2013

Reminder:

Several days ago I mentioned a giveaway to be held in the near future and that I'd remind you again before I had the giveaway. Well, it's getting closer and for those of you who've never seen my giveaways, you really don't want to miss it. I make something special for each one, but there's more than one item to be given away. The only, and I mean ONLY, requirement is that you be a follower. That's it! I treat my followers well, and since, they've been loyal in following me they get to win. So if you're not a follower now, better hurry and become one before the giveaway begins. I'll give you one more warning before but that's it. If you don't want to enter, that's just fine. I truly appreciate everyone who comes here to read and/or leave a comment; I just appreciate followers a lot more. ;-) Thank you!
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Reminding you again of my Pinterest page, where I post at least a couple of times a week. You'll see images that aren't yet on my blog so go there for a visual treat of nothing but beautiful images.

Also, I'll keep reminding you until 7/1/2013 that Google Reader will no longer be available. So if you want to keep track of your favorite blogs or, if you are a blogger, you'll need another site to do that. Of course, you could just see them if you have bookmarked them, but you wouldn't see if they're updated so you'd have to check every single one. I'm using Bloglovin' as many others are and while it's not as good as Google Reader, it's still better than having to click on every single blog to see if it's updated. If you want to follow me on Bloglovin', just click on the logo on my side bar.
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Since I schedule these posts weeks in advance this is an actual update of my prepared blog because of something I found out on 5/15/2013. I have cancer. It's skin cancer and I've taken steps but I truly need to caution you women out there who are sun worshipers. Don't do it! If you do it now, stop it immediately.

I spent my teenage years at pools sunbathing and my 40s going to Mexico and sitting in the sun for hours and hours. I've had a few horrific sunburns. I'm very fair skinned. Well, I used to be; I'm spotted now because of the sun damage. My eyes are green and we're the most sensitive to sun—photophobia. I am never, ever in the sun without long sleeves on and sunglasses on. I can't even go to the mailbox without sunglasses. The desert sun can be unrelenting also.

When I noticed a sore on my cheek just in front of my right ear appear seemingly overnight, literally, 4 or 5 weeks ago and it didn't go away plus got a sort of scab over it, I told hubby it wasn't getting any better. I tried squeezing it a bit to see if it was a pimple but nothing came out. It also hurt badly at one point. He kept saying it doesn't look bad. But I know my body...well! It wasn't normal and it wouldn't go away. So I called my dermatologist, scheduled a quick appointment with his PA and she didn't even hesitate when she saw it. She said, "It's cancer" and wanted to look at my arms also. At that point I started stripping off all my clothes as fast as I could so she had visual access to my whole body. Nothing anywhere else. Sigh of relief! Three to 4 spots on each arm were cancer. I thought it was just scaly skin as I have dry skin. But she said, "Nope, just a different type of cancer." She froze them on my arms and also the face because she wanted to take a scraping of it, send it to the pathologist immediately to decide our method of treatment. I'll know next week what we need to do. When she said it's cancer, I didn't even flinch; I simply said, "What do we need to do?" I'm very pro-active, very. I wasn't stunned, just glad I followed my feelings and made the appointment. I'm not down a bit. I have faith I'll be okay. Cutting it out is one option if the results come back as the worse type of cancer. 

Here is a photo of it. No makeup and no photoshopping so it doesn't show me in a good light because I really am cute. ;-) But this is the look of cancer, chicks. Oh, discount the wrinkles you see...wait, I think that's my hair, not wrinkles...and no photo taken this close ever put anyone in a good light. So please don't say it can't happen to you. Stay out of the sun and cover up and warn your kids. Slather sunscreen on also. Better to be cautious than sorry.

These are two of them on my left arm, very innocuous looking. I never would have guessed, just thought it was dry patches of skin. These are a bit red from the freezing. I'm brave enough to show these ugly arms because I want to warn you that they didn't look particularly harmful. And skin cancer is one of the worst you can get. You've been warned.

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Have you noticed kids today are far advanced? The teenage years are now starting at 10 years old. Sigh.
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The other day driving though our neighborhood we spotted a storage shed that was much taller and bigger than ours. I told hubs we needed a bigger shed when we moved in. We had it installed before they put in our sprinkler system and grass. I thought it would be big enough then, but I should have realized they're never big enough. We always stuff things in there and even though we don't use them anymore, never get rid of them...stuff. And you know what I'm talking about. Wood. He: Yeah, but I'll use it some day. Pipes/connectors. He: It'll come in handy some day. Things I've thrown in the trash that he says he could use. He: You never know when it'll come in handy. I cannot tell you how much crap he has in there. If we had a bigger shed, sure, it would be nice, but he'd just put more stuff out there he may use someday. I've told him if he dies before me, I'm trashing everything out there except the lawn mower. I think I saw a tear in his eye.
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The other day my wind chimes on the front porch actually played several bars from an old song. I don't remember the song, but it truly did. It sort of threw me for a loop. I thought someone was out there playing with them, but since I can see my front porch with video cams that wasn't so.
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A few weeks ago, someone posted a lovely comment but it had nothing
at all to do with the blog post. It stymied me. It wasn't anonymous or spam because I checked, but it sure was weird.
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Just a very sweet, sweet living room area but it almost looks like a shop.

How would you like this little attic bedroom? Charming, right?

I saw this in a magazine years ago and I believe it's a work area for a bunch of women who like to craft. It is, however, caaauuute!

A cute little vignette of colorful books, trays, flowers, a pitcher and an eiffel tower.

Another clever use of a step ladder.

And a cute way to display photos and glasses of flowers.

Pretty all-white room. I don't see one display of color in there.

Pretty branches displayed with a white embroidered umbrella.

Cottages built along a small road with a little stream. Perfect!

Pretty pink tulips.

Luxurious outdoor patio on a beach.

I love displays like this. So simple and yet so very pretty.

A darling living room with cushy sofa and pillows with a beautiful staircase in the background.

Lovely wallpaper, kind of subdued, but those tiny hanging lamps are astounding.

Pink kitchen, just my style.

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Tidbit:

The first domain name ever registered was Symbolics.com
And over 35 billion emails are sent each day throughout the world.
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Linking up with WOW. 

A Personal IRS Story

I usually do posts on Monday, Wednesday and Friday so I can do some other things. This is a special blog because of what's happening in our country at the moment. Just read it and you'll hear of our experience.

The past several days we've heard story after story on the internet about the IRS abuses. Now, this is definitely not a political blog, but I have to tell you our story of what happened to us. It's a very personal story and I include some personal things about finances but it needs to be told how the IRS dealt with us.

In 1991, we sold our home in Northern California to move to Idaho and a more serene lifestyle. We didn't retire at that point except from our jobs, but we were still young enough to work and we wanted to work. Well, hubby did; I didn't. I was just happy to stay at home after working for over 25 years. Don't get me wrong; I loved my job and loved working. However, I also loved being a wife and a stay-at-home wife when we moved here. We had also purchased a rental house in Idaho a  year prior to moving to Idaho as an investment. We paid about $70,000 for a 2500 square foot house on 5 acres. It was rented out immediately and kept rented for the 2 years we had it. We couldn't live in it because we needed to put the bulk of the capital gains into another house to save on taxes.

We had bought our California home in the early seventies for about $32,000 for a 1500 square foot ranch type house in a nice neighborhood and later added on to the master bedroom to make it 10 feet longer and put in a magnificent walk-in closet with personal shelving and then later we added a second story which encompassed a huge master bedroom, bathroom and huge walk-in closet with more specialized shelving and a room for hubby to have a model railroad train layout which was about 19' x 26'. It was definitely upscale at that point.

We arrived in Idaho the end of 1991 because the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake during the world series in San Francisco scared us so badly. We were several hours trying to find each other. Hubby would have been on the top road of the Cypress structure that collapsed on top of the lower road. In 1992, we bought a small business that our realtor said we'd be great at running. (Actually, we simply closed it after 5 years because I was spending too much time at it and I hated it.) So in April 1993 when tax time rolled around, we hired a man to do our taxes. We were in shock when he told us what we owed. He first told us we'd probably owe about $75,000 dollars with the money we had made in California and the capital gains we had from the sale of our house. We sold it for $249,000 and that was 1991 prices. Then he got it down to a bit more than $40,000 we owed the IRS. Then it got ugly.

We put the rental house on the market because we needed the money for the taxes. This was the middle of 1992. We sold that rental for $20,000 more than we bought it in just less than 2 years. In September, when the house sold but hadn't closed, we received several calls from the IRS. They wanted their money. The tax man and our realtor told them—for us—the house was in escrow and they would receive their money posthaste. That didn't satisfy them. We went back and forth with the IRS several times with phone calls. One agent would tell us something entirely different than the next agent. We'd tell them what the other agents told us but they didn't care. They were extremely hasty. Then they seized our bank accounts. If I hadn't had a few dollars in my wallet, which is a rarity because I used checks most of that time instead of money, I wouldn't have had any money for bread or milk. We wondered why in the world would they do that to us, upstanding Americans who always paid their taxes on time. You'll never guess the reason. They said: Because you have passports and could skip the country anytime because you've been abroad many times! We were floored. Hubby is a retired Marine. His retirement comes from the government. Why would we risk that? They eventually received their money and lifted the seizure of our personal and business accounts. (You try to run a business when the IRS seizes it; impossible!) From that day on, we never ever trusted the IRS and paid everything right on time. Of course, that was an extraordinary situation because of the sale of the house and the move and buying the business, but that doesn't excuse the rudeness of those agents. I suffered sleepless nights and major anxiety over that. So trust me, you never, ever want to mess with them.

But now in Washington we're hearing about congressmen, cabinet members and federal employees who haven't paid taxes in years. Some owe much more than we ever did. Are they being harassed? I've read they haven't. I find this all incredible. We, who served this country for 21 years faithfully, even in wars and my father was a retired Naval Office. We're really true Americans and love our country and wouldn't want to cheat it but we don't want to be harassed day after day for weeks for something we can't give them but will when the house sale closed.

Maybe this fiasco in Washington now will bring about some change. I sure hope so. To be hounded by the IRS with questions about what affiliations do you support and what do you pray about is beyond the pale for Americans. Just read some of the articles about this mess. It's really a mess and some things are going to happen that won't be pretty we think. Let's hope the powers in Washington get it straightened so the IRS can't scare people anymore.

Here's another one of those old stone homes we love so much.

A tisket, a tasket, a green, blue, pink wicker basket. ;-)

Lovely pot, lovely flowers in it.

I think I'd love this stairway, but I'd want it to be safe to go up and down on it.

Some pretty blue walls, accessories and sofa and chair.

I'm really loving tablecloths that drape over the ends of the table and are tied back. This one is very pretty and very easily done.

Don't you just love the bright pink, blue, yellow and green yoyos?

If I could afford it, I'd put a sun room on our house, but I don't want to spend that kind of money at our age. But I do love this bright, sunny room with columns and windows for the ceiling.

Someone's beautiful scrolled birdhouse among some cherry blossoms.

I think I'll buy some cupcakes tomorrow, visit a friend and share with her.

Isn't this cute? She made a darling vignette.

An old worker's tool bucket made cute with purple and white flowers.

When I saw this I knew I had to show it to you. I love it, very small, cute and quaint. From the appliances, I'm thinking it's in another country. But that darling lamp. Yummmmmy!!

These kinds of numbers are becoming popular. I like the way they're put on this 4 drawer little chest to give it some pizzazz.

I squealed when I came upon this photo of this 3 tier cake plate made stunning with scroll work around each tier and the cups and laces in it. Gorgeous!

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Tidbit:

The longest Oscars ceremony, in 2000, lasted a butt-numbing 256 minutes.

It takes 12 people 20 hours to make one Oscar statuette.
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Just Rambling Again 5/17/13

I'm sure some of you want to live by the ocean. I might. Not sure, but this home in Greece sure is full of character. Truly, and this might sound strange, but if I had my choice between the ocean, mountains, city, suburbs or desert, I'd choose the desert. I've lived in 2 deserts 3 times and love it more than any other place. It just seems to call to me. We live in the southwest desert and it is the most beautiful place I've ever seen. Our son lives in the California desert and loves it. He likes to be warm. Our daughter lives in Northern California near the S.F. bay and loves it there. Our granddaughter lives in Washington state near Bellevue and doesn't want to live anywhere else either. Loves it there.

I've always loved wisteria, even did a wisteria stencil in one house we lived in. But they grow fast and will tear an arbor down rather quickly due to the large and strong limbs. The smell is lovely but the pods burst and make a lot of noise. The seeds are poisonous, and the plant can be invasive. That's the main reason I don't plant it in my yard.

Cute idea for hold utensils. I think it could be adapted for other uses also.

Of course I like this idea.

What an example of eye candy...real candy! Just think of the kiddies seeing this when they come home from school. Adorable.

My favorite color combo—pink and yellow.

A little British caravan. This owner has it decked out just the way I'd like mine if I had one. BUT if I had one, I'd have to go camping and we all know how I feel about camping. :-(

Stunning doors leading into a living room. I've often thought of how it would be living in one of those big apartments in a city. I don't think I'd like it as I love living in the burbs. But I'd sure like to see one in person some day.

This little patio could be done rather easily on our patio. It's a small one but I think this one is rather small. It sure would be cute to look out the patio door and see this though. Maybe I can talk Love Bunny into it this summer. I'd probably have to commit to sitting out there though. That could happen. I'm not a "sit in the sun" person however as I burn easily and don't want any more age spots than I already have. But in the evening when the sun is low on the horizon, it's a definite possibility.

Old stone steps leading to a beautiful door with lace on the windows is alluring; however, I prefer a solid door. I don't want people peeping in my door or my windows.

This is also a darling outdoor area with a table and benches no one is going to try to steal. Love the whole area. The cushions on the stone benches are a plus for me!

Do you get the feeling that the woman of this small kitchen is named Ariel? And she must like sweets. What a darling small kitchen and the pantry is cute with the glass doors and cute fabric curtains.

I don't think I've ever seen a roof that needs mowing. How would you get the mower up there and keep from falling off? I wonder where in the world this is. What are all those pipes coming out of the top. While it's truly adorable, I'm not sure I'd want to live in it.

I really like this idea. The kitchen is more than adequate with lots of storage and preparation room. And the dining room is right there. You don't need a separate room that isn't used often. We had a very formal dining room in our last house and rarely ever used it. I decided then that I didn't want a formal room used only a couple of times a year. But I still wanted a gorgeous table, chairs and a chandelier. This would be my ideal setup. Love this arrangement.

Another idea for a cute vignette or even a centerpiece for a dining table.

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Tidbit:

It took approximately 2.5 million stones to build the Pyramid of Giza, the oldest and largest of the pyramids on the Giza Plateau, and the only remaining Wonders of the Ancient World. If you disassembled it, you would get enough stones to encircle the earth with a brick wall twenty inches high.
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Living A Beautiful Life...Sometimes

During the 1970s and 1980s, I discovered Alexandra Stoddard and her books. I fell in love. If you've never read any of her books, you've missed a lot. The first book I read was Living A Beautiful Life. It changed my life as I've said before. I've read, and have, several of her books. They're calm and beautiful to read. She can be spiritual also. But it's her sense of how to live a beautiful life that drew me to her books.

I was working as the highest paid woman in a very top Fortune 500 company at the time and needed more serene time in my life. Those books taught me how to achieve it. While, she's a top decorator, and one of my favorites, she's a prolific author also. She has a keen sense of color and fabric. Her books take you on a journey to find happiness in this life.

A few weeks ago while cleaning out some beautiful storage boxes in which I have papers, ephemera, my clay flowers, etc. stored, I came across some of her Beautiful Living Companion brochures she would send out to us subscribers. I loved receiving them but I don't think she kept it up very long as she was too busy. But in one, and there are no dates on these, just volume numbers, it had to be from the 80s, I found a quote from her I'd like to share.

"There is no beauty without order. I've discovered that to the degree that we are organized we are in control of our lives. Haven't you found that the times when you allow your life to overwhelm you with chaos are the times when you are going through emotional turmoil as well?"

I found my answer is exactly as she spells it out. I'm not only disordered in my life/home, etc, but in my mind also. I'm not attending to my garden: the one I have in my head and the one I have when I sweep my arms out to encompass my life and home or, in other words, my environment. I have to have a calm talk with myself and sometimes it takes more than a one-time sit-down. Sometimes, it takes days or even a few weeks to get that calmness I need to pursue something. But absolutely first, comes the ease of the mind. Then comes the "getting to it" of it. That's how I function most of the time and I'm guessing a lot of you mimick that as well. Think on that statement. It has certainly helped me. There are times when I simply sit and read for hours and hours upon days and days because I just can't handle much at that moment. No, I'm not fragile, just have to contemplate it for a while. And my sweet, sweet hubby accommodates anything I want to do. He's my angel. Sometimes, I truly wonder how he puts up with me. Truly.
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A dining room that pleases me. Chairs are darling. She has a bench on one side. Lots of pink, polka dots, checks and stripes. Lovely!

My kind of vignette also.

Love the sofa but where do I sit on it?! Beautiful pillows also.

We should all be lucky to have a dishwashing/sink area like this. Loooove it!!!

Yeah, yeah, I know. Dream on, bloggers.

A sweet night light. We have some of these for emergencies. I just thought of something: I could froufrou them up and bring them in from the garage. Today is the day I do that!

A very clever idea for old spoons and teacups: make it into a hanging lamp.

See, I told you leather sofas could be beautiful in a shabby chic home.

I recently went to a blog when she posted on mine. I'd never heard of her before, but on her blog sidebar she has a saying: I just want to make pretty things even if no one cares. My thoughts exactly. I feel the same way. I just want pretty things around me even if no one understands it.

I would give much to have this gorgeous pink cabinet. I don't think I've ever seen one so beautiful.

I love pretty cakes and these are indeed beautiful.

A house filled with roses can never be ugly. I can't wait until our rose bushes start blooming.

I also love pretty clocks and have more than I need, even in the living room I have 4 pretty ones, all working.

While the chair is lovely, the cushion is what makes it look so comfy.

Several years ago, my daughter gave me some Old Country Roses cups and saucers as she had place settings for about 25 people. She was scaling down. I decorated them and placed them around the house, but this one tipped on its side and made to look like a birds nest is prettier and much more clever than mine. Love it. Maybe I'll redo a few of them like this.

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Tidbit:

 Steven Spielberg is Drew Barrymore's godfather. After seeing her nude in Playboy magazine, he sent her a blanket with a note telling her to cover herself up.
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Linking up with NMH Open House Party and Pink Saturday.