Just Rambling Again 6/12/2013

Okay, I promised a giveaway and this is the day. To enter you have to be a follower and leave a comment. That's it. How much easier could it be? Here is what I'll be giving away. First this little ribbon tree. Yep, it can be yours. But there's more.

 Then these little letters to place on a table or to hang on your wall. I also include the fun-tac that will hold it, so no nails or anything to damage your wall.

Then a book I've been touting for many years: Living A Beautiful Life.

So it's up to you now to enter and I've told you the rules. On with the regular post.
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I love the this little kitchen/reading/dining area. Looking at the architecture, appliances, sink and windows, I think it might be in another country. Oooh, the colors definitely have something to do with it, but I just would like being able to have a little reading nook near a kitchen. This probably is due to the fact that I've burned many a meals while being here on this computer. My office is down a hall at the front of the house while the kitchen is on the back of the house. I even had the whole house fill with smoke while on this computer once and didn't know it until I went in to check on the roast I had forgotten I was searing. The whole house was filled with smoke except in this office. I had every window and door opened to get it out before Love Bunny got home from a few days away on business. I can't tell you how panicked I was because this has happened several times before. I was so afraid of what he'd say. The house aired out before he got home that evening but he could still tell I'd burned something from the smell in the garage even though I sprayed the entire house with Scentsy several times. He was kind. I now carry a kitchen timer with me wherever I go in the house if I have something on the stove.

I like paper lanterns outside. But sometimes we get high winds here in the desert so it tears them up rather quickly. I wondered if Mod Podging them would make them sturdier. I might try it on one and see how it works but I don't have much hope. And I'm too lazy to put them up and take them down when the winds come and go.

These are bags called Ruby Rag Tag bags. I've loved them for years but never bought one. She does the most gorgeous bags I've ever seen outside of Mary Francis bags, which are absolutely stunning.

I love the way she throws in loopy ribbon or fringe and the colors she uses.

I love this huge bathroom. Look. It has 3 sinks. Perfect if you have 3 girls! But the shower is huge with a sitting bench. My favorite shower would be one without a door to clean though. I have a friend that has a bathroom that is about the size of half of my house. Truly, she has more cabinets in there that any kitchen I've had in my life! Her shower is curved and stone but she said she's going to have to have it re-grouted as it tends not to last well. I can't remember the kind of stone. Anyway, there's no door on it as it doesn't need a door and that's my dream, to not have to clean the nasty scum and mold off of them. What am I saying? Hubs does that for me and it's not really bad in this area anyway. I can still lust, can't I?

Have you ever had a room with wacky colors like this? I haven't but I do still like the combination of colors she used.  Very pretty.

I've had old wine bottle boxes decorated similar to this many years ago. I think I gave them away as I haven't seen them around the house for years. They are usually pretty and very handy for additional shelves in a room.

A faint pink chair in a corner of a wainscoted room with a gorgeous rug underneath. Love the chair and ottoman. I'll be shopping for a new chair very, very soon.

Just something that touches my heart, a laundry basket with a pretty lining.

The chair is a bit busy and the room a bit dark for my taste but it is a very welcoming area in a room for reading a book.

A folding screen in a bedroom has always been a bit of drama I'd like to have had but I can never find room in any of my houses for it.

A European country lane invokes a lot of nostalgia for most of us.

I read recently where a famous person, I won't say whom, asks for her tour accommodations to have bottled water chilled to 21° (Isn't that ice instead of cold water?!), new toilet seats, special red toilet paper and $900 straws. Yes, that's $900 straws! What a waste.

This soothes my nerves after the post above! ;-) Just calming to my mind.

A beautiful way to store dishes, linens or just about anything. I think I'd love this one right here. ;-)

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Tidbit:

Each year, 36 million gallons of oil run off pavements into streams, rivers and eventually oceans in the United States. That is more oil than was spilled by the Exxon Valdez.
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Linking up with NMH Open House and Pink Saturday.

Dollar Stores and Tulip Town

No one should deprive themselves of the joy of color because color choices, unlike most choices, aren't a matter of money. You are free to select colors that put a smile on your face and edit out the rest. Living with refreshing, life-enhancing color in your room, in the clothes you wear as well as the paraphernalia in your handbag and the accessories on your desk can do wonders to your spirit. Color to me is one of the gifts of grace that is ours to select and a tool to help us live beautifully. Alexandra Stoddard.

Make your office or wherever you work colorful. I do. Actually, I do it to my whole house. My husband is a manly man, a retired Marine, and he lives in this froufrou pink house and loves it. Your hubbies probably want you to be happy, so go with the color that you love best. Beige is sooooo boring and depressing. Simply tint a white with a tiny bit of a beautiful color/pigment instead of brown. I'll never use beige again.
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 I've decided to have a giveaway soon. Just stay tuned because I'm not exactly sure when but very soon. I'll give you plenty of notice. I have ordered a couple more of her books to give away and there will be other stuff also. Just so you know. Truly, you don't want to miss my giveaways. You really don't!
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I have to file my nails every week because of keyboarding so much. They grow so fast since my doctor told me to take more calcium. I've never had great nails but since I chew 2 calcium chews a day they've been growing like crazy. AND it's very hard to type with long nails!
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He's still at it, hubs, I mean. We went to the Dollar stores the other day looking for a certain kind of pen that the man at our bookstore uses and I liked a lot. Flows easily with gel and is clickable. They're called WOW. Couldn't find them but I'll keep checking. They were wonderful to sign my name to the receipt with and I asked him about them. I've told you I'm a fanatic about certain things!

Anyway, we were looking for them and hubs went looking for cheap candy...again. I've told him and told him that Dollar Store cheap candy is just that—CHEAP! He bought some cheese popcorn. I tasted it later at home. He did also. He admitted it wasn't so good. (Need I say more?) Well, I'm gonna...say more that is. I don't buy cheap food at the Dollar Store. It isn't worth it. They get it because no one else will buy it at the regular markets. [Did you know that Dollar Stores have the biggest mark-up on their merchandise than anyone? Yes, this is true.] Anyway, the jelly beans he bought were atrocious also. I got nauseous from their smell even. When I'm dead, he can buy anything he wants, but for now I don't buy cheap food!
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My granddaughter posted on her Facebook a trip to Tulip Town in Mt. Vernon, Washington, they took in April. The most gorgeous tulips in all colors were there. I thought we might go over next year to see them. But it reminded me of a trip they took a year or so ago to the raspberry farms to pick raspberries. Caroline is three years old now so she was just a wee toddler then, but she could pick and eat the raspberries. Granddaughter apologized to the farmer, but they said it was fine that kids will do that. She was eating faster than they could fill baskets. Needless to say, she had the most poopy diapers ever for a couple of days. They thought she'd never stop pooping! We laughed so hard at that, we cried. Here she and our newest great granddaughter are and a picture of the pink tulips, my favorite ones.

I think she looks a bit geeky in this photo but she really is so, what can I say. But as her grandmother I think she's gorgeous and I'm not one bit prejudiced...no, really, I'm not. ;-) Okay, she is kinda cute and Juliette is also.

This is her last year before she got pregnant with the little doll she is holding above, her second daughter. When she's not being a computer geek at Microsoft, she's a cutie. But she is very smart.

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Yes, I still would love to have an outdoor shower.

A gorgeous shade of blue. Actually, I love this little kitchen.

Another pretty patio/picnic area.

A cute quaint neighborhood in England.

Look at this tiny chair. Maybe it was meant for a doll house. Even has its own tiny pillow.

Where do people find these little treasures? An old farm wagon dressed up in pink and blue.

Just some lovely froufrou items.

And yet another bird cage for you to see.

A staged photograph for sure but I think it's adorable. An outdoor, under-the-trees room.

Another countryside pathway. Sort of narrow for cars though.

A cute bedroom with lots of color.

Another stone sink.

Respite from work done cute!

Sigh. How adorable is this room! Look at those curtains and that pillow, rug and settee.

Have a coconut cupcake, but you might want to wait or rethink that after reading the tidbit today.

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Tidbit:

To cure hangovers, people in the Middle Ages would down a plate of bitter almonds and dried eel after drinking. In Outer Mongolia, they slurped down pickled sheep eyeballs in tomato juice. [Ooooh, yuck!!]
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Linking up with NMH Party and Pink Saturday.

Memories of Home in a Peach Orchard House for Pink Saturday 4/14/2012

First of all, I want to give you just a teensy little look at one of the items in my giveaway this month. It's been such a long time since I've done a giveaway for the aprons that I decided I'm in a good enough mood to do it again, not aprons but something else. There will be another item or two in with this. I'm not showing what it is in its entirely yet so just think what it could be. However, if you've been around my blog the last couple of years, it should be easy to guess. ;-)

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Welcome to Pink Saturday once again. Today I'm telling a story so read on. But first, go visit with Beverly's blog and see all the other participants. I'm sure you'll like it and if you're not a follower, please be one so you won't miss anything exciting I may post. I'd sure love it if you would! I'm planning on a giveaway soon and, trust me, you're not going to want to miss out on it. ;-) That's all I'm going to say on the subject.
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There will be more on this lovely photo also. You'll be as excited as I am. Trust me on this one.
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My father was a Naval officer. We traveled a lot, but he traveled more than we did as a family. When he would be gone for an extended length of time, we would usually go stay with my maternal grandparents. I dearly loved my grandma so it was a treat to live with her and grandpa. I remember them living in different states and cities. And since my grandpa was a railroad conductor, my grandma would take me on train rides—overnight train rides. That's why I love taking trains so much to this day even. Sad that trains are going the way of the dinosaur. Those were fun trips, really fun.

But one time that we stayed with them, my grandparents had just built a brick home in a small town across the Ohio river from West Virginia. My brother and I enrolled in the school there but my sister was not school age yet. It was in a peach orchard. We loved it. A new friend and I would ramble through the orchard on little paths that took us away from the prying eyes of adults. We'd find things to explore. It was there I found a plant called sassafras that surprisingly smelled like root beer. That was my entry into the botany world. But we had great times until we eventually had to move when my father came home from his assignment on ship.

However, my mother always told us not to tell anyone we lived in a peach orchard! I was stymied by this, but I learned later she was actually embarrassed that my grandparents would build in a peach orchard. In today's world, most people would pay dearly for a huge peach orchard in which to build their home. Oh, and the house was a beautiful one-story brick. I never understood her embarrassment about that home. I just remember sitting out with my grandpa and he would peel peaches with his pocket knife and give me, my brother and sister little slices of just-picked-from-the-tree peaches. It was a magnificent world to me then. I get weepy just remembering that time of my life. I was so happy. In fact, while writing this post an eerie, yet pleasant, feeling just swept through my body. I think it is my grandma telling me she loves me too.

Just a sweet memory.

Now look at all these gorgeous photos and see if one of the photos evoke a memory for you.
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Violets also remind me of my grandma because she always grew them and we picked them together.

I cannot resist a photo of flowers, old buildings and quaint water fountains.

I want and shall have a Meyer lemon tree in a pot soon. I don't think this is a lemon tree but I like it anyway.

An elegant and cozy sun room.

An unusually beautiful and inviting entrance to a home.

STYLE!

Beautiful dining room with a stunning view.

I guess if you have it, flaunt it?!

Do you notice the red stove?

Again, just look at what a coat of beautifully-colored paint can do for a laundry room.

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Random Thoughts:

Whatever happened to "thank you" and "you're welcome"? Now it's "no problem". What in the world does that mean? Welcome is the proper response. I don't think I ever say "no problem" and I always say "thank you".
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Don't marry a man or woman unless you would be proud to have a son or daughter exactly like him or her.
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Never try to feel smart when you are stuck in stupid! Just realize your mistake, don't make excuses, apologize and go on graciously. Personal experience! Yep.
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Terrorists are all martyrs until they get shot in the leg and then they squeal like pigs.
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I want the cell phones the CounterTerrorismUnit used on 24. They never ran out of battery charges.
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A middle school close to us had a reader board that advertised Free Dental Sealant. What is that that the schools have to give free dental work now? I have no dental insurance and pay my way, but I certainly don't get free sealant when I visit my dentist. I have on occasion "bargained" with my dentist though.
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Ear buds help parents strengthen their vocal cords.
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Our youth are forgetting how to write because they are wired with phones. Taking those shortcuts with texting is making them stupid or, at the very least, stunting their writing skills along with spelling. Trust me on this one. I see it frequently.
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Photos courtesy of tumblr and pinterest.