A Car Story

Have you noticed that cars were becoming a bit smaller several years ago but now Detroit's fascination with the look of cruise ships is bringing back larger cars? I love my Camry but my dream car is a Lexus. I saw one at the dealership when we were buying hubs' little truck. (Why men's fascination with trucks and SUVs?) They had a gorgeous black one there waiting for its owner to pick it up. I wanted to sit in it but the owner was expected posthaste and I didn't want to be caught in it. It had every single thing that could be included in a car. The owner was a retired military man and he paid $75,000 for that car for his wife. That's two and a half times our first house in California! WOW! I was impressed. But Lexus cars have a 500,000 mile warranty. That would probably be close to the rest of my life actually.

My son has a Mercedes S600 and it's truly amazing, but I'd still love to have the Lexus. This is his second Mercedes S600 and it has every single thing available except the feature that slows it down if you're too close to the car in front of you. I loved riding in it as it's very luxurious but he wanted me to take it to the grocery store while visiting him a couple of years ago. I was a nervous wreck driving it. He actually told me he took it out into the desert on a deserted road and got it up to 140 mph. I said, 'Son, don't ever tell your mother you got a car up to 140 mph.' (Another thing you never want to hear from your son: Mom, have the cops called you yet? This happened when he was in a motorcycle accident many years ago before he was married. He got mangled a bit but is alive. He doesn't own motorcycles anymore.) He laughed and said he was safe but he promised to go the speed limit—as much as a Californian can keep it at the speed limit. And we all know what that means on the freeways at rush hour.

The one he has now he got out of Texas and had it shipped to him. It was in great shape but a few months after he received it, it had a minor problem. He consulted a local dealer and the cost to fix it was $23,000. He said he'd fix it himself for that amount of money. No kidding! Also, he ran out of gas one day. That, in a Mercedes, cost him $800. Yep, they had to reset the computer and those services don't come cheap, trust me. He loves tinkering; it comes from the days when he was a poor Marine. ;-) Oh, and for those of you that think this may be bragging just a bit, his wife is the brains of that family. ;-)
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A beautiful french bedroom with chandelier. I even like the golden colors on the bed with the pink walls.

A brave homeowner painted her fireplace wall red. I think it's lovely. Like her choice in sofas also.

Cute little sconce holding some flowers left over from the season.

Cute way to decorate with photos and paintings of roses all along her sofa wall.

Snazzy little apron. Love the fabric and the ruffles.

Pretty little pots and pitchers as a display in this cupboard.

Gorgeous eye candy.

Lovely French sofa in pink. The curves make it especially lovely.

Cute way to store your scissors and a bit of ribbon.

Another little cottage in Carmel.

What a cute idea for double sinks but I wonder if they're practical. They're kind of high to bend over to wash your face. I think I prefer the lower kind of sinks.

A lovely but different living room. I think I'd like it as an outdoor room more.

My kinda chick with a pompom over her bed!

A bunch of lovely book markers.

I always love draping curtains over entry or door ways. Adds a touch of drama. This is especially cute in a little girl's closet.

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Drumsticks Ice Cream Story

Remember this post where I talked about shopping with th' Love Bunny? Well, he did it again! But this time with Drumsticks.

Until a couple of months ago, I hadn't had any Drumsticks ice cream for years. But during the surgery recuperation when my appetite was dulled from the painkillers, I tried enticing my appetite with any comfort food I could think of—Eggo waffles, Big Macs, just anything. Not much appealed to me then. But when he brought home Drumsticks ice cream I couldn't get enough of them. (Heaven forbid the weight should fall off! Sigh... But actually several pounds did disappear but I was diligent in getting them back on! Smirk) Then one night we ran out. I mean I was eating 2 or 3 a day! That's a lot for me. So I had him make an emergency run to our local market to buy some. He came home with some that had mint as the ice cream. Didn't read th' labels again!!! I was frosted because they didn't have the nuts on them either. What's a Drumstick without the peanuts? So I swore he wouldn't ever go shopping without me again. He's still trying to prevent me from killing every shopper in the check out line! It's not like I haven't done the shopping for 51+ years for us. I promise you I've never run over or crunched the heels of any man or woman in the aisles yet. Okay, okay, maybe once, but that was an accident. And he's forever holding on to the cart so I don't kill anyone. Drives me crazy.

But as fate would have it, the nuts dropped on the floor and since I go barefoot all the time, I was forever stepping on peanuts no matter how careful I was to inhale every single little smidgen of nut. So then, I very subtly admitted that we may have to buy the nut-less kind because my feet were getting tired of stepping on sharp little peanuts. I looked at him with a "don't even think of saying it" look on my face. He didn't.
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A sweet, small and purely white room for a getaway. Could it be a cabin or cottage in the woods perhaps?

Very ornate gold entry table.

Fairy dust in a lovely bottle. ;-)

Cute way to serve lemonade drinks.

Lace and handmade ribbon roses on an article of clothing. Yummy!

Who could resist this darling apron slathered with beautiful roses. I'd love to have some of that fabric.

Cute way to display some plants.

Just a sweet window in some other country from the looks of the building and pots.

A froufrou hat along side a chair.

I thought you'd like some more ideas on what you can do to jazz up your lamps.

I have no idea what country this lovely duplex is in but from the looks of the architecture, I'd guess the northern parts of Europe. One is the reverse of the other, and the pink and white go adorably together.

See what you can do with a basket of greenery? A delightful way to add lighting to outside or inside. Just take a basket, fill it with greenery and add some miniature lights. Lots of pizzazz.

The ever-present roses on this blog. ;-)

Another cute idea for outside, as well as inside, to add punch to an area.

Cherry blossoms abloom within a secret netting room. Pillows, food, and a secret place. Sigh.

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How Well Do You Speak?

Being a product of school systems that actually taught proper English, etc. back in the forties and fifties—I think it started its decline in the sixties actually—and teachers who actually corrected us when using incorrect language when talking. I'm a stickler for proper grammar, spelling, etc. Nowadays, it's perusing blogs that I find the pitiful state of our English language. This is even from college graduates. It's becoming so no one can spell, which is easier for some than others, I'll admit, but the grammar from even our students in high schools is pathetic. Hubby witnesses this because he works with some of the schools in the area for the Voice of Democracy the Veterans of Foreign Wars has each year. He and one other man read them and listen to the students' tapes to determine a winner. There are some schools that will not participate. That stymies me as the student can win a $30,000 scholarship at the national level. That's a hunk o' money, folks! But if the school doesn't participate they don't even get the chance to win. Even at the very local level, a high school student wins $150 minimum and that can come in handy to a teenager.

Now, I'll occasionally make mistakes in my blog even though I go over them meticulously. I can proofread it several times, and I do mean several, then publish it and read it again and see where I made an error. Trust me, it's a typo as I certainly know better, but it still frustrates me that I overlooked it. I'm sure some of you have done the same thing. So today, I'm going to give you just a few little grammar lessons. Very simple. Very easy. But terribly important in life.

Than vs. Then
Then refers to time when using it in a sentence. Than refers to comparison. Than is used only in comparisons, so if you're comparing something use than. If not, then you have to use then. ;-) What could be easier than that?

It's vs. Its
Remember: if "it's" cannot be replaced with "it is" or "it has" then it's its. :-) See what I mean.

Their, There, They're
If the word means "belonging to them," use their, as in their face. If you're able to replace the word with "they are," use they're. Otherwise, there is only one correct answer: there.

She/he vs. him/her
I cannot even tell you how often I hear young people, school teachers and old people use her/him at the beginning of a sentence. For instance: Her and me are going to the movies. That shows ignorance on their part. It's accepted language now! Pathetic. It should be: She and I are going to the movies. Language is what defines you more than anything. If you don't use proper grammar when speaking, you'll be looked upon as illiterate. When job seeking, you'd better be sharp because no matter how smart you are with your job skills, your grammar will define you and you may not get the job because you can't speak well when interacting with others. You'll be passed over. Trust me on this.

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A gorgeous pink sofa with gold trim.

Eye candy.

Another really sweet, frilly, feminine bedroom.

Pink velvet ribbon.

A pretty vintage-looking apron.

If only my bedroom were this big to accommodate a desk/vanity like this one. Sigh.

I actually do have a clock very similar to this one.

Beautiful pillow cases for a bedroom.

Light pink and darker pink against a beautiful blue sky.

An old wine bottle holder put to exceptionally good use. :-)

A beautiful ceiling.

If I had a vintage claw foot tub, I'd paint it yellow with my pink walls, absolutely.

Someone has taken a vintage—almost worn out—petit point rug and made it into a pretty cloth for a table.

A sweet rose-strewn bed.

Nothing is prettier for holding back curtains than a bouquet of roses, whether real or faux.

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Giveaway for Aprons

I know I'm a pathetic great grandmother but I could sit all day and look at photos and videos of my great granddaughter. Here is that little sweetheart and her mummy, my granddaughter, early in the spring.

She almost always has her sunglasses on when outside.

In this family, we start them out young keeping their skin youthful. ;-)

No, she didn't put it on the kitty. Here she's calling to her kitties by rubbing her fingers together.
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Welcome to Pink Saturday and many thanks to Beverly for holding the event. I've been remiss lately in posting for Pink Saturday and I do apologize for that, but life gets in the way and I frequently just stumble through it and then there are the times Love Bunny drags me off to the wilds of Idaho to camp. Such is the luck of this summer but I'm here to stay for awhile.

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As many of you know if you read my blog regularly, I am decluttering my house. We've already taken 4 truck loads of stuff to the thrift store and there is much more to go. However, I cannot bring myself to just throw these sweet aprons onto the pile destined for the thrift store and not many of the women I know are into shabby chic, vintage items. (Idaho still hasn't evolved that much, chicks!) So I've decided to give away the rest of the ones I made and never sold. I know that if I give them away they will have gone to homes that will love them.

While they are truly aprons meant to be used, I've just hung them around my kitchen for the past few years. They've been a great decorative item but it's time I let go. They're all washable and many have fabrics you'll never find again. All are sweet and meant to be used. All are ruffled and very girly. Most have pockets and some quirky little items on them, like covered buttons I've made, lace, cute one-of-a-kind buttons, vintage doilies as pockets, rick-rack, toile fabric, tiny roses, polka dots, ticking stripes, vintage bedspread fringe, Waverly fabric in some, and one-of-a-kind fabric you'll never see again in others. I've made every single one with much love in my heart. But it's time, gals.

So, I'll give away one for the next 12 Pink Saturdays. Below are photos of all twelve of them. I'll just put them up on Pink Saturday over at Beverly's blog. There is no catch to win, just leave a comment and if you do NOT have a blog then leave me an email address so I can get in touch with you. If not, I'll pull another name within a reasonable amount of time and that person will get it. I don't want this to be hard and time consuming for me. I'm so into easy!!! So just stay tuned, comment, wait to hear from me and they are yours. Yes, you can enter each time I post a new apron so conceivably you can have more than one. It doesn't get any better than that now does it?!

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Another episode with the Love Bunny.

He wore out our treadmill. Actually, it almost killed him as he was walking on it and the power surged in the motor and almost threw him off. He does 3 days a week for an hour but Fridays are his big push. Plus he always lifts weight afterwards. (Trust me, you don't want to mess with a Marine, whether active duty or retired.)

Anyway, he wanted another one and I'm trying to keep our purchases down. So he did the Craiglist thing and found one. Not bad. It was listed for $150 and we got it for $120. It's truly like new and the man who sold it to us said his wife gave up after a couple of months.

So hubs is out in the garage as I type this trying to take it apart to put in the huge garbage can. He's saving every single bolt, screw and anything he thinks might be something he'll need someday. The man is 70 years old! He will never, ever need anything he's saving! Sigh...
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