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.    

Just Jabberin' Today 11/19/2013

This is my laundry room just above the washer and dryer. For years I used a large box of Tide with a handle on top and one on the side to pull it down to use when I'm doing laundry. Well, I've had to tape it with very strong duct tape to hold it together as it's getting a bit flimsy. So I tried a pretty box that was strong to put my detergent in. After a while I thought it might break the small metal handle. So I looked around the internet and found this metal one at Pottery Barn for $29 and hubs said to go ahead and get it since I just couldn't make up my mind. So here it is and it may get painted white and decals put on it. We'll see. But it fits there perfectly at 8" X 8" square, very strong and not so tall that it wouldn't fit in there. Score!!! I love it; however, I didn't throw away the old Tide box. Why do they change styles on things that we love and worked for us? I don't think a mother/woman/executive would design like men are doing now. No, I am not a feminist but women do have a different view as to what works for woman who are homemakers. I absolutely love being home all the time.

Okay, this is my very first foray into buying Cath Kidston. Squeeeeallll!!! I've always loved her style but especially her dishes. So recently with a coupon and free shipping I bought these 4 gorgeous little bowls...

and these 3 cups. Hubby has his own favorite mug to drink hot chocolate out of so I just got three for me. I'm telling you they are simply gorgeous in person. These are called Stanley mugs and are much bigger than one of our "regular" mugs here in the U.S. They had a Crush mug but it was a bit smaller I think and a bit different in its shape. But I chose these Stanley mugs and love displaying them in my kitchen.

I really do like the look of some French things around my house, but I'm not one to go all-white. I love pink and that's what color my home is. I just couldn't have all white as I'd find it too boring. I love color! So after making over those little foot stools with drop cloth fabric (see that post here), I'm also going to make a pillow or two for some chairs. I have so many beautiful pillows I've bought over the years and hate to get rid of them but it might just have to happen. Granddaughter will have first choice when she's here for Thanksgiving and then the rest might go on eBay. Many are feather-filled pillows. Some are beautiful European prints. All are gorgeous. If any of you are interested, send me an email and I'll take pictures of all of them and you can make your choice. I'm not going to bother putting them all on here. I'll just take some pictures and keep them for any inquiries, but I doubt you'll be disappointed in any of them.

I actually love the look of things like this out in the open. I don't have a large kitchen, in fact, it's small, just the size for senior citizens (that's old people to some of you) and people who don't like cooking everyday and love eating out (that's ME!). I don't have enough space in my kitchen to do this, but I have vases and beautiful pitchers holding kitchen utensils in my kitchen.

What a delightfully colored chandelier.

I like the look of this mosaic table but I'd paint it white. I do love white furniture.

Another squeeeeeallll! Isn't this adorable? I saw it on the internet and have no idea who did it but I'd love to have one to hang on my porch.

See what you can do with a plain ol' chest! Jazz it up with stencils. I find it darling.

Now this? Ooooohmygosh. Of course, I love Christie Repasy's art but she outdid herself with this little gem. I'd love to have it but I'm not willing to pay high prices this probably got. My hubby would probably faint if I spent money on something that looks like it's falling apart. He just doesn't get it and never will. ;-)

I'm going to make one of these to hold...something, just haven't figured out what. But if it turns out cute then I'll make one for a giveaway. Wouldn't you like something this cute to hang in your laundry room? I already have 3 darling ones I made hanging in mine but there's always room for a few others. :-)

Yes, I also like these little baskets but I don't have room for a lot of "fluff" around here. I would dearly love to have one though as I'm very visual and just looking at gorgeous things makes my heart flutter and my eyes glaze over.

I'm old enough to remember these drying frames and love seeing my whites hanging on a line drying. The sun actually bleaches them naturally for you and just seeing them out there brings back memories to me. I recently found some indoor drying racks on a pulley system in the UK but they were several hundred dollars and that ain't gonna fly with this chick! They were really nice looking and would be great to have for winter time and if you didn't have a dryer.

I'm not this organized but I love looking at it. I rarely give gifts so I don't wrap a lot of things. But when I do wrap it's on the kitchen table. I hate wrapping packages. I really do.

And I love looking at white linens. That reminds me that I need some new sheets. I have some Lily Pulitzer pink patterned ones and I love them but apparently she isn't selling sheets anymore as I cannot find any. I also love very high thread count sheets and will only sleep on great sheets. I feel the difference actually. My daughter bought 600 count sheets just for her spare bedroom for when we visit. She was taught well by her mother! That would be ME!

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A Few Thoughts and My Heroes 11/11/13

Okay, another reminder of my Pinterest page, where there are over 12,500 images, beautiful images, and over 9,800 followers viewing them. I have nothing to gain on telling you this, just your pleasure at seeing all the photos I've collected in one spot for you to see. I promise you will not be disappointed. Plus I'll never be able to post them all on my blog, just too many. So go over there and enjoy all the eye candy you could possibly want to see.
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We went out to dinner a few nights ago, planning on joining another couple but they never showed up. We ate and then left, no problem. But the waitress was very chatty. She was also adorable and cute and hubby mentioned it to me before I said it to him. He then said, "But not as cute as you." Saved his backside BIG TIME! :-) But it got me thinking about how the waiters and waitresses chat us up all the time. Sure, it's very nice of them and they're probably told to be very friendly, but I truly don't need it. I'm just fine being with my hubby chatting away or with friends chatting. I don't need it. Not that I'm opposed to it but I have absolutely eaten in top notch restaurants and for the most part, wait people are to leave the diners alone. Be there but be unseen while taking care of the diner. I like that much better as hubby will tend to chat right back and keep it going. He can't shut up! He's just a gregarious guy and more so if it's a cute chick. Sigh.
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One of the most profound things ever said to me, and it was my hubby that said it, was: Not everyone thinks like you do. I was rocked to the bottom of my core. Truly. I didn't know what to say it shocked me so badly. Of course I thought everyone thought like I did. Good was good and bad was bad; evil was bad, etc. I've since realized he was absolutely correct. Nothing brings it home like politics.
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It's starting to get cool here in Idaho and they're forecasting possible snow in a few days. We'll see. I love this state. However, we know a man named Wrangler, one named Colt. Can you tell I live in Cowboy Country? :-) Love it here.
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We're pretty humorous in this family and the other day I was putting on makeup and pulled all the stuff I needed from the cabinet to the countertop and told hubs this is what I needed to be beautiful. He picked it all up, put it back on the shelves and shook his head as he was brushing his teeth. The point being that I was beautiful without makeup. He's a killer, I tell ya. Won some brownie points but it isn't true no matter what he says. I proceeded to tell him he can't be treated to a gorgeous beauty everyday, that being the days I go makeup-free. ;-) Gotta love a man who can lie that well.
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A few weeks ago, I sent hubby to WM to buy some shredded sharp cheese for tacos. He called me on his cell phone saying he was having a problem finding it. I walked him through it. Sigh. He's lost without me. ;-) Then he asked if I wanted one or two bags. I said to get one bag as I was hesitant on his "choices" of something.—he rarely gets it right. So he said he'd get three. I said no, just get one. He said he'd get one. He came home with two bags. Sigh. But how in the world did we exist before cell phones?
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I haven't been blogging as much as I used to because I'm very focused on other things right now. I'll probably never blog like I once did but I try to do it at least once or twice a week. So keep watching and you'll see new posts. Promise.
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This is one of our heroes returning and the story a man on the airplane wrote about it:

What you’re looking at is Delta Flight 2255 after it landed in LA earlier this week from Atlanta.
It was an ordinary flight in every way except one.
One board was the body of a fallen soldier in the cargo hold.
None of the passengers had any idea until the pilot made the announcement about 45 minutes before the plane landed.
“The plane went quiet as he explained that there was a military escort on-board and asked that everyone remain seated for a couple of minutes so the soldiers could get off first.”
“He also warned us not to be alarmed if we see fire trucks since Los Angeles greets their fallen military with a water canon salute.”
One of the passengers on board was a man who calls himself Johnny Jet: The Travel Insider. And all these quotes are from the blog that he wrote about what it was like being on the flight.
“A few minutes after touchdown, we did indeed have a water canon salute. The water glistening on the windowpanes looked like tears.”
After the plane pulled into the gate, a military officer came onto the plan and spoke to the passengers.
He said:
“It is a sworn oath to bring home, to the family, the fallen. Today you all did that, you are all escorts, escorts of the heart.”
He then thanked everyone and walked off the plane.
Can you imagine being on a plane and witnessing something as powerful and emotional as this?
“Everyone was silent and no one got up, not even that person from the back row who pretends he doesn’t [understand] English so he can be first off the plane. I’m sure most had meteor-sized lumps in their throats and tears in their eyes like I did.”
And it got even more emotional once the passengers finally did get off the plane.
“There was a large number of passengers, who are normally in a hurry to get home or make a connection, standing by the window to witness something truly moving.“
“To see the Honor Guard and family waiting patiently, while LAX baggage handlers and a military loadmaster removed the flag covered casket first from the cargo hold, was humbling to say the least.”
“ I’m not sure if it was the fallen soldier’s mother or wife who I watched slowly walk up to the coffin while a few other family members, wrapped in blankets, stood near with a dozen or so of the Honor Guards standing in salute.”
“As soon as I saw her reach out to put her hand on her baby’s casket, I walked away.”
“This ordinary flight became extraordinary and is one that I will never forget.”
“Thank you to all the military who protect our beautiful country and let us live the lives we are able to lead. Without you we would be nothing.”

I couldn’t have said it any better. 

[I agree with that writer wholeheartedly!]

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 And one more video about our returning heroes. If this doesn't reduce you to tears, nothing will and there's no hope for ya! This makes everything look insignificant in comparison.

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Truly I do love all-white rooms. And this one is gorgeous with its pop of pink. "POP"? Where did that word come from? I find myself using it much more than I ever did and am finding it a bit trite. And I love this room with its ruffles and roses. But I need color and my favorite color is pink. I can't imagine not having colors I love all around me.

A cheery little kitchen and dining area. Very, very cute!

If only I could have a porch or patio that wasn't so dusty, it might look a bit like this. Hey, an idea just struck me!!! Why not use a canvas drop cloth over some lawn furniture? That might work to keep the dust from our farmers' fields around here from covering the seats and I could pull it off and wash it quite often. I think I'll try that.

My great-granddaughter loves the books of Fancy Nancy. I just bought her one about FN's delectable cupcakes. Who can refuse cupcakes? If you had this in your hand right now, I'd probably mug ya and run! Dieting is never fun.

I love the Cath Kidston and Green Gate kitchen ware. Those 2 designers are the most fantastic I've ever seen for beautiful kitchen items.

I don't know where this bread box came from but it is the most darling one I've ever seen.

This would be a joy to have as a craft/sewing room. It would be just the right size for me.

More darling kitchen ware. Does anyone know what kind this is? I'd love to know. It's probably antique but I've never seen it and I'm pretty old!

Looks like a party going on here but I love the curtains especially. I have them hung on 2 entrances in my home. One on the living room going into the dining room and one on the arch going into our family room. I love them softening archways.

One of the most darling little girl's rooms I've ever seen. It's just stunning with that headboard.

I actually like this style of sofa a lot, especially with that fabric and pillow.

I also have a love of birdcages no matter how big or small.

Now this is camping or glamping as it's called now. I wouldn't mind camping so much if I had this to look at when out in the wilds of Idaho!

I also adore beautiful pink and roses china. This to me is stunning.

Who in the world wouldn't love a room like this with all that sun shining through all those wonderful windows?

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Linking up with Pink Saturday.

The English Language

Okay, grammar check again. You know by now how OCD I am about the use of our language today by younger people—and some older people also. Just a tip for success to log into your brain if you can remember this. Lots of blogs or even news stories written by professionals today are saying this: "him/her and me"  like to hang out together. That's atrocious language and shows your ignorance. It's "he/she and I" like to hang out together, not him and me. And always put the pronouns he or she before I. Teach this to others as the word needs to get around. And don't let them tell you that's the way everybody talks! Ask them if they want to remain ignorant all their lives and have themselves defined by how incorrectly they speak. And why don't our teachers correct them in class? A small fraction of time being embarrassed with save them a lifetime of embarrassment and possibly success in their future endeavors.
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Why oh why do men, and now some women, turn their ball caps around and wear them backwards? The visor was invented to keep the sun out of your eyes and to tip your hat to ladies. Have you ever seen a league ball player wear it backwards? No, they know what a cap is for. My hubby always takes it off indoors at restaurants and even when going up to the church to do some catching up on the computer, not especially in stores.
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Things I've seen around the blogs lately:

Boo Hoo Whore embroidery? What the heck is that embroidered on a pillow?

Dream all you want, there are no unicorns or fairies. I'm a bit sick of seeing posts of people idolizing species that do NOT exist, especially when the fairies are pretty much naked. ;-)

Bloggers who talk about intimate, private things on their blogs. Keep it to yourself! It's disgusting and lurid to those of us who wince when we first see it. Private means not discussing it with others. Get it?
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A beautiful small cottage with the lush grounds we associate with cottages.

Purple is one of my favorite colors. It's a great accent for pink and I do have some in my living room.

Is that a fan in the garden? I've never thought of bringing a fan outside but it's a great idea.

An amusing little vignette.

Jewels on pillows? Oh, yes! Beautiful.

I adore this kitchen even though I'd want something a little newer.

My favorite color of blue for clothes.

Now we're talkin' when I saw this kitchen. Beautiful!

Pink oreos? Why not? Loving pink like I do, I'd buy them if they still tasted like chocolate. ;-)

Lovin' this red kitchen. Pink and red and yellow would be my dream kitchen.

Yeah, yeah, here's hoping our clematis will look like this someday.

Beautiful for seashore or beach decor.

Now we're talking beauty!! Love this pink in the kitchen.

Perfect weathered old bench in a park.

Never enough roses in a house in my opinion, even if on a cake. ;-)

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Tidbit:

When Orson Welles won the Best Screenplay Oscar for his classic Citizen Kane in 1941, it wasn't a popular choice. The audience booed.

Potential Oscar winners were told to keep acceptance speeches to 45 seconds after Greer Garson's 1942 speech clocked in at five minutes and 30 seconds.

In 1979 Oscar-wining actress Shirley MacLaine used the podium to cheer up her sibling Warren Beatty, who lost out for Heaven Can Wait. "I want to use this opportunity to say how proud I am of my little brother. Just imagine what you could accomplish if you tried celibacy?" He was not amused.
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