I Love Bookstores

I thought I'd share the ottoman I've refurbished since I've ironed it. Looks great to me. I am very pleased with it now.

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A sweet fellow blogger, Claudia, did a post on bookstores recently. She and I are avid readers. I'd bet I read more than she reads though. But I read so much and am rarely without a book to read. Once I get down to 2 books left, I start visiting the local used bookstores or order on Amazon. Claudia was extolling the virtues of small or individually owned bookstores as opposed to the giants that dot our cities now. Frankly, I'll buy a book wherever I can find it, but I do love the 3 we have in our town that I visit. But since I may have read all the ones I'm interested in here in town I have to order online. But I love perusing bookstores and getting recommendations from the knowledgeable owners. It has opened my mind to a lot of books I may never have read had it not been for their recommendations. For instance, Janet Evanovich.

I had never read or heard of her until a man at Bent Corners Used Books mentioned her. The first book had me hooked. I went back and bought every single book of hers he had in stock. She is one of the funniest writers I've ever read. I laughed myself silly reading about Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter, and her sidekick, a former...uh...woman of the night. Hilarious!

I love Jeffrey Archer and have read every single book he's written so far. To me, he is the best writer alive who writes about different things. Most authors stick to one subject. Not him. He is a fantastic author.

Then there's David Baldacci, Lee Child, Michael Connelly, Harlan Coben, James Patterson, Daniel Silva and a few more. But these are my favorites and I buy everything they write. But I digress.

There is nothing like going in to the one downtown here called Yesteryear Book Store. It looks like it may have been an old department store at one time because there are 2 levels. Actually, it's more of a mezzanine but it has books all over the place. There must be hundreds of thousands of books in there. So many that there are stacks on the floor even. I love going in there and the books are pretty cheap also. But I'll always read books I can hold in my hand to feel the paper. I doubt I'll ever succumb to e-books; I just love holding the book too much.

My go-to bookstore. Not very big but I can usually find 10 or 12 books in there to buy.

This one is in the basement of an old church but the books cost a bit more and it's hard to navigate around in there as you can see. I have a friend that works in there a few days a week and she helps me locate books, but I'd spend more money in that one than Bent Corners, which is very, very cheap.

This truly is the biggest supply of books I've ever seen. Our local library doesn't even come close to it in size or number of books. Actually, our town library is rather pathetic and there is parking for a very few cars only, just not worth the time going there.

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Now on to the beautiful photos.

 Apparently, a lot of people, me included, loved this fabric enough to make tea towels out of it.

It's pink, what can I say?!

Roses and laundry hanging on the line. My favorites. ;-)

Beautifully photographed close-up of a flower.

Pretty pin.

One of the most beautiful entry staircases I've ever seen.

Mexican foliage. Beautiful.

They're even doing these craft folded roses on haute couture now. Lovin' it!

Benches with pillows instead of chairs.

Prettily made up vignette.

Nice night for a picnic. :-)

And your favorite: French chateaux.

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Tidbit:
The Cullinan Diamond is the largest gem-quality diamond ever discovered. Found in 1905, the original 3,100 carats were cut to make jewels for the British Crown Jewels and the British Royal Family's collection.
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Children Never Grow Out Of Some Things

I'll remind you again to visit my Pinterest page with over 7,000 photos of gorgeous eye candy. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Just click here.
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How do I put this? Hmmmm...Well, I guess I could just say hubs has a hard time finding something in the house I've asked him to find. Usually it's a pantry item. He'll look and look and swear it's not there. While I'll know for a certainty it is. So then I go to the pantry in the kitchen or the smaller one in the laundry room or the shelves we have in a spare room to hold extra food items. I'll find it immediately unless we really are out of it, which is unusual because as soon as I'm down to my last 2 cans I'll put them on our shopping list to buy more. So I'm rarely without something I need. This applies to just about anything in this house besides food items.

When our son was here a few weeks ago, he came out of the guest bathroom and into the kitchen and washed his hands. I queried him about why he didn't wash them in the bathroom. He said, "I couldn't find any soap in there." His father and I just looked at each other. There are 2 sinks in there with a bar in a dish at each sink, 10 bars in a pretty dish holder between the sinks and several more bars in a drawer in there. Son is 49 years old and still can't see something right in front of him. Sigh.......He is soooooo like his dad!
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Some of you who have been followers for a while might remember a book I was reading about the Secret Service, the men who protect our presidents. Here's another story.

A vice-president who espoused family values told his secret service detail to take him to the elegant St. Regis hotel. They took him in the back door and to a room on the fourth floor. He then asked them to come back in 3 hours. They then understood he was having an affair with a woman. They left him there unprotected, a clear dereliction of duty. As agents they were embarrassed because they were facilitating his adultery and felt like pimps. They couldn't look his wife in the eye after that. I never give the names but you can buy the book and read it to find out all the little secrets involving men who lead us.
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Sweet home on a soothing pond.

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous rose wreath!!!

Lovely lined laundry basket.

Adorable kitchen.

Beautiful living room.

I love this print fabric!

Sweet old tins.

A lovely old bottle with a stopper that just won't stop! Magnificent!

Now, this is what I'd call a tiny bedroom.

Pretty little sachets wrapped up with roses and bows.

Lovely lace garment.

Pretty jewelry.

A fantastic wreath. I don't think the flowers are real though. I'd love it no matter what. It's beautiful.

Love these fabric roses.

Pretty close-up of a gorgeous pink rose!

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Tidbit:
A single Formula One racing tire costs about $1,200.

What Makes Us Different As A Country?

I've been thinking about this for some time now. Do you realize how un-modern Europe is? It's amazing to me how they don't even have plumbing as modern as we do. We have toilets that are above anything in any other part of the world. I mean no disparagement to our sister countries in Europe; it's just a fact having been to several and relatives visiting and/or living in several other countries. Those civilizations have been around thousands of years longer than we have. How is this possible? Based on a curiosity of here we are as a people, and we're no different than anybody else—less than 300 years as a nation. So many of these day-to-day standards of living things regarding hygiene and so forth are far advanced beyond people who've been around thousands of years—nations, cultures—at least many more hundreds of years than we have. Is it the entrepreneurship of this country? The rugged individualism? What? I'm asking. I won't even mention the countries on other continents. To me, it's puzzling. Some of our inventions have come from ideas the early Romans gave us. What happened over there that they don't have the conveniences we do?

When we were in Dublin, my hair dryer demolished the electrical outlet and we had converters! I tried to look innocent when we went down to breakfast that day. But I've never blown out a circuit in a U.S. hotel or motel.  
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Another thatched cottage for you.

An antique French daybed with pillows.

A pretty table setting.

A cottage in Carmel. I may have posted this one before but it's still beautiful. Just look at that eyebrow window.

A gorgeous patio I'd love to have.

A beautiful entry into a backyard.

I can never, ever resist a pink room to show you!

A most unusual room and lamp. Notice the pillows are a pumpkin color but also reminiscent of pumpkins. The lamp looks like it could be in a witches house, too. ;-)

More delightful linens. Some of my favorite things to post.

I've just been struck by an idea. But isn't this display gorgeous?!

Lace, beads, ribbon and the beginning of roses being made.

A curious lamp inside a bakery. Delightful indeed.

How sweet is this breakfast room.

A pretty bow.

Trellised roses.

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A Story About Cotton Sheets

First of all, yeah, yeah, I know, another "first of all" but I think you'll like this one.

I have had so many bloggers email me and ask about my photos. Now, I am NOT going to give my sources; you'll have to figure out your own sources. But I will tell you that I'm in the process of loading a lot of them to a website for you to view. I have well over 14,000 of them so far. I only post about 15 on each blog post. I truly want to share with you and you can grab any you want. I don't care one bit. I am truly, truly excited to share with you but it will take me a long time. So I'm dedicating the time in putting them somewhere that you can view them without all my talking; although, many of you like the stories as much as the photos. I'll let you know when I have a good amount uploaded to the site. I can do that a lot faster than a blog post. But trust me, it's going to take a while to do them. Just keep reading and I'll tell you when.


Oh, and another thing. I just had surgery on my left hand last week and am having to curtail my keyboarding for a bit till it heals, but I'm scheduled out for several weeks so not to worry.
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I love cotton sheets. My daughter even bought some 600-count cotton sheets for one of her guest rooms for when we visit her. They are worth the money. I will only buy cotton for my bed. My feet especially can tell the difference. They are the best and, therein, lies a story.

I told this to a "thrifty" friend of mine about 12 years ago. Thrifty meaning cheap. ;-) Loved that woman but she was cheap. She would always, and I mean always, buy the cheapest brand, something I wasn't used to. I mean it's not my deciding factor with a lot of things, especially sheets. She had purchased 50%  cotton/50% polyester sheets all her life.

Anyway, she heeded my advice and finally got some 100% cotton sheets. She put them on her bed and when it came time to wash them, she did. She called me and said, "How do I get the wrinkles out?" Well, for me, wrinkles weren't a problem. I said she could iron them or just put them on the bed. I could tell over the telephone she was disgusted, having never thought of wrinkling. I just take mine out of the dryer, fold them as carefully as possible and put them in the linen closet. (And, yes, I used to iron them, but gave that up about 10 years ago.) I think she threw them in the garbage! I would have bought them from her. What a waste. But I love the cottony feel of them on my body and, yes, I can tell the difference in the 100% and the 50/50. To me, it's a no brainer! She moved away right after we moved to this town. I doubt she's ever forgiven me.
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This was one of my favorite rooms during the 90s. I don't know why as I'm not a person partial to brown or beige but the yellow walls just entranced me. Plus the black of the coffee table was beautiful. Just a very elegant room.

I've stated before how I love this kind of shower, one that doesn't need a door or a curtain. I love the whole design of this bathroom.

This is a house owned by Sister Parrish, one of the foremost designers of the last century. (For those of you younger people, that's the 1900s, not the 2000s!) I loved her casualness of an elegant room. Absolutely divine! She gave me so many ideas my head just swam.

Even back in the 1970s, 80s and 90s people wanted an elegant/rustic getaway.

When I saw this photo in a magazine I wanted immediately to have a spot in a room like this.

Plus, even back then, women wanted an elegant outdoor room to entertain.

It was even back then I recognized the beauty of leather pieces in a room.

Pink was "in" by several innovative women. I could see the future of that color back then.

This was one my one all-time favorite rooms also. I loved the pink, red and yellow together. It would be years before I caught the "vision" though. ;-)

Here again, the vivid reds and yellows brought into a room by the innovative use of a collection of magazines. All in all, a lovely, festive and cutesy room.

Coming upon the Christmas season, I thought I'd show you just a few photos from a Christmas room in the 90s.

How about that lighthouse? Is that cute or what?!

Lucky is the person who can have a room dedicated to the colors of the holiday season all year round. Same room as above.

I've always adored this tiny cottage kitchen area.

With this photo I caught the "animal skin" craze. I started making pillows with leopard print fabrics. Remember that? Sigh...

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Keep calm and glitter, glow or sparkle! ;-)

Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.
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Linking up with WOW.