Happy Mother's Day

Children and Christmas

Could there ever be anything better than watching children decorate the Christmas tree?  This has been a tradition at our house from the time my children were little and now with my grand children - and a neighbor boy who is like one of our own.  Our little Megan is so excited about the holidays and between her and her friend Aaron, they managed to decorate the entire bottom of the tree.  Since our tree is on a revolving stand it is very easy for them to stand in the front of the tree and decorate as it rotates.  Aaron is also as enthused as Megan, he thought she had a snowman theme going on so they put all the snowmen in one area, all the Santas in another and the bears in another.  And you know what?  It is beautiful. 

It's been a while....

Indeed, it has been a while since my last post.  Two months has a way of flying by especially in the summer with the grand children out of school.  And for someone who is so talkative I have not been in the mood to talk lately.  I am behind on painting my ornaments for Christmas, the carpet needs cleaning, the house is a mess, the baseboards need a good wipe and the windows - well, I don't do windows.  We do have clean clothes, that's a good thing.  I can't seem to concentrate and I really don't want to leave the house.  I would say I am depressed but I know that is not the case.  I know the culprit here and it is a website called Pinterest.  I love this site, I love seeing what others are doing to their homes, the recipes they are sharing, the gowns they are wearing to weddings, the fabulous shoes, the hairdos, the funny quotes and sayings, and the gardening - there is just so much on that site.  What a genius the person is to have come up with a pin board for all to share.  But like all things, you must take it in moderation.  I have already suffered through the pains of having an Ipad, now I must go through withdrawals because I have totally spent too much time looking at pins, repinning pins, and liking pins. 

Before I close this post there is just one more thing I need to do and that is share this pin I found of my favorite Pin Up Girl, Hilda.  Doesn't this exudes exactly how we feel at the end of the day, the best feeling of all when you can grab your favorite chair and a cup of your favorite brew, unsnap that bra and sigh....Oh, what a relief it is!

Disclaimer:  In case anyone is offended by Hilda's slightly nude body, I thought you should know a bit about her.  Hilda is a calendar girl painted by Duane Bryers who is now more than 90 years old.  She is a big girl which a lot of us can identify with but she is beautiful and he has been able to capture the many ways Hilda embraces life - you will find her in many funny situations and most will bring back a memory or two.  I treasure my 1971 calendar with the watercolor prints of Hilda swimming with the fishes, swinging on a tire swing, painting pictures and talking on the phone. 

Happy Anniversary to Us - 46 years and still going strong

Mr. C and I celebrated our 46th Wedding Anniversary this week.  I have mentioned before that I married at the tender age of 16 to a young military man.  Thinking back on the many roads we have been down brought to mind the question that is asked by so many - How can two people stay together for that many years?  I don't know the answer but I read the letter Paul Newman supposedly gave his wife on their wedding day and I think he might have had the right answer.  It goes like this:

Paul Newman's letter to his wife on their wedding day: “ Happiness in marriage is not something that just happens. A good marriage must be created. In the Art of Marriage, the little things are the big things. It is never being too old to hold hands. It is remembering to say ‘I love you’ at least once a day. It is never going to sleep angry. It is at no time taking the other for granted; the courtship should not end with the honeymoon; it should continue through all the years. It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives. It is standing together facing the world. It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family. It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy. It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways. It is not expecting the husband to wear a halo or the wife to have the wings of an angel. It is not looking for perfection in each other. It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding and a sense of humor. It is having the capacity to forgive and forget. It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow. It is finding rooms for things of the spirit. It is a common search for the good and the beautiful. It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal, dependence is mutual and obligation is reciprocal. It is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner."

That pretty much says it all. 

To all my blogging friends, y'all have a wonderful and safe Memorial Day weekend. 

You can never have enough pink...

At least not in my world. I love color but there are certain colors that you gravitate towards and for me it is pink. But my second favorite is the soft aqua color. Life has been very busy this year and I am slowly getting back to painting. This sweet little plaque already had the soft aqua ribbon attached so the background color was an easy choice but I decided to pair it with cream. Then top it with a trio of pink roses and baby daisies. Love it! I am joining the ladies at How Sweet the Sound for the weekly Pink Saturday. I hope you will take a second and stop by to check out the pinks for this week. Have a great weekend.

Sisters are like fat thighs....

As I have written in the past, I have a lot of sisters.  My mother had nine girls and two boys -

Bessie, Bub, Raymond, Barbara, Baby Girl, Brenda, Marie, Janice, Deborah, Agnes, and bringing up the rear is the baby Darlene. 

So life must have been hectic for her with that many girls in a house with only one bathroom.  Each of my sisters has something that is unique just to them.  And they fuss and argue but when the chips are down you know you can count on them to be there for you.  Heaven help anyone who gets in the middle of one of their arguments - my brothers-in-law learned long ago that if you try to intervene with the sisters they will all turn on you.  One of my older sisters, Barbara, who lives on their own mountain in Pennsylvania, came for a visit this month with my fantastic brother-in-law, Zeke.  We spent a lot of time going to antique shops, flea markets, yard sales, etc.  Although she is older she has a lot more energy than I do.  A short nap and she is ready to go again. 

She cooked large pots of spaghetti sauce, stuffed shells, manicotti, and vegetable soup.  My freezer is overflowing!!  You already know I am not a good cook so my family is thrilled that there is something in the freezer.  Then we visited with the other sisters (with the exception of one who lives in Texas), we sat on the swing and talked, we spent time with the grandchildren, we fished, and I nearly scared her to death when the tire tread came off on the freeway (not a retread, apparently Continental Tires have a habit of doing this).  It was very scary but I managed to get the car to the side of the road, and then after the repairs we shopped some more.  During this time my wonderful brother-in-law, Zeke, built an extension on my deck to house our grill.  This way the grill will not be under the porch roof - what genius!!  And installed new stairs! 

Two and a half weeks was not enough time to see all the shops in our area so she has decided to come back again in the summer - I think I had better start resting up now.

I am linking up with Ms. Beverly this week for Pink Saturday.  These lovely little pink crochet booties were found in a local antique shop.  I didn't know they were pink until I washed them!  Aren't they darling?  Just imagine the little feet that once wore them.  Happy Pink Saturday, y'all.

  

Happy Pink Saturday

Have you met Hilda?  Hilda is a famous pin-up girl of the 50's - 80's.  Now when you think pin-up - you are probably thinking of those skinny models who graced the covers of calendars and magazines, right?  Well, Hilda is nothing like that.  She is a free spirited voluptuous young women created by watercolor artist Duane Bryers.  She is willing to try anything and is so not embarrassed by her curves.  If she could she would run through the meadows in her birthday suit.  She is my kind of girl - the kind you could be best friends with and have the most fun.  She will try anything -

Golfing with strawberries and her pink bra!

Climbing the apple tree!

Hanging out with her friends!

Walking the tightrope!!

Swimming with the fishes!

No, there isn't much Hilda won't try but perhaps her least favorite is -

HOUSEWORK!!

Don't you just love her? 

Meet you over at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday!!

From the Craft Room...

Welcome to the Etsy Cottage Style Craft Room Party.  Here we will show you what we are working on in our studios.  I made a promise to myself this year that I would pull out all of the unfinished projects and complete them.  I have some really old projects still waiting to have the final touches added to them but I have procrastinated for years on some of them.  For instance, this pretty calla lily was started in 2009 - all I had to finish was the stamen but I hung it in my studio with every intention of getting back to it.  Well, I finally did - I finished it last week and it is heading to a new home.  (I love calla lilies and have several more I want to paint).

I once posted that I had quite a few baby shoes, some vintage, some not.  My sweet neighbor, Rebecca, gave me this pair of baby shoes, she is always looking out for me.  They were base coated last summer and then sat in a box along with many other baby shoes until now.  I wanted to have a little fun with this one so I painted stripes, dots, checks, and curly ques.  I will make the pin cushion tomorrow after I purchase the black and white polka dot material.  It reminds me a bit of Mackenzie Childs.  I have never painted anything like this before and I am so glad I did - I really like it. 

I am off to pull out a few more things that are waiting their turn to meet up with my paint brush.  I haven't painted much since Christmas and it is about time for me to get back to work.  Aside from the many projects to finish, I have some new ones I am looking forward to working on. 

Please stop by Etsy Cottage Style and visit with the other ladies - they have some really nice things to show you.  Til next time,

Pink Chickens and Ipad-itis .....

Yes, you heard it right - Ipaditis. You see my wonderful hubby gave me an IPAD for Christmas. What an amazing little thing - I fell in love with it as soon as my twelve year old grandchildren showed me how to use it. I even took it to bed with me, it is even better than a laptop!! It weighs practically nothing, I can peruse the internet all I want and it fits in my purse. How easy to just swipe your finger on the screen to move from one blog to the other - but it has its drawbacks, all of that finger motion has irritated my hand which bothered my shoulder - hence - Ipaditis. I figure I will take an Aleve and my Ipad to bed and I know I will feel better in the morning. I may have to deal with a bit of Pinterest-itis since I have become addicted to that website but it will be worth it.

Speaking of Pinterest, isn't that the most addictive website?? I found the cutest chickens (sorry, I don't know who posted it) and they are pink!! How do you get pink chickens? I wonder if they know they are the cutest things around.

I am posting this little darling as I join Ms. Beverly for Pink Saturday.  Stop by and check out the pretty pinks this week at How Sweet The Sound.

Off to bed, I wonder what other pretty pinks I can find tonight on Pinterest.  Talk soon.

I WON!! Yippee!!

I can hardly believe I have not posted since Christmas.  It has been a very busy month - my hubby had to have an emergency exploratory appendectomy just days after the new year.  He is still recuperating but is almost back to his usual routine.  As I told my family and friends, I am not cut out for this housewife stuff - it is too much work!  The cooking, cleaning, taking out garbage, grocery shopping - it's really too much work for one person - can't wait for him to resume his chores so I can get back to doing what I like doing best!!  Actually, you may think I am either a very selfish wife or I am exaggerating - I am neither - I am very lucky that my husband is the best cook and does the vacuuming and cleans the kitchen and does his own laundry.  I do have the bathrooms, dusting, my laundry and I cook on occasion but I can't say anyone in the family is crazy about that idea.  Sometimes it takes a little bump in the road to appreciate what others do for you - and I am very appreciative.

I am also not a person who wins a lot of things but I feel I am very lucky in so many ways.  So when I do win I get very excited.  And especially when it happens at the end of the year.  I had forgotten about entering Rita's (mammabellearte) giveaway so when she emailed me and said I won - I was over the moon happy!!  Such beautiful handmade items - I could hardly wait.  Some were being made just for me so I knew I had to wait a bit to get them but within a week or so I started receiving my items. 

My first package came in with this beautiful apron - don't you just love the green pocket

Then there is this perfect third hand - a vice which can hold a multitude of things while crafting or painting - love it!

This was exciting - a few days later a box arrived with all the following lovelies - the pink and black tissue paper was almost too pretty to unwrap - I will definitely be keeping that. 

Look at the pretty Marie burlap bag - and the Christi Repasy rose note cards -

and the "charming" (a little play on words) necklaces - I may have to fight my daughter and daughter in law to keep these - but wait there is more -

A Creative Pilgrimage book - and she had it signed by the author - how neat!!

Then I untie the burlap bag and inside I find the prettiest pink, ivory, and green seam binding ribbon - love that stuff!!  I will save it to wrap something wonderful.  And beautiful Italian lace - such eye candy!!

I love Christi Repasy roses - and I love writing notes but it will have to be someone pretty special for me to use these - I may just save them for a while - they are so pretty!

And that's not all - I received an email last weekend saying my handmade spoon necklace was on it's way - I just know it is going to be wonderful - I will post a pic as soon as it arrives. 

It's time to get back to the easel as I have a lot of things to paint this year and hopefully purge my painting studio.  Until next time....

Wouldn't you know it, just fifteen minutes after posting the above my spoon necklace came it - These were hand stamped by Suzie at VintageSusiesandWings@blogspot.com. 

I wish you could see what she has stamped onto the spoons.  I gave her my initials and said to surprise me with her design - little did she know that my nickname when I was younger was "Bee"  The smaller spoon says "Buzz" and is attached to the teaspoon that says "Bee Happy".  That is so totally sweet!!  And then just as a very nice gesture she included an extra fruit spoon necklace that says "Hope - Faith - Love".  I am just thrilled with all my winnings.  Thank you Rita and all the ladies who were so generous.  What a lucky girl I am!!

Christmas Spirit ...

It seems when the holidays come along, I find all kinds of reasons to clean and reminisce.  As I was going through my photo albums, I found a book stored along with the albums that I really love.  It's title is "Leaves of Gold".  I purchased it years ago while thrifting and since I love books, especially ones with poems or quotes, I pulled it out of its hiding place and started reading.  I found a sweet verse called "Christmas Spirit" by E.C. Baird.  Now, I do not know E.C. Baird but I love what he wrote and wanted to share it with you today.

CHRISTMAS SPIRIT - I am the Christmas spirit!
I enter the home of poverty, causing pale faced children to open their eyes wide, in pleased wonder.
I cause the miser's clutched hand to relax, and thus paint a bright spot on his soul.
I cause the aged to renew their youth and to laugh in the old, glad way.
I keep romance alive in the heart of childhood, and brighten sleep with dreams woven in magic.
I cause eager fee to climb dark stairways with filled baskets, leaving behind hearts amazed at the goodness of the world.
I cause the prodigal to pause a moment on his wild, wasteful way, and send to anxious love some little token that releases glad tears - tears which wash away the hard lines of sorrow.
I enter dark prison cells, reminding scarred manhood of what might have been, and pointing forward to good days yet to be.
I come softly into the still, white home of pain, and lips that are too weak to speak, just tremble in silent, eloquent gratitude.
In a thousand ways I cause the weary world to look up into the face of God, and for a little moment forget the things that are small and wretched.
I am the Christmas Spirit!!

Isn't that beautiful?  Christmas - probably the only word in the English language that can immediately bring a smile to the face no matter the age.  The excitement that stirs in every soul - not for anticipated gifts but for the presence of loved ones, the memories of those who have passed, and for the love that both have brought to our lives. 

I wish each of you peace in your heart this Christmas season.  And much love and happiness in the coming new year.

I wish you Peace, Joy, and Hope...

  I wish you Peace, Joy and Hope this Christmas season. Painting ornaments has been my major task these past few months. But as Christmas draws nearer I slow down my painting so I can do my holiday shopping for my children and grandchildren. Mind you, I shop throughout the year but for the high ticket items I wait until I know for sure they really want it. Here are three of my favorite, Peace, Joy, and Hope- wish I could have found one that said Love but I was lucky to be able to purchase these when I did. Many of the stores are completely out by now. Each one is painted in a soft sage green with pink roses - one of these days I will start to add holly leaves to my roses - I just never liked painting them!!

I hope you will join us at How Sweet the Sound Pink Saturday.