Trip To Washington

 On our recent trip over to Washington state to visit our granddaughter, her hubby and their two girls we had to drive 2 vehicles. We were delivering the sofa with the green and white ticking stripe slipcover I had in our family room to her. Their family room hide-a-bed was trashed by th' cats. So hopefully this one lasts longer. I'm running out of sofas!

Anyway, hubs drove his truck and I drove our Camry. We made it through a small part of Idaho, all of Oregon and just inside the Washington state line the tarp ripped. (Now, let me say here that if hubs had followed my advice on wrapping the sofa in a plastic drop cloth before putting on the heavy blue vinyl drop cloth we wouldn't have spent the better part of a day vacuuming and using a lint remover all over the sofa to get the teeny tiny bits blue stuff off.) Snicker, snicker!

Anyway, I was lead car keeping him in my rear view mirror at all times. We would have forgotten to do the same, trust me. When I didn't see him in my rear view mirror I called him on my cell and asked where he was. I was pulled over to the side when I did this. He told me what had happened and tied it again and then caught up with me. He took the lead for a while then.

Soon it started to rip completely off. We finally got to a WM store in Yakima, WA, and I went in and bought another tarp. He tied it even tighter and we made it to their home. Remember, it was raining and a bit of snow in the Blue Mountains so we had to have a cover for it. But let me tell you, that blue polypropylene is a bugger to get out of sofa fabric.

Then it became dark—foggy—as we came within about 50 miles of granddaughter's house. I turned on my lights but they didn't light up on my dashboard. I panicked, phoned hubs in back of me and told him to get in front and see if he could tell if they were on. He said, "They're faint, but on." I made him stay in front so I could see his tail lights. It gets pretty dark on the back woodsy roads of Washington when we got off the freeway. But the lights did come on just before we got there. I think it's a sensor in there that won't turn on until it gets to a certain degree of darkness but let me tell you I was panicking. I don't drive much at night at all so I wasn't really familiar with the lights. But I always fret when we travel. I like being home in my own house. But granddaughter and her family came over several weeks after that so we got to see them again.
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I just thought these pretty blues would delight you.

Though I didn't make this mosaic, I thought it beautiful enough to show you.

I have a pair of cowgirl boots broken in to where I love wearing them. They're slouchy now with a true cowboy heel, which is my favorite type of heel and I love them. I wear them with long dresses to church.

Another place to dream.

We all wish for a place to have inside for our gardening or snow days or just puttering, but few have one as nice as this.

Eye candy.

Yes! A beautiful pink house.

Fruit with flowers always makes a pretty table setting. I once used artichokes as a table setting.

A good way to keep your Popsicle when it's really hot out.

Cute wall sconce.

A place for gardening. Heck, I'd like it for my living room.

Wonder if it's all edible.

Little box covered with sea shells.

I loved the lace cover on this vintage table.

This looks like a showroom, but that bed is really stunning.

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Tidbit:
A Cinnabon study found that the scent of cinnamon causes mall shoppers to be more polite.
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Just A Few Thoughts Today

Has anyone noticed that for the past several years that cakes are becoming a fashion statement? I see the most elaborate cakes all over the internet. Some look like they've taken days or even weeks to assemble. And the cost has got to be prohibitive for the average person. But they are gorgeous and works of art!
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I'll never be beautiful. I've accepted that and it's really okay. I have a beautiful spirit though. I've been told I am but I'm definitely a realist. At most I'm attractive, meaning I attract attention. Even at 70 I get looks from men. But truly, I'm not gorgeous or beautiful. BUT I feel beautiful and that's a start. If you're so down on yourself that you have to have surgery then you don't have the confidence that you are beautiful. I truly believe everyone has a beautiful spirit and if you think you're beautiful, pretty or striking, you will be. And I've got a smile that can dazzle them. I'm always smiling. Maybe they wonder why I've always got a smile on my face. I don't know, but the moment someone starts talking to me I smile bigger. Always have.
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The other night hubby came around the corner while I was in the kitchen and we hugged. I looked up at him, smooched him and asked him how he could love an old, fat, nagging, wrinkly woman. He said, "You're not wrinkly." I said, "Yes, I am." He repeated his statement. I felt better. :-)
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Our house is rather open, meaning the kitchen, dining area and living room are in close proximity that smells cover all three areas. Our cathedral ceiling allows the cooking smells to waft over the wall in the kitchen, which doesn't go all the way to the ceiling. It's one thing I don't like about our house but this is our last house and I deal with it. But if I know someone might be coming over, I don't cook fish, beans, hot dogs or sauerkraut. Nothing smells as bad as those foods to me. If someone drops in, I quickly spray the house with Scentsy if I catch them coming up the walk. I love those foods...well, the sauerkraut not so much but hubby does... but they sure smell the house up horribly. If someone drops by when I've had fried potatoes with onions or a roast, I don't worry because I'm always greeted with "Gee, it smells so good in here" when cooking those 2 foods. And they're right!
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This is another room I like, especially the curtains.

Another darling vignette with brightly colored tins, plates and cups.

Romantic flower vignette.

Wouldn't small matchboxes be cute covered in this paper?

Stepping through these doors could be a bit hazardous.

I love rain. I love hearing it, seeing it and feeling it.

Geraniums always remind me of California. We had many when we lived there.

This is a room I'd feel right at home in, but the walls would be pink.

Pretty linens are always nice to have.

Why not put netting around a table for a party?!

A little girl's room that a mummy decided to make froufrou and gorgeous.

Love this shade of lavender.

More pretty linens.

A pretty kitchen. I like the blue counter top, too.

A breakfast of croissants, fruit and juice in Paris.

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Tidbits:
George Washington was the only president to have been unanimously elected.
John F. Kennedy was the first president born in the 20th century.
Jimmy Carter was the first president born in a hospital.
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A Few Stories About San Diego

In the mid sixties we lived in San Diego. I loved San Diego. Hubs was a Marine drill instructor at Marine Corps Recruit Depot and used to come home with the weirdest stories. He and our son, who was also a Marine, would sit and tell stories in the later years and we would laugh and laugh together till tears rolled down our cheeks. It's really fun sitting and listening to those two talk about the Marines.

He came home with a story about the new recruits. When they would arrive they had to send every single thing on their body, except a wedding ring and a watch, home to their folks.

Hubs told me about young men arriving there on the bus without shoes even. Some had never even worn them. Some had never worn a belt. They were then immediately taken to have their heads shaved. He said once there was a kid with an open sore/cut on his head full of lice. There were other stories I'll have him tell me and post here again later, but that's the few I remember at this point. We're talking really "green" recruits, first time away from home.

He also came home one day with lice. Yes, lice! I discovered them on me one evening and since we had never had them even as children I didn't know what was crawling on me. Hubs, being a Marine and having been versed on those kinds of things as all military men are, knew immediately what those tiny things were. I was appalled and in shock and couldn't sleep that night. But the next day he went to the base and got medicine for both of us. We also stripped all the beds in the apartment and went to the laundromat that night. We figured he got them from the toilets at the base because we were both faithful to each other and, after checking our two kids, didn't find any on them but they weren't even school age then. He was much more careful after that.

But we lived across from MCRD and near a small Mexican take-out-type restaurant that sold taquitos for ten for a dollar. Actually, at that time we could get tacos at Tico's Tacos ten for a dollar also. But I'd run down there in the next block and buy them for me and the kids all the time.

That small house was backed by a huge hill with a retaining wall that came tumbling down in a terrific roar during some heavy rains one year. If my kids had been out there, they very likely would have been hurt at the least. It also sent a huge wood beam through our bedroom in the back of the house. The landlord lowered the rent for us but we had to find another place relatively soon. So we moved up to a house near Kensington. It was fun living in that house because it was bigger than any place we'd lived in previously in a real neighborhood and was close to Mission Valley, which was great shopping for us then, even if we were too poor to buy much.

One day my cousins and I decided to go downtown San Diego. We just wanted to window shop. We dressed in nice pants but a policeman stopped us downtown and told us pants were inappropriate for downtown! We were floored and embarrassed. San Diego is a tourist town with a Navy base and a Marine base in it. We couldn't believe the policeman. I think he might have been flirting but here I was a mother of two kids and didn't even think about someone flirting with us but it was inconceivable that we weren't dressed "appropriately" for a beach town. I imagine now they go into town in their bikinis with the way things have changed! We're going down there next year for a convention and I can't wait to see how things are. We were down there a few years ago at UC San Diego when our grandson was going to school there.
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This is an antique servants bell. I think it's beautiful.

A beautifully clean street somewhere in western Europe.

Glittery handmade flowers with jewelry in the centers.

Just a bit of froufrou today.

This looks like it was or is a porch by the looks of the walls but it's beautiful just as a living room also.

Cute idea for extra cups around the house.

Italian coastline.

More eye candy but actually real so you can eat it!

Lovely arrangement for a cookie party.

Another darling birdhouse.

I couldn't tell if these were fabric or edible but they're fantastic looking no matter what.

Another beautiful road in Europe somewhere.

I thought this was a decorated bottle but it's a jewel with more jewelry around it. Stunning. Maybe it's a pin.

Wish I had a sign like this for my front porch.

Just some romantic roses and peonies.

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Tidbit:
Conakry, Guinea, in West Africa, is the world's wettest capital city with over 12 feet of rain per year.
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Guess What I Found Recently!

For about a year I've been looking for some different dining chairs.

We bought our solid oak table in the early 80s in California. It is 42" square claw feet legs but has 2 leaves with it. We got six chairs and the table for $1,400 at that time which would be several hundred dollars more at today's prices. It is solid oak with a brown stain, which I've grown very tired of and want to paint. The problem is I don't want to do the grunge work of sanding. I've done that and refuse to do it again. That's a tough job.

The chairs that came with it were more a country look, which suited me at the time; they don't anymore and I've covered them with slipcovers I made several years ago. I wanted a new look.

So I went on a quest to find some french chairs. I do like that look. I did an internet search every couple of months to see what was available but nothing I liked or wanted to pay a high price for.  Then, lo and behold, while checking Craigslist recently I came across a table, 6 chairs, a beautiful hutch and an Aubusson rug. I didn't want all of those things and really didn't want to spend a lot of money. So I emailed the seller and we agreed upon a price for 2 chairs. I didn't want her arm chairs and 2 chairs needed the cane seats fixed. So we made an appointment to see the chairs.

Have you ever actually been inside a gated community of million dollar homes? I never had. I've been in some exquisite homes but nothing like this neighborhood in Eagle, an upscale suburb of Boise. When we moved to Idaho in the 90s we could have gotten a new home there for $159,000. Not any more. These homes were definitely upscale. Beautiful inside also.

Anyway, the woman and her hubby were gracious and we bought the 2 chairs pictured below. She buys and resells furniture and these she got at a store in Palm Springs, California, with which I'm familiar. These are very good chairs. I'm thrilled to have them and at a price that was extremely good because at Ethan Allen, my favorite furniture store along with Thomasville, I would have started at about $700+ for upholstery of my choice for similar chairs. I am very pleased with my chairs. It gives a totally different look to the dining room.

The two chairs.

Design on chairs.

Cane seats and backs.

Nice and tight.

The backs.

Gorgeous legs with bracings, which shows it's sturdy.

Just a lovely silhouette with the curved legs.

This is what I'll be making for the two I bought.

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Don't you just love this bright pink fence?!

Sweet pink vignette with peonies.

Some old ephemera.

A beautiful shuttered home with an English garden.

The way I like froufrou!!!

Now this is my kind of hammock. Slather it with fluffy ruffled duvets, pillows and cushions. Ummm-hmmm.

I've seen 2 cookies lately that are the most gorgeous ever. This is one set. I'll show the other later with another post.

An antique sign, pink table, pink upholstered vintage chair, pink cushions and a flowered lamp. My kind of decoration for a living room.

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Tidbit:
Oprah Winfrey sleeps on Frette bedsheets, which boast a very high thread count and sell for thousands of dollars a set. They are exceptional sheets. Looking at the website recently, I could have gotten a set marked down to $1,372.00 from $2,745.00 and that's just plain white 100% Egyptian cotton. It does have delicate lace around the top sheet and the pillow has an edging of lace and an inset of lace. Made in Italy. Oh, I guess you know by now I won't be purchasing them any time soon, right? ;-)
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