Grandma Nina

I've Moved

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 19:06:00 +0000

Hi! I'm so glad you found your way to my blog, but guess what? I've moved to a different website. My new "home" is very similar to this one, but the focus is more on Women Over 50. I've realized that there is a large number of us and it's such an exciting time of our lives, but can also present many new issues. My new "home" offers Beauty tips for Women Over 50, and Happy Home tips to offer little ideas to make sure your home and lifestyle is happy and the best it can be. I also send out Happy Thoughts several mornings a week, and write at least one new article a week.

Over 50 and Happy

We've spent the first half of our life nurturing and taking care of others, for the most part. Now most of us have empty nests, hopefully a little more "me" time, and I think our life now should be about nurturing and taking care of us!
There is an art to making your life the best it can be. I want to share my ideas and thoughts about this with you!

I hope you get a chance to visit me at my new home. The address is: http://over50andhappy.com Please stop over and look around.

See you there!
Nina

Christmas Countdown

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 17:03:00 +0000

We’re back home in Pennsylvania from our family vacation in Orlando. With 9 of us on the trip, including 3 generations and ages 1 to 74, it was quite the trip. We had a wonderful time and great weather, even a little cool at times. We did everything from swimming and water slides to Sea World, Legoland, and Downtown Disney! I think we would all admit and agree that by the last two days we were all getting tired and a little cranky.

As much as I enjoyed the time away with children, grandchildren and parents – I am really happy to be home. I’m 54 years old, but I’m still continuing to learn things about myself:

1. As much as I love my whole family, I wouldn’t want to live with them for any more than 6 days in a row at a time! And that’s OK!

2. I get very tired a lot quicker than I did 20 years ago. And that’s OK!

3. Even when on vacation, I still end up cooking and cleaning! Partly because I like to and partly because I guess that’s still my job. And that’s OK!

4. Be sure to take a lot of pictures because by next year I’ll probably forget half the stuff we did! And that’s OK!

I have 17 month old Baby Leanna home with me until Wednesday since her mother had to work at Air Force Reserves this week. Because I was well organized with Christmas before I left I had most of my decorating finished and I bought several Christmas gifts while in Florida.

With 20 days until Christmas, I keep myself organized and on schedule so that this month is enjoyable for me and not filled with stress. I’ll give a daily tip up until Christmas morning that may be helpful to you and I’ll let you know what I get done each day. Follow along on my other website blog for twice weekly articles. Be sure to sign in and follow my site so you don’t miss any of my tips that will be posted in my Daily Happy Thoughts.

20 Days Before Christmas – I finished decorating my last of 6 Christmas trees and the nutcracker collection was set out on the living room side table.

Tip: Eliminate whatever is unnecessary. Every day life and events don’t come to a standstill just because Christmas is around the corner. You can only do so much. If it’s not necessary, don’t stress yourself by trying to do too much in such a short time.

For lots of tips, advice, and ideas, including pictures and simple recipes, my book will help you “Put Peace and Joy Back into Your Christmas”! Take a look here!

Leave me a comment and tell me your best tip for reducing stress during the Holidays. Every little tip helps!

Sign in to follow my other website for Women Over 50 at http://over50andhappy.com The Art of Living These Best Years of Your Life!

Been Here, Done This – Sort Of

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 14:08:00 +0000

Well, it’s this happy grandma’s 3rd day at staying with my three Pennsylvania grandchildren while their parents are away. I’m taking care of my 7 and 6 year old grandsons and 1 year old granddaughter, along with their dog. I got here Monday afternoon and my son and his wife will be home tomorrow afternoon. All I can say is – How did I do this 23 years ago? I guess the quick answer to that would be - Because it was 23 years ago! While that’s partially true, there is so much more to it.

For the last couple of days I’ve been comparing this experience with that of being a young mother with two sons also 16 months apart. As I got the two boys ready for school this morning, and they were outside waiting for the bus, I just had this flashback of my own two sons. It was a deja vu moment! But when my boys were young and I was a young mother, I was also working as an insurance agent and owner of my own agency. I was extremely busy, but I didn’t really think about it. I guess as a young woman and mother you just take for granted the fortune and joys and stress and hardships that you live. I didn’t think about how difficult being a working mother was. My husband and I were (and are) partners in business and in life and we ”just did it”! I also sat on several local boards, worked out (as in exercised) quite a bit, worked in my office at least 40 hours a week, and did everything possible with my boys. They were in wrestling, cross country, track, and of course all the academic functions and events. My husband and I were very involved parents and I don’t think we ever missed an event. To think back and remember all this now is overwhelming to me. If I had to do all that now I think I would curl up in a fetal position and cry!

So I’ve been thinking about this. Why do I feel so overwhelmed by this now when I obviously am very capable of handling it. And I’ve come to a conclusion and an answer: I’ve already done that and now my prize to myself is, I don’t have to do it anymore! Back then it was just what my life was. It was the plan and the progression and now I’m on to Part Two.

As I wrote about in my article, “Design Your Life to be What You Want”, we make the life we have. Whether consciously or unconsciously. The choices we make at each step determines the following step. We all have the ability to choose the direction of that track. Yes, unforseen events can derail us, but it’s then up to us to get it back on track.

Now, back to the present. The track I’m on now is to be a good and loving and very happy grandma. I am very willing to be the caregiver for temporary time periods, but I would not want to do this again full time. In addion to the boys, I also have their one year old sister, little Leanna.

Needless to say, I am busy and tired this week. If I HAD to do this full time due to some unforseen event, yes I could. This is not my current plan or track. I adore these beautiful grandchildren and want them to remember me as a good and loving grandma. When I leave here tomorrow evening and go back home to my husband, my house and my current normal every day activities, I’ll be so appreciative of it all.

I can look back and remember the first part of my life and appreciate how the hard work has paid off and gave me what I have now in my second half. I can also greatly appreciate that now in Part Two I have gorgeous grandchildren that I have the good fortune to spend time with. Then I get to go back to my well deserved current life that is now more about doing for me instead of a full time life of doing for others. And I don’t feel guilty for that at all!

I'm also at: http://over50andhappy.com. Would love to visit with you over there, too!

Over 50 and Happy

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 03:14:00 +0000

My new site is coming along. I have been working very long hours on setting this up and figuring it out. I've become obsessed! I'm not even sure why I'm so obsessed with this, except to say that this is all I've been thinking about all hours of the day and night for several weeks now. I have so many ideas and thoughts that I want to put into this new site and the more research I do the more I realize how hungry Women Over 50 are to get more information and support for depression, menopause, divorce, empty nest, etc. I want to encourage and offer some support and I'm so passionate about it. Even my husband is wondering what in the world has gotten in to me! I haven't turned on the TV for days, which isn't like me at all. I'm just so involved in reading and studying, not to mention trying to figure out this Wordpress system of site building. That's been a whole course of it's own!
This whole process has made me realize how important it is to have a passion for something, especially as we get older. It makes you discover a purpose and offers an excitement to looking forward to each day.
I have finally been able to get my sign- in box up on my new site so women can sign in to receive Newsletters with blog posts, daily quotes and sayings, and happiness tips. I'm actually working on an E-Book that I'm writing about Health and Fitness for Real Women Over 50. That could be a while down the road before that's ready to go.
Please stop over and visit my new "house". I'm ready to show it off a little, but still have more "furniture" and "decorating" to do.

New website can be found here

I also want to get back to visiting all of you, my great blogging friends out there! I'm sorry I've been so neglectful. Please forgive me and don't give up on me. I just don't have enough hours in the day and I know I try to take on too much - but I'm happy ! Now I have my Spokane kids coming tomorrow for 2 weeks so things aren't going to slow down for a while yet.

Talk to you all again real soon, I hope!

Hugs,

Nina

No More Bad Hair Days

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 20:54:00 +0000

No More Bad Hair Days

Click title above to visit my new website and read all about it! I'm working on a lot more to come,, but it's been a very time consuming project.
I'm currently working on a sign-in page where you can sign up to receive email newsletters, along with tips and quotes on "Being Happy Over 50" . As you all know, I'm just a regular ole' Grandma that isn't extremely computer tech savvy, so it takes me a little while to figure these things out. But I'm having so much fun and I'm so excited to see where this new road can lead and excited to possibly support, help, and guide "real" women over 50" in having the best 2nd half of their life that's possible!
I sincerely don't want to lose touch with the very good friends I've made at my Blogger "home". Theresa, DJan, Val, Rae, Denise, Debbie, Judy; Mariah, Vee, Connie, Marydon, and I could go on and on. In fact, it's because of all of you that I truly have come to appreciate how blessed and happy I am at age 53. I also realize that there are so many women out there that don't have such support, blessings, self esteem, and joy in their lives. And they can! It's there for all of us!
So thanks to all of you. I may even call on some of you from time to time to guest blog for me. You all have so much to offer "women of a certain age".
I'll be talking to you again soon.
Hugs and Stay Happy,
Nina

It's a Bumpy Ride with Kids!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 13:46:00 +0000

This was posted on Facebook by my DIL describing their day yesterday! I'm so glad I'm the grandma and not the mother. I found out about all of this after the fact and once everything was calmed down and fine. I would have been a basket case if I had to deal with this:

What a day! Things started wonderful. Got up and to the gym by 8:30. Ran 4 miles. Came home. Got the baby up so Austin could take her to the gym child watch. Discovered that she had taken her diaper halfway off and was playing in her poop! Tubby time! Cleaning her with the shower on. She falls. Starts crying. I say "It's ok peanut. You just got scared" Flip her over and start rinsing the soap off her. Feel the back of her head and there, lodged in her head is the metal hair strainer! I thought maybe it was stuck in her hair. Nope, there's the blood! ER here we come! I freaked out. Didn't know what to do, but knew enough not to pull it out myself! She had to get a staple. She was such a big girl though. We had to put her on my lap to take her to the hospital and she laid on her belly smiling and waving to her daddy the whole time! The nurses and docs at IRMC were absolutely amazing though! We were out of there in 20 min. So, then, I think she figures "oh well, I already have a staple in my head... let's see about this walking thing" and she took her first steps!

Leanna walking

Then she freaking falls... and her head starts bleeding again!!! I am so happy she is in bed sleeping for the night! I need a padded room for this one!!! It was definitely scary, but I have to say that I have the most amazing family. Austin basically flew us to the hospital and the boys got out the door an d into the car quicker than I could have imagined. My goodness I love my family. I truly am so blessed As for me, I am loading the dishwasher and hitting the hay!

My comment later in the evening:
What a day! The upside?! You're not bored and you know your family can work well together in a small crisis! Hope you have a calm Sunday! Love you all!!

Oh My!

Oh Deer!!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 22:39:00 +0000

This has been just a beautiful summer! Yes, it's hot, but I'm loving it. It feels so good to wake up at 6:00 in the morning, walk three miles from 7 to 8 with a tank top and shorts on, then sit on the back deck at 8:15 with my cup of coffee! It was 72 degrees at 7:00 this morning! I love it!
I worked in my garden until a little after noon and then it was just too hot to be working out there any longer. I think it got up to 96 degrees, but it is so pretty out! Now it's 6:30 pm and it is still 90 degrees. WOW!!

OK, now that you have a full weather report, here is what I saw the other morning at 5:30 when I got up to get ready for my morning walk. I've lived on the lake for 7 years now and this is the first time I ever saw the deer swimming in the lake. I guess they're hot, too!

They were a family, with the mom and dad washing the two babies! I took the pictures from the window because I was afraid if I opened the door to step out onto the deck I would scare them away! It was the most amazing site. I get so mad at them when they eat my flowers in the middle of the night, but you can't get mad at them after seeing this!

Fun in the Sun

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 18:47:00 +0000

It is hot!! But I'm not complaining! I promised that in the midst of ice and snow and below freezing temperatures last winter, I would not complain when the heat came in the summer. Here we are and I am true to my word.
Little Miss Leanna is visiting for a few days while her Mommy is a week in Pittsburgh for her annual Air Force Reserve training.

She has a good time with Grampy Bobby doing things she wouldn't be allowed to do at home or with Mommy around!

She hates when Grammy Nina puts those darn cute clips in her unruly hair!

Ready to walk any day!

She's finally taking a nap, so I'm going to try to catch up a little. I know my blogging has really gotten behind this summer. This summer seems especially full for us. I barely have time to write anything and my enjoyable blog reading has really suffered. A person can only do so much!

Last Saturday, July 2nd, we had our annual 4th of July party. It was a beautiful day, as most of our summer has been, we had a great attendance of friends and family and plenty of good food.

My brother in law, John, on the left, was designated grill cook. He did a great job! John and his wife, my sister in law Debbie, came from Cincinnati, as did my brother, Chuck, and his wife, Jill. This is my cousin Fred on the right. Two days after our party, Fred and my cousin Susie, his wife, became first time grandparents of twin boys!

cousins Frank and Betty

l-r: son Austin, cousin Fred, cousin Steve, DIL Melissa, cousin Betty

Cousin Mark with my brother's dog, Frankie

Look behind Mark in the above picture to the bank on the other side of the lake. That is where the fireworks were set off that evening. We have a beautiful front row seat to the fireworks show right in front of us!

My good friend, Paula, along with her daughter, Marielle, and Marielle's newly adopted twin daughters from Africa.

It was also Leanna's first birthday on June 28, so we celebrated while we had the gathering of friends and family. I got her a Tinkerbell cake because she sort of got nicknamed "tinks" when she was a very young baby due to the odor that such a cute little thing could put out!

She thoroughly enjoyed her first birthday cake!

And was very happy to share with Big GG (Great Grandpa, my dad)

This post for today is done and she's still sleeping! It felt good to sit for a while and write in quiet! Maybe I can even get another load of clothes folded if I hurry up!

Caylee's Law

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 16:08:00 +0000

I have 4th of July pictures and lots to tell you about my fun and happy long holiday weekend. The weekend was filled with loving family and friends and much laughing. More on this later.

But today I have to comment on the sad sad life that the Anthony family is living right now.
Being the grandmother of a 1 year old granddaughter and a 2 year old granddaughter, I just can't even imagine what Cindy Anthony may be going through! Then to also be the mother of the person that is probably responsible for the death of this precious little girl!? How do you deal with that?
I'm not happy about the jury's decision on this. I feel there was sufficient evidence beyond a reasonable doubt to find her guilty of at least manslaughter. I also feel sure that Casey will still live a life of hell, whether it be behind bars or not and her judgment day will come in another form.
Something good must come of this and I feel that passing Caylee's Law would be one good thing. This would make it a crime for a parent or guardian not notifying law enforcement of a missing child in a timely manner:

Caylee's Law, contact your Senator and Representative: there should be a new federal law created called Caylee's Law that will make it a federal offense for a parent or guardian to not notify law enforcement of a child going missing in a timely manner.
Let's keep another case like Caylee Anthony out of the courts.

If you agree, please sign the petition I have posted at the top of my sidebar. Keep Caylee's voice alive!

Reunion Over

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 00:29:00 +0000

I'm back. You wouldn't think a little six hour one way trip to Cincinnati and two nights of parties would wear a person out, but it did. I guess when it's your 35th class reunion, age makes a little difference to old party animals! All went very well, though, and it was a lot of fun. I just don't know how much fun I can take! I really enjoyed seeing my best friend, Melinda, whom I haven't seen for over five years. Melinda, her sweet and beautiful 18 year old daughter, Michelle, and I stayed together at a Marriott Towne Place Suites.

It was very nice. It was more like a condo than a hotel. We had such a good visit and talks. It's just like we saw each other a month ago. The sign of a true friendship! We spent time at the mall, going out to eat with our mothers and Michelle, drinking wine and just talking.
Friday night was a get together with our class at a local tavern.

Me on left, Melinda on right

Saturday Melinda wanted to get her hair done, so we decided to also get our make-up done together. It was a fun girlfriend time together!

Saturday evening was a little more dressy affair.

Blurry again. I need a new camera! What a shame because our make-up looked really good!

We had a good time and it was so much fun to see old friends. I think because of facebook, I felt like I knew

some people better now than I did 35 years ago.

We were back "home" by midnight, but I guess we just couldn't get relaxed enough to fall asleep right away. The next morning I woke up with a start at 11:00! I couldn't believe it! I had to also wake up Melinda and Michelle. We were supposed to meet our mothers again for brunch at 11! Wow! I haven't slept that late for years. We changed brunch time to noon!

Mom and I headed back to my brother's house after lunch, where we had a nice rest, a great dinner with family (my sister in law is a great cook), watched movies and had a good sleep. Then we got on the road Monday morning back to the woods of Pennsylvania. When I first got married and moved to Pennsylvania I loved going back to Cincinnati and almost dreaded coming back home to my small little back woods town. Now it's flipped. I love coming back to my slower (well, debatable), definitely quieter, calmer little life!

I entered the gate to my community and drove up the long road toward my house.

It was fun to go back to high school memories, but there's no place like home!

Party and Be Happy!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 02:00:00 +0000

Just a quick update. I know I've been MIA lately. This will have to be a quick short one, though. I'm getting ready and packing to leave in the morning for Cincinnati for my 35th class reunion. I'm most excited to meet up with my best friend that now lives in California. She's flying in to Cincinnati tomorrow and we'll be staying 3 nights in a hotel suite and I can't wait to see her and catch up.
My mother is going with me so that I'm not driving the 6 hour drive alone. She'll stay with my brother for a night and then with an old friend for two nights. This should be a fun getaway. It's just so much work to make the preparations to get going. Thanks to a very good friend of mine, I have jewelry and shoes all ready to go with the new dress I bought. I got my hair trimmed and color touched up today. Got eyebrows and lip waxed. Got some new make-up and a pedicure. Pictures will come later, I promise. I'm thinking right about now that this might be the last reunion I go to. It's a lot of work to get fixed up! It does make you feel pretty good, though.
Last Saturday we attended a beautiful wedding out in the woods of Pennsylvania at an Art School/Gallery. Sounds a little strange, I know. We thought so at first, too. But it was an outside wedding in these beautiful gardens and a gazebo and the weather was absolutely perfect! Here are some pictures

The groom is a very good friend of Austin, my oldest son. His mother is the same very good friend of mine that helped me with shoes and jewelry.

Here's Hubby and I during the outdoor reception. We were all dressed up and lookin' good and the setting was beautiful and I'm so sorry the picture came out blurry!

I'll be back home on Monday evening from my girl's getaway/reunion and then on Thursday I have family starting to arrive to my house for a big 4th of July party that we're having here on next Saturday.
I was starting to get a little overwhelmed and nervous the other day trying to get ready for all of this, and then I talked to myself and reminded me that this was all good stuff. Just breath, relax, and enjoy the good life. My self lecture worked and I woke up yesterday morning feeling renewed and energetic and sat with my early morning coffee and watched my birds.

I'll be in touch next week, with pictures and a reunion report, as soon as I get a chance!

No Lazy Days of Summer Here

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 02:31:00 +0000

Not enough hours in the day! I still have so much outside work to do. I'm still trimming and cleaning out my cotoneaster bushes and it's taking up way too much time.

Last week Mom and I found our way to this Amish greenhouse that we had heard about and they had the biggest baskets of flowers I have ever seen for $15.00 each. I asked the cute little Amish girl how they get them so big and she told me in her sweet little Amish accent voice, "They just grow".

This pot of these little yellow flowers was about $1.50!

I hung this huge basket next to my blue and pink seating area. See my previous post.

Over the weekend, Mom and I took a little road trip to Pittsburgh to help Spring clean my girlfriend's mother's house. Her mother and my mother were very good friends years ago, and the four of us have reunited recently. See post about this here. My friend's mother had a stroke a couple of years ago and just isn't able to keep up with her house by herself. So my girlfriend arranged for a Spring Cleaning Party with family and friends jumping in with scrub buckets and food. Mom and I drove the 4 hours to get there Saturday morning and spent the night in a very nice room at a Country Inns and Suites. We cleaned again on Sunday and got back on the road for the trip home by 3:00. It was fun! Really!

I'm cleaning the light fixture in the master bath. With a smile!

Hubby couldn't quite understand why we would be willing to do this when I keep saying how much work I have to do around here. We did it because they asked!

We also stopped at an outlet mall before coming home. I've been looking for a dress for my upcoming 35th year class reunion coming up next weekend in Cincinnati. I wanted something classy, but sexy, but not too revealing, that fit well but not too tight, oh my! And I think I found it! We went into Dress Barn and I wasn't hopeful because I had been to a Dress Barn years and years ago and was not impressed. Well, this one was a nice store with very nice clothes.

Here it is. I'll be sure to get a picture the night of the reunion.

I also found this cute little pink top and had to get it, too.

This weekend we have a wedding to go to on Saturday. Sunday we'll have the 3 grandkids here and are going to brunch for Father's Day. On Thursday I leave for Cincinnati to meet up with my best friend that now lives in California and we'll be going to our class reunion get togethers on Friday and Saturday nights. I'll come home on Monday and then on Saturday the 2nd, we're having a 4th of July party here.

For someone (me) that likes to just stay home and putz around the house, I don't know why I let myself get so busy!

Days On The Lake

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 16:56:00 +0000

Here is my new summer schedule; if it's nice and warm I work outside, if it's raining I work inside. Today is an inside day. It's only 59 degrees and pouring. At 7:00 this morning, though, it was warm and dry and I started a morning walk routine with a neighbor friend. We walked for an hour at a pretty good pace and a lot of hills. We're going to try to do this every morning. It felt good and to do it that early doesn't make it seem like it's interrupting my day at all.

I was able to work outside yesterday afternoon. I've been trimming these darn cotton easters (that's what I'm told by a neighbor that they are) and they are a pain to take care of and keep looking nice and neat. I'm giving them a real good haircut to clean up all the weeds and dead limbs. These bushes line our driveway in the front of the house and they can grow wild real fast if you just let them go.

I'm half tempted to have them all torn out and just plant more grass. I'm sure, though, once I get them all neatened up again I'll be satisfied with them. In the fall they get red berries on them and actually can be very pretty. I wanted to get more work done on these today, but that's not going to happen.

I wasn't able to get much of anything done over the weekend because my three little mini storms, named Logan, Landen, and Leanna were here. We actually had Leanna since Thursday night. We brought her home with us after going to Landen's pre-school graduation.

He had a cute little ceremony, complete with lunch for parents and grandparents. Landen was so excited to have us there and all his little friends were glad to meet Landen's "Bobby". That's what Landen calls his grandpa and since he considers "his Bobby" to be his best friend he talks about him all the time. By the end of graduation all the little graduates were calling him "Bobby" too. So cute!! Bobby also got a kick out of it.

So Leanna came home with us since it was going to be DIL's Air Force Reserve weekend. Little Miss Leanna just keeps getting cuter and cuter and is just the best baby. Hubby and I kept commenting all weekend about how much her looks are reminding us so much of her daddy as a baby! Just so amazing how that works!

On Saturday, Austin came up with the two boys and then he left for a bachelor party of a good friend. The boys swam in the lake and went out in the kayak with "their Bobby" for the first time this season. They loved it. They feel like such big boys in the water now since they've been taking swim lessons at the Y.

It was great to see the kids, but as usual after they are here for a few days, I was exhausted by the time they left on Sunday afternoon.

Dad's boat was delivered to our dock on Sunday afternoon. Since last night was such a warm and beautiful evening Mom and Dad came over and we took a little "wine sunset cruise".

Pulling away from the dock

View of the back of our house

headed down the lake

Sun setting on the way back

Sun behind the trees

Now I'm relaxed and refreshed and ready for the next day.

Spring to Summer in One Week

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 12:53:00 +0000

Well, I can't believe a week has gone by since I last wrote. I hate when that happens! In that week we've gone straight from a few days of Spring right into the hot and humid days of a Northeast summer! I'm not complaining! I'm just sayin'! This is the weather I love. It's been about 75 degrees first thing in the morning, which makes it so nice to sit out on the deck early in the morning drinking my first cup of coffee.

This is where I sit. My color scheme on my deck, obviously, is red, yellow and black

This is my view

I can also tell summer is here because my "rockin pneumonia and boogy woogy flu" has now made way for allergies, complete with sneezing, itchy eyes, stuffy nose and headache. Oh well - just taking different pills!

Last Memorial weekend was just beautiful! Hubby (unwillingly) helped me work outside for the weekend to get the yard and gardens in order. And when I say help, that's what I mean. He'll do what I ask, but with a little growl! He would never think of what needs done on his own. Why does he think this is unnecessary work? Being the organized person I am, I knew with our schedule that we had to get as much done last weekend as we could. Every weekend up until the 4th of July is booked. Then the weekend of the 4th we're having a party. Planning ahead and scheduling is the only way to do all this. I would prefer to not be quite so busy myself, but that's just the way our life is right now.

I still have quite a bit to do, but I feel much better with this good start. More flowers will be added, weeds will continually be pulled, and a few more old leaves and sticks need to be picked up.
My little garden in front of and under my deck is coming along.

This garden is mostly white, pink, and some purple. The green bench back against the wall is going to be painted white. The purple cat nip is now blooming, along with the chives and some lavender. My pink roses and the other pink flowers haven't bloomed yet. I'm no master gardener and there is a lot of trial and error, but I keep at it every year. We have such a huge deer population so I need to plant deer resistant perennials. Then just when you think you've only planted what the deer don't like, they come along and eat it! I have to keep all (or most) annuals up on the top deck or hanging high enough so deer can't get to it.
These "angel wing begonias" I just found at the farm market. I've never seen them before.

The impatient I just got today.

Then I found this cute little wall hanging at JoAnn's at 50% off today.

My perennial garden beside my shed always looks a little wild. But I kind of like it like that. Deer can really flock to this place in the middle of the night, so it's very difficult to grow.

Not too much is blooming here yet. The purple ajuga ground cover has bloomed and is now about ready to be cut down. The purple irises are just now blooming.

I have butterfly bushes that are coming up but won't bloom for a while. Out growing season comes late and doesn't last long. The chiminea we had for years on our deck, but after so many years it started to disintegrate, so Hubby stuck it in the garden. I kind of like it there. I'll stick some flowers in it later.

My seating area by the lake still needs cleaned up, but I at least got the furniture cleaned off from winter grime. Fresh coats of pink and blue paint have been applied where needed. Pink and blue is my color scheme for this area.

I had this old bird cage that was getting very rusty, so I decided to just paint it pink, too.

I love this sitting area in the evening with a glass of wine and when the kids are here we'll roast marchmallows and make smores. They'll be here Saturday night, so that's exactly what's on the schedule as long as it doesn't rain!

Linking to Cindy's Show and Tell Friday
and Alison's Fridays Unfolded

Spring Has Sprung - Finally!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 27 May 2011 19:22:00 +0000

I think Spring is finally here. There's been an awful lot of rain, but everything is now green and I've managed to finally get a few flowers on the deck and porch.

I'm getting so many pretty birds coming to my feeders.

Couple of days before flowers went in

I was finally able to get outside some more to work in the yard and gardens. I think if I can get a couple of more good outside work days I'll have it done, as far as clean up.

Tomorrow is the annual decoration day at the cemetery for Mom and me. We'll get out early to buy flowers and go out to the cemetery to decorate my grandparents and aunts grave sites. Then we go out to lunch. This has become an annual event for us that we try to look at as a nice day.

This last week has also been filled with end of the school year activities for our pre-school and kindergarten grandsons. We made it down for Landen's end of year dance recital on Sunday evening. We weren't able to take pictures in the auditorium because they want you to buy DVD's of the show. Landen was so cute being the only boy in his dance group.

Here we are with the kids after the show.

Last night we headed back down the 1-1/2 hour drive to see Logan's gymnastics show. This is Logan's 2nd year in gymnastics and he did a great job. With Logan's slight autism, gymnastics seems to be so good for him. He likes the focused activity with lots of action. We could see his improvement.

The teacher instructing him before he starts.

Proudly accepting his gold medal at the end.

Sorry for the poor picture quality. I was trying to zoom in and the lighting wasn't very good. Not to mention the photographer (me) not always doing a good job.

Oh, and look at this. This ugly fish washed up in our back yard from the lake. We've never seen anything like this or this big in the lake before. We were told it's a Northern Pike.

It was as big as the neighbors' 4 year old grandson!

Yuk! And boy did it stink. It sort of worries me a little because my kids swim in the lake all summer. Oooh, Gross!!

I hope the weather is nice this weekend as I'm hoping for a nice, quiet, Memorial Weekend.

Linking to: Cindy's Show and Tell Friday
and Alison's Fridays Unfolded

Lost Grandma!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 26 May 2011 13:00:00 +0000

This is me lately! I've been doing a lot of computer work the past couple of weeks; business and an on-line class. Unfortunately the fun things, such as my blog, gets put on the back burner. A friend sent me this and I got such a laugh out of it, because I felt like it described me. I wanted to share because I'm sure many of you can relate: ENJOY!

The computer swallowed grandma (me).

Yes, honestly it's true

She (I) pressed 'control' and 'enter'

And disappeared from view.

It devoured her (me) completely,

The thought just makes me squirm.

She (I)must have caught a virus

Or been eaten by a worm.

I've searched through the recycle bin

And files of every kind;

I've even used the Internet,

But nothing did I find.

In desperation, I asked Google

My searches to refine.

The reply from him was negative,

Not a thing was found 'online.'

So, if inside your 'In-box,'

Grandma you should see,

Please "Copy,Scan and Paste" her (me)

And send her back to me.(this way)

This is is a tribute to all the Grandmas

who

have been fearless.

.

And learned to use the Computer.......

They are the greatest!!!

We do not stop playing because we grow old;

We grow old because we stop playing ....

NEVER Be The First To Get Old!

Judgement Day Didn't Ruin Our Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 22 May 2011 15:09:00 +0000

Well, I guess somebody misjudged Judgement Day! Who comes up with this stuff anyway! I have to admit, though, that just a minuscule little part of my brain had this fleeting thought of, "What if?". I'm glad we're still here. You know me, I just have way too much still to do!

Friday we drove the 1-1/2 hour drive to watch Logan in his 20 minute kindergarten end of year choral program. We wouldn't have missed it. It was so cute! Logan seems to love to perform. He did a great job. One thing you notice right away, ( second to how cute he is) is that he can not stand still. But that's OK. At least he's not a lifeless lump standing up there!

Logan's in the red T-shirt.

They were supposed to make a face! He got into it!

He kept looking at us, knowing we were taking his picture

We picked up pizza and went back to Austin and Melissa's house after the program to visit with all the kids for a little while. Then we headed back for the 1-1/2 hour drive home. I've found that I don't mind the drive time at all anymore because I take my knitting and get a lot done in the car.

I knew on Friday that Saturday was going to be a beautiful day. All the weather reports were saying so. We've had so few of them to date that I was planning my whole day around it. Hubby had wanted to bring Leanna home with us on Friday since we're going back down there again today for Landen's dance recital. I had to stand my ground and announce that my firm plan was to work outside all day on Saturday. Hubby even suggested that I just put Leanna in her walker out in the driveway while I worked! Give me a break! I adore her, but I'm not doing that!

Saturday we woke up to the beautiful day I was expecting. My plan was to clean out the rest of the weeds and leaves from the bushes in the front of the house. And there's a lot. Before I started, I got on the phone trying to find an available painter that would power wash and stain our back deck. I was only leaving messages and no one was even answering the phone. Why are contractors so hard to get a hold of? I guess they're all so busy in this bad economy, huh? Finally, Hubby said, "I'll just do it myself. No use paying someone hundreds of dollars". I thought, "Oh great - he's going to rush through this and not do it the way I want it done". Of course, a job that he does is always a job that we do when it comes to a lot of projects like this. He told me to clean the deck while he went to Lowe's for stain. I did, because I wanted it done! But that threw me off my weed and leaf cleaning schedule.

After some frustration and yelling at each other (nothing too harsh) he finally got to staining the deck in the back while I went to work on my project in the front. By the end of the day his job was all done and mine was partially done, but I felt good about our accomplishment for a day's work. We both have sore backs today, but saved money. It was worth it. Just a side note - not one of those painters I called have yet to return my phone call! And I'm sorry I didn't get any pictures of us working so hard out in the sun, but it didn't even enter my mind. I'm always mad at myself for missed photos like that!

Anyway, after a glass of iced tea, I then poured myself a glass of wine at 5:55 and sat for 5 minutes sipping my wine, wondering what was going to happen at 6:00 for Judgement Day. Nothing! Absolutely nothing! It was a good day!

Now we're back to a rainy, gloomy Sunday. It would be so nice to have at least two days in a row of nice weather. Now I need to get dressed and ready for another 1-1/2 hour drive down to the kids' house for 5 year old Landen's dance recital. He wanted to take dance lessons this year instead of gymnastics and I understand that he's the only boy in the class. This should be another cute picture day! And more knitting to get done!

Life This Week

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 20 May 2011 02:25:00 +0000

I can't believe it's Thursday night already. This week has gone by so fast because it's been a busy one. I'll have to put my Bermuda series on hold for a few days until I get caught up with the present.

Last Friday (wow - almost a week!) my cousin, Brad, his wife, Jane, and their children, Grady and Libby, came up from Harrisburg to spend the weekend with us. They had a wedding to go to on Saturday close to here. They arrived here shortly after Hubby got home with our little granddaughter, Leanna. He had gone to pick her up to spend the weekend with us. This was the first time we have had her alone without her older brothers.

The weekend went well. Cousins left about noon on Saturday all dressed up for the wedding.

Don't they look nice? Grady just had to hold that sword in the picture. And look at beautiful Libby's gladiator sandals. She sure has turned into a beauty at only 14 years old!

Leanna was just the best little baby. She's happy all the time and entertains herself as long as you're in the room with her. She loves to be in her walker, which is great because she's crawling and standing and I'd be running after her all day otherwise. We just stayed in the kitchen together with me cleaning and cooking and Leanna motorin' all over opening every cupboard she could reach.

About 7:00 at night it was bath time. Grandma (me) prefers to give a bath in the kitchen sink while she's still small enough. Leaning over a bathtub is a killer! I said she's happy all the time, except when bath time is over She did not want to get out of that sink!

She goes right to bed with barely a wimper at 9:00 and sleeps sound until 9:00 the next morning. She's such an easy baby.

I was up early, way before anyone else. Cousins got in late, so they were all sleeping in. I made a fresh fruit salad, cinnamon rolls, and coffee. I decided to use my Homer Laughlin's Virginia Rose dishes. Most of the set was passed down to me from my and Brad's great-grandmother. I've added to the set when I find pieces in antique stores or a flea market.

As soon as I had breakfast and the baby taken care of, I started on lunch! I was having Mom and Dad over for a late lunch for Dad's birthday, which was the next day, Monday. I was hoping cousins could stay to celebrate with us, but they needed to head back home at noon.
I fixed two pans of lasagna, a salad, and whole grain dinner rolls. So I cleaned up the dishes and the kitchen from the breakfast crowd and reset the table and had lunch ready for the lunch crowd at 1:00.
Chocolate crunch ice cream cake from Dairy Queen, with a big "7" candle and a big "4" candle was the co-star, along with Dad!

It was a small party, just me, Bob, Leanna and Mom, but it was nice and the food was good. Can I say that even if I cooked it all? And those Dairy Queen ice cream cakes are delicious!

Sooooo, I was exhausted by 3:00! Hubby and I were going to drive the 3 hour drive together to take Leanna home, but Hubby was so good in offering to go himself. I packed up the baby and all that goes with her, along with a pan of lasagna, and then (tired sigh!) I was home alone! I got the kitchen cleaned up (again!) and sat. I so much appreciated that right then.

I have to say, I'm still not feeling well. I just keep coughing, which makes my throat sore and my head is so stuffed up. I think I have "The Walking Pneumonia and the Boogy Woogy Flu"! Remember that song? I think I'm starting to feel a little better, then I do too much, get overly tired, and then I'm down and out again.
But, resting is not much my style. Monday I spent the day washing sheets, towels, floors and bathrooms. My normal routine with a little extra. Monday night I wanted to just sit and cry. I was so annoyed at not feeling well when I have things to do.

Tuesday still wasn't time to take it easy. It was voting day and Dad was running for School Board. Mom, Bob and I were all helping by manning different polling locations and handing out his card as voters walked up to the polling station. My shift started at 7:00 am. I woke up at 5:00 to 48 degrees outside and the threat of rain! At 5:00 a.m., my thoughts were, "Lord, let me die"! I have to say, though, by 8:00 a.m. I was getting into the whole process and it actually became fun. I knew a lot of people and got to know the other candidates standing outside with us. I shared shifts with a friend that was also volunteering for Dad, so I had a few breaks. When on duty, I was on my feet, in the rain, and talking all day.
Here's the gauntlet line we formed that voters had to walk through to cast their vote. Most of the day we were all holding umbrellas, but here's a moment of clearing.

Here's Dad, third from the top right with the phone to his ear.

It was worth it, thank goodness. We knew by 11:00 that night that Dad won the Republican nomination by quite a large margin. In fact, he only lost the Democratic nomination also by about 6 votes! Now he'll have to run again in November. If he had won both ballots he'd be in and would run uncontested in November. We're all so proud of him. Now this means we do it all over again in the late fall. Oh my, it could actually be snowing then!
Right now I just look forward to the day when I feel healthy again!

Linking to Alison's Fridays Unfolded

We Made It To Bermuda!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 17 May 2011 19:44:00 +0000

Wednesday, May 4

We were rockin’ and rollin’ the whole night through! Very rough waters all night. I felt OK, it was just a lot of movement and very loud. I think maybe there was a storm. All I could think about in the middle of this stormy rocking night was the Bermuda Triangle. I was thinking we must be getting close to it and I hope we make it.
We did! We woke up anchored in the bay of St. George where those of us that wanted to go ashore were ferried in to the island where we had booked a tour.

View of our ship from St. George

St. George is the original Bermuda settlement. In 1609, the English ship, “Sea Venture” was on it’s way to the new American settlement of Jamestown.

A hurricane grounded the “Sea Venture” just off St. George and the survivors became the first residents.

We toured old Fort St. Catherine,

Dad guarding the Fort

visited St. Peters Church,

saw the “Unfinished church”

which was left unfinished due to financial difficulties, and remains standing that way to this day.

We visited the Towne Hall,

walked up the narrow winding staircase of the old lighthouse,

Me and Bob with Don and Kay standing at the top of the lighthouse

and stopped for a rum and coke at an outdoor pub along the beach.

Bob and I with Gomby the pig outside the pub

There are old cemeteries and beautiful flowers everywhere.

The buildings and houses are built from concrete block and limestone so that they can withstand hurricane force winds. The limestone roofs are all painted white and the houses themselves are painted pastel colors.

I can imagine that this would look terrible in Northeast PA, but it looks so pretty here next to the beautiful bright aqua water!

We did a little bit of shopping before we had to get back to the ship. As in normal man fashion, Dad and Don sat on a bench in front of Town Hall and ate ice cream.

For the first time on the trip we ate dinner in the Rotterdam Dining Room on the ship. The food was delicious. The other evenings we had just been grabbing food at the buffet or the pizza bar outside. The dining room is beautiful, with a semi circle wall of windows overlooking the Harbor. While eating a first class sit down dinner an orchestra plays soft classical dinner music on the balcony. It almost reminds you of a scene from The Titanic.
For some reason, The Bermuda Triangle and The Titanic are always on my mind!

After dinner the ship had sailed to the other end of the island in Hamilton. Hubby and I got off the boat to tour a little bit of Hamilton in the early evening.

Back on the ship, the movie, “The Accidental Husband” was playing in the theatre. It was just O.K. I’m still not feeling real well, so it was hard for me to stay awake. I really needed to just get back to our room and lay down for the evening. We found this towel sculpture of a turkey waiting on our bed for us!

I was exhausted! My throat is really bothering me and I’m getting very annoyed about it. You plan and wait for a vacation like this, and then not to feel well when you finally get there is a little frustrating.

Overall, it was a very good day. It's so pretty and sunny in Bermuda, even though it rained for a few minutes, it clears right up and the sun keeps shining.

Read about Day 1 of our vacation here
Read about Day 2 of our vacation here

Blogger Interrupted My Bermuda Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 13 May 2011 22:05:00 +0000

I posted Day 3 of our Bermuda Trip yesterday, but now it's gone. It was filled with pictures from St. George and took me a lot of time to write it up. Gone! This is so frustrating. I understand that Blogger is still working on restoring lost posts so I'm hoping it's back up soon. I hate to take the time to re-write the post, get it all done again, and then they put my original one back up!
So, I worked outside today to get away from this darn computer. Sometimes you just have to do that! I have so much to do outside that a little bit each day makes a difference pretty quick.
I'm still dealing with a little bit of a sore throat. This is going on the second week now. I would be concerned, but it is actually much better. Just a lingering annoyance now.
Hubby is picking up our granddaughter, Leanna, to spend the weekend with us.

This is her mother's Air Force Reserve weekend and we thought it would help her daddy out if he only had her two older brothers for the weekend. So they are having a "boys only" weekend and I get some alone time with my little sweetie pie!
My cousin and his family are also coming over from Harrisburg this evening to spend the weekend with us. They have a wedding to go to tomorrow and we love having them at our "Lake Château", as they have come to call my home.
Now I can't end the day without commenting on American Idol last night! I'm addicted to this show and am always amazed at undiscovered young talent and how they progress through the months. But last night was a total disappointment. My favorite, James Durbin, was voted off. How could this happen? He has so much talent and I couldn't help but be drawn to his back story. He has turrets syndrome and mild autism, he's married with a young son, and you can tell he just worked so hard for this and wanted this so bad. It just broke my heart! I know he'll still do very well from his exposure on this show and I hope all the best for him. Remember his name, even if you're not an American Idol fan, because I know we'll all be hearing more about him.
Since I have a few more hours to myself before the welcome onslaught of relatives, I think I'll get a much needed shower, get something to eat, and maybe bake some chocolate chip cookies! I might have to check with Blogger off and on (even though I told myself to now turn off the computer for the night) to look for my missing post! My OCD (Obsessive, Compulsive Disorder) is struggling with me again!

Rough Ride

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 10 May 2011 13:51:00 +0000

Tuesday, May 3
The best part of the day was this beautiful sunrise that I could see from our stateroom window at about 5:30 in the morning.

A little fuzzy since it was through the window. It was really beautiful!

It sort of went downhill from there. There was so much turbulence all day. Like Hubby said, on an airplane you may have turbulence for a few hours at the most, but when you have it on a boat and you’re on that boat with no way off for about 36 hours, then it becomes a real problem.
I tried to walk around the ship today, looking in the shops, etc., but the boat was swaying and rocking so much that I was becoming very nauseated. I had on my Sea Bands that are supposed to somehow avoid this by pressing on some pressure point on your wrist.

I guess you could say they were maybe working because I never threw up, but I sure felt like I could. I ate some ginger snap cookies and drank Ginger Ale. It just wasn't working. Mom had some nausea pills so I took one of those and then thought if I would just lay in the sun for a while.

Dad looks nice and relaxed, but I look like I'm in pain, don't I? Really I wasn't, the sun was just bright!

The sun was shining and it was becoming warmer. I was feeling much better so I went with the rest of my gang to play bingo. Before bingo even started, our friend Don now became so sick he had to go back to his room. After bingo I just couldn’t keep my eyes open. A side affect of the nausea pill is drowsiness. Mom had taken a pill earlier and was in her room sleeping by now. I thought I would just go back to the room and close my eyes for a few minutes. Well ---I slept for hours! I missed dinner, a movie and the entertainment in the Showroom.

Today was just not a good cruise experience day!

This was Day 2 of our vacation. Read about Day 1 in the previous post.

Bermuda Here We Come!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 09 May 2011 18:09:00 +0000

Monday, May 2
Here we go! Our Bermuda cruise vacation started yesterday. We had to get up at 4:15 in the morning to leave the house no later than 5:30. I had everything ready the night before to load into the car except the bathroom things.
Mom and Dad are on the trip with us, along with another couple that we know from being very good clients of Hubby’s, as well as becoming friends of ours. They are the ones that told us about this cruise they were going on and invited us to join them. Don and Kay are about the same age as my parents - mid 70’s.
Mom and Dad picked us up at exactly 5:30 and we headed out for the 3-1/2 hour drive to Allentown, PA, where we caught up with Don and Kay. We then transferred to a bus that took us directly to the Holland Cruise ship at the New York pier.

Mom checking the schedule at the bus station

We were already delayed by one day. We were supposed to leave Sunday, but we got notice that the ship was delayed by a day because it wasn’t ready. Then embarking was slightly delayed on Monday because the ship’s computers weren’t set up.

l-r - Kay, Don, Mom and Dad - waiting some more at the cruise ship terminal in New York

A lot of "hurry up and wait".

Finally, we embark and set sail at about 6:00 pm.

We’ll have two nights and one day at sea and land in Bermuda on Wednesday morning. We sailed past Ground Zero, Ellis Island, and the Statue of Liberty in the New York harbor, which just seemed so appropriate and a little moving on this day after Osama Bin Laden was finally captured and killed 10 years after the terror he brought to this nation and to this very city.

The sun was setting quickly as we sailed out of the harbor, and this is the last picture I was able to get. I don't know what New York City bridge this is.

We enjoyed the evening listening to live music being played in many locations around the ship, browsing the shops, playing a little bingo (didn’t win!), and watching a live show in the beautiful showroom.

By then it was 10:00 at night and the long day had taken it’s toll on me. First of all, I was freezing cold all day. I need to get to some warm weather! And they keep this boat too cold for my liking! I was also overly tired from the days of preparing for the trip and the early and long day yesterday. I now have laryngitis. I think I just need to get some sleep.

Don't Mess With Me, Calli!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 21:56:00 +0000

I'm off schedule!! Oh No! I try to stay organized and on a schedule or I don't get everything done. Sometimes that's hard to do. It throws me for a day and then I re-group. Yesterday just wasn't going as planned.

Usually on Tuesdays I do office work all day. This consists of mailings, letters and computer work for our Financial Planning business. (My real work that actually makes some money, as Hubby reminds me). I had already figured that office work may not get done this week because we are leaving Sunday for a 7 day cruise to Bermuda. I'm very excited, especially to get out of this chilly, rainy weather we've been having. Although I must say, yesterday was beautiful here and today's not bad. This beautiful blue bird now comes to visit me twice a day.

I ended up working in my garden all afternoon yesterday. I had to! It felt so good! It was too nice to not be outside and the gardens are still a mess from being buried under old Autumn leaves and then snow on top of that all winter. That was my Tuesday afternoon. My Tuesday morning was a complete disgusting bust.

I walked downstairs first thing Tuesday morning to feed Calli, my cat, and to bring my storage boxes of summer clothes upstairs to decide what to pack. I've never been on a cruise and I've never been to Bermuda. I have no idea what to expect in the way of activities, weather (it better be nice!), and comfort.

Yesterday was supposed to be the start of the packing. But instead, I woke up to a smell in my basement, which is a finished family room. Hubby and I decided it was cat urine. Our cat, 16 year old Callie, lives down there since she doesn't get along with the dogs upstairs and she sheds so much. I used to limit her domain to the furnace room, but fairly recently I started letting her occupy the whole downstairs. She loves to just lay on the couch, which I have covered with towels and sheets.

Well, for some reason she had just recently peed behind the furnace. At least it's a concrete floor and not carpeted there. She's never done that! What was that about?! She's an indoor cat and doesn't have claws so I can't just keep her outside all the time. Anyway, I spent all morning scrubbing, bleaching, and washing the furnace room. I was mad, in tears and ready to put her down. I even called the vet and asked her about it. Then I cried some more. I know, it sounds like no big deal, but I can't stand the smell of cat urine and it is so hard to eradicate. Then the cat goes back to the same place to go again if the smell stays there. I just can't have that! I got to thinking, though, that we had company over the weekend and my cousin and his son slept down there. They invaded her new space and she got mad! Once I decided that may be the issue, she got a reprieve! She's old but she's healthy and the thought of just making that decision to put her down because I was mad at her made me so depressed. And I don't think I could find another good home for her because she's a 16 year old cat that maybe pees where she shouldn't and doesn't love a lot of people. Who wants to take that on?

So that has been my quandary for a few days and it's just been making me sick. But after the big clean up and the company has left we seem to be settled down again. Now, though, we're going to be away for a week and my neighbor is going to come in to feed the cat. How is she going to react to that? The neighbor has done this before for us but Calli is getting funny in her old age. If I come back to a smelly mess I'll need to do something. Any suggestions? I know this maybe sounds trivial and dumb, but it's a big deal to a clean freak like me, but yet loves her "babies".

Now in writing all these thoughts down, I think for now anyway, I've maybe answered my own question. I'll just keep cleaning whenever I have to and let Calli live a happy spoiled life until she dies an easy natural old age death. If she starts to suffer, versus me suffering, then I'll make that hard decision!. That's my feeling today! Yesterday was, and tomorrow possibly could be, a different story!

My Favorite Room

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 21:03:00 +0000

I have three rooms that I consider my favorites: My sewing room, my loft and my tea room. I consider these rooms my favorites because they are the only rooms in the house that I decorated the way I wanted, without any thought of it being too feminine for my husband.

I'm showing my tea room today only because the other two need a little cleaning and straightening first. They are not photo ready! I've shown my tea room before at Christmas time here.

Here's my very "me", froo-froo, feminine, room in the Spring.

Notice the little chandelier above the piano. You all know how I love chandeliers. The piano is at least 60 years old, passed down to my mother from my grandmother, and then down to me. We've all taken piano lessons on this same piano, including my two sons when they were young.

The fainting couch was given to us by my sister-in-law. She had it re-done and it's very old and beautiful. The arms come down so that it lays flat. When SIL was re-decorating her home she no longer had a place for this and knew it would go perfect in my room.

I have a small collection of red transfer-ware plates. Some are hidden in a cupboard, but I love to see these hanging on the wall. The small counted cross stitch quilt of a piano next to them I made several years ago.

A hanging cupboard holds tea cups, a miniature crystal collection, and a Maude Humphrey collection. The little purse necklace hanging on the door I knit from crochet string and beads.

This cupboard holds more teacups. My better ones. I also have a small collection of antique fan and floral vases. The pillow on the floor is a cross stitch that I made.

More tea cups on the tea cart, along with a pewter coffee service that was given to us as a wedding gift by my cousin almost 32 years ago now. Those rhododendron bushes in front of the window are almost ready to pop open and will be a beautiful purple any day now. I'll get a picture of that when it happens. It's so pretty, but they just don't last very long.

I made this tiny little Tea for Two quilt that sits on the tea cart. My mother decorated the old antique silver spoon sitting next to it.

Now I need to get my other two girly rooms cleaned up and ready for their photo shoot. Keep checking in. My darling loft has yet to make it's pictorial debut.

Linked today to Show Off Your Cottage Monday
The Plumed Pen's Tuesday's Tea for Two
Lady Katherine's Tea Time Tuesday
Martha and Terri's Tea Cup Tuesday
A beach Cottage - Good Life Wednesday

Easter Without Kids

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 21:13:00 +0000

This Easter feels a little different than most since none of my kids will be here this year.

I think this is the first year I haven't colored eggs.

I didn't buy my favorite marshmallow peeps.

I did buy a bouquet of tulips for my entrance table. They brighten up the dreary weather Easter weekend a little bit.

Hubby didn't want a bunch of candy sitting around just for us, but I did get some nonpareils with colored sprinkles to set in my candy dish.

My cousin, his wife and children came over from Harrisburg and spent Friday evening with us, so I did make some bite sized, raspberry filled brownies. They are just a package mix and then I iced and sprinkled them. They are (were) really good!

Tomorrow we'll go to church with Mom and Dad and then to the Lakeview Restaurant for brunch.

It will be a nice and pleasant Easter. It's just different without my kids!

I wish a Happy Easter to everyone!