Tuesday, January 26, 2016

MAKING FRIENDS...











I can't tell you exactly
 when my love of books and reading began.

 It might have been 
on a dark rainy night,
 with the sound of thunder in the distance,
 the power out, 
and my mother and father 
reading aloud to us by candlelight,
 so that our minds were relieved 
of the fear of the storm;

or it might have been
 when I found The Secret Garden 
and would steal away
under the branches of an old tree 
in my grandmother's garden 
to imagine and wonder 
all that was capable 
in an eight year olds' mind.

It may even have been
 when I would go to the library 
with my mom 
and where I found
Albert Payson Terhune
and all the stories he wrote about dogs.






I was never good at arithmetic
 but I excelled at spelling and reading
 and the quiet times in the classroom,
when we were allowed to sit 
and read our books,
 was the best part of school
 for me.




The book, Little Women, is the original book that I received as a gift when I was 10 years old.


In 1949,
 at the age of ten, 
I was given Little Women
 by Louisa May Alcott.

 I have since found 
a few of her books
 while rummaging through the shelves 
of old book stores,
which is a favorite pastime.






A few years back,
 I found the book, Coming Home,
 by Rosamund Pilcher.

  It was the start of a journey 
of strong female authors 
such as Maeve Binchy,
 Joanna Trollope, 
Gladys Tabor, 
 and Jan Karon,
the creator of the delightful
 Father Tim series,
 to name a few.






No matter
 what type of books you read,
 whether they be
 the old classics or romance novels,
 which I have read my share of 
(and enjoyed, I might add),
 a book is like spending time
 with an old friend 
and I have been known 
to re-visit some of the same ones 
over and over again.



...Judy...








"Good books,
 like good friends,
Are few and chosen;
The more select,
 the more enjoyable."

Louisa May Alcott






I've been busy this week
 and haven't visited like I should have,
 so I missed that Sandi
over at Rose Chintz Cottage,
 last week, 
picked my end table(s) 
as one of her features 
on her lovely party,
 Thank you so much, Sandi,
 I feel very honored 
to have been included.



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Tuesday, January 19, 2016

A FEW SMALL THINGS...











Here we are today,
 sitting at my desk
 in the office car,
composing this post,
 as the poor souls 
are out in the weather 
walking the dogs,
 and the
 Secretary of the Interior 
looks on.






It's a hard job,
 but somebody
 has to do it!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~






You've seen this photo before...






...are you sure?






Look again,
 closely...






Do you see: 
 One photo has
 four shelves
and one 
has three?






The fourth shelf 
is actually a photograph
 stretched on a piece of canvas.

 I ordered it from EBay 
and when it arrived 
I was pleasantly surprised 
at how realistic it looked.

 If you didn't notice it 
right away 
don't feel bad,
 a person who lives in this house,
and who shall remain nameless,
 didn't either!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~






Remember
 when I shared this cabinet
 in my last post
 and mentioned 
we had planned on using it, 
and another just like it, 
in a project in the kitchen 
that had since been scrapped.






We have had our eyes open 
for an end table in the sitting room
 to replace this cute little table 
that we have been using.

 I love this little table
but it was really too small
to carry the heavy load 
that was assigned to it 
so when the kitchen project 
was decided against,
 we put our heads together,
not to mention the chests, 
and came up with this...





I painted the two chests black,
 pushed them together,
 and we added a piece of old marble,
 that we had, on the top.

 We were amazed 
the marble was
 the exact size 
that we needed.






My first thought 
was to add baskets in the openings 
for small storage, 
but I wasn't able to find
 four alike 
so decided to use the book boxes
that I found at Hobby Lobby.

  They didn't have
 the best selection at the time, 
so I got what I could 
and added some actual books to the mix,
 and will add more 
of the book boxes
as I find them.






The room is 
slowly coming together 
and when I get
 the two chairs replaced 
that will be
 a happy day.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~






I told you
 I would let you know 
where I ordered
 the old patriotic crow from.

 I found it at www.oldfarmhouseprimitives.com
and I want to thank
 Bernideen at Bernideens
 for featuring my post 
from last week 
on her BTTCG party.

 Thank you so much, Bernideen,
 I am happily honored.






Well,
 that's a few small things 
going on around here
 and 
I will leave you 
as the "navigator" 
shows us the way home.





Hope everyone 
is staying 
dry and warm.


...Judy...







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Tuesday, January 12, 2016

ON A WINTER'S DAY...










"All the leaves are brown
And the sky is gray...





...California dreamin'
On a winter's day. ..."

John Phillips and Michelle Phillips
December, 1965
Performed by The Mamas and the Papas







I love the four seasons
 and we usually get
 the best of each one 
here in the foothills.

 What I don't love
 about winter though,
 are the gray skies.

 I can't tell you 
exactly what it is
 or how it makes me feel,
 but there is a change in myself 
that I have heard happens
 to a lot of people
 at this time of year.

I have come up with 
a fairly simple solution 
to my dilemma and
 that is spending money.

  It doesn't have to be 
a lot of money, 
in fact the less the better,
 but to have a small treasure 
to show for my efforts 
goes a long way
 to boosting my morale.

This past weekend 
was full of those gray skies 
and, with a little dose
 of California Dreamin',
I was out the door 
and on to the thrift shops!






This little candlestick
 made my day. 

 I love the dainty lines
 with the rustic finish 
and sometime ago
 I had two of these same candlesticks.

 I would display them 
on the dining room table 
in the large hurricanes
and they looked so pretty.

 Somehow,
 one got broken
 and the remaining one
 was mostly stuck on a shelf 
after that 
-- until this weekend -- 
I found this one 
so once again
 I have a perfectly matched set.






I quickly put
 this pretty little dish 
in my basket.

 One of these days
 I will use it in a photo shoot,
 displayed along with 
a fresh bunch of basil or parsley 
after a trip 
to the Farmer's Market.






I liked the shape and size 
of this candlestick 
and think a coat of Old Ochre, 
and some distressing, 
will go a long way 
in freshening it up.






I can visualize 
this cookie jar 
on the kitchen cupboard 
filled with a bouquet of
 wild flowers and a few American flags
 for a 4th of July 
celebration.

So,
 for around $10, 
I had brightened 
up my day 
considerably.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Here are a few projects
 that we have been working on:






We bought this little white stand,
 along with it's identical twin,
 a while back
 to use in the kitchen
 for a project 
that we have since decided not to do.

 We now have in mind
 a different use for them 
and will share that later on.







This little hanging cupboard 
was on the back porch out of sight,
 so we decided 
to bring it inside to be enjoyed.

 I have displayed 
my Christmas gift to myself,
the larger patriotic old crow, 
along with some other
 prim-ish items
 that I dearly love. 

 I am so sorry 
that I have misplaced the paper-work 
on my Christmas patriotic crow order.

 When I find it 
I will certainly give the maker credit 
as it is a great little collectible
 and the price was right.
I do remember 
that I wanted to order more from her,
 so I will keep looking.






Another piece 
brought in from the cold
 is this small pie safe. 
 Such a cute example
 of an
 'old-time' appliance!






We usually don't exchange 
Christmas gifts with the kids (except Jake).

  Our Christmas consists 
of enjoying each other's company 
and a good meal,
 but Tami and Tim
 did give us this sweet sign this year
 - just because- 
along with the sweetest 
tiny little white paper church
 that, unfortunately, 
got packed away without a picture.

 I love the gifts 
and can't wait to enjoy the sign 
this summer in the 
Secret Garden. 
 Thanks, TNT.






As I said,
 we have always 
given gifts to Jake
 for Christmas.

 He is our only grandchild 
and just because he is grown 
doesn't mean we would ever stop. 
 The sweet thing about him 
(not the only one)
 is that now that he has his own money,
he buys gifts for us too.

 It is something that he wants to do 
and just another reason
 we are so proud of him.

 This is the prettiest sconce
 and I can't believe
 how perfectly it fits inside 
the old chippy frame
 on the dining room wall. 
 I just love it and thank you, Jake.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~






As I mentioned earlier,
 we do get the best of each season 
and today is one of the very best.

 No gray skies, 
just sunshine and blue.

  The kind of day that
California Dreamin' 
is all about.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I want to thank my good friend, Barbara, at 21 Rosemary Lane for honoring my Snow Family of Downton Abbey in her Share Your Style link party. I think it might have been a couple of weeks ago and I feel so badly that I am only now acknowledging it. I appreciate it very much, Barbara.



...Judy...






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