If Winter Comes, Can Spring Be Far Behind?

It has been foggy in the mornings, thick as pea soup, and a hazy gray for the rest of the day. Chilly! Sometimes we see no blue sky for days. Other days the sun peaks out and teases us for a few minutes before the mist rolls back in.

I love to wander the back yard to see what might be peeking around the corner. Spring annuals that are determined to break ground, so to speak, and bloom early. I love this particular shade of orange of the Iceland Poppy. Their petals are fine like crepe paper.

The man that mows my yard surprised me with this beautiful camellia for Christmas. It's a new variety called Buttermint. I can't wait to find just the perfect spot to plant it. Will it be in the ground? Will I find a pot to showcase it in?

Although I can't do much in the yard just yet, I can plan - and dream.

What are you dreaming about these dreary days?

I'm a Bad Plant Mommy!

Remember back in the 70's when we all had tons and tons of houseplants? This was one of my favorites, a Piggyback Plant. The botanical name is Tolmiea menziesii. I used to work in the retail nursery industry so botanical names are important to me, as are their care. You can see a picture of what they are supposed to look like here.

Oh, my goodness! Mine isn't looking very good. I forgot to water it. They have very fine leaves and dry out easily.

Drink up little fella!!! As soon as you look better I'll replant you into a bigger pot and take better care of you, I promise!

Do you still have lots of houseplants? What are your favorites?

Happy Birthday Maggie!!!!

I can hardly believe that it's been nearly three years since we were fortunate to become Maggie's forever family.

She has gone from this...

And this...
And this....

And this...



And this....




To become the best dog anyone could ever hope to have! I am so glad that my friend Becky called me and said, "Jean, we're babysitting a puppy. Just come and look at her..."

HAPPY THIRD BIRTHDAY MAGGIE!

YOU ARE THE BEST DOG ANYONE COULD EVER HAVE!

WE LOVE YOU !!!

Adendum to previous post....

I forgot a couple pictures of my bathroom in my previous post. I'm showing them only because I love, love, love old pictures. I'm not the kind of person to brag about what I have, I just thought you'd like to see them.

This one hangs over the tub. If you enlarge it you can see the bees buzzing around. The cup and saucer were my Great Grandma Balsley's and are very fine, translucent china. My grandsons have taken many baths in the bath tub and have always been very careful. Children will always live up to your expectations, I always say. *Golly! Looking at the picture, maybe there is some room on that wall to hang some more things. Hmmmmmm!!!!!

It's not a jetted tub, but big enough to draw a bubble bath, have a cup of tea, read a book and turn into a prune! My favorite thing to do when I've been working in the yard all day and I hurt all over.

Here's another picture of my bathroom counter. See the picture of the roses? I just love it. I feel so fortunate when I can find treasures like that. Especially when they don't cost much. The little silver clock was a gift from Sweety when I had surgery a few years back.

The plates are Bessie Pease Guttman prints. I collected them years ago. One of them looks like my daughter, Dory, did when she was little. I always told her that they were hers when she had a little girl. Two boys later I still have them!

One other thing I didn't show is the medicine cabinet. Standard track house medicine cabinet and I'd like to replace it one day. Hanging on it is a note our son left us years and years ago when he had been visiting. It just says, "Mom and Dad, I love you, Aaron" It's just a small piece of paper but I never, never take it down. He's deployed right now and it is a constant reminder to me that I have such a great son!


Thanks for visiting and have a wonderful and blessed week!

Thinking Ouside the Box

Amy, over at Four Sisters In A Cottage is always selling sweet antiques either through the internet or at her store in Iowa. I recently spotted the cutest little picture and I knew that I had to have it. I had no idea where I was going to hang it, but figured I'd worry about that later. It arrived and was indeed sweet as can be. It looked like it should hang in my master bathroom because of the colors and the other decorations I have in there but I'm getting short on wall space.

What's a girl to do? Well, I've been taught very well by my BFF and my sister to think outside the box, so that's exactly what I did.

A couple years ago we had the bathroom remodeled and a new window put in. I tied a silky ribbon to the wire on the back of the picture and hung it from the window handle. I think it looks darling! I usually always have flowers sitting on the window sill, courtesy of Trader Joe's and it makes such a cheery welcome as you enter the room.
The window still operates just fine. I don't have curtains on the window as the glass is frosted. I think it's called rain water and you can't see through it so it's nice and neat and clean.

Another item I wanted to hang in the bathroom was this blouse. My husband's Aunt Gina gave it to me years ago. It belonged to her mother and is from turn of the century San Francisco, complete with bone buttons. It's very delicate with pin tucks and eyelet lace and I treasure it so much. I bought a 3M hanger in nickle that matches our fixtures and hung it on the shower glass.

Here's another view of the bathroom. The color of the walls is called Grasslands by Kelly Moore Paints. I love that color so much that I have painted the living room, our bathroom and the master bedroom in it. It's a soft gray sage green and to me, is the perfect shade. Our next project is to strip the wallpaper in the hall bathroom and guest bedroom and have them painted. I am so tempted to paint them the same color, but I know I should try something else. I have gotten color help in the past from Penny and I will probably go with a color she has used.

This little guy was found at Home Goods and holds my bowl of potpourri. I love bunnies and have them all over the back yard so I thought he would look just fine inside the house.

Now just so you don't think that I have forgotten to put a Scottish Terrier in the bathroom, here he is!

Tell me, what have you done to "think outside the box" when decorating?

It "Depends" on your perspective.....

*Disclaimer - No Scotties were harmed in the making of this post!"

You all know that, "I love my Scottie like I love my family!" The first person who tells me where that was a paraphrase from gets a $10.00 Starbucks card! No kidding! (*Note: my little mini-contest has been won by my good Scottie friend, Lynn at Rocky Creek Scotties. She correctly guessed Sarah Palin who said it on her show, Sarah Palin's Alaska! Good going and quick thinking, Lynn!!)

When you have animals, certain things are bound to happen.....

"Mommy, I am sooooo embarrassed. I can't believe you are telling everyone what I did. I'm going to hide my face in shame. On second thought, I think I'll just take a nap..."

Day before yesterday, my grandsons came over and as they often do, they sit on our bed and watch television. Little Samuel likes to eat his Top Ramen while he's watching his favorite shows (I know, I spoil them) and Maggie waits patiently hoping to get a scrap of something or at least is able to lick the bowl. Well she either got too excited or angry that she didn't get even a morsel, not even a crumb, er, noodle.

After the boys left I went in the bedroom and low and behold a giant wet spot on the bed, and it wasn't soup!!! Maggie!!!!!! Luckily it didn't go through to the sheets, but it did get on the chenille bedspread and the huge, fluffy comforter. Both are very heavy and I don't like to wash them at home, so yesterday I was off to the laundromat.

See the pink bedspread on the left and the comforter on the right? That translates to $10.50 for washing and drying!

Before I got there I stopped at Starbucks. The weather was overcast and cold and my breakfast sandwich and coffee hit the spot. Our little laundromat in town is not the most elegant place in town to spend the morning, but that's alright. I sat in the car and ate and read my latest book while the laundry was washing until it got too chilly. Then I went inside to finish things up.



All in all, I actually enjoyed myself. I could have a nice breakfast, read a book relax and not have to look at all the other things at home I needed to do. Not to say I want to make a habit of this. Maggie, do you hear me?......

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Latest Update

My nephew is doing amazingly well! He is home and recovering from his surgery. They got the results of the biopsy back and it was Renal Cell Carsinoma, Stage 2, Grade 1. They believe that he has had it for about five years but had no symptoms. No chemotherapy or radiation is scheuled as they feel they got it all!!!!

We are all praising God because if he hadn't gotten ill with the other problem, they wouldn't have found the cancer in time to save his life. All the symptoms of the paralysis are going away.

Our entire family wants to thank each and every one of you for all of your kind wishes, notes of encouragement and mostly your prayers.

Update

*More good news. It's Thursday morning here and Jimmy is being discharged from the hospital as I write this! Please continue to pray for a speedy recovery and good biopsy results. Again, thank you to all of you and Praise the Lord!!!

I wanted to update all of you on my nephew's progress. He went through surgery just fine and is sitting and walking already. The tumor as well as the kidney has been removed and we are just waiting for the results of the biopsy from the surrounding area to come back. If there is any cancer found, the doctors feel they can go in and remove it and he'll be fine. Because of his other medical issue, he could have come out of the surgery paralyzed or unable to breathe on his own. So, needless to say, we are thrilled with his progress so far.

Continue to pray for his recovery and that no further cancer will be found. I sent my sister my blog link and she was just amazed and extremely grateful to you all for your prayers and kind words. She wanted me to thank each and every one of you. She's taking her phone up to the hospital today so she can show Jimmy as well. She's now a true believer that prayer works miracles. This has been very difficult for not only Jimmy, but his wife Marie and my sister, Judy, so please pray for them as well.

I thank you all for being there when we need you.

Prayer Request

A quick note to ask all of you to be in prayer for my nephew, Jimmy. He had a sinus infection this past December that went into his spine some way or other. It left him with stroke like symptoms, paralysis to be exact, so he has had to deal with that. He is on the mend and regaining all use of his legs and arms. However, when they took an MRI to check him out they discovered one of his kidneys had cancer. He had no symptoms and didn't know he had it. He is praising God because if they hadn't been looking at the other problem, the doctors said the kidney cancer would have progressed to a terminal state.

He is having his kidney removed Tuesday, January 4th. Please pray that the cancer is localised and that it will all be removed when they take out the kidney. He is such a wonderful, Godly man and we love him so much.

Thank you for all of your prayers.

Happy New Year

Did you have a fun New Year's Eve? We certainly did. We had friends over and after dinner we played a rousing game of London Rummy, which is a progressive rummy. It was a blast! I'm not naming names, but the person who won is typing...right...now! All this while watching three Scotties run around the house like a herd of ...Scotties! Back and forth! In and Out! Stopping to rest and then off they went again. It was so funny. Later in the evening Maggie kept looking at me like, "when can I go to bed, Mommy? I'm tired!" Finally Duhgall and Fiona curled up in a chair in the living room and Maggie literally went to bed. Did I take any pictures? Oh, no! That would have been too logical.

So, from Maggie and the rest of my family....

From our house to yours...We wish you a New Year filled with happiness, health and a promise of new beginnings.