Wordless Wednesday (For the Moment Anyway!)

The Pilgrims

Happy Thanksgiving, and
Think it Not Strange!

by Steve Arteburn

These are my very cool pilgrims that I have for over 20 years. I got them when you couldn't
find any decorations for Thanksgiving~times have changed but they were really rare in those days.

"I was thinking about Thanksgiving the other day and I read something that stopped me. It was this: "The pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts … nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving." Boy, doesn't that say a lot!

Think about it. Our forefathers—the courageous men and women who came to this country on the Mayflower, had a pretty tough go of things. And in spite of a huge loss of life and incredible hardship they kept their faith and thanked God, when all they had was a sorry place to live and the hope that they would grow or kill enough food to eat. Others had been wiped out before them and they might be next, but they gave thanks anyway.

Just think about that for a moment and then think about your life. We've all had pain in our lives, and you maybe have experienced hurt and suffering that is beyond what we think anyone should have to go through; yet we are called to pause and give thanks to God for Him and His incredible blessings no matter what our circumstances."

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstance, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. I Thessalonians 5:16

Tuesday's Turkey Introspection

The Tooth Elf

This is a post some of you have read from our daughter, Jennifer's, blog but I just wanted to post it here in case you missed it. Also I want it to be a part of the blog book I will be publishing soon.

"A very, very sad thing has occurred at our home. Piper "found out" about the Tooth Fairy. Julia lost 2 teeth this week and the first night Lowell and I totally spaced the whole thing. (I wish I could say this was the first (or last) time that we have forgotten our toothly duties but it would be a lie.) Since Julia was up at about 6 am and it was still dark I told her all about how night wasn't officially over until the sun was all the way up while Lowell snuck down to "take care of it".

2 days later when she lost the other one we did the exact same thing again! We are so totally up for nomination for the lamest-parents-on-earth award. Good grief. So this time Julia comes up and says, "I know the tooth fairy has until 7 am to get here so I'll just go check after 7. We must be at the end of her route." "Ya", I say as I wink at Lowell and he sneaks off again. Well this time Piper followed him and caught him mid act: pillow in one hand, money in the other, guilty look on his face-the whole bit.

Not one to think up lies at the drop of a hat like yours truly he just looked at her and said, "Ummmm......Don't tell Julia" I say he gave up too easily but she took it well and feels like she's in on a big secret now. She did however tell Julia that the tooth fairy was male, had a mustache and a beard and glasses. Hmmmm....good one Piper. So now Julia insists on calling it the Tooth Elf and has a pretty good idea of what's going on.

I guess I'm a little sad/mad at myself that this little secret got out. My mom was much better at keeping these important parental secrets than I. She still insists that the Santa that visited me as a 3 year old was the one and only. Oh well right?

(this is not my husband)"
But sure the heck looks like him sans tattoos!

Happy Thanksgiving Week

Have you made your list of favorite things yet? Do it and post it on your blog~it is a lot of fun to see them all in one place. If you do it and then leave a comment here so I will be sure to see it~I'll pick one for a prize at the end of the weekend. I give good stuff~you should enter.



Here is my post on A Lot of My Favorite Things that I am grateful for this Thanksgiving!

This Old House

By My Calculations Our House is About 90 Years Old!

That is OLD by anybody's standards!

Living in an old house has definite advantages. The character and charm cannot be duplicated in a new home very easily. You cannot pay for the mature landscaping and the memories of raising our family here are priceless. There are also disadvantages; smaller, less functional rooms and closets, the repairing, replacing, remodeling can be costly and a big hassle too. But I guess you have that in most houses to some degree.

One of the things we have done is tired to keep the house as true to the era as we could without sacrificing comfort and conveniences. What that translates to is getting what you can for cheap, fixing it up and taking care of it in case it needs to last a life time!

Even though my tastes have changed a lot over the years and if I could just go out and buy all new furniture it would be totally different~ for this time and place in our lives the furniture is just fine. What I do try to do is keep it updated with fun accessories, art, etc. What that translates to is sometimes what you have determines your style more that what you love best. I am OK with that, are you?

Happiness is wanting what you have, not having what you want.

Sometimes I trade when I work on someone's house for either services or like last week, I traded my friend, Barbara, for some furniture. I got the fun of helping her pick out all her new furniture (vicarious thrills for free) and at the same time was able to enhance our home with something from hers. We are so happy to have this table because it holds lots of wonderful memories of our family and theirs getting together for dinners through the years.

I got to receive and arrange the new furniture for Barb and decorate her home while she was busy working this past week. It was so much fun and, ladies, this is the only way to fly. By coordinating all the things she loves in her living room, dining room and family room we were able to make one great room out of her L- shaped open floor plan. I will have pictures after we finish everything probably after the first of the year as we need to do window treatments and she is getting her flat screen mounted above her fireplace, etc.

Barb purchased a new gorgeous dining table and hutch. Very Pottery Barn looking and, to die for, I must add. Her old one needed a new home and so it has come to live with us. We are quite happy with it and it looks like it belongs with all our other outdated, but beloved oak furniture. Although the mighty oak has lost face in the market place, our saving grace has always been that our house is a cottage. Something very contemporary and modern would not fit in our setting. Our next house is going to be bigger, newer and a total turn key but, for now we are very cozy here.

So here is our new table and chairs.

It is pretty amazing how it matches our china cabinet,
hutch and small, lighted curio cabinet. With a leaf it can seat 10.

Looking into the library and office

And then we have the beautiful original random
plank oak floors with the wooden pegs.

As you can see this room is very "Oaky" which is one of the reasons we decided to custom paint it with three shades of green and lots of glossy white trim. With all the wood a traditional neutral would not work here. What I want to buy next is a really nice area rug for this dining room. Unless of course you want to make a trade. I am always open to that if you have one that is just right for this room? I am looking for one that will add color, pattern and softness to all the hard surfaces in this room. Fabric usually does the trick. I love that the table is round as that really helps to soften it out quite a bit already. Next big job I get..hopefully you'll be seeing the new area rug! That is unless something else needs to be repaired, replaced or remodeled first in this old house we call home. Fingers crossed~ it is all good.... for the moment.

Serendiptiy Shopping

Christmas Is In the Air!

Today a few friends and I got away for a wonderful girl's day out. Few things are as rejuvenating for me as just getting together with girl friends and laughing and talking and shopping and dining out for lunch. Lanette had found a blog written by a woman who participated in this fantastic Vintage Boutique. She was interested so we decided to check it out. So it was truly a Bloggers' Serendipity!

We drove about an hour or so to Petaluma, a quaint little down north of San Francisco. It was a gorgeous fall day and the temperature got near 70 degrees mid-day but it was still crispy, especially in the early morning.

The View From the Car Window Going Over~
Such a Big Beautiful Sky & The Greenest of Green Pastures!


Sleepy Little Street in Petaluma

Beautiful Red Trees Set Against
The Bluest Sky You Have Ever Seen


The Church Where the Vintage Boutique Was Held.
Who Could Not Love This Quaint Building
With it's Creaky Floors and Stained Glass Windows?

I hadn't been to a Christmas boutique in years (I exclude Sydne's, because her shows were pure art!) Let me tell you they have changed. This one was lovely and the artisans were very good. Not a single knitted anything in the place. No toilet paper covers or little dresses for your dishwashing soap like in the old days. Everything was beautiful and fresh and creative. We really enjoyed that!

We Stayed in this Boutique Forever and
Came Out with Some Serious Loot!
Check Out Norma's Crown!
(which she wore all day causing quite a stir!)

Bon, Lanette, Norma, Kelly!
Just down the Street We Found Another Boutique!
We Missed Our Friends That
Had Other Commitments or Were Sick. Next Year, Ladies!

While My Friends Checked Out The Quilted Angel
I took Photos Since I Am Not A Quilter.
I Love This Photo Sans The Car!
It Was Such a Pretty Building
The Red Leaves Clinging Like Vines!

My Serious Loot~Great Victorian Vintage Ornaments

And This Great Necklace That I Couldn't Take a Decent
Photo of But is So Awesome. It is Black and Silver and Full of Gems.
The Lady that Made it Took a Bunch of Old Jewelry
and Piled it on to Make this very 3-D Interesting and Pretty Piece.
I Love the Watch Works and the Dragonfly.


These Ornaments Were Also Made with Vintage Jewels.
They Are Large~ About 5-6 inches Wide.
And I Have Some Ideas For Them For Decorating The House Soon.
You Know how I Like Me Some Sparkle, right Con? ~Just Love It.

It Was Such A Glittery, Special Day!