I Love Lucy, it's their anniversary!

 

Today marks the 62nd anniversary of their debut.  They will always be the best…   Enjoy ~ Jan

 

 

 

 

Who doesn't love boots...

This line of Tom's Nepal Boots have me drooling this fall.   These have so many styles, it's hard to choose.

You can see them here...

And since I've loved moccasins since I was a girl, many, many moons ago (hehehe) I ordered these fringed ones from Nordie's.

 

I love them, I really do, but back in the day, I would have never bought boots with just one row of fringe.  I would have bought these!

 

And yes, I realize I would look really stupid traipsing around in these three layer boots, I'm old now, darn it!  So I didn't.  No, I didn't even consider them, but I do love them.  I'm a descendant of Pocahontas after all.  Seriously, I really am….

Mason Jar Salt & Pepper Shakers

 

And my love of all things vintage continues.  I've subscribed to Decor Steals for months now, at the suggestion of my friend, Barb, but have yet to order.  I missed a really great iron Paris sign, too, that I haven't quite recovered from.

And I've been looking for S&P shakers for my bar in the kitchen ever since my big redo, and when I saw these, it was love at first sight.  I ordered these puppies quicker than a New Yawk minute.  Oh my, narrow aluminum tops, vintage green blown glass, heart be still.

You like them, too?   If you do, better snap them up fast, this steal is only good for today and sometimes they sell out fast!  

Sometime's a girl's just gotta do what a girl's just gotta do...

 Here's the link...

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month...

 

Don't you love this?  Gets the point across with humor….

Happy Birthday Princess Abby!!!!!

 

 

My favorite four old is having a birthday today.  She's getting so big, and growing into the sweetest little girl.

She had her birthday party last Saturday at Gymboree, hugging all of her little friends and thanking them for her gifts.  She's a treasure, our Abby.  

It seems like only yesterday that she was  this cherubic little two year old.  What will the next two years bring.  I can't wait to find out!!  Happy Birthday precious little granddaughter,  I wish I could just freeze time.

Love you to the moon and back Abby Leigh.  ~ Grammie

Mother Nature at her finest...

 

Sometimes a photograph is so beautiful it simply takes your breath away...

The Carpenter's, Mr. Postman

 

I'm continuing my trek down memory lane today.  It's just that kind of rainy, cool October Sunday, the kind of day that makes it easy to drift back to the past.

I loved the Carpenters, their music was easy, Karen's voice was pitch perfect pure.  They were so young in this video, so full of dreams, and it all ended much too soon. 

Update:  So I Googled Richard, and I'm reading about him and where he is now, and apparently he is married with five children, but here's the kicker, his wife is his first cousin, he married her shortly after Karen died.  Is that legal?  It's definitely weird...

Mia Farrow's Son, Ronan's Daddy, Frank or Woody, you be the judge...

 

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've undoubtedly heard all the buzz this week about Mia Farrow saying there is a "possibility" that her son was fathered by Frank Sinatra.

Pictures don't lie, peeps!  That's all i'm sayin'...

But ya gotta wonder if the boy can sing?  **giggle**

Tang Pitchers, a blast from the past...

 

 

Does anybody remember this?  It's a Tang pitcher from the 70's.  You bought the Tang, they gave you the pitcher.  Well my mother never threw anything away and for years this very same style of Tang pitcher sat in her fridge.  It was filled with tea, or water, or duh, TANG!   Mother did love her a cold glass of Tang.

So yesterday when hubby and I were on the 200 mile Garage Sale trek thru Kentucky, I spotted this pitcher, and since I'm so nostalgic these days I had to have it.  LC, the big spender coughed up 25 cents for it and I brought it home.

But it's 2013, time to update that pitcher.  

 

I'm going to buy a can of Kyrlon Plastic Paint and have hubby spray the lid!  Oh the possibilities, Sun Dried Tomato looks good, Ivy Leaf is another possibility, or Sunbeam, it's fabulous and yellow is my favorite color!.  But nah, it's fall and I'm in a Pumpkin Orange kinda mood, so Pumpkin Orange it will be!

Perfect isn't it, orange juice, orange lid.  Tada.  But wait, I don't drink orange juice these days.  It's gonna have to be Crystal Lite Orange Sunrise faux orange juice.  Sounds classy doesn't it, "faux orange juice."  Hey, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

I'll update you with the finished picture.  Bet you can't wait for that, huh...

Peeps it is...

 

When I first started following Crazy Miss Tammy, the best makeup artist to ever be on YouTube, she called everybody "Peeps" and it annoyed me.  But the more I heard her, the more I liked it, because, well, she's Tammy.

I've always called my followers on the blog, "Ladies" but from now on, as a tribute to the fab Miss Tammy, you will now all be called "Peeps" as well.

That is all.  ~ Jan

6 Things Happy People Never Do

I ran across a post on Facebook this morning that we can all learn from.  

Happy people do a lot of things.  They spend time expressing gratitude, cultivating optimism, practicing kindness, nurturing loving relationships, committing to meaningful goals, savoring life’s little pleasures, and so on and so forth.

But they NEVER…

Continue reading here...

Well that was stupid...

 

 

 

 

So I stumble out of bed this morning, bleary eyed, go directly to the bathroom, sit on the side of the tub to brush my teeth as I always do.  The side of the tub?  Yes, I always brush my teeth in the tub because I'm too lazy to wipe out the sink afterwards, and besides I usually spray the mirror.  I know, too much information, but anyway, it was early, I didn't turn on the light, just grabbed the toothpaste tube, squirted it on there and started to brush.

Blechtttt!!!!!  Something was very wrong, I quickly spit it out, looked at the tube, and I was brushing my teeth with L'Oreal Conditioner.  Oh my, it was a horrible taste, just horrible!  Oh well, it could have been worse, I suppose, I could have picked up a tube of something much more vile than conditioner...

There's no hope ladies, no hope!

Highway Sing-A-Long, Build Me Up Buttercup

 

Crank up those speakers and get your blood pumping this morning, great tune, super video...

Kenny and Dolly, You Can't Make Old Friends...

 

 

I'm such a Dolly fan, and there was nothing better back in the day than Dolly and Kenny singing Islands in the Stream.  They've teamed up again and the magic is still there, this video is guaranteed to give you goosebumps!

It was a gentle reminder of how lucky I am to have friends who have weathered life's storms with me.  I have wonderful women who have been in my life for years and years, and I cherish their friendships.

This video is for you dear hearts,  you  know who you are.  Love you always,  Jan...

Oh, I must give credit to my sweet daughter-in-law, who thinks Dolly hung the moon.  She posted this video on her blog, Harris Sisters GirlTalk earlier today.  I just had to snag it...

And one more time, just for old time's sake, this is pure magic, one of my all-time favorite songs, they just don't make music like this anymore...

We've been to visit the Grandkids...

 

Oh my where do I start…  First Ben, he's thirteen months old now and busy beyond belief.  Lindsay and Ryan have called him "Destructo Baby" for months now because he destroys everything in his path.  We took a morning run to Trader Joe's on Saturday, and Daddy apparently sat the cart too close to the Gingersnaps.  This happens often, we think he will surely be a basketball player because of his long reach.  

Now he's walking, staggering around because he doesn't quite have his balance figured out, refusing to let anyone touch him, screaming if you try to hold his hand.  So you walk with him, surrounding him, but not touching.  He's happy little guy, teething like crazy, but still in a good mood.  He loves Abby, watches her constantly, taking swipes at her when she's within his reach, which of course annoys her, but she's perfected the duck and run.  

He loves Daddy, but his favorite thing in the world is his Mama, when she leaves the room, his whole world collapses.  He' a snuggly little guy, tucking into your shoulder and grinning, and he's very vocal, of course none of us know what he's saying, but he has a lot to talk about...

 

Next week is Abby's 4th birthday, but since we won't be there, we celebrated this weekend.  I brought her stuffed Peanuts characters and the books that went with them, and she sat and read them by herself.  It's something to see, this little girl just reading whatever you put in front of her.

I also brought her a wooden puzzle of the United States, remember those from when we were kids?  She loved it, and the names of the state capitals were on the puzzle board itself.  She would pick up a piece of the puzzle, read me the name of the state, and I would tell her what the capital was, and she would search the board until she found it, and then put the piece on top of it.    Her favorite capital was Boise, she must have liked the sound of it, she would clap her hands when she found it and say "Boy-zeeeeee."  I am constantly surprised at the things she can do, she just figures things out.  When she unwrapped it, I tried to explain to her that it was a map of the United States, she looked at the puzzle and said, "Oh, I get it, it's the earth, Grammie."

I taught her to spell Mississippi, M-i-crooked letter, crooked letter, i-crooked letter, crooked letter i-humpback humpback-I, just as I learned when I was a little girl.  She picked right up on that and would spell it and giggle, and then I thought, oh my, it's a different generation, is this politically correct?  Oh well, too late now, Grammie always seems to push a button, it's just the way I roll.  And yes, I know I'm bragging, but don't we all brag on our grandchildren, they are so precious...

Happy Anniversary!!!

 

John and Deanna's anniversary was Friday, and they celebrated this weekend, all weekend!  They're so happy together, just had to share the joy with all of you this morning….

Great Halloween Ideas

 

I recently discovered a new blog site, Between Naps On the Front Porch, maybe my friend, Carlene led me to it.  But anyway, it's a good one to bookmark, today she has Halloween Ideas.  Check her out here, you will enjoy it.  

Happy October tomorrow… ~ Jan

Old Barns...

 

I love old barns, LOVE them!  This one reminds me of my Grandpa Short's barn.  Oh, the memories….

Sometimes a girl just doesn't want a bath….

You're looking at one p*ssed off little Yorkie.  Mags was just not in the mood for her bath and  groom this morning.  We trudged out to the garage, I put her on the grooming table and she proceeded to wiggle and squirm all the time I was blowing her dry and trimming her while  I tried, unsuccessfully I might add, to show some authority and make her sit still.  I kept reminding her that I was the human and she was the dog, and she had to quit fidgeting or she would end up with a crooked beard.  I'm not exactly a whiz with the sciz, even on the best of days!    Trust me on this,  it was not one of our finer moments.
 

 

Even when we were finishing up she wasn't a happy camper.  She kept giving me the evil eye, and if she wasn't so little I have no doubt that she would have jumped off the grooming table and ran for the hills.  And this isn't Maggie, she usually enjoys being groomed.   I know what the problem was, though, it was 8am, and she likes to sleep in.  Silly little dog...
 

 

Oh, but look at her now.  She's a happy girl, lying on her favorite pillow.  She can be a stinker sometimes, but then she is just so darned cute I forgive her anything...

A very special treasure...

  

My friend, V, was visiting  last week and we were discussing our favorite things.  I told her that my favorite thing of hers was this vintage cow pitcher that she bought at an antique store in the 80's.

She replied, "it's just sitting in my cabinet, I'll give it to you."  OMG, she wanted to give me her prized pitcher!  You have to realize that V and I are really good friends, we don't have that, "oh, I can't accept this" filter, and so I accepted it greedily graciously.   At first I  gave her the halfhearted "I can't take your pitcher"  and then realized she really wanted me to have it and I really wanted to have it, too!

So we visited them on Saturday, and sure enough, she comes into the living room carrying that pitcher.  I was so thrilled, it's found a new home, front row and center on my entertainment center. 

It's wonderful, I love it, thank you thank you, V!  I'm so excited about this!!!

Chevy vs. Ford, Apple vs. Android

 

If you grew up in the 50's, you knew all about either being a Chevy or a Ford person.   Chevy was the car of choice, Ford was the underdog, always trying to catch up, but not quite succeeding, and people sided against each other,  totally loyal to either one or the other.

Fast forward to 2013.  The same thing is going on with Apple vs. Android.  The Android fans are loyal to a fault, constantly trying to prove that their phone is the best, pointing out how Apple is losing it's edge, yada yada yada.

But the numbers speak for themselves, once again.  

Apple sold 3 million iPhone 5s and 5c units everyday for the past three days this weekend for the most successful smartphone launch in history.  Not only did Apple completely dominate its old sales numbers set by the iPhone 5, but Samsung has never even come close to any of the iPhone’s launch day performances.

And for the record, I was a diehard Chevy fan in the 50's...

Don't make fun of my pancakes!

 

Hey, I know they're a little bit skimpy, and yes the butter is all smeared in my Butter Bell Crock.  It's breakfast, people, not a photo op.  And these pancakes are low carb, not  the real meal deal.  But anyway...

The purpose of this is that hubby came home from a tag sale with this vintage syrup dispenser.  I love that word "tag sale, " don't you?  Martha Stewart always says that, and it's much more classy than saying hubby came home from a rummage sale.  But anyway, he got me this nifty retro syrup dispenser for fifty cents!  And it's awesome.  A blast from the past, that dispenses syrup perfectly without spilling a drop.  And I  know it photographed dark, jeesh, always a critic, Jan.

Such excitement on this gorgeous Sunday morning in Heavensville.  And yes, it was good, even though the syrup was sugar free and the pancakes were Bob's Red Mill Low Carb Baking Mix.  Good stuff, that Bob's Red Mill...

I've had coffee, too, can ya tell????

Happy Birthday, Ryan!

It's my youngest son's birthday today.  I wish I had a picture collage of all his birthdays, time moves so quickly.  Gone is that little boy who always wanted a Tunnel of Fudge Cake every.single.year.   

Now he has a a wife and children of his own, and they celebrate with him.  Happy times for his sweet family.

Happy Birthday, Ry, you will always be my little boy.  Love, Mom...

I ordered a new Gold iPhone

 

I stayed up unit midnight last night to order the new Gold iPhone, only to be told that I had to wait  until 3am, because they weren't selling them until 12am Pacific Time, darned time zones anyway!   Arughhhhh, so I went to bed, set my alarm for 2:55 am, it went off, I called Verizon, surprisingly didn't have to wait for a rep, I got thru immediately and ordered the phone.

I'm reading online this morning that it sold out in thirty minutes, so I'm a happy camper that I got up and placed my order.  I had read they were in short supply, and sure enough, they were all snapped up immediately.  I still have to wait until October 14th for delivery, but that's okay, I love it when UPS and FedEx comes to the door, it's almost like they're bringing you presents.  Well, until you get the credit card bill.  ;o)

It's the thrill of the chase, peeps, the thrill of the chase… 

Soft Surroundings, what a wonderful catalog..

 

Did you ever drool over a catalog and wonder how they set up the shot.  I subscribe to Soft Surroundings Catalog on Facebook, and they posted this link.  It's everything I love, French reproduction furniture, vintage inspired decor, and a rooster, a live rooster.  Oh, so clever, and I thought you might enjoy the video.

My buddy V introduced me to Soft Surroundings a few years ago.  Their clothes are lovely, Pioneer Woman has been wearing their tops on her show this season, and the home furnishings are drool worthy.

Here's the catalog link, so you can go drool...

Milo's Sweet Tea Info

 

 

I'm totally hooked on Milo's Splenda Sweet Tea.  If you read me regularly you already know this, but I do have  more info to pass along.  I'm an information junkie, I want to know all there is to know about a product, so I called Milo's to enquire how they can put 0 carbs on the Nutritional Information Panel when it is extremely sweet, since Splenda has carbs.

Dale, this nice man in their quality control department, explained to me that they use liquid Splenda, which isn't as concentrated as those little yellow packs that are 1 carb per packet, and that they test regularly and he assured me that there were no carbs in a glass of their tea. Then I asked him why it lasts so long if there are no preservatives.  We all know that if we brew a pitcher of tea, and refrigerate it overnight it has a funky taste, but Milo's tastes fresh for weeks.  Apparently it's due to the pasteurization, the tea is bacteria free, and stays fresh.  He did tell me not to leave it sit out and get warm, or the quality won't be as good.  Also, it' s fresh for 10 days to two weeks beyond the expiration date.

This stuff is too good to be true, it tastes just like the old fashioned tea of my childhood, one sip and you would swear you were drinking fully leaded sweet tea.  In fact, our friends Rich and V visited last week, I gave Rich a glass and he "thought" he was drinking sugar sweetened tea.

So, if you're lucky enough to have this tea in the refrigerator case of your local market, hotfoot it down there and buy a jug.  It's very inexpensive, I pay $2.64 for a gallon, and it is positively addictive, it's so good.

Want to know if it's available in your area?  Click here for a store locator...

I guess it's my Smooth Jazz time in life...

Years ago, I had a neighbor in her early seventies, they had just built a new home, and she called it her "pastel" time in life, as all of her rooms were painted in soft colors.  I was so young, I didn't get it, and remember thinking her house was really bland,  but now I understand, she just wanted soft surroundings.    I thought of her this morning, I was eating breakfast, a low carb muffin that I had forgotten to put Splenda in, blecht, but anyway, Sam Champion was doing the weather, he is so bulked up he looks like he' going to pop out of his suit, then they have some country singer on.  OMG, he looked like the Michelin Tire Guy, and he was twanging and screeching, it was just annoying as hell!  Just give me Smooth Jazz and Sirius Escape Radio any day, it's so mellow.

And about that bulked up look, It's such a huge thing, these guys pumping iron until their muscles bulge.  I swear they remind me of Jethro Bodine.  My old(er) woman mentality equates body builders with less than bright guys, back in my day it was farm boys and definitely not the brainiac types that were bulked up.  

 

 

Nobody does physical labor anymore, instead they go to the gym to get that ripped look.  But you know what I've realized over the years,  It doesn't work long term.  You can work out until you drop, but you're still going to get old!  And old muscles aren't pretty, no matter how dedicated you are.

But seeing is believing, here are a couple of visuals for you.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, then, and now...

 

 I don't think younger people really get it, though, they're in denial of the aging process, and if you try to hang on, this is what happens.

 

Yep, you guessed it, Jethro Bodine, aka Max Baer, Jr. still trying to hold on.  Doesn't work, does it...

Jan's Kitchen Redo…

 

Poor hubby, even though I've always loved my kitchen, which he designed and built when we built the condo, I've always hated the fact that we have a bar that is unusable.  The cabinets were in the way, if you sat at the bar, you had to peer underneath to see whoever was in the kitchen, nobody ever used it, and so I whined, for years I complained!  I told him I would like to do a whole redo, combining the kitchen and dining room into one big room with a long bar down the middle so people could gather round'.  Well, that wasn't going to happen and I knew it because the cost would have been hideous, entailing purchasing more cabinetry and new granite, so I just sucked it up, but I whined, often!

So a few weeks ago, we were in the car, on our way to Lexington to visit our youngest son Ryan, and his family , poor hubby was my captive audience, as he couldn't get away from me, and once again I started complaining about the kitchen and how non-functional it was for our lifestyle.  When people are over, where do they congregate?  The kitchen, of course, and it was so crowded we were always packed in there like a bunch of sardines.  So once again, I talked to him about ripping out some of the cabinetry, and I guess I got him at a weak moment, because he was actually considering it.  I stressed that at our age, functionality and practicality was more important than the way it looked.

 And in the meantime, as we were driving along, my cellphone rang.  It was John, our oldest son, the timing was perfect, and I posed the question to him.  I said, "Johnno, what do you think about us ripping out some of the cabinets in the kitchen to open it up?"  And to my surprise he said, "That's the best idea you've ever had, that kitchen is positively claustrophobic,"  Well hot damn, this was progress, somebody agreed with me!  FINALLY!!!  So when we got to Ryan's, I talked to him about it, and his response was "Go for it."  

So by now, hubby was getting excited, well as excited as somebody can get when he has a big job ahead of him, but he was seriously onboard.  So we came home on Sunday, and Monday morning he started ripping the heck outta the cabinets.  Those things were heavy, so he had his friend Juzar come over to help take them down, they removed three cabinets, and then they put back up the end cabinet as it had the decorative roping.

 

 

And this is the result.  I love it, I seriously love it.  Even hubby is a fan.  Now people can actually sit around the bar, the kitchen is so open, it's wonderful.  So then we moved on to the dining room, taking out the sideboard, moving it to the living room, opening up the table, so it isn't so crowded.  This was the best thing we've done in years! And the best part, the cost.  Nothing, nada, zilch, el zippo.   It cost nothing to do this, just labor.  Well, I did buy a couple more bar stools, and a shelf for the dining room wall, but that was it.  

And I have to show you one of my favorite things, my big fat market pig.  I love French Pigs, I have several of them and this one is my fave.  I even like pigs more than I like roosters. And I'm a big rooster fan as well.

 

 

This is the sideboard that was in the dining room, I ditched the sofa table and replaced it with this sideboard.  Yes, I know it has a lot of "stuff" on it.

 

 

This is the way the dining room looks now.  People can actually walk around the table, my family will be thrilled, they always gave me grief about how crowded it  was every time we sat down to eat.  Well, the table still has to be dismantled to eat, but they will have to continue to deal with it, I'm not gonna give up tablescapes. :o)  I'm a nester, I like lots of "things."   Works for me...

 

 

So I'm a happy old(er) girl these days, I got what I wanted, my poor long suffering hubby won't have to listen to me whine anymore, and everybody can gather 'round the bar.  Why didn't we do this years ago???

Back to the fifties...

 

Long ago and far away, in a land that time forgot,
Before the days of Dylan, or the dawn of Camelot.
There lived a race of innocents, and they were you and me,

For Ike was in the White House in that land where we were born,
Where navels were for oranges, and Peyton Place was porn.

We longed for love and romance, and waited for our Prince,
Eddie Fisher married Liz, and no one's seen him since.

We danced to 'Little Darlin,' and sang to 'Stagger Lee'
And cried for Buddy Holly in the Land That Made Me, Me.

Only girls wore earrings then, and 3 was one too many,
And only boys wore flat-top cuts, except for Jean McKinney.

And only in our wildest dreams did we expect to see
A boy named George with Lipstick, in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We fell for Frankie Avalon, Annette was oh, so nice,
And when they made a movie, they never made it twice.

We didn't have a Star Trek Five, or Psycho Two and Three,
Or Rocky-Rambo Twenty in the Land That Made Me, Me.

Miss Kitty had a heart of gold, and Chester had a limp,
And Reagan was a Democrat whose co-star was a chimp.

We had a Mr. Wizard, but not a Mr. T,
And Oprah couldn't talk yet, in the Land That Made Me, Me.
We had our share of heroes, we never thought they'd go,
At least not Bobby Darin, or Marilyn Monroe.

For youth was still eternal, and life was yet to be,
And Elvis was forever in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We'd never seen the rock band that was Grateful to be Dead,
And Airplanes weren't named Jefferson, and Zeppelins were not Led.
And Beatles lived in gardens then, and Monkeys lived in trees,
Madonna was Mary in the Land That Made Me, Me.

And pumping iron got wrinkles out, and 'gay' meant fancy-free,
And dorms were never co-Ed in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We hadn't seen enough of jets to talk about the lag,
And microchips were what was left at the bottom of the bag.

And hardware was a box of nails, and bytes came from a flea,
And rocket ships were fiction in the Land That Made Me, Me.

T-Birds came with portholes, and side shows came with freaks,
And bathing suits came big enough to cover both your cheeks.

And Coke came just in bottles, and skirts below the knee,
And Castro came to power near the Land That Made Me, Me.

We had no Crest with Fluoride, we had no Hill Street Blues,
We had no patterned pantyhose or Lipton herbal tea
Or prime-time ads for those dysfunctions in the Land That Made
Me, Me.

There were no golden arches,no Perrier to chill,
And fish were not called Wanda, and cats were not called Bill.

And middle-aged was 35 and old was forty-three,
And ancient were our parents in the Land That Made Me, Me.

But all things have a season, or so we've heard them say,
And now instead of Maybelline we swear by Retin-A.
They send us invitations to join AARP,
We've come a long way, baby, from the Land That Made Me, Me.

So now we face a brave new world in slightly larger jeans,
And wonder why they're using smaller print in magazines.
And we tell our children's children of the way it used to be,
Long ago and far away in the Land That Made Me, Me.

If you didn't grow up in the fifties, You missed the greatest time in history!

It's all about vintage….

 

I seriously don't know what's going on with me.  I'm so nostalgic this year, and I look at vintage items and fall in love all over again.  I used to have a house full of vintage, lots and lots of it, back in the day when we had never heard of Shabby Chic, but I got off that bandwagon years ago, I still drool, however,  and so I'm sharing this wonderful kitchen desk picture.

Maybe somebody out there could benefit from this idea  What a wonderful little desk cubby with kitchen utensils used for storage.  So cute, somebody will take this idea and run with it, surely they will...

 

 

And if that little kitchen idea didn't float your boat, how could this not????  Oh my gracious, this is so special!

But wait, I said I'm not on the vintage bandwagon anymore,  that's not quite correct.   We saved our favorite things from years ago and DH has all of the vintage items in his den.  Walking in there is like a blast from the past!

 

 

And of all the things we've saved, this is my favorite.  It's my computer desk, and it's wonderful, or at least I think it is.  And yes, that's Pioneer Woman Wallpaper on my monitors, the left is Charlie the Ranch Dog.  But back to my story…  How many of you have searched hard and long for the "perfect" computer desk, only to find it doesn't exist.  We certainly did, and bought multiple ones over the years, but they were never quite right, and finally the light dawned!.  Hubby was an engineer and this was his drafting table.  He's saved it all these years, dragging it around the country, along with the boy's baby bed, because certain things you just can't part with.  So a few years ago we got the bright idea to use it for a computer desk.  But it was too wide and too long.  But hubby is innovative, and there is nothing he likes better than a good challenge.  So he sawed several inches off to the back of the wood top, sawed off a bit of the width, then using the hardware from a throwaway computer desk, he made a shelf from the wood he sawed off the back.  Told you he was innovative.

The bottom was oak, the top was pine, but that just makes it interesting, he sanded it, refinished it, putting a heavy duty bar coating on the top, because yours truly needs things to be indestructible, and it's been just great.  It's big, roomy, substantial, it's seriously awesome!

But poor hubby has been using an antique desk in the den for his computer desk, trying in vain to find another drafting table so that he could revamp it for his computer desk, but he hasn't had any luck.  He's searched eBay for years, and when you find them they are really spendy, almost always starting at $500 and going much higher, plus shipping.  But a couple of days ago he hit pay dirt, somebody listed one almost identical to mine, "Buy It Now" for $69.  SIXTY NINE DOLLARS!!!!!  Well he scooped it up an hour after it was listed, and since it was within driving distance, we drove and picked it up.

So he's happily taking it apart, sanding it and refinishing it.  He even found a great stool for it today.  I'll update you with pictures when he gets it finished.   Now we're on the hunt for a vintage Rolodex, an old stapler, a tape dispenser, and who knows what else.  It's a fun fall project for us...

Oh credit, I almost forgot to give you the link to the blogger who posted a great vintage blog, Decor 4 All, that's where the other pictures came form.  Here's her link, check it out...

This just might be the prettiest Autumnal picture ever...

 

Lawdee, have you looked thru your medicine cabinet lately???  Well, actually all of my meds are in containers on a shelf in my linen closet.  And since we did a major kitchen redo, which is a whole other blog, all of the meds that i had stuffed into one of those cabinets before the redo have been sitting in a box in my bathroom for a couple of weeks now, because yours truly has been at death's door with a bladder infection and didn't feel like going through them and pitching things, they just sat there, bugging me because I wasn't doing anything to remedy the situation.  Okay, so that's a stretch, I wasn't really at death's door, but I felt like death warmed over, as mother would say.

But I'm all better now, and those vials and potions weren't going to magically arrange themselves, so DH gladly threw everything on the bed for me this afternoon as I requested.   I say gladly, because he didn't want to wade through all that mess any more than moi.

And Ryan, who has always been really good about throwing away out of date drugs for me, is busy with dem babies and judging by the dates on the bottles, he hasn't gone through them since 2011.   And since it's a rainy, gloomy, humid, hot day in Heavensville, I just couldn't handle it any longer and I took a deep breath and started wading through the badzillions of bottles that were strewn across the bed, organizing and categorizing and throwing away the old stuff.   I was a virtual whirlwind filled with accomplishment.

And let me tell you, we have spent a small fortune since 2011 on cold/sinus/headache meds.  I had this whole tub of useless, outdated crap that I tossed.  I don't even want to try and count how many dollars it was.

That's the bad news, the good news is we obviously didn't need all that junk, or we would have had empty bottles, most of them were practically full!

And that's my day, surely yours was better than mine.

But wait, it's not all bad, no it isn't.  Actually it's a very good day because today is  my oldest son, John's, birthday.  Happy Birthday, Johnno!!!!!!  See you soon!!!!!!!!  XXO ~ Mom

Campbell's Soup for the Keurig

Cymbals crashing, lights flashing, hot damn, look what's coming next, Campbell Soup for your Keurig Coffee Maker!  Apparently you put the little Seasoned Chicken Broth K-Cup in the machine, brew it and then stir in the noodles, veggies, etc.

This is the ultimate for lazy people, and I'm thinking the price will probably be pretty ultimate, too!

But I'm a sucker for easy, and this would be a great snack.  Oh wait, I can't have noodles, I'm eating low carb.  Hubby will be thrilled I'm not on this bandwagon.  

But not so fast, even though Campbell Kitchens say they don't have nutritional information yet, I took out my magnifying glass, and even though I can't quite read it all, it appears calories are in the 100 calorie range, and carbs are single digit.   Sorry LC, looks like this might be a winner after all, so have you wallet ready  ;o)))

Tuesday morning topics...

 

I, along with the rest of the world am in awe of Diana Nyad.  It is simply unbelievable that she had the energy to accomplish swimming 110 miles in shark infested waters at sixty-four years old.   I don't have enough stamina to walk a mile, my friends and I are always bemoaning the fact that we have no energy, how does she do this????  Even with intense training for years, how could she do this?  It's simply amazing!  I love this picture of her as a young woman, and watched her this morning on GMA when she said that she didn't have the focus at that age that she has now.  Positively amazing, this woman...

 

 

And the leads for Fifty Shades of Grey have been announced, Dakota Johnson and Charlie Hunnam.  I read the books, and by the third one I was absolutely bored out of my mind.  There are only so many ways you can have sex, and only so many times you can rehash it, it just wasn't my cup of tea, those books, even though most of my friends enjoyed them.  So I have no interest in this movie, I'll pass, even though the media is frenzied with anticipation.

 

 

And Katie Couric is engaged.  *yawn*.  Somehow it's just not that exciting when she's fifty-seven years old.  Will she wear white?  **meow**

And that's what I'm reading about this morning.  I'm a lot more intrigued by the human spirit than I am by the celebrities.  Aren't you???