the object of my affection

The obsession with handbags has always eluded me...until now!

My purses have always been functional numbers with very little style...none really. Usually a shoulder strap for ease while carrying babies, groceries and diapers. Well those days have been long gone and still I clung to my handy shoulder bag.

A friend once told me she wished she could wear scarves, but felt she couldn't "carry it off". That was my perception of me with one of those bulky, double, short-handled bags.

I recently purchased a bag that took a while to get used to. It kept getting in the way... like an ugly step child. Over time I have grown to love it and am already thinking of upgrading.

listening to~http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBMjzMW0AfA

did i say green?

Jerry built this cabinet to fit snugly above the washer and dryer...I ♥ it~




That's a custom made broom closet in the top photo.





Several months ago we decided to give the back entry and bathroom a makeover. I choose a color ....and went with the exact opposite...green! Actually it's called 'dry sea grass', it is definitely green...Aimee said pea green...I do love green.

Speaking of green...



listening to~http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnGPmlXDJNI&feature=related

gracious moms and dads

As I approached the check out counter this afternoon I noticed a 3 or 4 year old boy , one knee on the floor, deeply engrossed in the items on the bottom shelf of (what I like to call) the "nuisance rack". I passed him and put my items on the counter while the boy's mother, who had a baby in the cart, was finishing her transaction. When she was done she called,
"Carter come on it's time to go." Carter dallied.
"Carter," I said pleasantly, "your mother said it's time to go now."
I glanced at mom quickly and said, "Sometimes it just takes another voice."
"Definitely," she said as Carter got up and joined her.
As they went on their way I heard Carter ask mom, "Who was that lady?"
"A friend", she said gratefully.

This charming scene was just begging for a camera...I didn't realize he had a sleeping baby in there until I stopped to ask if I could take a picture..

the house is clean enough

My intentions were good.
Jerry was going to be gone for four days and I was going to do some deep cleaning.

Scratch that idea.

I vacuumed once, tomorrow I'm going hiking, and he's coming home Wednesday.
Saturday the weather was too nice to clean so I put some laundry in the washer, drove to one of my favorite spots and took some pictures.

My photogenic bag insisted on having her picture taken!

I was surprised to see the county guys out on a Saturday.

I discovered this sweet new path when I got back to town.

The geese were so busy pecking , they didn't even notice me.

After Mass on Sunday, the beautiful weather called for another walk. I took in the fair grounds and ended up down by the lake...as usual.


They called needing someone today for some prayerful demonstration.
So demonstrate I did.

We are women...hear us roar!!
(Actually I was with a guy this time).



Stopped in to see my favorite great granddaughter...

pulled in to town just in time to watch Zach do his magic...

Delicious!

listening to~http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmJjD33eKDU

touchy feely

Not so many years ago Aimee had a particular coin purse. She would rat around, with her little fingers in that tiny coin purse until she came up with the proper change. She would say with a smile, "I love the way it feels!" Barbara has the same thing, I'm guessing, about the Desitine cap. She likes how it feels when she pops it open and snaps it closed.




The object of my affection is a little make up bag in which I keep crochet hooks, scissors, and such. Grabbing the perfect sized zipper pull with my right hand and holding the bag with my left as I unzip the small vinyl case is endlessly satisfying. It really doesn't end there...I also find pleasure in rifling through the hooks until I find the proper size. What's up with that? It must be the same principal that makes a baby want to fondle a certain blanket...not just any blanket!


We took in a movie this afternoon...The Informant. Jerry gave it a 'three'... I thought it was quirky and fun...I've never seen so many wigs in a single movie!



listening to~http://www.amazon.com/gp/recsradio/radio/B000BR6D6C/ref=pd_krex_dp_001_009?ie=UTF8&track=009&disc=001

I simply remember my favorite things

The first time I tasted Waldorf Salad was Thanksgiving 1967 or '68. Steve was home from the army, where he was a cook, and came to Castle Danger, where we lived at the time, to help us
make a turkey dinner....we had no idea!

If I remember correctly, the turkey was great, the salad...not so much. Our taste buds must not have been fully developed.

When I came across a recipe for it recently, after looking over the ingredients, I thought to myself, "Who wouldn't love this?" I whipped it up today, served it for supper ... our dinner guest
loved it! Nothing wrong with his taste buds.

This is a new trick I learned from Barbara...some of my favorite Flickr photos.

listening to~http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_n-gRS_wdI

baby talk

It's not easy to be on the unpopular side of an issue...it was that way when I decided to breastfeed my first child 43 years ago.Everybody used bottles back in the 60's! The only person I had ever seen nursing a baby was a gal by the name of Marie. She was from Scotland. We were all fascinated by her because she had that cute accent, loved to talk, and was lots of fun. After seeing Marie and Helga with their babies , there was no question who I wanted to emulate when I had mine.
Being a young woman (a girl really) I was easily influenced by the people around me. I was always rather contrary so it's hard for me to imagine, had I gone to college, falling for the leftest rhetoric the professors were starting to spew at that time. I was lucky enough to have been sheltered from all that unpleasantness and instead, got on with the business of raising a family...sort of an apprenticeship, with Mom and other woman I knew as my teachers.

When I was a young mother, I came in contact with some strong, smart woman, who were activists in the pro life movement. In the '70's, Lake County was notoriously liberal... to be pro life in that atmosphere was very unpopular and difficult...but these woman were undaunted. They had fundraisers, marched at the capital, wrote letters, started petitions and are still fighting.
Every year I sit at the county fair, in the pro life booth. Mothers often bring their little kids over to show them the like size fetal models. They explain how the baby grows and that they were small like that once too. Often the moms will say, "Sometimes the mother doesn't want the baby to be born and so the doctor kills the baby." The little kids get the most horrified look on their faces and then the moms will say, "Yes that's a very bad thing." Young kids, innately, know abortion is wrong...what's the matter with our lawmakers?

I was asked recently to stand in front of the Building for Woman, an innocuous sounding place, to demonstrate against the abortions that are done there every Tuesday...today I and two other brave women went.


listening to~http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uFcPjILC7k