Rambling 11/18/2012

Americans have nothing to fear from Europe on food. This comes from a sampling of friends, relatives and hubs and me from traveling. I'm also partial to the California cuisine. I believe nobody does food as good as Californians.
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 Some relatives and friends who have been to Russia have noted some things while there. Russians still want communism; they lament the change! They don't know how to fend for themselves. I hope that never happens in our country. There are specific instances but I'm not going to cite them here. Just horrible when a people can't take care of themselves and have no such wish.
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We've hosted a few exchange students while living in Idaho and I must say I doubt I'd do it again. Some were wonderful; some were horrid. One, Rafael from Spain, was very good and we loved having him. One day he asked me why I had my name all over my Tupperware. I told him because when there's a church dinner or luncheon, there's so many Tupperware bowls we have to put our names on our own or someone would inadvertently take home the wrong bowl. Hence, my name is on every single bowl I have. He thought that was funny. I didn't; I'm still missing some pieces and some metal bowls that have never surfaced!
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Recently during the Presidential campaign, Cher weighed in on Mitt Romney's underwear, calling it "Magic" underwear. Well, I wear the garments also. It's a requirement for being temple worthy. It's a form of modesty. How silly can anyone be for making fun of someone's underwear?! And Cher, of all people?!!! At least, we wear underwear.
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Okay, more postal rules for other countries:

Britain: no horror comics can be mailed to them.

Venezuela: no credit cards can be mailed to them.

Russia: color copiers, honey pollen, wax or honeycombs. Hmmm. Wonder why? It's not as if they have a glut of copier companies in Russia.

Philippines: coffee, lottery tickets.

Nepal: bearings of all kinds, cameras, cardamon, cinnamon, cloves, photographic paper, watches or spare parts.

Guatemala: gardenia plants or seeds, police whistles, powder of all kinds.
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If you've ever given someone good/excellent advice and they say it's totally impractical for their lifestyle but love the advice, then you should tell them to change their lifestyle. It's just that simple. Why wallow in a lifestyle that's detrimental to you? Boggles th' mind.
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A sweet girl's bedroom.

The requisite posies in a lovely tin can. ;-)

Think about wrapping your Christmas gifts in white paper with scraps of fabric for bows and a pink, white or silver ball instead of the usual red and green.

Can we say caaauuuute?!

Another pink ruffled pillow. I just love the ruffled ones.

Now here are cups with roses that I think even the hubs would like. If that's a tractor, then I know he'd love it. He also has this "thing" about tractors. Just start talking and he can tell you more than you'd absolutely want to know. He's knowledgeable about trains and tractors. My man is just a jock!

A serene room with splashes of color on the wall and floor.

I've wondered what these are. Could they be rings? Whatever they are, they're beautiful.

I'd have no problem having this chair in my home. 

Another gypsy caravan. This one looks really nice though. Love the bed covers and pillows. Not as gaudy as some I've seen.

 

I didn't know cupcakes grew in clay pots!!

A bunch of petit fours.

Beautiful pink walls with fuchsia flowers and a white curtain blowing in the breeze.

Ooooooh, is this ever so cute!

Just another idea for an old rustic bucket.

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Linking up with Create with Joy.

A Car Story

Have you noticed that cars were becoming a bit smaller several years ago but now Detroit's fascination with the look of cruise ships is bringing back larger cars? I love my Camry but my dream car is a Lexus. I saw one at the dealership when we were buying hubs' little truck. (Why men's fascination with trucks and SUVs?) They had a gorgeous black one there waiting for its owner to pick it up. I wanted to sit in it but the owner was expected posthaste and I didn't want to be caught in it. It had every single thing that could be included in a car. The owner was a retired military man and he paid $75,000 for that car for his wife. That's two and a half times our first house in California! WOW! I was impressed. But Lexus cars have a 500,000 mile warranty. That would probably be close to the rest of my life actually.

My son has a Mercedes S600 and it's truly amazing, but I'd still love to have the Lexus. This is his second Mercedes S600 and it has every single thing available except the feature that slows it down if you're too close to the car in front of you. I loved riding in it as it's very luxurious but he wanted me to take it to the grocery store while visiting him a couple of years ago. I was a nervous wreck driving it. He actually told me he took it out into the desert on a deserted road and got it up to 140 mph. I said, 'Son, don't ever tell your mother you got a car up to 140 mph.' (Another thing you never want to hear from your son: Mom, have the cops called you yet? This happened when he was in a motorcycle accident many years ago before he was married. He got mangled a bit but is alive. He doesn't own motorcycles anymore.) He laughed and said he was safe but he promised to go the speed limit—as much as a Californian can keep it at the speed limit. And we all know what that means on the freeways at rush hour.

The one he has now he got out of Texas and had it shipped to him. It was in great shape but a few months after he received it, it had a minor problem. He consulted a local dealer and the cost to fix it was $23,000. He said he'd fix it himself for that amount of money. No kidding! Also, he ran out of gas one day. That, in a Mercedes, cost him $800. Yep, they had to reset the computer and those services don't come cheap, trust me. He loves tinkering; it comes from the days when he was a poor Marine. ;-) Oh, and for those of you that think this may be bragging just a bit, his wife is the brains of that family. ;-)
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A beautiful french bedroom with chandelier. I even like the golden colors on the bed with the pink walls.

A brave homeowner painted her fireplace wall red. I think it's lovely. Like her choice in sofas also.

Cute little sconce holding some flowers left over from the season.

Cute way to decorate with photos and paintings of roses all along her sofa wall.

Snazzy little apron. Love the fabric and the ruffles.

Pretty little pots and pitchers as a display in this cupboard.

Gorgeous eye candy.

Lovely French sofa in pink. The curves make it especially lovely.

Cute way to store your scissors and a bit of ribbon.

Another little cottage in Carmel.

What a cute idea for double sinks but I wonder if they're practical. They're kind of high to bend over to wash your face. I think I prefer the lower kind of sinks.

A lovely but different living room. I think I'd like it as an outdoor room more.

My kinda chick with a pompom over her bed!

A bunch of lovely book markers.

I always love draping curtains over entry or door ways. Adds a touch of drama. This is especially cute in a little girl's closet.

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Random Thoughts 11/12/2012

An announcement:
Starting with this post, I'm going to do only 2 posts a week now. I have so many other things I have to get done that I can't possibly keep up. With the issues I've had with health this past year I need to get to work getting healthier. I think this will be a major concern with everyone in the coming years. We need to be healthy. I'm not making any drastic changes just ones I think I can do relatively easy.

We all need to be prepared. And if you doubt me, just look at the recent hurricane and its results in New York and New Jersey. It's not a doomsday scenario; it's common sense. 

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I haven't yet eaten enough pastries to be willing to trade this world for one in which the existence of sugar is not guaranteed by theologians. That goes for Pepsi and Coke also.
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How any woman can be stoked with her new cookware is beyond me!
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Worry is the anticipation that the outcome will be bad.
Faith is the anticipation that the outcome will be good.
Faith in God is the anticipation that whatever the outcome, it will be for your good.
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I shop at Costco and love it. The French Onion Soup there is the best I've ever eaten. It's frozen in little pouches and is a very quick dinner with some crusty french bread.

But the other day I got to wondering why they have limits on some items. Just how many people would buy more than 3 screens, 3 office printers, 5 GPS' or 5 PCs? I couldn't figure that one out.
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I can't tell you why but this room drew my attention mightily. Maybe it's the wrought iron. It looks more like a man's room as there is nothing much in it that is feminine, but I really do like it.

Beautiful purple and pink roses.

Beautiful bougainvillea up close.

Yes, I know. You all would love this kitchen sink in a french home. But if your faucet ever went out you'd need a jackhammer to replace it. Lovely however!

Pretty ribbons.

What a pretty and inviting table.

I decorate jars and bottles. Some hold screws or nails or sticky things to hold pictures on walls and some hold wire. Some hold a plethora of other things but they have one thing in common: They are all lovely but hold the ugliest things that we would normally want to hide in drawers in our home. And since ours isn't a big home with lots of storage places I make do with making the "ugly" attractive enough to line a shelf above my sink.

A bold statement in a bathroom with pink/white/black toile and a geometric black and white shade for the window. Gorgeously done!

Just a little tease with a cute shoe to show you. I love it and would wear it if I could walk in high heels again. ;-)

A truly beautiful and elegant bottle or carafe.

Pink bundt cake.

A scrap of ephemera for you to use. I plan on using it to decorate a bottle.

A simple kitchen with a lot of character.

A porch of some kind but quite lovely.

I love little little ruffled clutch purse.

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Love Bunny In The Kitchen

I told Love Bunny recently that he's pushing the edict I gave him for staying out of my kitchen. Now, this is not meant to be mean to the man. He's a wonderful man; he just doesn't clean up like I do. I told you I'm obsessive about a clean kitchen! And I am. That's where food is prepared. I've been in women's homes where I wouldn't put anything in their microwaves because of how they look.

About 3 or 4 years ago, we took a trip to Utah for a wedding of a friend's daughter that we'd known since she was about 3 years old. We stayed at their house and I cleaned her microwave and told her if I saw it that dirty again, I'd paddle her backside! She grinned. She and I share a birthday but 20 years apart. We also share an unusual middle name. We figure we knew each other in the pre-existence. I love this kid. But I'm honest when I told her to keep her microwave cleaner than she does! I can tell her anything and she still loves me. One of the greatest moms ever. She introduced me to the Gospel. I've always told her she pushed me out of Heaven so I'd be older than she is. ;-)

Anyway, hubs is getting much better about cleaning grease up and wiping counters off when he makes a tomato sandwich. I love that man beyond reason. Yep, I sure do. But I sure wish he'd stay outta my kitchen! ;-)
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An entrancing yard. I saw this and just loved it. Looks like a house in Southern California.

I cannot seem to get enough of bows on lamps and this one is no exception. Not a particularly pretty lamp or shade but that bow brings it up to just plain cute.

While I have no idea what kind of flower this is or even if it's Photoshopped, it's beautiful.

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This could be a cute activity for kids: making lace paper dolls. Even I'd like to do it with all the laces I have. Make several and put them on a string to make a banner of them.

Vibrant colors will always catch my attention.

And I love making ribbon roses also. Just go off into my craft room and make ribbons for hours sometimes. I always have several I can make something gorgeous when I need to.

The inner most part of a beautiful flower.

I'll forever love bougainvillea.

Quick and easy idea for a night time picnic or patio.

Pink strawberries.

Another of my mottos! Truly!

Pretty way to display roses anywhere you can find a place to hang a bag.

While this is not my style, I thought some of you might like to see the ingenuity of one homeowner. Clever.

And another embroidery that is too lovely to pass up. Gorgeous!

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