RIP DEBBY RAY-MY BLOGGING FRIEND

 I am sorry to share this sad news.

A fellow blogger sent me a notice

that she had passed away.

I am sure that many of you

knew and loved

Debby Ray.

She was always been a

delightful blogger and an even more

DELIGHTFUL PERSON.

You might know her by her blog

My Favorite Things

As many of you know,

she was struggling with some health issues.

In the midst of her health issues,

they sold their home,

bought a lot close to family,

moved into an RV and were

building a new home.

A year ago-

Debby Ray had asked me to 

share this with you-

“I will be taking a break from blogging for a while and am not sure at this point when I will be able to return. I have no idea how to even begin to write a blog post and there are still so many unknowns ...all of the details are not really important at this time. I have been diagnosed with cancer of the liver bile duct... most of you know I have been fighting this for quite some time. Through the years we have brought our many prayer requests to each other and I have felt yours and have been so grateful for them.
So after 13 days in NC, it looks like I will be able to get out for Mother’s Day. I will be returning to TN the first of the week to get a treatment plan in action at Vanderbilt. Thank you for your prayers! I hope to post updates as often as I am able. Much love to all!”
Debby

Debby was such a dear heart-

please pray for her family and all they going through.

Life is uncertain enough during these times

and then to lose someone you love

is unbearable.

Thank you all so much!

As always, if you don't pray,

please wing healing thoughts and well-wishes

her family's way.

What a sad loss for everyone that knew her....

Edited to add this note from

Pamela Steiner:

We were all saddened to hear of Debby's homegoing. But I do want the readers to know that she DID get to move into her new house that they were building. They were able to move in for Thanksgiving and were there for Christmas too. She had posted a few pictures on Facebook at the time, and everything was so very pretty and she was SO happy. She also got to see snow on their property from her new house. She was very happy to be there, but not nearly as happy as she is now in her heavenly mansion! I know her family welcomes your prayers.

RIP TED! PLEASE PRAY FOR SUSIE @ SHEJUNKS

Susie/SheJunks called me this morning

and asked me to share the news of

Ted's death. 

Here is a picture of them 

as they were facing things head-on

I was lucky enough to meet Susie in person.

She lived a few miles away from my daughter, Mimi,

when Mimi lived in Indiana.

Susie is just as sweet in person 

as she seems on her blog.

The next time I saw her was in a hospital room

where Ted was being treated for cancer.

My husband, 

having finished his own cancer treatment,

met with Ted and Susie, too, 

and we shared life stories.

As a blogger we share happy, fun things but 

we also share in the hurts and sorrows 

of our fellow bloggers.

Please pray for Susie and her family

as they deal with the loss of 

TEDDY BEAR.

He was a wonderful man and will be dearly missed.

As always, if you are not a pray-er, please

send good wishes and healing thoughts

Susie's way.

She will be back to blogging when she feels she can.

Love to all of you from Susie AND me!

SAY A PRAYER FOR KRIS-JUNK CHIC COTTAGE-HER MOM HAS PASSED

 Good Morning~

Many of you know and love

Kris-Junk Chic Cottage.

                                   Early this morning

her 88 year mom passed away

after battling cancer.

                               Keep Kris and her family 

in your prayers as they 

deal with the loss and all

the loose ends that 

Kris will have to tie up.

She has been a wonderful daughter-

going above and beyond what

many would have done.

She has the heart of a true caretaker

and being an RN has

served her well.

If you are not a 'pray-er',

please wing good wishes

and healing thoughts her way.

Still waiting on a new computer here...

NEWS ABOUT SUSIE FROM---SHE JUNKS---

Good morning!

Many of you know that 

I was lucky enough to meet

Susie from She Junks

a couple of years ago.

Now, the funny thing is

this picture was taken a couple of years ago

when Ted was in treatment

for his cancer. 

How appropo to find this picture

because this is how she looks 

NOW, too!

She lives close to my daughter

in Indiana so my daughter and I met her at 

Horton's (fabulous place by the way)

when I was visiting my daughter.

After that, her husband, Ted,

(she calls him Teddy Bear)

was diagnosed with cancer

and was hospitalized.

We were able to visit them both

when Ted was in the hospital.

MyHero speaking as a cancer survivor

and giving hope to Ted for the future.

Anyway~

After not hearing from Susie

in the past few weeks,

I texted her.

She is safe and well but has

NO COMPUTER SERVICE.

Because of Ted's delicate health

they cannot have anyone in their home

to do anything.

Most of you know that if you were on

Susie's Blog List,

she always left a comment.

Right now-

She feels isolated, lonesome

and anxious.

Ted's health continues to be

an on-going issue.

Please leave a message for her here

and I will make sure she gets them somehow.

IF you would like to send her a card,

or a few words of cheer,

please send me a separate email

and I will send you a private email

with her address.

My direct email is 

dianakos1@gmail.com

Keep her in your prayers,

or send her virtual well-wishes

Thank you all so much.

Stay Safe-

Still Sorting & Purging here!

WONDERING WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR FRIEND LAURIE-WHERE THE SPRUCE TREES GROW

I have followed

Laurie 

since she started blogging,

I think.
Her first blog, as many of you will remember,
was called
In My Dreams I See.

Laurie has had many 

ups & downs over the years.

Many of you know her story,

that she had an accident at

a home she where she was working-

a brain injury.

A brain injury that affected

her eyesight---that most

important sense for an artist.

Her sight has gradually worsened

over the years,
along with a host of other problems
caused by the brain injury.

Now, sadly, her sight has been taken

from her AND to add insult

to injury (literally),

her blog disappeared.

She is back up and running-

of a sort-but is unable

to SEE the pictures

we post.

She will follow along as best she can.

Please Please Please

pop by her blog and 

cover her with 

BLOGGER LOVE.

She will appreciate it

and you will be glad you did it.

The link is:

Where The Spruce Trees Grow

And, if you are so inclined,
say a little prayer that she
is able to deal with this
adjustment in her life.

Thank you all so much!

I will be back in a day or so 

with the results of

Pick Your Favorite Christmas Table.

LIFE & LINDA-LINK PARTY ANNOUNCEMENT

Hi everyone!

I am doing this as a favor for

Sweet Linda.

She has helped me out 

COUNTLESS times with blog issues,

thus the title she holds,

The Fairy Blogmother~

(and you know I am all about fairies).

Anyway,

She quite suddenly found out Christine who started Dishing It & Digging It link Party has closed it down. Linda was a host on it as well.

Linda has decided to host a new link party every Sunday, the same time, called "Love your Creativity".

You are welcome to share recipes, crafts, tablescapes, wood working, diy, tutorials and more. The party is every Sunday at 1:00 Pacific time.

Please pop over and lend her

some support.

Better than that sign up for

her link party.

If you DON'T know her,

you have missed one of the 

Sweetest People in Blogland.

She has been a blogger,

a designer, a caretaker,

a cook and bottle washer,

survived at least 4 bouts of cancer,

and you can't keep the gal down!

Please pop over and visit her at

Life And Linda

and I know you will find 

something special there.

Thanks, Linda,

for all your help and I hope

you get some new visitors

and lots of links!

ALSO~
Please pray for Linda.
On top of everything else she just
had some surgery and is in for a
painful recovery. 
The surgery was much more than
she thought it was going to be
so I know it is disheartening 
as she now has a longer,
more painful healing process.

A BLOGGER'S PASSING-JANET MACQUE- A POST I HATE TO DO

I am sadly relaying
this news-

I know that several

of my fellow bloggers

followed and loved

Janet (MaQue).

She was an artist

and a great gal.

She was undergoing chemo

and while her 

spirits and outlook 

were good,

her poor body just

couldn't withstand

any more treatment.

Her hubby left a bit

on her blog about her

passing.

He is heartbroken.

If you want to pop over 

and leave him a message

that would be awesome.

You can read his message

here.

Thank you all so much!
I hope you all have a 
great Sunday.
Say a little prayer 
OR
send well-wishes and 
healing thoughts
his way.

PLEASE READ THIS-FROM DIANE @ LAVENDER DREAMS-BLOG SHUT DOWN

Hi everyone.

I am posting this for Diane@

Lavender Dreams.

Please follow her new blog-

her other blog was shut down.

I will let her explain in her own words

what happened.

Saturday, February 23, 2019

The Behemoth squashes the little Lavender Dreamer

That's right. "The Rise of the Machines" is upon us. Our former happy little blog (lavenderdreamstoo.blogspot.com) was suddenly terminated.

Why and how was it done? It wasn't someone reporting us. It was Google's automated piece of software (a bot) that roams the Blogger world looking for pre-programmed words of woe. Once it detects something it kills the whole blog without warning. Without any notification about these supposed offending words. Without an opportunity to fix anything. Just ZAP ... your digital life is deleted. Everything is gone!

Ten years of blogging, thousands of posts, many thousands of photos, over ten thousand comments and a hundred thousand heart-felt words all gone in an instant. Devastating! Be warned all you innocents in blogland.

The blog was actually removed twice, for "phishing". Which, as you all know, is absurd. We have never asked for your personal, private information. The Appeals process reinstated the blog the first time then the Google Bot zapped us again the next day. But the second time we were locked out of the Appeals process. We tried sending Feedback. Never got a answer. Tried to post to the Blogger Help Community. They never published the post. Located twenty phone numbers for Google. The numbers are all automated and only a couple allowed you to leave a message. We left messages. Never got a callback.

Google/Blogger pronounces you guilty using an "automated system" (their words) and gives you little or no opportunity to prove otherwise. It's been a nightmare. (for more details see the timeline post below)

So what choice do we have now that Google/Blogger has burned down our blog? Like the Phoenix from Greek mythology we shall rise from the ashes with this new blog. We will start over and hope that our many friends and followers will be able to find us and that they will never ever have to suffer the same fate.

Mr. Lavender D.

---

You can imagine how devastating this has been to me. I appreciate my sweet hubby taking the time to help me start a new blog. But can I ask all of you to do me a favor? Will you please put a sentence or two in your next post to let people know where I am and what has happened to me? You can say that my blog was unfairly removed by Blogger and we are trying our best to get it back, but for now I will post updates on the process here:

lavenderdreamsnew.blogspot.com

And also a plea to Blogger to bring back lavenderdreamstoo. We're a supportive community! Maybe they will listen if we all voice our consternation together!

Thank you, Lavender Dreamer Diane

You have our permission to copy and paste any part or all of this post to your social media. At the very least please post a few lines on your own blog about what's happened to Lavender Dreams and include our new blog address. Thanks. MrLD

SOME VERY SAD NEWS-MARY-MY DOGS MY GARDEN AND MARY

Yesterday, Sunday,

I felt compelled/driven

to make contact with my friend,

Mary F.

Her blog, 

My Dogs My Garden & Mary

has not been active

for a while.

I was in contact with her

at least once a week

until a few weeks ago.

She has had several health issues

in the past few years-

heart issues and COPD.

However, she was a bright spirit 

and full of life.

The last time I talked to her she was

scared because she was having

so much trouble breathing

and they wanted to do a procedure

on her heart.

Yesterday, I was determined to 

contact her.

Her phone was disconnected

and I left a message for her son

(I think I have the right number)

on his phone.

Lastly, I went to her FB page

and starting visiting contacts

that I thought looked her age.

I found one that had a picture of

herself with Mary.

I sent her a message.

This morning,

I heard from her.

Mary passed away YESTERDAY

while I was searching for her.

Do YOU think WE are not connected

by some force beyond this earth?

I will miss Mary----a lot.

I hope someone takes her two pups in

that she loved so much.

She also had a roommate and I am

sure the roommate is reeling

with all of this, too.

Please pray for her son, Shaun,

and her granddaughter, Kelly.

They were the most important

people in her life.

I am comforted knowing that she is

NO LONGER STRUGGLING

to breath.

Although my heart aches I 

know she is no longer in pain,

no longer anxious, and

no longer struggling.

"A death is not the extinguishing of a light

but the putting out of the lamp

because the dawn has come."

RIP, dear Mary, you are in my heart!

THE PARTY AT JUNK CHIC COTTAGE

For those of you that don't know

Kris- Junk Chic Cottage

you are missing something special.

Once you visit her blog,

you will be hooked!

Trust me!

We met through blogging a few years ago.

Last year her hubby contacted me 

to invite me to

HER ANNUAL GIRLFRIEND 

PJ CHRISTMAS PARTY

unbeknownst to her.

He offered to pick me up at a local hotel

and told me to wear a nightgown!

Okay-he said PJ's but I wear nightgowns!

Let me tell you-

My son 

thought I was crazy

was a bit anxious that I meeting

A MAN I HAD NEVER MET

at a motel wearing

a nightgown 

when he picked me up.

He wanted to know if I had 

ever MET HIM.

Nope-haven't even met her yet

I told him!

Well, sometimes you just gotta take a chance-

and I am so glad I did!

Anyway.  THIS YEAR she invited

me and my daughters to attend.

Only my MIMI could go this time.

We had SO MUCH FUN!

We all donate to some charity 

by buying gifts to support our cause

and then exchange those.

It is a 

GREAT PARTY IDEA

and Kris outdoes herself

every year.

Let me tell you,

there were some tears shed

as the causes we supported were 

talked about and the weird connections

that happened were beyond understanding.

It is too hard to even explain

but it was a touching night.

What a 

GREAT GROUP OF GALS!!!

Of course there wasn't enough to eat...

I might have lied about that....

and no one laughed much---

I might have laughed about that, too....

but we had a good time anyway.

Before we left,

Kris's hubby took a picture of all of us..

I HATE having my picture taken but...

you know--

the hostess calls the shots (literally)

You can see Kris's 

BEAUTIFUL COTTAGE HOME  

HERE

Back later this week with some of my 

CHRISTMAS IDEAS.

Have a wonderful day!

BLOGGERS THAT ARE RETURNING TO THE REALM OF BLOGLAND

All of you bloggers know how hard it is

to build up a base of followers.

It can be disheartening at times

when you pour heart and soul into

A BLOG

and then no one visits

or comments.

I followed both of these ladies

for several years.

Many of you will remember

Laurie,  In My Dreams I See.

Many years ago she suffered

a tragic accident that resulted in

traumatic brain injury.

One of the worst problems

was with her vision.

AND she is AN ARTIST!

Can you imagine?

She quit blogging because 

she couldn't read blogs anymore-

nor could she see to paint.

While her vision is still not perfect,

they had discovered some treatments

that are helping her and..

SHE IS BACK!!!

Please go visit her  HERE

and sign up as a follower.

She is one of the

BEST STORYTELLERS EVER !

And the other blogger I want to 

tell you about is

HAPPY LOVES ROSIE.

She had some very serious family issues

and had to be away for a while

but now she is back and trying to

find her old followers.

She lives in the UK

and if you love all things ENGLISH

including things like

Cath Kidston's delightful collection--

well, you will LOVE Happy.

Wondering who Rosie is?

I'm not gonna tell you-

you will have to pop over to Happy's blog HERE

to find out!

Have a wonderful Wednesday.

Lord willing, I am on my way to my daughter's house

as you are reading this.

Just a 6 hour drive listening to news,

fighting Chicago traffic,

and drinking coffee 

which means SEVERAL wayside stops

because--well---you know....

If you have time,

please pop over and say HI to these two gals

and give 'em a little blogland love!

Thanks so much!

WHO'S THE APPLE OF MY EYE? IS IT Susie @ She Junks?

BIMBO, BOMBO,

TOMKIN PIE.

She's  the apple of my eye

Swing her low or swing her high.

She's the apple of my eye.

The original poem says HE but...

I took a little liberty there..

If you have never read 

FATHER FOX'S PENNYRHYMES

you have missed something

WONDERFUL!

My friend, Judy Tower,

(I have sadly lost touch with her-

if you read this Judy-please call me)

gave me this book and it soon

became my children's favorite.

Speaking of friends,

I was

SO VERY LUCKY

to meet Susie,

from the  SheJunks blog.

A REAL LIVE BLOGGING FRIEND!

You KNOW how sweet Susie is on her

blog and leaving comments in blogland?

Well, she is even sweeter in real life!

I don't think either of us felt

the least bit awkward when we met.

She is a very pretty lady

and a lot of fun!

I was lucky enough to meet her 

sweet daughter, too.

We met at Horton's in Tipton, IN.

Susie only lives about a half-hour from my daughter, Mimi.

We talked so much I don't remember

half of what I saw at Horton's

but it is a FANTASTIC PLACE.

I will write more about that another time.

Right now-

I need to get busy because I have been 

a bit lazy since I got home.

I left Indiana the day after Jason's surgery.

He is doing well and thanks

you for the prayers.

So...I will say..

TaTa for now

and head on down the lane--

just like little Miss BrightEyes.

She has two lines for me-

She wakes me up with 

"Good morning, Beeyoutuful"

and when she turns her back on

me like you see below

she calls out over her shoulder...

"Go 'Way, Nana"

Sigh....

So---off I go.....

Next week I'm gonna have a 

NEW APPLE OF MY EYE...

It might be one of these three!

Or....maybe not.....

Oh- wait---

almost forgot---

You have a couple of days to sign up

for my giveaway

on my other blog-

A Cottage On The Cove.

All you have to do is be a follower.

AND---I have added a few more 

GOODIES to the GIVEAWAY...

AND if you don't like witches

I will have another 

GIVEAWAY

coming up for Christmas.

I will have one of the

"apples of my eye"

draw a name on Sunday sometime.

A QUICK UPDATE FOR A FRIEND- SUSIE-SHE JUNKS BLOG

Just posting this for all of you that follow

Susie @ SheJunks

Her computer is not working-but 

somehow she is able to get emails.

She can't blog, though, and wanted

you to know.

If you want to leave her a message

her email is: huckleberry1@tds.net

She hopes to get her computer

back up and running soon.

That's it--
over and out!