BOOKS & BOXES AND HAPPY BITS & PIECES

I was thinking about what makes me happy.
Obviously the first thing on the list is

family-MyHero, children & spouses,

and grandchildren.

But there are other little things

that I don't think much about

in the day-to-day act of living.

And yet..they are a part of my life

and bring me a bit of joy.

Years ago when my Mother 

came to live with me

I brought quite a bit of her "stuff" from

Pennsylvania.

I think I thought having "stuff" from the farm

would help me remember

the farm and family as it was....

because in her state of mind

she was no longer the mother I knew.

When she passed away,

and I gave some of the "stuff"

back to my brother.

My kids, too, have some of the things

and I finally gave my youngest daughter

this treasure.

It is a little cedar "chest".
It is only about 8"x12"x4" high.

Mother told me once that she gave a man

a ride to Elmira, NY and he gave her

the little carved box as payment.

If you open it you will find

some little treasures....

hankies and an embroidered piece or two.

What else makes me smile when I see it?

These fairy books that my daughter, Mimi,

gave me.

When you open them you will find that....
They are kind of "naughty" fairy books

not the kind I can read to the grandkids.

Whoever knew fairies had boobies?

Well...they do...trust me!

And in front of the books that are

tucked into this little niche

is a rock that my son painted

GOLD

when he was just a child.
He gave it to me for Christmas one year.

That was the year he had $20.

and spent $2.00 on lei's for everyone

(except me-I got the rock)

and the rest on himself.

Yep-He was THAT kid!

Then, Mimi went to a garage sale

and picked up this pearl necklace & earrings

still in their original box.

They have aged to a beautiful cream color.I researched them online.
They were QUITE the item in their day

and a favorite of Liz Taylor.

Below is another special "box".
This one was given to me by

MamasBoy & TheSecretAgent

on my 60th birthday.

If you open the box

you will find 60 "memory slips"

tucked inside.

that I got for my 60th birthday.

Do you think they fear I am losing my mind

and hope these act as gentle reminders

of a time when I knew who I was?

Huh?

Is that what this present is all about?

A random one reads:And, last but not least..

I received this special little box

from 3 very special little girls.

It is a Fairy Catching Kit.

We had many sightings at my house

but never did actually capture one.

They had hoped to outwit them

with this kit.

Just look at all the tools inside!And to wrap up this little presentation of Joy..

I wore this...

because a special little Miss

wrapped it up in a piece of Kleenex

(which I am hoping wasn't used)

and said it was....

"The bestest present eveah"!

And, indeed...I think it might be!

How about you?

What little things make you happy?

What little joys put a song in your heart?
I hope that your days 

are filled with little joys, too,

because I am finding that..

the older I get..

the more happiness I find 

in the little things.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

I WANT A BRIDGE! AM I CRAZY?

Now I know that may sound

STRANGE to you...

but, after all, isn't a 

LOT of what I say

STRANGE?

I have always been fascinated

by old bridges.

I don't like going across them

BUT I do like

seeing them.

I always thought it would be

fun to have a little 

Open Air Cafe on one.

A place for women to

come and sit,

relax for a moment,

share a cup of coffee,

 and chat.

I know-I know-

C-R-A-Z-Y.

I would make the sides 

of it look like this

bridge in Northport, Michigan.

Here's the other side.

Wouldn't that be fun?

And, maybe a little shop off

to the side like the one

next to the bridge in 

Northport.

Do you think I could convince

MyHero to BUY me a bridge?

Nah- Me neither...

BUT GUESS WHAT?

I found one that is 

FREE!

AND they will deliver it!
Yes-indeedy-they will.

Well, I know 

SOME OF YOU

out there are going to 

try and beat me to the punch.

I already have my name in,

thank you!

Hmmmm...do you suppose 

this is the bridge

Billy Jo McCallister

jumped off of?

(some of you chicks are

WAY too young to remember

that song).

Maybe THAT is why it's for 

sale-it's haunted!

(Just trying to scare you 

off so you don't bid!;>)

I'll let you know when

it gets delivered
so you can get your
seating reservation in early!
Have your umbrella 
at the ready
in case it rains.

Happy Sunday!

CLOUDS AND SKY-HIGH EXPLUNASHIONS

I took these a long time ago
when SweetCheeks was little
and was in the car with me.

 I love clouds of all kinds.

I can always see 

SOMETHING in them.

I saw these on the way 

home from the grocers.

Gorgeous, huh?

It looks like a flower 

with its face 

turned to the heavens with

buds and leaves alongside it.

Do you see it?

When we saw this

SweetCheeks had the

EXPLUNASHION

for God Light.

She said that God Light

happens when all of 

God's people are being

GOOD at the SAME TIME

and God is smiling.

Hmmmm...

Here she pointed out proof

 because God had opened

a direct hole into 

Heaven.

Now,  I'm not sure and I didn't

take this picture myself

but do you think that 

someone was waving to 

SweetCheeks?

God Bless You-

Hope your cloudy days

are all filled with

sunshine underneath.

Sure do miss having that 
FUNNY LITTLE KID
riding along in the back seat-

but-guess what---
She is a big kid now and 
STILL FUNNY
but has also turned into a
BEAUTIFUL YOUNG LADY!

Can You Keep A Secret?

Now, I want an honest answer here.

How many of you 

SNEAK THINGS INTO THE HOUSE?

C'mon....Come clean!

Speaking of COMING CLEAN-

(see how cleverly I worked that in)

I have been CLEANING CLOSETS!

Yes! I  have!

Look!

source

Oh!  Wait! THAT IS NOT MY CLOSET!

~sigh~

Instead I will show you

the front hall closet  below. 

As you can see, I donated a bed full of stuff .

Now it looks like the picture on the far right.

I did good, huh?

So, what's the secret you want to know?

Well, I may have cleaned my closet out

and donated a bunch of stuff

but THESE dishes followed me home.

Not the red ones but ALL the white ones.

I mixed the red ones in to 

confuse SOMEONE!  shhhhhh

They are hiding on the bench 

behind the dining room table

AND can only be seen when you walk to the 

far end of the dining room.

Lucky for me MyHero rarely leaves his chair!

Uh-huh!

I need to find a more secure hiding 
spot soon though- any ideas?
I am running out of cupboard space.

Now-FESS UP-Where do YOU hide things?

Cuz I KNOW you do!!!!!

Wicked To The Bone As You Expected

Remember yesterday at the end of my post?

I said- Tomorrow 

(which is today for all you blonds out there)

Tomorrow I will be back to my 

WICKED SELF.

Well, MyHero and I went someplace 

WICKED for Valentine's Day.

Yes.We.Did.

We went to see 

WICKED.

MamasBoy & my sweet daughter-in-love

gave me tickets for my birthday 

a couple of months ago.

The tickets were for 

Valentine's Day.

Let me tell you this-

It was WICKED GOOD!

The music was fantastic and the acting was superb.

I loved it from the opening act to the

unexpected end.

The one thing I did NOT expect was the 

amount of humor woven through the musical.

It made MyHero grin!

Of course, he MIGHT have been grinning 

because he got a free seat

 because I took him as my guest.

He offered to buy dinner before the movie.

I looked forward to that.

What I DID NOT expect was the nice 

dinner we had.

It cost THREE DOLLARS PLUS TAX

at McDonalds because every restaurant was packed

Helloooo- it was Valentine's Day..

MyMoney MyHero said- Listen, how about a 

chicken sandwich off the DOLLAR MENU?

I swear- that man could melt down a nickel 

to make two dimes out of it.

Oh- Did I mention we ate in the car?

We just call it 

WICKED GOURMET TO GO!

Have a great Saturday!

And remember- if you can't be good

BE WICKED-

Cuz then we'll be "sisters"...

and I don't mean nuns!

A New Pad For My Shark - A Tutorial

Yes- It's true.

I know you didn't expect it but 

I HAVE A SHARK.

 When I said NEW PAD did you think of 

something like this?

Well, I hate to disappoint you but I am talking about

THIS KIND OF SHARK

A Shark steam mop

By the way,

This is NOT a paid advertisement for them.

I have had my Shark for about 5 or 6 years

and it is still going strong,

although someone that shall remain nameless,

but not picture-less

was trying to "help" and

pushed the mop SIDEWAYS...helllooooo.

and now my handle has some tape on it.

I have lots of hardwood floors and 

this really cleans great.

BUT

the pads are pretty bad.

Yeah- so bad I don't want to show them to you.

New they look like this.

Let's just say my own are no longer white!

SO

I decided to make my own using old towels that I 

no longer want to use personally.

First I made a pattern-tracing around the head 

of the cleaner

I added about 1/2" 

when I cut out the pattern.

I cut out three layers of terry

from an old towel.  

I saved the end pieces that were hemmed.

Then I zig-zagged the edges of the three pieces together.

I then took the end pieces of the towel and 

cut two strips to go across the "top" of the head

putting one on each end I then

 stitched them in place using a zig-zag stitch..

Then I turned them right side out 

I then put them on

the head to "fit" them.

That way they will stay in place as you are

moving the mop back and forth.

See the pins?

I put velcro under each pin and 

also on the piece below it 

(stitching them in place)

Here is how it looks on the bottom.

Is it pretty?

Nope!  But it sure is functional AND cheap

and it took less than 15 minutes from

start to finish!

Steam cleaned floors are REALLY clean-

Just like I like them!

Oh- yeah- there is one more kind of shark, too.

A LOAN SHARK.

source

You will want to avoid him at all costs!

Our Life Is Never Boring-We Celebrate Everything!

I worked in the basement 

ALL DAY LONG YESTERDAY!

I got tons done but didn't have much time to

prepare a post for today.

So--- I thought I would show you

what is normal for the course around here

on a busy day.

Even small things are celebrated

at this house.

For evidence I submit these pictures.

#1 

Waiting for the timer on the microwave

to go off to signal that the 

MACARONI & CHEESE 

is done.

Look at the curls on 

SweetCheeks and Sweet Ria.

#2

The countdown is almost over!

#3

Whoo Hooo!

Hooray- Hooray!

It's time to eat today!

That last photo is what I like to fondly call an 

ACTION SHOT.

Life is a little slow in Wisconsin

when the temperatures are 

40 below zero.

We will celebrate anything!

Almost too much excitement to bear,

isn't it?;>)

I MIGHT have a project to 

share tomorrow----or---

maybe not~