BOOK SALE & STRAWBERRIES

Yesterday (Saturday) was my town library's semi-annual book sale. Katherine and I went and this is what I hauled home with me:

I also got a huge coffee table-sized picture book of Ireland for my Becky. Book's in her room and I didn't feel like making the trip upstairs for a photo!

There was a rack of  "costumes" and one of the library ladies told Katherine she could take what she wanted, free, because she always goes to the sales. One of the items she took was this vintage bathing suit! It's by Rose Marie Reed and I have no idea what vintage it is. Katherine was hoping one of my blog friends might have some info on this.

I was asking my neighbor a few days ago where she bought her strawberry plants last year and we had a nice neighborly chat. Next day her son brings over this single plant in an adorable ceramic "can". I went to a local gardening center yesterday and got twelve more, so now I have a baker's dozen!

(sticks for cat prevention!)

And, speaking of cats, Calico likes to climb up the ladder leaning on the back of my little shed and survey her world from there!

A FEW EASTER PICS

I made this mini diorama using a small picture frame, buttons for the sun, a vintage bridge tally card, and a wee Easter tree decoration! It makes me happy to look at it!

Mister gave me this ceramic basket years ago. Last year I found these pink plastic eggs and they look so nice in the basket!

Hey, look! I snagged a fairy! And it's living quite happily in my bird cage.

Because I live in the Boston area, I leave you with this:

Please pray for Polly Hood (Counting Your Blessings) and her family as her father was diagnosed with cancer.

LOOKIE, LOOKIE, CHRISTMAS COOKIE!

I have been blessed! I received a check in the mail the other day for $500 from my church! Now I can do some Christmas shopping.

Katherine wanted to go to Target yesterday so I checked the online flyer before we went. Lo and behold, I saw a camera on sale for half-price ($199.99 to $99.99). I hemmed and hawed all the way to the store but, while in there, I decided to take the plunge and buy myself a Christmas present!

Isn't she a beauty! Hopefully I won't have any problems for a long time. I seem to have bad luck when it comes to cameras!

REDNESDAY

Rednesday in Boston. Prayers for the injured and their families, and all those traumatized by the explosions at the Boston Marathon on Monday. I live ten minutes from the starting line, and I'm glad I didn't go into Boston for the finish! (45 minutes away) One of my cousins was at the finish line, but left before the explosions.

An ex-New England Patriot player (football), Joe Andruzzi, was there and helped with the injured. He was at the marathon to support a team that was running to raise money for his cancer charity.

Will Middlebrooks, of the Boston Red Sox (baseball) tweeted:

Yup! We've got Matt Damon, Ben and Casey Affleck, Mark Wahlburg, Chris Evans, Edward Norton, James Spader, Leonard Nimoy, Conan O'Brien, Kurt Russell,  John Cena, Michael Chiklis, Misha Collins, and Denis Leary, to name some of the heavies born in our Bay State! Along with our superstar sports teams, they can ward off any more offenders!

That's all I'm going to say today.

REST IN PEACE PATTI PAGE

Clara Ann Fowler (November 8, 1927 – January 1, 2013)

Patti Page was best know for her songs Tennessee Waltz, (How Much Is That) Doggie In The Window, and Old Cape Cod. Tennessee Waltz was my mom's favorite song and, being from Massachusetts, I'm a sucker for Old Cape Cod! In fact, that was the inspiration for my entry (above) in Creative Breathing's "Wish You Were Here" postcard swap a few years ago.

I'm sure she will be fondly remembered by all of us "of a certain age"!

FREEDOM? OF CHOICE

Time to rant! Ignore me if you want to. (Rednesday post is previous to this one.)

First and foremost I believe in freedom and freedom of choice. That's part of what makes America America. I loathe being told that I have to do something instead of being able to make the choice myself. I believe in a clean environment and healthy eating and all that stuff, and practice it most of the time - just don't like Big Brother telling me to do so.

Here are three issues that I would like to make my own decisions on, not being forced to comply:

(1.) Paper or Plastic. I heard on the radio this morning that the town of Brookline, MA (borders Boston) voted last night to bar eating establishments in town from using Styrofoam beverage cups and takeout food containers.

I also know that many towns and cities around the country have also banned these containers. Personally, I'm not a big fan of styrofoam but, honestly, how many trees are there to make that many more paper containers to replace them?

I learned from searching the internet that these #6 styrofoam containers can be recycled to make baseboards and moldings for the home. Unfortunately, only eight states have special recycle centers for them, Massachusetts not being one of them.

(2.) Incandescent versus fluorescent light bulbs. Now, I know there is no law that says you can't use incandescent bulbs. The law states that, through a phase-out over the next few years, bulbs must be 25 percent more energy efficient. But, I like my light bulbs! It's frustrating that stores are emptying their stock of incandescents immediately so you can't find them.

(3.) Bad trans fat versus good trans fat. Yes, I like being healthy, don't we all? But I sure miss the taste of the old McDonald's fries!

I don't eat there every day, or every week so, to me, it's not fair that I can't have those great-tasting fries once in a while. Did you know that bad trans fat, known by the name hydrogenated oil, is a synthetic? Hydrogen is added to vegetable oil, which changes the shape of the fat molecules, causing the oil to become more solid. This trans fat is an unnatural substance that is dangerous to health. But I feel that, like candy, it's a treat to be enjoyed once in a while, not every day. (Man, if they ban sugar, then I'm definitely revolting, lol!)

So, there you have it. I want to eat fatty fries from a styrofoam container under the glow of an incandescent light! It should be my choice!

I LOST MY MIND

This morning I was thinking about something and decided to blog about it. I got distracted and now, hours later, I decided I'd blog it . . . but I can't remember what it was! :(

PUMPKIN CARVING

As seen on "Laugh Till You Drop" on Facebook:

T.V. TIME!

Are ya ready for the Fall t.v. show line-up? I am!

This is my reminder place, right above my computer:

P + P is Pitbulls and Parolees. We used to have a pitbull so that's how I was drawn to the show.

I feel the need to explain my love for Supernatural, considering it's a very ungodly show about angels and demons. Katherine had started watching it on Netflix last Spring and, not knowing what it was, I'd catch bits and pieces of it. There were some very funny scenes and tenderhearted moments between two brothers (who just happen to be hunks!). Katherine would get sick of explaining each situation to me, so I finally started watching it for myself. I genuinely pray for the salvation of the actors, all associated with the show, the audience who watch it, and for some of the plot (for example, God goes missing so an angel takes over and declares, "I am God".). I'm not a big prayer warrior or anything, just an average everyday Christian who happens to like a very un-Christian show! (Weird, huh?)

Well, I hope you all have your favorites and look forward to watching them!

CREATIVITY

I got this from Lisa Craig's (of Primsy Doodle Designs) Facebook page. I like it!

REDNESDAY

Welcome to Rednesday! Have your kids (big and little) started school yet? I know many states don't have summer vacation, but go year-round with weeks off in between. I don't know which I'd like better. I DO enjoy having the Summer off, though. We start today, on Rednesday!

And, now that Summer is coming to a close in a few weeks (officially), I am so looking forward to football season! Go Pats!

Katherine has been keeping her Captain Jean Luc Picard figurine (Star Trek, The Next Generation) on the end table on "her" side of the couch. "Make it so!"

I received a package in the mail this week, with a vintage tablecloth inside! What a fun and festive fruit pattern - with lots of cherries! (Thanks, LV!)

REDNESDAY IN MAY

I hope you all had a wonderfully royal weekend! And I'm SO happy that bin Laden was found!

I have a delightful old house to show you this week. This house and barn sits in the center of my town. It is so quintessentially New England! (Say hi to Conrad, my red truck that Teen named!) Isn't it cool that they painted the fence black? I love it!


But, that's not the only cool thing about it. Let me walk across the street and take a closer shot of the fence. Enlarge the photo to look at the decorative display of black-painted garden implements! It might be a gate. Great idea!

But, there's something even more delightful when you turn to the right and look up at the porch . . . isn't this a fantastic arrangement of crocks and pots? I drive by this house twice a day when I take Becky to school - it makes me so happy!

Across the street, a few houses down, is this beautiful display of tulips. The flower bed wraps around the right side of the house, too.

What reds have you got to share this week?

Oh, by the way, if you need me this Spring and Summer . . .

REDNESDAY

Boy, am I seeing RED today! My truck was making such a terrible clunking noise when I left the house this morning that I turned around about 1/4 mile (.4 K) down the street and came back. Of course, when Mister came home and took it for a test drive, it behaved very nicely for him! I told him I refuse to drive it until he gets underneath to check things out.

This is the old scoreboard at the middle school, which used to be the high school. I walk the track when I take Becky in each day. (Except today, cuz I'm not driving the truck!)

Sunday, as Becky and I were leaving for church, there were four does (female deer) crossing our driveway from the woods into our field. They stopped to look at us, then went slowly on their way. What a photo opportunity missed!

Am I cheating here? No, there are three small red flowers on this bowl! What a pretty floral - great for Spring time! I purchased these at the indoor yard sale I went to a few weeks ago. I love the doily - it has raised flowers all around the edge, but they're hard to see.

That'll do it for me today - your turn!

PRAY FOR JAPAN

REDNESDAY!

Hi everyone, welcome to Rednesday! February (school) vacation week - yahoo! I can sleep late all week, except for today - Jade is here to play with my niece down the street. She wanted to make a craft this morning and came up with this fantastic idea. She took a 3-oz. paper bathroom cup, cut it in half and colored the outside brown with a permanent marker. Then she decorated four "puff balls", as she calls them, with googly eyes and yellow paper beaks. Voila - baby birds in a nest! How cute is that? (Notice I put a red border around the pic to qualify using it today!)

This is the February Tag-Along I made a few weeks ago, but kept forgetting to post. It represents Presidents Day, Valentine's Day and the month I start sowing seeds indoors!

A Red-bellied Woodpecker that's been in my yard this month. My Audubon bird book says they only go as far north as Connecticut, but maybe they've expanded their range.

I found this "S" at the thrift shop recently, along with the glitzy earrings. The "S" now resides happily in my yellow-painted "play room"!

As I was coming down the stairs the other day I noticed the coat rack had all red on it, so I snapped a pic!
Your turn!