Today... Was A New Day

Yesterday, ended up being such a good day.

Letting go of things/people, that are really out of your control anyway... is a good thing.

As soon as I was able to do that, my day turned around completely.

But even if it hadn't, turned around... the peace I had from just letting go

reminded me of how I want to live, everyday.

everyday.

peace filled.

grateful.

joyful.

Hugs From My Heart  :)

Sometimes I Just Need To Repeat This Over And Over...

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

(other peoples behavior, no matter how ridiculous, frustrating, & just plain madding it is)

The courage to change the things I can,

(my own behavior and the choices I make today)

And the wisdom to know the difference.

(That YOU are God.  I am not.)
______________________________________

I will not allow myself to get caught up in other peoples stuff.

I will let Him show Me what I need to work on, and stop looking at others.

It is not my business.

I will not feed or grow a bitter spirit within me.

I will remember who I am in Him.

He has it all under control.

I feel better already.  :)

Hugs From My Heart

Follow The Glowing Road Home...

Can you imagine coming home to this...

These are Glow Stones mixed with gravel. You can find them here.

And on another note.  This is what our kitchen looked like around dinner time.

My kids still sit on the counter.  :)

She's gonna love that I put this on my blog.

Oh well.

I don't think she actually reads it anyway.

She's 16 after all.

Her and Timothy just left in a thunder storm to go to the store.

So I think I'm safe.  :)

Hugs From My Heart

Happy Tuesday

It's rainy here today in Maine.

I had coffee with a good friend this morning.

Actually I ate an amazing chicken salad sandwich, at 10 o'clock in the morning.

She had hot chocolate and a muffin.

I've known her for 24 years.

She gets me.

I get her.

We can say whatever we need to about whom ever we need too.

The Good.

The Bad.

And boy did we have some bad to share.

No judgement.

Which is good for everyone else because then I can get crap off my chest.

And not feel the need to go to someones house, knock on their door, and... well...

You fill in the blanks.

Know that said person, at this house I won't go too... said things to my 16 year old daughter that was over the line.

Soooo over the line.

And she is suppose to be an adult.

Yeah.

Don't worry,  I'm working through it.

Really.

It's an extra bonus that my friend... is family too.

Hope you had a good morning with someone you appreciate.

Hugs From My Heart

Loving A Little Kozy Cottage

Just a few more photos of our new place...

See how I need to put treatments of some sort on the windows.  Never liked that word, "treatment" when people talk about windows.

You can see that I have a lot of bare space on my walls.  Anyone that knows me, or has been in our homes before knows that won't last too long.

I really got rid of so much stuff  BEFORE we moved here.  One of the girls that really helped me with that process went to Goodwill with her mom a few days after Timothy and Court had made 5 gazillion trips.
She said to her mom... "Hey, those shelves are all Mrs. Gurneys stuff!!!"

I need to get over to Karla at  Kozy Cottage, on Church Street, in Oakland.  If you haven't been yet, you seriously are missing out.  Karla is a peach, and her items are not only affordable, but they are always putting new pieces in.

It's like a new store every time I go.

See my Goodwill lamps on the floor, in the entryway.  I need to spray paint them and put new shades.

And of course Rita is cleaning herself.  She's ALWAYS cleaning herself.  

And Sophie always hangs around the cats to see if they leave anything for her when their done eating.

They never do.

  

And finally, this is the view I have outside my kitchen window.
Blue Eyes of course.
Best part of the whole place I'd say.  :)

Have a wonderful family filled, grateful for those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, Memorial Day.

Hugs From My Heart

New House Photos

Just a couple of photos of our new place...

More tomorrow.

I still have so much decorating to do.

Need to put "treatments" on my windows.

HATE to cover them up.

I just love the openness.

This is a ten foot bench Blue Eyes made for me years ago.

(of course I had to edit these.  my very favorite thing to do.)

Hugs From My Heart

Peonie Love...

Favorite Flower!

Hugs From My Heart

Order In The Disorder

I'm not one to have much disorder in my house.  I think it stems from how I was brought up actually.

We didn't have a lot, but everything had a place, and everything was usually in it's place.

I know it is much easier to be able to find things, (scissors for example), when you know that they are in the right hand, top drawer, by the stove.

Consequently, it is frustrating when one of your teenage peeps have taken said scissors, used them, and not put them back.  :/

And when you need them NO one knows where they are.

Enough said.

I am discovering now that most of our peeps are gone, with only one at home, that a little disorder in our house is O.K.

I think people with creative, artistic spirits are messier then the average person, and are comfortable in that mess.

Like our 16 year old daughter for instance.

She MUST have the most creative spirit ever known to mankind.  :)

That's her driving, with her best friend Court.

Two peas in a pod.

Everyone that knows that girl loves her.

I know she makes my heart, so happy.

A.A. Milne must have know my daughter because,

I'm sure her life will be filled with exciting discoveries...

You should see her room.  :)

Enjoy your Thursday!

I have some cleaning to do.

Hugs From My Orderly Heart

New Blog...

So I just discovered this blog, kristin and kayla, of the most adorable sisters.

Their dad is a wedding photographer, and started taking photos of his girls when his mom was sick in hopes the photos of the two, would cheer her up.

He was on one of the morning shows this morning.  His work with his girls is just adorable!

This dads typical photos are just stunning...

But it is his "outside of the box" photos that are hilarious and catching peoples attention.

(I'm so glad my mother was too tired to put me in that box she had used to keep me and my older siblings in).

Check out his blog, here

and his Flickr Photo stream, link, here.

Enjoy!!!

Hugs From My Heart

Cuppow!!!

. 

 This is so cool.

From the site...
"Cuppow was conceived of and designed by Joshua Resnikoff and Aaron Panone, and we’re proud to have developed a product that we look forward to using every day. That means it works great, it’s super durable, it’s made in the USA, it’s BPA free, it’s recyclable, and it doesn’t break the bank."

You can get them here.

 Hugs From My Heart

To The Wedding... John Berger

This looks to be another good read.

By Monika

Format:Paperback

This was definitely a different reading experience for me. At first I wasn't quite sure what was going on, or what the point was, but when I got to about page 75, it suddenly all started coming together. So a word of advice to anyone having trouble "getting into" this one: Just keep going! It does make sense eventually. I can't reveal too much without spoiling the story, but after the relatively long "set up" period, the story really does start to move. Once I understood what was happening, I couldn't put the book down, and finished it in a single day. By the time I'd reached the end, I was very impressed with Berger's work.

"To the Wedding" is narrated by a blind Greek street-peddler. He sells tamata, small metal charms supposed to bring relief to those who suffer. One day, a man stops at the stall to buy a tama for his daughter. "Where is she suffering?" the peddler asks. "Everywhere," the father replies. He buys a tama and goes on his way. The street peddler never meets him, or his daughter, again. But he tells us a story about the girl, Ninon, and the preparations for her marriage to a man called Gino.

This is a love story, but it is also much more. The more I reflect upon it, the more I get out of it, and I'm sure I would gain an even deeper appreciation upon reading it a second time. It explores what it means to love someone, the relationship of sex and love, and different ways to approach life in the face of knowledge of one's own mortality. If you know you are going to die in only a few years, what do you do? How do you live your life in the time between now and then? And is love in the present dependent on the possibility of having a future, or is it unconditional, in the moment? "To the Wedding" raises so many interesting questions, and offers multiple ways to view each one.

The format of the book may be a little off-putting at first. The primary narrator is the blind street peddler, but as he peers into the lives of others, the voice shifts from his own first-person viewpoint to the perspectives of his characters, told in first-person in Ninon's case, and third-person for the others - Ninon's father, mother, and Gino. We also jump from one person's life to another very rapidly, and sometimes it is hard to tell who is speaking, and whose eyes we are seeing through. Sometimes Berger will include something that seems to be of little importance, but do not overlook them - they invariably become important later on. I actually think that this fragmented story-telling style ultimately enhances the content of the book, but it takes a little getting used to.

I strongly urge everyone to read this book. "To the Wedding" has something to offer any reader that is willing to take a little time to reflect upon the themes it presents. It is a book I will treasure for years to come, and will definitely re-read every so often. Berger's story puts life into perspective, and offers hope to anyone who suffers. A very worthwhile read.

Definitely going to pick this one up soon for summer reading. You?

Hugs From My Heart

Lisa's Words of Wisdom: Dating Dos

It is a rainy Tuesday here in Maine. I am without a car for a bit longer, while sweet Blue Eyes tries to get our "new" Jeep on the road. Until then, this is what I'm happily up too.

Heard so much about this book, I had to pick it up at Target the other day.

Yeah, I know it's a little racy... but I'm a big girl, I can handle it.  ;)

You know you want to read it!  I'll tell you what I think once I get into it.

And yes, I still love Jesus.

I usually don't like reality shows very much.  Actually, not at all.  But Mrs. Eastwood and Company looks like the most "real" reality show out there.

Here is a clip from the Eastwoods housekeeper, Lisa, talking about dating do's and don'ts.  Oh yeah, she came with the house when Clint and Dina bought it.

I. LOVE. HER!!!

   


And finally... I'm sipping lots of this today. It's my Apricot Peach Tea that Zack and Beth got for me for Mothers Day.

Making the most of a day spent at home.

Remembering just how blessed I am that I can stay home.

I so appreciate Blue Eyes!
He has to be the hardest working man I know.
I swear I fall more in love with him every day.

Hugs From My Grateful Heart

Just Sayin...

Hugs From My Heart

Just Love Everything About These Photos...

Sooooo Me...

Beautiful wedding cake...Boy times have changed.

Easy, elegant pendant...

Memories...

I so love pink.  My mum loved roses...beautiful combination.

Hugs From My Heart

This... is education at it's finest. Hugs From My Heart

Monday, Monday...

It's a beautiful Monday morning out here on the farm.

Hugs From My Heart

Favorite Kitchen Sunday

These kitchens are among my favorites.

I love the open, welcoming, personal feel.

My kitchen tends to be like these.

At least I hope so.  :)


Hugs From My Heart

Photographer, Slim Aarons

I thought this was a little risque for 1958... my 16 year old daughter needs to see this. She won't believe it!

Sundowners' two bikini clad holidaymakers, enjoying a glass of wine outside the Carlton Hotel Cannes 1958  'Sundowners' two bikini clad holidaymakers, enjoying a glass of wine outside the Carlton Hotel Cannes 195

Having a Topping Time', socialite Alice Topping, relaxing by the poolside in Palm Beach, 1959

Katherine Hepburn 1953

Christmas Swim' Rita Aarons, Hollywood 1954

Look, No Shoes!' Mrs Atwater Kent Jnr, 1964

Slim Aarons, relaxing!

Aarons never used a stylist, or a makeup artist.

Aarons made his career out of what he called "photographing attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places." "I knew everyone," he said in an interview with The (London) Independent in 2002. "They would invite me to one of their parties because they knew I wouldn't hurt them. I was one of them." Alfred Hitchcock's film, Rear Window, whose main character is a photographer played by Jimmy Stewart, is set in an apartment reputed to be based on Aarons's apartment.  Slim Aaron, died in 2006, and was buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Copies of his "coffee table" book can be purchased here.

What a talented man.

Hugs From My Heart