Random photos around the house

You know what they say about the best laid plans? The plan was for my granddaughter, Kat, to bring the baby over today for a "photo shoot"--she is already two weeks old! Alas, Amaya kept her mommy up all night. She is generally a very easy baby, Kat thinks she must have had a tummy ache. In any case, she is fussy today, so not a good day for photos. Darn it!!
But, because I promised pictures today, I snapped a few random things about the house. Please ignore the dust, nothing is staged, and obviously, no decorations yet. Well, I guess the first couple are decorations.

This is one of my most favorite things. It is an Indian family nativity. I am half Cherokee, and this speaks to my heart. Below is a shot of the family outside the cloche.

The figures are tiny, the tallest is about the size of my thumb.

Next is a picture of a console table in my living room, showing my collection of hearts. The one in front of the small picture of one of my daughters is actually a rock she found and gave to me, it is a perfect heart shape!

This shot is of one wall in my dining room. The door to the left is the laundry room, the door to the right is to the basement. I am planning to paint the laundry room door, but I had forgotten about it until I saw this photo!! The buffet is an upcoming project, to be chalk painted. Everything is smooshed together, because I sat the small TV there the other day on the way to storage, and there it sits. Should have moved that first!

This is a shot of Marvin and Sunshine on their sofa. They are big babies! If I am going to post photos, which I certainly am going to do, I simply have to clean house! And bathe the dogs. And  put crap things away.

Ok, just wanted you to know that I am learning to use my new camera, I am thrilled to pieces, and there will be lots of photos to come. As soon as I get my house cleaned up learn to use it better Hugs and blessings to all of you, my precious friends!
                             Sandra

I have received a Blessing!!!!

I have been incredibly blessed! . Shortly after I started my blog, a wonderful reader sent me an email asking for my address, as she wanted to send me something. I was so very touched that she wanted to send me a gift! I thought it was very sweet, and was expecting a card, or a mug, or maybe an ornament, and I was looking forward to receiving it. Then yesterday, it arrived.
A CAMERA!!!  I have been embarrassed to post photos on my blog, due to the very poor quality of the pictures I was able to take. A new camera was not in my budget. So I have not been posting photos, other than ones I could use from the web.And this dear, dear lady, who knows me only from my blog, sent me a camera! A beautiful, brand new, perfectly glorious camera! A camera that even takes video. A gorgeous, shiny red camera. For me!! I cannot tell you how shocked I was to open the box, and find it. I was stunned, in shock. Overcome that she would do something so sweet and kind and generous. I was moved to tears, warmed to my very soul by this blessing from out of the blue. Never, ever, in my entire life, has someone given me a gift, for no reason except that the giver is the epitome of generosity and kindness. So, my dear friends, I can now post pictures of my projects, pictures that you can actually see!! Oh, I have to get busy! I have a lot of projects waiting, I didn't want to start on anything until I could have "before" pictures. Now I can, so I must take before pictures, and do my projects, and take after pictures!!!

The only problem is that I cannot take a good picture of my new camera, because I must use my old camera to take the picture!! But I am going to take one anyway, and then, hopefully tomorrow, I will post pictures. I do not yet know what the photos will be, but they will be beautiful. Not in the skill of the photographer, but in the sharpness of the photos themselves. 

Good grief, not only is it a lousy picture, but I managed to cut part of the camera off in the shot, trying to get a close-up!
                           
Yesterday was a day that I will never forget. Joani has given me a blessing, without even knowing what an incredible blessing it truly is.
My cup, and my heart, runneth over.

May you always be as blessed as I have been today!
           Sandra 

A Special Request

Good morning! I hope you are all having a lovely weekend.  I would like to ask all of you for a favor, please.
 Joani, over at My Southwest Ramblings, has adopted a soldier serving in Afghanistan. He is serving in a remote area, with fifty men. Joanie has the mailing address and information on her blog, along with a list of items the soldiers would especially like to receive. This ties in so nicely with my last post, about helping others at Christmas. Our military men and women are dear to my heart and I am hoping some of you would like to participate in this program, along with Joani. I checked with the post office, and one can ship to APO addresses using the flat rate boxes, and there is a discount on the price. For a 12x12 in. box, it costs only a bit over $13.00 to send, regardless of weight. A box that size would hold a lot of snacks, etc.!

 I am headed to the store right now to buy items to fill a box, and will get it mailed tomorrow. If this is something that you would like to consider doing, I would appreciate it, and I know our servicemen and women would be so grateful.
Hugs and blessings
Sandra

Do you have enough for Christmas??

I remember the days when the Christmas Season started right after Thanksgiving. Some people would have their tree up, possibly some decorating done, especially if they were hosting a family Thanksgiving. But the stores did not play carols, nor decorate, nor stock the shelves with items advertised as Christmas gifts, decorations, etc. Now, some stores do that before Halloween! The seasons all run together. Which would be fine, if it was a matter of extending the joy. But where is the joy?

We are inundated with ads and commercials, buy, buy, buy. Where can one get the best deal on the "must have" new gadget, the latest high-tech whatever, the toy you child must have, or risk being scarred for life?

The economy is in the toilet, unemployment is rampant, companies are shutting down at a staggering rate, millions are out of work. There are people who do not have heat in the bitter winter weather, single mothers struggling to just keep their children fed, let alone provide even a simple gift. Men and women are fighting wars on foreign soil.

 But if one is to believe the hype, if one only spends enough, buys enough, gives enough, it will all be sweetness and light, and joy will
abound. At least until the credit card bills come due.

 

I know I am preaching to the choir here. Most of those reading this are the frugal type. Rehabbing, making trash into treasure, living a life that is about DIY,  not excessive, compulsive spending.

But would you do me a favor? Just remember those who dumpster dive, not for a wonderful old piece of furniture to redo, but for food to feed themselves or their families.

Those who prowl the thrift stores, not for an antique teapot, but hoping to find a cheat jacket, anything cheap enough, to keep them from the fierce wind. Those who sleep, not in a beautiful bedroom, but in a box in an alley.

And, perhaps most heartbreaking of all, the military men and women who have returned with horrible wounds, some seen, some seen only by God. Some of those servicemen and women are homeless, struggling with a pain we cannot even begin to comprehend.

In the midst of your shopping, decorating, baking, wrapping, etc., can you take just a little money to donate food to a food pantry, or clothing or blankets to a charity that will see they go to those who need them? Could you maybe visit a nursing home, or start a tradition with your children of  spending just a few hours in a community food kitchen? Maybe just stop in a VA hospital with a stack of thank you cards, and hand them out to the patients, just spend a few moments to say hello. It would lift their spirits---and I bet it would raise your own spirits, too!! If you don't have the money, or the time, perhaps you could just pray for all those folks, in whatever form your own prayers take.

I don't mean to dampen your holiday cheer, to bring you down. Definitely not, I want each and every one of you to have a wonderful Christmas, filled with all the things that bring you joy. I hope everything you hope to receive will be under your tree this year. I'm just asking you to give what you can, of your time, or your money, or your unneeded clothes or blankets. Just help spread the joy around, you know? Because if everyone who can will give just a little, think of the joy that will spread like wildfire, to those who have so little to be joyful about!!
Wishing you love, laughter, joy and blessings untold!
Sandra

I have a new great-granddaughter!

              My oldest granddaughter, Kat,
                   gave birth this morning!

           Her new daughter is Amaya Monet 
              (pronounced Uh my Uh, Mo nay)
                    Amaya weighs 7 lbs.1oz. 
                     She is 211/2 inches long. 

 This shot is Kat and Amaya, obviously!

Baby and parents are doing fine.

 Grandma and Greatgrandma are a wreck, lol.

This is my great-grand number 5, but it never gets old!

I hope all of you have had a day as filled with beauty as mine has been!

Hugs and blessings!

Sandra

Salute to Veterans

God Bless them, each and every one. Let us never forget those who serve, not only those who have given the ultimate sacrifice, but those who have injuries seen and unseen. And the families, who also sacrifice on a daily basis, for it is not only the warriors who serve, but those who love them, as well.

Choosing Happiness

 I have been a bit under the weather, and not posting much. So I decided to share this piece that I posted on Storylane. I hope to be on more very soon. Thanks for hanging in with me.

I am an old woman now. Living in, as people used to day, "reduced circumstances", meaning there is always more month than there is money. The love of my life is gone. My children are grown, with homes and families of their own. My companions are my beloved "furbabies". My health is deteriorating, with new issues popping up on a regular basis. I do not leave my home often these days, and rarely venture further than the tiny nearby town. Yet, I am happy, content, ready to greet each day with a smile, rejoicing in the sunshine or the rain. Delighting in the smell of my morning coffee, eager to talk to my daughters when they call to tell see how I am, and to tell me they love me. Laughing at the antics of my silly cats, going through my daily chores with a song in my heart and on my lips, although these days, the voice cracks.
I moved here after I retired, and I do not actually have any friends around here. Which is a surprise to me, as I have always been surrounded by friends. I grew up in a  military family, married into the military, and have lived so many places, and I always quickly made friends, became involved in the community, and made a home wherever I happened to be. Here, it is different. In this rural area of the Ozarks, people are very nice, very warm and kind. But they do not "take" to outsiders. And an outsider is anyone whose family has not lived here for generations. So, it can be lonely.
Yet, I am happy. Why, you ask? Because I choose to be. Because happiness is a choice. Nobody is happy all the time. One is ill, the bills are overdue, there are family problems, the roof leaks. There is always a reason, an excuse really, for not being happy. I believe it is a matter of perspective. If you are ill or in pain, you are alive. The overdue bills means you had heat, or your car repairs were done, or whatever it is that must now be paid for. The roof leaks? Hey, you have a roof over your head, and in these difficult times, there are many who do not.
I find it annoying when people constantly complain, throw themselves a pity party over every little glitch in their road. Woe, woe is me becomes a refrain, like the old skit that was on Hee Haw, the one where the people were on the porch with an old hound dog, singing "Gloom, despair, and agony on me, Deep, dark depression, excessive misery. If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all. Gloom, despair, and agony on me".
I am here to tell you, as long as you sit on the porch and moan, you are, indeed, going to have misery. Get up, people!! Look around you, count your blessings. Decide that if you are not feeling happy today, you will behave as if you are. And more than likely, your mood will lighten, and you actually will feel better. If you cannot pull yourself out of a state of depression or unhappiness, get some help, or make some changes, whatever it takes. See your doctor, if there is no physical cause, then perhaps a medication or counseling is in order. If there is something that is holding you back, such as a volatile  relationship, either change it, or get out of it. Do what you need to do in order to make it possible to be happy, and choose to be so. Life is far too short to sit on the porch and moan!!!