Photo Resolution 2010

4/52:


Yes, you are reading it right! It was 70 degrees yesterday. The rain is gone and we've got bright, sunny skies. At least for now anyways.

Even though it was a beautiful spring like day, this was my view as I was driving...


This is what makes California so appealing. You can bask in beautiful, shorts type weather in the morning then drive 1 hour and go skiing in the afternoon. In fact, you could go to the mountains, the beach, and the desert all in the same day if you wanted to. Not too many places in this country offer such diversity. Believe me, it's great. The only problem is that you have to take all the CA traffic that comes with it.

It's Friday

And I'm nosy...

"Hi, my name is Linda, and I'm addicted to buying dish towels!"

I love to display dish towels on my oven door, give them as gifts, and buy cute ones for each holiday. I have one drawer where I store my "not for use" dish towels and one drawer for my everyday dish towels.

So here's the question(s):

Do you think this is weird?

Am I alone in my addiction?

Do you buy cute dish towels for different holidays?

Good Mail

Last week I received a package in the mail from my blogging friend Jill. Every now and then, Jill will pick names and send out gifts to people who leave comments on her posts. I happened to be one of those lucky winners. I was excited because Jill is very creative so I knew it would be something good, it definitely would be some "good mail" as we call it. When I opened it up, not only was I excited, I felt giddy!

Jill went to Paris at the end of last year to visit a friend that was living there temporarily. She documented her trip so perfectly that I felt like I was right there with them. Paris looks like a incredible, beautiful city and God willing, I'll make a trip there myself someday.

While at a flea market in Paris, Jill purchased buttons from a vendor. I remember reading about her flea market excursion but never dreamed I'd be the recipient of a gift from there. Jill was kind enough to send me some buttons and a lovely magnet from Paris as my gift. I've got the magnet on the refrigerator but this is what I did with the buttons...


I knew I wanted to do something special with the buttons and that I'd never take them off the card that they are affixed to, which states Bouton Tailleur Frabrication Francaise, so I displayed them in a frame along with some scrapbook paper I had on hand. Jill didn't know this, but I love buttons and have a glass jar where I have some displayed. I adore my new framed buttons and look how great they look along side the button jar.


Jill's gift, which she brought all the way home from France, meant so much to me. It may have just been a little gesture on her part, but it was hugh to me. This goes to show that when you do something nice for someone else, however big or small, it can truly touch their heart and put a smile on their face. It did both for me! Thank you again Jill!

So, this leads me to ask, when was the last time you sent out or delivered some "good mail?" You just may make someone's day!

Blue Monday

Happy Blue Monday! Thank you Sally for hosting Blue Monday each week. To join in the fun or to visit other Blue Monday participants, click here.

I'm sure many of you have read about and heard news reports regarding the massive amount of rain California received last week. It rained for days on end and I see we're in for more rain this week.

Last week, my backyard, as well as everybody elses yard, became flooded with all the rain. I shared this photo last Wednesday of the flooding we had going on in our backyard...


It would rain something fierce and then let up for awhile, allowing the earth to soak up some of the water before the next big rain would hit again. This cycle went on and on but there was one day when it cleared up and we were greeted with this clear, beautiful blue sky...


This particular afternoon it had stopped raining so I decided to run out fast and get a few things done. I had just stopped for gas and a raspberry tea and was heading home when I noticed this gorgeous sky right in front of me. Everytime I see something like this I'm in awe and so thankful to God for His artwork and I'm reminded just how small I am in comparison to this great big majestic world that we live in. It humbles me each and every time.

Take care and Happy Monday!

Ahhh, A Good Book And A Bath

I finished reading a really good book last night. While I do love to read anytime, I tend to read more in the winter months. When the cold weather sets in, nothing is better to me than relaxing in a hot tub with a good book. I started a new book Thursday night and finished it last night, in the tub! I love bubble baths anyways but since braking my ankle Thanksgiving weekend, I've gotten in the habit of taking baths. I'd say my ankle is 90% healed and I could stand in the shower easily but I still take a bath. Besides it being relaxing, I find my foot feels better after a good soak. Kinda like my own hydrotherapy, but with or without a broken ankle, many nights I do reward myself with a nice long bubble bath after a long day.

Ok, now that I just read what I wrote, I know what you're thinking...TOO MUCH INFORMATION! I should just tell you about the book!

My daughter asked me to pick up a book for her from Costco when she was home on Christmas break, a book called "Have A Little Faith" by Mitch Albom. She started reading it when she was home but accidentally left it here when she went back to school. I saw it in her bathroom (she reads in the tub too!) so I picked it up and started reading it. It was a quick read and I found it to be uplifting and inspiring. It's a true story, Mitch's story, about being asked by his Rabbi to write and give the eulogy at the Rabbi's funeral when he dies. The author, who incidentally had pretty much turned away from religion, can't figure out why the Rabbi asks this of him. Why him?

It's a book about religion, relationships, faith, and hope. I think you'll enjoy it. By the way, this book is by the same author who wrote "Tuesdays with Morrie" a few years ago. I think that will be my next read.

It's Friday

And I'm nosy...

So here's the question: When was the last time you splurged on something and what was it?

I splurged last week on a new rug for my laundry room. It was a splurge because I didn't need it and it was $27.99. It sure caught my eye hanging there on the rack at Lowe's. It seems I love anything with lettering on it these days!


Have a great weekend!

Thrifty Thursday

Thank you Leigh for hosting Thrifty Thursday each week. To join in the fun or to visit other Thrifty Thursday participants, click here.

I have a neighborhood friend whose mother is an interior decorator and owns a high end store here in our city. Needless to say, my friend has a beautifully decorated home with the help of mom. My friend would be the first to tell you she doesn't have the decorating know how so she just lets mom have free reign. Lucky girl (and smart) wouldn't you say!

About 10 years ago, she had twins and I volunteered to spend the day with her, helping her with the newborns (children #6 and #7 by the way!) As I headed down the hall to use the bathroom, I noticed all of the frames that mom had recently hung on the wall. Twelve frames in all, one for each month of the year, each one different. I immediately fell in love with the frames and have never forgotten what a gorgeous statement they made on the wall.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago. Whenever I go to the Goodwill, one of the sections I always go to first is the frame and picture section. This store has been doing some rearranging lately and are now displaying frames in bookcase type displays. Lo and behold, there on the shelf sat 3 of those frames that I had admired at my friend's house years ago. They had February, June, and September...




Not a complete set no, but still fun and I was thrilled! They were $1 each!

My son has his birthday in June, mine is in September, and then of course, Valentine's Day in February. I think I was lucky enough to find the perfect months!

Happy Thrifty Thursday!

Photo Resolution 2010

3/52:


It has rained off and on for the last few days, turning our backyard into one big water hole. That walkway out to the pool has been flooded non-stop. Believe it or not, we have a drain under the grass to the right of the walkway that leads all the way out to the front street to drain water. Right now the drain is completely flooded over. It hasn't been able to keep up with the recent downpours.

The forecast calls for rain all week!

What is Photo Resolution 2010? You can read about it here.

Metamorphosis Monday

Welcome to Metamorphosis Monday. To participate in or to see other Metamorphosis Monday posts, head on over to Susan's. Thank you Susan for being the hostess each week.

A few weeks ago I read a post from a fellow blogger who was talking about recessed pendant lighting kits. What!? They make recessed pendant lighting kits!? Kits that are easy to install and ones that you don't need an electrician to do the job!? It certainly was news to me and I was instantly smitten! I headed to Lowe's the very next day!

We're lucky to have recessed lighting in various places throughout our home. The light above our kitchen sink is fine just the way it is but I've been wanting to bring it up to speed so to speak, to bring it up-to-date with a pendant light. Here is a picture of the light above my kitchen sink before the metamorphosis...


Now after...



I was so happy with the results that I immediately started looking for other areas in the house where I could install more pendant lights. It didn't take me long to find the perfect place. We have a walk-in bar next to our kitchen with 4 recessed lights. I changed out the 2 lights right over the bar...


We have two different fixtures on them right now because we haven't been able to decide which one we like better. We're leaning towards the one on the right. What would be your choice?

What has been so great about this project is that my husband loves them! He's not an easy sell so I wasn't quite sure how he would react to my $19.99 do-it-yourself pendant light kits (and yes, you read that right, $19.99 each!) We were both impressed with how easy they were to install and how great they look for such a small investment.

If you'd like to give this a try, you can find the kits at Lowe's. I also took this picture off the internet to show you just how easy it is. Have fun!

A Little Of This and A Little Of That...

It's a cloudy, dreary day here today and rain is in the forecast. As my friend Jill puts it, it's the type of day where you just want to "stay in the cozy!"

I went out yesterday looking for replacement items for my kitchen shelf. Do you remember my recent shelf disaster!? Well, we bought some very sturdy hooks and re-hung the shelf without difficulty. That baby is going nowhere now!

A few years back, I bought 6 of these beautiful green Bordallo Pinheiro plates, hoping that I would eventually have a shelf to display them on. They are the cabbage design...


I happened to find these plates when I was out of town and I got them on sale for some ridiculously low price. All of them broke when the shelf fell and wouldn't you know it, now I cant find a single one anywhere. I know Bordallo Pinheiro dishes have become popular and Ebay shows it. I thought about buying some on Ebay but they're much more expensive these days. Fortunately, we go out of town at least once a month so I'll just bide my time until I find more.

I had a green, white, blue, and silver theme going on for the shelving. I had more blue/white things at home plus I found a few things yesterday so I'm starting to decorate it again...


Just a funny story about this flower arrangement. I bought this a day or so before the disaster. It went well with my idea of white and the green in it matched the Bordallo plates nicely. Well, as you can see it got a little damaged in the fall...


What's so funny is that my husband told me I should just spray paint the styrofoam green. I told him he's thinking like a true blogger! Really, painting the styrofoam is a great idea! I'll go to Michael's this week and find a green paint that matches.

While I was out and about yesterday I noticed that the stores are in full Valentine's Day mode. I jumped on the bandwagon and picked up 4 cute burlap bags. They're just perfect for a Valentine's Day gift project I'll be working on soon. Aren't they cute!


Well, that's about the extent of the excitement around here! We did do a few little fun decorating projects last week that I hope to share with you soon.

Within the last few minutes, as the weatherman predicted, it's started raining. I love the rain and we need it here in CA.

Oh, and before I forget, Macey is back in the hospital again. We took dinner over to them on Wednesday night and Macey was complaining of a headache. They had the lights turned down low and we're trying to keep things very quiet for her. Yesterday she told her mom Robin that her left side was going numb, she had a bad headache, and her ears hurt. They called her doctor who was in San Francisco and he told them to bring her back to the Long Beach Hospital and he would fly home today. He fears she has an infection due to the flap recently being sewn back on her skull. Please keep Macey in your thoughts once again. Her time at home was short and she's scared, but she's clinging to her favorite Bible verse, Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

What The Heck Is It?

Wednesday I showed you a picture I recently took of my lemon tree. It is overflowing with lemons right now. In fact, it's overflowing with other fruit too! Get a load of this...


I kid you not...


We grow em' big here in California don't we!?!

To the right and down a bit from our lemon tree, we have a grapefruit tree. Now be it from the wind, bees, or whatever the case, but I'm guessing these trees have cross pollinated. We've had these humongous lemon/grapefruit things grow on our lemon tree for about 3 years now.

A few weeks ago my sister stopped by and while she was here she picked some lemons to take home with her. Out of curosity, she also picked one of the "plump" ones. This is her report: Although they're not as sour as a normal lemon, they taste lemony, not grapefruity!

It's Friday

And I'm nosy...

So here's the question: What is your favorite kind of pie?

I know it's January and diets are in full swing but I'm dreaming about Coconut Cream pie over here, big time. I was fine until hubby had to go and have a slice of Chocolate Cream pie the other night at Marie Callender's. It's definitely his fault.

Also, my fellow nurse friend Mari says it's De-lurking Week! So, if this pertains to you, come on, de-lurk! Meeting new blogging friends is always fun and always welcomed! That's what blogging is all about!

As an incentive to de-lurk, say "hi", introduce yourself, and I'll send you some "good mail" from Lindanjake!


Even though I've kept this post light and fun, my heart is heavy right now for those who suffer in Haiti and for those who have lost their lives. How can they have any hope after such devastation? The good news is that they can indeed have hope, hope through Jesus Christ who can strengthen and sustain them! That is my fervent prayer!

My Kitchen Shelf Metamorphosis

Around this time every year I get motivated to do little projects around the house. I'll get alot done from now until early summer. After that, it's just to darn hot so not much gets accomplished. Then it's the holidays and before you know it, the cycle begins again.

For the first time since November, I went thrifting Tuesday afternoon. I've learned it's either feast or famine when thrifting but Tuesday I was finding things at every turn. More often than not, I go home empty handed but Tuesday was my lucky day!

About 5 months ago I bought this tiered shelf for my kitchen. I had been looking for a few years but could never find exactly what I wanted. I ended up buying this beauty from a man back East who makes them and sells them on Ebay.


I had envisioned big plans for these shelves but truthfully they've pretty much been empty the whole time. I had 5 beautiful green plates displayed on the second shelf but that was about it. It just never seemed to come together, until Tuesday night!

While thrifting I found 3 white plates, a small white creamer, a white medium sized pitcher, and greenery in a planter that perfectly matched the plates I had on the shelf. It was all starting to come together in my mind so as soon as I got home, I got busy accessorizing and pulling out things I already had such as silver and blue and white items. It looked awesome! The shelves looked so beautiful that my husband commented on it first thing yesterday morning, something that he doesn't do very often.

I also bought a new lampshade for the living room. Have you noticed that round lampshades are all the rage right now. Just something as simple as changing a lampshade can make a big difference and freshen up the decor. Although I am sold on the round lampshade idea, I'm not sure if I'm sold on the particular one that I bought. I bought it at Tuesday Morning and it was the only one they had. I think it's just a little to white for me. Most of my lampshades are more of an off white or creamier color. Here is the lamp with it's original shade and then with the new round lampshade, still in it's clear plastic covering. I haven't taken it off yet because I'm not sure it's staying. So tell me, which one of the lampshades do you prefer?



While I was busy in the living room yesterday afternoon mulling over lampshades, I heard the biggest, loudest noise of all time. I ran into the kitchen knowing full well what had just happened. Yes, my beautifully decorated shelf, with all of it's new accessories, had come crashing down off the wall. All of my perfectly placed treasures were in a million pieces, scattered everywhere. After already picking up alot of the mess, I saw my camera on the table and took a picture of the aftermath. I had my camera close by because I had wanted to show you the metamorphosis that had taken place. Unfortunately, I was just a little too late!


I still can't believe what happened. My husband and I are extremely careful when hanging things and we checked and double checked to make certain it was sturdy on the wall. Turns out the hooks that were sent with the shelf weren't strong enough and they bent with the weight, allowing the whole shelf to come crashing down.

The disaster has been cleaned up but guaranteed, we'll be picking up pieces of glass for weeks to come! I immediately brought out the touch-up paint for the wall and chair rail and we'll be hanging the shelf again soon, but with much heavier, stronger hooks, thanks to a trip to Lowe's. I'll be starting my shelf metamorphosis all over again, but at least I now have a vision of what I'm looking for. And truthfully, I'm thankful. Other than broken plates and such, not much was damaged on the walls, chair rail, floor, or shelf. It could have been much worse!

(Although I don't have any pictures of my thrifty finds this week (since they're in the trash can, boo hoo!), I decided to go ahead and link up with Leigh today for Thrifty Thursday. Thank you Leigh for hosting Thrifty Thursday each week. Hopefully next time I join in, I'll have pictures! To join in the fun or to visit other Thrifty Thursday participants, click here.)

Photo Resolution 2010

Did any of you join in with the resolution to take 365 photos last year? Taking a photo a day seems a little overwhelming to me but kudos to those of you that were successful! I'm a picture taker in general but I wouldn't have made it past the second month. Trust me, my life just isn't that interesting!

I read recently where a fellow blogger was revising the 365 photo idea and making it her goal to take 52 photos this year, one photo a week. That I CAN handle and I think I'll join her. I figure Wednesdays are as good as any so here are my photos for week 1 and week 2 of this new year 2010!

At a time when much of the United States is frozen over, I can honestly say this in regards to these 2 photos...only in California!

1/52:


2/52:


Both photos taken in my backyard, January 2010.

Another One Bites The Dust

About 2 years ago, I got an iPod just like this one...


I had hundreds of songs loaded on this baby and I loved it. It literally took hours and hours to load all of those songs but it was worth it. I had such a variety and enjoyed listening to them while walking or in the car.

Then, out of the blue it died. We couldn't even get enough of a charge to transfer the songs onto my new computer so that we could put them on a new iPod. I was bummed but what can you do about it. We had our Hawaii trip planned and I knew I'd be doing alot of walking so I went to Costco and got this one. Still an iPod Nano but a newer generation...


Well, of course, every time you get anything new or any kind of an upgrade, none of the old accessories work on the new one! Surprise surprise, the new iPod was wider of course and therefore wouldn't fit into my old armband that I use when walking. We all know it's a ploy for these companies to make the consumer spend more money and it drives me bonkers! Sooo, that meant I had to buy another one of these too....


Ok, so are you still with me!?!

Now since my new iPod only had the 15 or so songs loaded on it that I bought from iTunes, hubby was going to start downloading some of the CD's onto it. Well, son of a gun, nothing, nada, zippo! Again, wouldn't charge up a bit!

I only bought the thing 3 months ago so hubby headed to Costco this morning and came home with this...


Oh my gosh, now with the armband thing again!!

Obviously, again, this iPod is much wider. Can anyone use an armband for the iPod Nano? I've got one I won't be using!

Hopefully the 3rd time will be a charm! Wish me luck! By the way, the iPod Touch can hold up to 14,000 songs. This otta keep my husband busy for days!