This is the before

The dining room table decked out for spring.

Here is the kitchen stripped of the wallpaper. Now I have to decide on a color to paint. what a hard decision.

Another of my bright ideas!

I'm sure Don cringes when I get another of my brilliant ideas. When he got home today I was tearing the wallpaper off the kitchen. Come on, it was vines and fruit...well past it time. I want something a little more modern. I was looking for black and white wallpaper, but I'm settling for paint. I'm going to try a very dramatic color...burnt sienna, a rusty rich color. If I don't like it or it is too dark for the room I can always have Don paint it light green like the sunroom. I just want something contemporary. Today we completed stripping the walls and this weekend we'll paint.

This has been a very busy three days!

Still winter

Can you believe we are having another batch of bad weather? I know, it's Bradford..what can you expect? It's just that it gets so tiring and the weather keeps you indoors and off the roads. I don't mind it when you can still go, but when the roads are slippery like this morning it's not too fun. I couldn't even get my car up the driveway and had to park at the bottom.

I'm still in the cleaning mood and went up to the attic. I brought down the spring items and will try to put some nests and eggs about even thought it doesn't vaguely look like Easter yet.

I also got the rest of the craft things that I will carry to the basement and rearrange down there.

Don and I have had a few good days. On Sunday we ate at Appleby's and went to the movie to see Vantage Point. Yesterday we went to the casino and ate at the great Italian restaurant. After a delightful gourmet meal we spent the rest of the night gambling. I lost all my money quickly of course. Don played for awhile on their money (he had triple points last night). Then he hit it big after just sitting down at one machine and won $500. Yes, $500. Lucky us! Yeah!!

Whew!!

Don't you know that there are some days that just are busier than others? I had a mission today. Since our basement cleaning last week went so well I decided that I needed to clean the spare bedroom. This has been my craft room for a few years. I thought that it was organized pretty well. All my craft and art items were in plastic bins and labeled. They were in the closet and under the bed. But when I saw some extra space down in the basement I had a bright idea...how about getting all of my supplies in one place. (some were in the attic because there wasn't room in the spare room. So I moved it all downstairs. What a job carrying bin after bin down the steps and over by the dryer. I didn't realize I had that much stuff. Maybe some other day I can go through and maybe toss a few things, but for right now I'll just be happy to have it all in one place. That is what my sister Diane taught me. Put like things together so you know how much you have and what you have and where it is. After things got moved I could wash down the walls in that room. They were dusty from the winter and just needed a good cleaning. I took everything down from the shelves, took them down and cleaned them and replaced them. I was choosy about putting things back up on the shelf so that it didn't get that crowded look. I think the room looks good now. It isn't completely done because Don has to move the player piano back into the corner. ( Where are the Clean House people to help me convince Don to get rid of that????) It is such a sense of accomplishment to get a room cleaned like that. I'm always happy to throw some things away but it was hard to part with a small wooden light box that dad had made for me. I did keep a small lantern though. Now I'm pooped, but in a good way. the rest of the afternoon I'm going to sit down and continue reading the 1,000 page Ken Follett book. Tonight we are going to the Casino for dinner and gambling. I hope I can stand!!LOL

FILL IN THE BLANKS

Here is a little blog game. It's called fill in the blanks Friday, but since I just discovered it I'll do it on Sunday. The idea is to complete the phrase with your own words.

1. "having the joy of discovering new places and seeing different things" is the best thing about traveling.

2. I love "to snuggle under a warm blanket" when I'm cold.

3. I often work on my blog.

4. I'm reading Ken Follett's new book right now; I really am enjoying it. It's very thick and I have to sometimes stop reading because it is hard on my eye.

5. My weight is something I dislike talking about.

6. When I visited "cape cod"I most looked forward to seeing "Martha's Vineyard.

7. And as for the weekend, I just wanted to stay home and stay warm.

Will you post your answers too? Just click on comment.

This is what I have

This is what I have

This is what I want

I'm tired of winter now!

Love

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HAVING FUN AT THE LAKE HOUSE

Weekend at the Lake House

On Friday our family congregated at Diane's house on Smith Mountain Lake. Not many homes can hold twelve people comfortably but with four bathrooms and three showers this one is a visitor's paradise. It was so great for all the family to be together. Jenny is eight months pregnant and this is the last time I will see her until the baby comes. Diane is helping her up the hill. Diane's daughter-in-law is also pregnant and having a boy (they've settled on the name Jackson David). On Saturday we went out shopping to Burlington Coat Factory because they have a large baby selection of items. Josh and Caron bought their crib sheets, pad, blanket, etc there. I had a chance to buy Jenny a baby book to record special moment and I got a grandma's brag book which I'm sure I will fill up with pictures.

Tired of snow...looking for spring

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Bookmarks

This afternoon I made bookmarks to give as valentine's gifts to the girls.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

Happy Valentine's day to all my few readers out there. Hope your day is filled with love. I have been blessed to have a life filled with love all my years. How lucky I am to have a husband who has been so supportive and encouraging and understanding. My sons have been steadfast in their support of me. My family has always been there for me throughout my joys and sorrows. My good friends have stood by me and I can count on them in my time of need and share my happiness with them. It is such a comfort to know that I have had love in my life.

Take time to thank your heart for beating,
Take time to hold your thoughts and stare into silence,
Take time to listen to the undercurrent of others,
Take time to close your eyes, wiggle your toes and feel the earth moving underneath you,
Take time to give it away freely,
and let someone get ahead of you.
Take time to turn the other cheek,
Take time to be your best self.

GETTING READY FOR THE TRIP SOUTH

Going south has always been in my family. When I was a kid you could count on our annual July trip to Georgia where my mother's family lived. We would spend two weeks in the blistering heat visiting on the farm where my mom grew up and traveling to nearby homes of uncles, aunts, and cousins. On the two day trip down we stayed at a motel, which was a novelty to us. A dive in the pool and a nice restaurant meal were much welcomed after a day of traveling in the hot car without air conditioning.
Even after I was married we continued to travel south and visit with family. When my parents retired to Georgia the trips became semi annual. We always enjoyed our family connections. I loved spending time with my parents. Don and dad often fished in the nearby dam.
My sisters also chose to move to the south. One, in Fredericksburg, Va and the other near Roanoke. I am the only one of my family to stay up north. (hmmm...)
This weekend I'll be going to Diane's lake house in Smith Mountain Lake where all my family and some of hers will gather to enjoy the weekend together. It will be fun as always!

Just another cold day

The temperature is holding at 15 degrees today and the roads are slippery. It's one of those days you should have stayed home. I had a hard time getting out of bed this morning. It didn't help that Top Gun kept waking me up during the wee hours of the morning. He walked all over me and tried to get me up by pushing against my face with his head. When I played dead he proceeded to climb up on the dresser and chew my glasses and push things on the floor for attention. I finallly shooed him away and he settled down at the foot of the bed for awhile. I didn't want to get up to my alarm and just made it to Curves.

BRRRR....

What a cold day it turned out to be. The radio said -2 degrees when I got up this morning. Did I let a little thing like the cold stop me? Oh, no, not this hearty Bradford girl. I exercised and went to coffee as usual. And then, just to defy old man winter I also traveled to Olean to exchange some items and pick up a video tape of my mother that I had converted to DVD. Yrsa and I stopped at my friend Kay's to give her birthday presents to her. She was so happy with the sweater set and necklace I gave her and loved the lounging set from Yrsa. She needed a cheer me up and I'm glad that we stopped.

What southern Women Know (that every woman should)

I found this little game on the web.
Here are the rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to a random page.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.

"It is obvious to me that other regions throughout the United States do not think as we do. I have noticed that when I do these little things for people outside the South, they are completely thrown off guard by the gesture because they don't understand. Sometimes they're suspicious and wonder what my hidden agenda might be. When a Southerner does something nice for you, there isn't a hidden agenda. It is simply a reflection of a considerate upbringing that compares with no other. "

White Out

I woke up this morning to a blizzard and all I could think of was….grab the camera! I’m beginning to think like a photographer. I am looking at things in a different way now. I’m trying to see what would make an interesting picture. Blogging is giving me experience in taking pictures that tell a story.

TEA, ANYONE?

Valentine's Card

Make a free ecard - it's easy!

Love lasts forever

Make a free ecard - it's easy!

LITTLE WOMEN

Last night I attended a performance of Little Women at the Bromley Theater at the University of Pittsburgh. This was a professional cast of the musical that played on Broadway. Our town is lucky to have the university here and for all the first rate events that go on. The play was outstanding. Each member of the cast had wonderful vocals and beautiful voices. The acting was professional and the scenery and lighting was superb. There was a small orchestra but the sound they put out was extraordinary. It lasted over three hours but you weren't even aware of the time going by because of the action on the stage. There wasn't a large crowd there which was unexpected but those of us in attendance got our money's worth with this delightful musical.

GIRLFRIENDS

Where would be without our girlfriends? Today I visited Kay who was my maid of honor in my wedding 42 years ago. We have been friends for almost 50 years. She's had some health issues lately and just got out of the hospital with full time oxygen. She's doing well accepting this and I had a nice visit with her for a few hours. I stopped and brought her lunch and we had a great time chatting. She will be retiring now and hopefully get the rest she needs.

Thanks, bloggers!

Thank you to all the other bloggers out there. Without you I wouldn't be able to do half the stuff I do on the blog. I read about 20 other blogs and women are so good about sharing what they have learned. Yesterday I learned that I could upload pictures into snapfish and then edit them. One of the things I learned was how to put borders on my pictures. The lion has a ragged border and the arch a picutre frame. Ths will make my posting pictures much more interesting.