The light was just right

If you live in the south you take sunshine for granted but in the hills of western Pennsylvania it is a little different. The weather moves over the great lakes, pick up moisture and forms clouds which sometimes cover the sky all day. So when we have a day where the sun comes pouring in this winter it is time to rejoice.

I may be rushing spring to be here but I picked up these tulips and birdcage over last weekend’s shopping trip in Virginia and couldn’t stop myself from putting them out on the table.

The flowers are faux but the spirit is there and it lifts my spirits considerably. I know some people would never, never have fake flowers in their houses but I am practical and know that I don’t care.

I love them fresh or faux. This will do till the real thing comes along.

Is it Sunday already?

These days seems to be flying by. It is the end of February already. My father once told me that when you get older the days go by faster and now I know exactly what he was talking about.

 

Last week was so busy. I didn’t get home until Tuesday and then on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I had two or three things to do each day. I welcomed the weekend so I could get caught up on my rest. I rested yesterday and spent hours watching Amazon Prime. I think the made for Amazon series are the best out there. Currently I am watching Newsroom with Jeff Daniels and Sam Waterson about a tv news station. The writing is so superb and I wasn’t at all surprised to find out it was written by Aaron Sorkin who wrote my favorite tv program West Wing.

 

Last evening Don and I went out to dinner at the Runway Cafe at the airport. Delicious. I had the chicken cordon bleu and Don had the prime rib. Now today I am catching up on housework.

A few more French postcards

 

 

Such a busy day yesterday. After coffee with my friends I had an appointment in Olean for a hearing aid check. I got hearing aids two years ago when I found that I was missing conversation and having to turn the tv louder. It was the best decision I ever made. I love being able to hear well again. After that I stopped at the new Union Tea Cafe...pictures to follow later. What a treat. It was like being in a big city. They were very busy and the tea...French lemon ginger...was delicious.

 

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If life was all roses

I wish pets lived longer, cookies had no calories and everything was on sale.

Life is wonderful, but sometimes it isn't. We all face bumps in the road. Our bump is Sadie. I'm worried about our darling girl. The new medicine which is a chemotherapy drug has done wonders for her. She is more alert, her joints are not swollen, and she seems more pain free. But the lupus has caused damage to her front feet and made them turn out at an awkward angle. The vet is very concerned about this as are we. It makes it difficult for her to walk easily. She is getting up and walking more but only sometimes. We are still doing hydrotherapy every day to keep her muscle tone. The vet suggested that maybe a brace would help her. We bought one but she doesn't like it and won't use it. We go back to the vet next week. It is so sad to see a dog with such intelligence not able to run around or play.

 

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LITTLE TREASURES

There are shoppers and there are not. I certainly fall into the former category. I love the thrill of the hunt. My husband doesn't understand the concept at all. To him you only go to the store if there is something specific you need and sees no reason to go otherwise. But you know I love to search among a lot of interesting items to find just the right thing that calls my name.

And that was the case over the weekend when my sisters and I joined by her sister in law went shopping. Now we don't shop anymore at the large malls. We are much more interested in the little gift shops, resale shops and antique booths. There is where we will find unique treasures. We slowly walk past tables full of merchandise of all kinds..glassware, plates, small items of all kinds and some real old fashioned things like pickle forks. Our eyes scan right and left taking it all in and occasionally coming to rest on something that needs further inspection. We stop..pick it up and instantly decide if it is worth consideration. A number of factors determine whether or not this item is worthy of having a place in our homes. How well do we like it? We are very discriminating and we must be in love with the item for it to be taken on our trip home. How much do we want it? We tend to collect garden objects so when Linda spotted a large cement pedestal she had to add that to her collection. You can always find a use for something like that in a vignette. Is it unusual and something that you can't find at home? I brought home a lovely turquoise scarf with peacock feather motif. Does it have a special meaning to you? I found this darling fox made in Japan (Nippon). The fox holds a special meaning to our family since on my mother's side Todd was originally Todhunter in Scotland which means hunter of the fox and on our family crest are three foxes.

But the most important thing is does it call your name? I am a FRancophile and when I saw four framed French postcards that were so colorful and just the right size I knew I had to have them for my kitchen.

I put two underneath the shelf in the kitchen. The other two are hanging on the other side of the kitchen.

Every time I glance at them they will remind me of the antiquing trip I had with my sisters.

 

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52 Moments

 

This week's 52 Moments prompt is Window. This is the view out of my sister's window this early morning. There's a fire in the fireplace just to take the chill off and it's so cozy here. We arrived yesterday with a temperature of seventy to greet us. Diane met us at the Liberty Train Station restaurant where we enjoyed a wonderful lunch. Linda and I split an carmelized onion burger and I had a little sweet potato casserole. Then we shopped the antique stores downtown in Bedford. So much fun. This morning we are off to a tag sale then Diane's sister in law will be joining us for an afternoon of shopping fun.

Now back home after a full day. We hit some antique stores. I will show you my treasures later.

 

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Taking a break

We interrupt this program for a needed blogging break. I have had enough of snow and hopped in the car and headed south. It was snowing when I left this morning and all the way to southern pa but in Virginia it was sunny but cold. Tomorrow we are going to Diane's lake house for the weekend. It promises to be seventy and I could use the warmth. See you soon.

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Love Songs

Do you have a favorite love song? A song that brings back romantic memories every time you hear it? Songs can be very powerful and make you recall when and where you were when you heard it. My first real boyfriend was Bob when I was in the eighth grade. He was Italian and I fell hard and so did he. I remember the day he gave me his ring. We stood outside the classroom door and he put it around my neck and kissed me while my classmates watched from inside the door. We would talk on the phone every night for hours. In the background he would play Vic Damone's Italian love songs and I would swoon.
   For Don and I our song was Paul Anka (1963) Put you Head on my Shoulder. It was perfect for us. We sang along while we danced. Even now when it comes on our XM station we start singing along and remembering those young love times. I wonder what love songs the modern generation will remember. 

Love, love, love

Do you remember when Valentine’s Day was such a big deal? When we were kids it was all about making a valentine’s decorated box from a shoe box and waiting in anticipation for it to fill up with valentine’s from classmates. We read a meaning into the one given to us by our crush. That still happened when I was teaching. The kids loved the day that they could rush around the room filling the valentine’s envelopes and having a special delicious treat. As an adult it is still a special day. My husband NEVER forgets and there are  always flowers and a great card. He’s the best!

I love a good song

Did you watch the Grammy awards last night? Now I have to tell you a little bit about the area where I live. We are away from big cities and definitely aren't urban. So sometimes when I hear a song on the Grammies ( here's an aside....is grammies the plural of grammy? Or is it Grammys? I've always used the rule change the y to i and add es but I saw it put as grammys on tv. So which is right my grammar police?) it is the first time I have heard the song at all. To give you an idea if you push scan on the radio in your car it only stops five or six times. And most of those are country stations. We don't have a pop station so I don't get to hear songs on the radio. I do have XM in my car and when I tune to the latest hits I finally can hear what the rest of the world hears. But a lot of the time I'm listening to podcasts or the news and don't bother with the hits. When I'm traveling with my husband he prefers music from the fifties. So last night when I heard Shape of You by Ed Sheeran I was blown away! What great rhythm, what a great song! I hope that you enjoy it too. I loved his Thinking Out Loud...a classic for weddings. 

Do you binge watch?

At Christmas time I decided to join AMazon Prime simply because I was sending so many presents out of town. It gives you free shipping which is great but the selling point is that you get your package in two days. I have continued my trial subscription into the new year since Chris got us a new television at Christmas with "smart" capabilities. There are so many movies and tv programs to choose from as well as made for Amazon special series. One that we are enjoying is Goliath.

Billy Bob Torton plays Billy McBride, formerly the hottest of hotshots, the silver-tongued attorney the juries loved. Billy is now living at a rundown motel in Venice Beach. He's an alcoholic, suffering from sleep apnea, divorced from his wife (Maria Bello) and apathetically settling court-appointed cases for a few bucks. Everything changes when a stranger (Nina Arianda) brings him a quickie case that turns out to be related to a major company with shady government ties represented by Billy's former partner Donald Cooperman (William Hurt), the head of a cutthroat firm that also employs Billy's ex. Soon, Billy's trying to straighten himself out and rekindle the sparks of his genius, but as the case gets more twisted,

Amazon and Netflix as well as Hulu and Acorn have changed the way we use our television. I began to learn about binge watching when I found programs on Netflix. I was happy that they would release all the episodes at once so I could watch it at my leisure as many episodes as I wanted at a time. I started with Kevin Spacey in House of Cards. Then saw Orange is the New Black and Grace and Frankie. It made my tv watching easy and on my demand. Now that I can stream Amazon I am enjoying Goliath. It is intelligent with great writing. I recommend it.

 

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Sitting by the fire

Finally a quiet day. After having coffee with my friends and going to physical therapy I spent an hour sitting in front of the fire and reading the latest Fanny Flagg book. Ahhh....

Sadie's new medicine seems to be working. She has actually gotten up a few times on her own and walked a little.

 

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Taking time

I’ve had such a busy schedule this week but I’m so glad yesterday that we took some time for family and friends. Our good friend had a knee replacement that has been needed for quite some time and we went to Coudersport (about an hour and half away) to visit with him. He is Don’s best friend from when they were kids. Their birthdays are one day apart. He was the best man in our wedding and has been a great pal over the years. He is doing so well and is pleased that he can straighten out his leg finally.

  After our visit there we stopped in another town to see Don’s sister and husband who came up for a week from Tennessee. Ginny made us a lovely dinner and we had a great chat. Family is so important to us. Today I had my coffee friends up to play marbles. What a fun time.

Those two monkeys climbing up the wall on the right are my two grandchildren. They are fearless. I’m so happy that they live where they do near Knoxville. There is so much for them to do around there. Can you believe that Sara is only six? She’s amazing!


She looks so funny with half baby and half adult teeth in her mouth at the moment.

IN THE CORNER: LIVED IN

The 52 Moments prompt for this week is : in the corner: lived in. I think we bloggers always like to put on our best face when we show pictures of our house. Sometimes we sweep aside those “disturbing” things and only show exactly what we want to make us look like a fantastic housekeeper at all times. Now you know that just isn’t true. We all have things out of place at times and corners that get dirty. But let’s get real.

I’m always thinking about how my life is different than my southern relatives. I’ll bet they don’t have a boot tray sitting in a corner by the back door. This is an absolute necessity for us northern folks unless you want to have dirt and snow tracked all over the kitchen. We are trained to immediately take off our boots or shoes on entering. And even with that it is a constant battle of wiping up the melted snow and sweeping up the little pebbles of salt from the sidewalk. And there has to be a small rug of some kind as a landing pad as soon as you get in the door. This is just everyday life in Bradford. It’s not just the boots it’s scarves and hats and gloves to keep up with. And we have SO MANY coats! One for each kinds of weather that we may encounter that changes sometimes hourly.

Yes, it’s a mess. But it’s life. Cest la vie!

Friendship

What would we girls do without our girlfriends? Today I had lunch at Kabob’s with my classmates. This newly formed group is having such a good time. Today we enjoy a great meal at our local Greek restaurant. I had chicken slovaki (tender hunks of chicken, a Greek salad, homemade pitas with tzatziki sauce, and basmati rice). Delicious! And as usual we laughed and talked for hours. Next week we will play games at Sandy’s house.

  Today is miserable, rainy and foggy. I had my semiannual eye check (all is well) then I stopped at the library for more books and am now ready to settle down and read. A perfect way to spend the day.

Hygge

Are you getting hygge (hue-gah) in your life this winter? Light up those candles, cozy up with a warm blanket, enjoy board games with friends, and hold a warm drink. It's hygge time.

This Danish concept is really catching on all around the world. You know the Danes are considered the happiest people on earth and they embrace the concept of hygge. When I visited Denmark many years ago with my best friend who was Danish I got to experience hygge where each meal was served with lit candles and hospitality reigned. Actually that is where I was introduced to the word. It seemed that her relatives really knew how to slow down and enjoy life and each other's company. Now there are many books on the subject. Here are a couple.

 

So today I'm going to enjoy a warm cup of cocoa, cuddle under a blanket and of course, light a candle. How about you?

 

 

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Dream a little dream

I had a dream. I’ve always wanted a big hutch for all my dishes. The small one that we had was from our antiquing days. It served the purpose and held a lot of dishes, glassware and plates all crowded in there. For Valentine’s Day Don got this one for me. I absolutely love it. It holds all my dishes and in the center drawers are all the tablecloths. I’ve dreamed of having something like this for years.

Sadie update

We are starting Sadie on a new drug today. Hopefully it will help the lupus. There are side effects that I am worried about but we need to do it anyway.

   Here are some pictures of Sadie in her better days.