~A PUBLIC APOLOGY~

This post is a public apology to the two bloggers I shared "the mirror" situation with.
As I said..they were both most kind and I meant to make it clear in my post that any reserve or negitivity about the situation was on my part alone.  Nothing they said or did at all had anything to do with how I felt..  If I did not make that clear...please let me make it even more clear now.
Once again.they were nothing but kind, open with nothing at all said about their not believing.

I apologize if what I wrote came across wrong.  Both are lovely bloggers.  I try to stay clear of anything controversial...but this may be one of those subject to stay clear of.
I was going to delete the post...but so many have commented...that I hate to do that.
On the other hand, each and every one of you is special to me.  Most especially one that I have offended.
I publicly apologize to that person..and the second person should they read the post.
Thank you to all who wanted to hear the story...
I will think on it but at this time...perhaps not.
On to other things...Okay?
:)  Hope your long weekend is going well.
Love,
Mona

~THE MIRROR~

This is the mirror that some of you have asked about.  

The one I spoke of as being "haunted"...

I don't know where it came from..other than it was acquired by my two sons when they first left home and moved into an apartment together.  I believe someone gave it to them..but neither of them can remember where it came from.  Of course they were just in their late teens when it came into their possession.

It was painted a pale green..and my son, Mike, stripped it and sanded it and finished the wood to the beautiful sheen it is today.

When the wallpaper was hung last week..I dug it out from the closet..in the guest room and put it back on the wall.  

Due to certain circumstances...happenings concerning the mirror..I had removed it from the wall and put it under the bed in the guest room..then felt bad (for some odd reason) and pulled it out and put it in the closet.

It has always been a favorite of mine.  I believe the two oldest boys were 18 and 19 when I got it from them.
They are now 59 and almost 58 years old.

Sometimes you think you want to hear a story about something..but when you hear it..you find you really do not.
Ask anyone who has seen flying saucers and told of it.  You KNOW full well what happens to them.  

I have even had a witness to the strange happenings with this mirror...not a family member.  I don't even speak of this in my own family.  

My fear?

That I will be ruined in blogland forever..and someone out there will attached some sort of "evil" to it and thus to me.  Of course I'm scared.  

But I want answers..and there apparently aren't any.

I've thought of getting rid of it..but...I still love that mirror and even I, do not want to believe what I've seen.

.  The back is solid wood..and it is obviously very old.  Naturally it has a history..but what...no one knows.

Briefly...different things have happened IN the mirror...I've even sent photo's to those two people...but that was foolish too..because it all could have been thought to be contrived...it wasn't, but it could have been.

And of course there is debunking from my family members.    It's reflections...it's this and it's that.  

Reflections..? 

Good thought.  That theory was tested.  

Now it is back on the wall.  

Let me think on this.  After all..it IS a good Halloween story..and..I could tell my story as fiction, just a sort of fictious ghost story?  As I said..I have to think about all of this..

:)

Love,

Mona

P.S.   I have inadvertantly hurt feeling over what I wrote so I have deleted those few lines.  May I say once more that no one I've shared this story with has been anything but kind.   Only my own worry about sharing the incidents with the mirror made me regret sharing the story.   I have also written a personal letter of apology above.

~ FINISHED WALLPAPER PROJECT~

It's all finished and I love it!  I knew I would.
AND I am learning that there are a lot of bloggers out there that love wallpaper too.  I am not alone.  I mean, no one wants to feel all alone.
NOT a loner here.  So..don't go away..okay?

 Our dear wallpaper hanger arrived yesterday morning looking rather sheepish.
He apologized over and over...poor guy.
Poor me too..I have to say..it was not easy working on that carpet..
I felt my age down there scrubbing away... :)
No matter..we all survived and are none the worse for wear. :)

I am sorry..the lighting in the hallway is terrible and I turned on the overhead light...which only made it worse.
this looking down the hallway into our bedroom.

Looking into the hallway from the living room...The larger white mirror that was hanging here..was HEAVY and I was afraid it would make a large hole in the wallpaper  Besides...I wanted my haunted mirror up.
It's getting to be that time of year soon.  :)
No..honest..it's haunted.
Believe me.  I would never, ever lie to you.
Do you just love how straight I hold the camera!   Sheesh!!!

Bless Duane's heart...he even wallpapered the entry into the attic area. :)
Straight ahead is looking into my office.

This little bi fold door opens to the living room.

Linen closets.  Tiny little corners to paper into. I would watch him a few minutes, then run and hide and thank heavens I wasn't the one doing it!

Our bedroom door and my two oldest boys, Mikie and Pat when they were tiny.   Pat (on the right) will be 59 tomorrow.
and Mikie (on the left)  is just 13 months younger
I am so upset by the yellow light cast over everything.
I should probably wait until daylight and do it all again...but..then again..maybe not.
Not that big a deal.  It's just wallpaper.
Old fashioned?  Yes, but that's what I like.  I know it's not for everyone..

We did get out today and go to an Estate sale.  Like I need more STUFF!
However..I found another beautiful big mixing bowl in sage green.  A birdcage (way too expensive) that needs a new paint job.
A lovely ivy arrangement which I stuck under my leggy coffee table ....for now.
:)
Love,
Mona

~THE WALLPAPER HANGER...you want one with EXPERIENCE.~

Lots and lots of it!
Well..I have to say he has done a good job so far.  Bless his heart.  I don't know who to feel sorrier for..him or myself.  

You see, Duane, that's his name, is 80 years old.  He is just the nicest man you would ever want to meet.  

 This is Duane.. setting up to wallpaper the little hall.

 This is our dear Duane all set up and working away.  So darned nice!  Good at wallpapering too. 

 This is the before picture of the hallway to be papered.

This is another view, the T of the hallway..

It looks a bright yellow but the hall light was on and ..made it look really, really, REALLY YELLOW!

 To make a long story short..Duane began the job at 8:30..

By 2:00 the man was TIRED and said he had to stop.  I agreed.  He had kicked over a five gallon can of wallpaper glue on our new carpet....I told him not to worry..I would clean it up.  I am after all two years younger than he is!  Nope, not to worry..(worry, worry, worry)
By the time he was all packed up to leave and would  come back in the morning..it was already getting stiff.  We had gotten as much out as we could by scooping it up in a dustpan and I used tons of small towels in clear water to scrub it.  I thought he was going to have a heart attack.  I thought I was going to have one too!

Finally he left and I got out the shop vac..some warm water and added a bit of fabric softener..and went to work.  I did the best I could and kept changing the bath towels the rest of the day.  I have a stack of old towels I keep all clean in the garage for emergencies ...however...

I really am kind of worried... :(  You know, as in anxious?)

It never rains but it pours!

Love,

Mona

P.S. AND did it ever rain in Southern California today!  HAIL!!  It thundered and thundered and then it hit..  Hail in August??  Indeed it did! :)

...but again..in the scheme of things if you watch the news...this is NOTHING!  

  That poor Journalist...and then the terrible problems with the shootings.

The dishes...mercy..that's another story.  That one really has me in a dither. :(

But...IT RAINED!! :):)

* hello?  did you leave??  You're gonna just LOVE the hall! :)

~IT HAD TO END...~

 For three days they sat on the dining room table...looking neglected, lost, without a home.. PH was beginning to look at me funny.  I had to do something before the kids came by!  You KNOW how daughters are.  "WHAT ARE YOU going to do with ALL those dishes, Mom??"  That would be the first thing out of their mouths!   Piles of dishes..something had to be done!

I just bet by the title, you were expecting something spicy weren't you?
Gotcha! :)

 So,

yesterday I began finding a place for them.  Much easier than I thought it would be!

  I tend to procrastinate.  Not always...just sometimes.

 First I replaced the Old Country Roses tea set in living room with my new Rose Chintz..

Ahhhh...much better!
I've already changed this since I posted this picture.  :)  Ever changing world around here.

I moved little knick knacks off this shelf and placed the Old Country Rose teas set here on this top shelf..
Pardon the flash..but it's two in the morning and rather dark in the family room.
Yep another "sleepless in Riverside" night.

Another shelf...a little rearranging and PLENTY of room.  Today I found a lovely 13 1/2 inch platter in my Rose Chintz pattern, and it will be placed where the Secret Garden book is now.  I found it to replace one of the platters that were broken en route.

The second tea set fits perfectly right on the dining room table.  Love it!  Plus, I sat out the place settings..

Will finish off with napkins, maybe some silver..this set goes beautifully with silver...AND I have those pretty grapevine chargers......nice for Fall through to Christmas.  The fruit bowl ..gone to the breakfast bar..
Obviously I am not good at staging my pictures.  :)

Now all I need is my chargers, silverware, glasses, cups and saucers, food....and company.
(Does anyone ever use all those dishes?  We don't!  Just for now..)  So..well, I do need to find another shelf or two.. hmmmm...I can do that.

Then, I found a LARGE basket in my shed of "stuff" and lined it with linens and placed the dishes inside all soft and cozy.  They said "thank you!" :)  WHAT?  You don't think dishes can talk??!

I'M TELLING CHIP AND HIS MOM!!!  Walt Disney wouldn't like to hear you say that either!!

:)

I wrapped a bit of pink braid around the handle..added one of the large tea cups tied with  crocheted lace

to the top of the basket.  Ah la Penny...

The tied up tea cup idea came from Penny @ Penny's Vintage Home

(I could NOT get her link to work.  I tried and tried.  I'm sorry Penny!)

The problem?  Yes..there is one.  

Well, heavens, it's obvious!  What's to happen when FALL arrives next month?  

Halloween???  This hardly looks Fall or Halloweenish.

Now look, be nice.  At least the dining room table is (almost) clear.  Besides I still have shelf room up there..just gotta move a few more "things".. 

Looks more Easter than FALL doesn't it?...shoot!!

Love, 

Mona

P.S.   Oh..now don't go tell me you will not be adding any more dishes to your homes because you are plum

out of room!  I don't believe that for a moment!   I need a wire basket, don't you think?  

HUGS! :)

~HERE'S THE DISH ON THE DISHES..~

The dishes!  Okay, I will tell you the story to the point it is now..but first, I want to thank every single one of you who commented on my last post.  You touched my heart!  There are times, and I am sure most of you have felt this at one time or another while blogging, Bloggers are wonderful folks!

I am proud to be one of you and have you as friends.  

I will answer every single one of your comments! 

SO..  

The dishes arrived three days ago...all six boxes.  

The problem? 

 Both platters were broken.  The one on the left doesn't look bad, until I tried  to fit the piece to the platter, and then I found there was a gaping hole at the V.   The bottom of the box was scattered with tiny shards of white from the platters.  

Not completely the woman's fault...though there should have been more padding in the bottom of the box.

It must have been dropped from a good height.

And yes, they were insured

This was one of the large tea cups..not easy to find.  There were only four and this one though wrapped well as were all the dishes, was in the bottom corner of the box, right next to the platters.

All told, considering there were so many dishes..some 134 of them, the breakage was not bad at all.

However...

 This stack of dishes were every one chipped and the little coffee cup's handle had been broken off completely and  then repaired.  Usable but broken.  

So...I would say the person who sold me the dishes did  NOT describe them accurately. 

This is an example of the chips. She stated in her ad that there was not a single flaw, no chips, no cracks and that there were only two dishes missing.  She would have had to be blind not to see all the chips.  A dinner plate and a luncheon plate were the only ones missing??.  Wrong!  The count was all off..

I won't go into detail.

I have notified UPS and they picked up the dishes early yesterday morning.  So..we shall see.

I will notify ebay because  I have tried three times to contact the lady but no response...so far.

I have photo's of every single chipped dish and the broken ones.

I will open a case against her if there is no response.  I will give her until this coming Tuesday.

These dishes were NOT cheap..but still a bargain for the ones that did arrive safely.

I just want communication.  That's all.

Do I love them?  Yes!

Bottom line?  These are just things!  

Small stuff in the scheme of things.

Where did I put all those dishes?  Why..I will tell you tomorrow.  

I promise.

So that's my story and I'm stickin' to it! :)

Love,

Mona

~DOWN AND THEN RIGHT BACK UP~

Where have I been?  Who knows.  Busy with everything and nothing of any note.  No illness really,  just slowing down I think.

Hurt and saddened by Robin Williams death.  Concerned about the wars going on everywhere.  Folks dying.  So many in desperate need in far off places, including those right here at our own borders. 

Sad stories of shootings..riots, destruction.  

And what do I do?

I pick out wallpaper.  Live life every day as though none of it concerns me.  But it does.

After WWII, I was small then..but it frightened  me terribly when the sirens would go off and we had to pull our black shades down...and later as a young girl, waiting for a young man to come home from Korea.  And again, those many years of living waiting for that flash of light they said would come before we were all disintegrated.  Watching a neighbor build a shelter knowing we could not afford one.  I had babies..my husband was away overseas.   

Then came Vietnam...I lived each day waiting for the postman...wondering if my husband would ever come home to us.

Then endings.  Watching lives of those I love end.  Friends beginning to die around me.  People who's talent I admire, suddenly just gone!  Just gone.

Have you ever wondered how people that are so ALIVE and vital can just suddenly be GONE??

I do.

And the beat goes on.

*************

So..I've spent the last couple of weeks with my head in the sand, picking out wallpaper.  This is what I chose for the little hallway.  It's a T shaped hallway..painted a pretty Haystack soft yellow/gold, much the same color as the roses in this paper.  

The background matches my carpets very closely.  

The lighter white tiny flowers have a touch of pink to them.  Perfect.  It will pick up the pink in my little powder room as it passes and rounds the corner into the bedroom far wall.  I just may do two walls of the bedroom.

Old fashioned or not..I love wall paper.  It will go beautifully with all my wall colors.

So..

If I brought you down a bit..I'm sorry.  The sorry will leave in time...it always does.  We will all go on while the world boils around us.  What else are we to do.  Pray?  Of course.  Always.  Hope?  Of course!  Always.

Live?

As long and as well as we can.  

I love it.  It's cozy.  Not in style?  Of course it is.  It's MY style.  :)

Today my sweet blogging friend, Mary, came to visit..and cheered me considerably.  She brought a friend with her that was one of the nicest women you could possibly meet.

I'm so honored that they came to see me.

This is Mary!  From  My Dogs, My Garden and Mary

She brought me roses from her garden in a pretty blue ball jar and a tiny Mary Engelbriet  set of dishes covered with cherries and polka dots.  I must show you those..just adorable!

Looks good!

And this is Mary's dear friend, Tyrel.  

I took them out for lunch at Jammin' Bread bakery and chocolate bread pudding and rice pudding were the desserts.  

No room to sit inside so we had to endure the heat, but with the waterfall near by it really was not too bad at all.  Of course we were there by about 11 before the heat of the day really set in.

Teryl was pleased with her fruit salad...it was prettily stacked into a little sculpture and that rather tickled her! 

I had pasta salad and pastrami sandwich...

It was a really lovely noon time treat and good company and for awhile I only thought of the "right now." 

It's easy to get so lost in our world situation and forget to enjoy the present moment.  

We are lucky people here in the United States.
We don't say too much on our blogs about the bad situations, but we are aware. 

I love that we can enjoy our short lives as much as possible.

 Plant another flower

Paint another wall

Cook another delicious meal

Hug our babies and grands and loved ones.

Celebrate every moment of this life..and those around you.

Don't hate..please.

 Don't sweat the small stuff.

Love one another...

We are all in this boat together.

Hang in there, sweet people!

I will tell you the story of the dishes tomorrow.  It's rather ongoing right now. :)
A tale of woe.  :)  This one I can smile about.  It's only "things"..

Love,

Mona

*Rest in peace, Robin Williams!  We loved you well!

~JUDGE NOT....THERE ARE WORSE THINGS THAN BEING A "DISH" ADDICT~

...isn't there???

We were suppose to get up at 7:00 this morning and head out to an Estate Sale! For the first time I had done something I always mean to do.  I made a list.

I am NOT the most organized  person and I often  "plan" to do certain thngs and then seldom follow through.

A trait I hate to see in others!

Isn't that the way of it usually though? :)

When PH woke me and said.."are we going?  It's 20 minutes 'til 8!"

I said.."Ohhh...no.  We'll go tomorrow."  soooo he went back to bed.  

Then I remembered!!  The RED DISHES!  I was out of bed in a flash and was in the car before he was.

(for a change)

...and was I glad we went!!

The red on white set is Kirkwood by Royal Dalton

Made in England

 I had taken my little notebook and looked at the photo's posted of the sale..and made a list and studied it as to what I wanted to check out first when I arrived.

I was going to do this right this time.

First and foremost was THE dishes.  In one of the photo's I could see a very tall stack of dishes and the red caught my eye.  

They were all in one stack so it was difficult to see what they really were and the photo was taken from a distance.

 They were perfect!  ALL of them came home with me.

 The red plates are Tonquin by Franiscan 

Made in Stafordshire England.

I was in heaven!!

 This little pitcher caught my eye..it's much prettier in person.

It's gorgeous.  I mean, Christmas IS coming you know! :)

 This lovely large bowl is interesting.  It says "GRIPSTAND"

on the back, has a picture of a building with T.G.Green Ltd.

Made in England on the bottom.  

I like the little handles that help you grip the bowl.   It was $7.00.

There was another bowl..which was $8.00.  I took a picture but it didn't turn out so I didn't post it.

But..it was the largest of that old Pyrex bowl set from the 1950's. I'm sure you all have seen them. 

 I bought it because it was in mint condition.  Not a scratch.  It was just a bit smaller than the Gripstand bowl.

 And this!  Well...this was the next thing I found which was not in the photo's.

I have a California King bed and this lovely hand crocheted spread fit it beautifully.

It would be way to large for a table..OR it could fall to just above the floor on all sides.

So..it was perfect for my bed.  

PH frowned.  Hmmmm wonder why...but I knew.

He would have to pull it back to take his afternoon nap.  :)

(I did it for him!) 

It doesn't take a lot to impress me..but I was in heaven when I found this.

Estate sales are never the least expensive..but this huge coverlet was well worth the $40.00 I paid...and more.

I cannot even imagine how long it took them to make this.  I believe the lady had made it herself.

There was more to look at but PH had nothing to occupy him..so I was sort of rushing.

Plus he was hungry.  

I was so grateful for him taking me that I made him big thick slices of french toast and scrambled eggs.

Happy wife.

Happy life!  

Hugs and love,

Mona

*footnote*

Not a word from the seller of the set of my ROSE CHINTZ.  Nothing.  I wrote a note asking if they had been shipped.  No reply.  

*sweating it here!*  

I do have the pretty ones above..but you and I both know they will go to daughters. :)