~SATURDAY MORNING ..PARKING LOT..~

Saturday morning found us bumper to bumper on the notorious 91 Freeway between Riverside and the beach cities out here in Southern California.  A GIANT parking lot.  At the point I took the photo's we were once again moving..but then all of a sudden...STOP! 

I was trying not to slam my foot into the floorboard..as Patient Husband began to look grim!

I cannot IMAGINE why! 

 This is my daughter's french toast cassorole all loaded with pecan..(I WISH I had my new camera!)

I love this baking dish in very soft apple green...I would steal it, but she would just come and get something of mine... THAT girl! :)   Yeah, yeah, I know...it's blurry!  Sorry..

I'm not sure what this is?  But I know it's eggs and potato's, with cheese  and a slice of avacado on top.  It was delicious.
I forgot to take photo's until it was nearly too late..as usual.

 The guys out on the patio smoking a cigar and bonding.  Not sure what this is all about because not one of us smokes.  ???

Little Great Granddaughter Emily..checking out my camera.  I let her her use it to take pictures and was surprised when she knew exactly how to turn it on..and then to hit the right button to snap a photo..and...took better pictures than I do!  Oh well...

I love this!  It was sitting on my daughters table.  The tiny gardening tools and wheelbarrow..

Now I am on the hunt for these...

Just looking for things to snap...see me in the mirror.

This is a marble topped antique HUGE hutch.

This was a pre Mother's Day luncheon...

Sunday we joined the rest of my children..

I hope your mothers day was as sweet as mine.

Love and hugs,

Mona

I didn't blog about my mother..but I think of her often..and I miss her every single day. 

If I could just call her and tell her all that has happened since she left us.  How good that would be.

Her favorite song was "In The Garden" and it just now began playing.. :) 

She knows. 

A favorite meme of mine...hosted by Marty @ A STROLL THRU LIFE..

~BITING THE BULLET..~

I did it.  I bit the bullet and bought a new camera.  Those strawberries were the LAST straw....berry! :)

I turned the air a wee blue while trying to get a clear shot...and what is upsetting, the camera is one that is supposed to be very stable and blur reduction and blah blah blah.  Of course it WAS free.

I got it with my credit card points.  :)  Well, it seemed like a good deal at the time...but..

This is the one I finally bought.  Of course I wanted one for a lot more money, but after some enlightening by Di @ The Blue Ridge Gal, I would have been way over my head.  I DO NOT read directions...but I have promised myself I will this time!  It's light weight, pocket worthy and won't slip out of your hand like a "fresh fish!"  Well, that's what they said! :)
*nodding head vigorously!*

This one I can see in my handbag.  I usually have to feel around to find anything....plus I am always losing my black cell phone too.  Since I have gone gray, I thought, why not!  Might as well have a gray camera along with silver jewelry, etc. etc.

I want to thank Di  for all her help and information.  Not just on this, but other things too.  A true and very dear blogging friend!

Should I have gotten the S95?  Will I one day be informed enough to discuss the differences?  I think not..but...I'll just take my pesky little self and  hop over and ask my friend "Di."  :):)
If you don't know her...good heavens, you certainly should!
Smart lady, Di!

In the meantime:

 The rose bush sweet daughter, Maryalice, gave me is back in all it's glory.  It seemed to be dying so I cut it back and LOOK!!  Maketh me smile!! :) and :)
See...I pushed the my little butter yellow bench back onto the grass under the arbor...and I love it.
Now to grow my  beautiful vines over it...Clemitus?? (how do you spell that?  Probably why I  haven't found it yet,  but I am determined. 
For shade an umbrella will have to do for now.

All planted yesterday....finally!  Yes...this is my garden..or some of it.  Zucchini, and two kinds of squash!! :)

 PH won't let me dig up the lawn...I wonder why??? 

Wha.....a YELLOW leaf?  What, oh what have I done wrong?!

 I can spend all morning out here...and still have things to do...When I get my new camera...blah, blah, blah!!

OK!  This camera hates me!  I just know it!  It must know it's on it's way out, because these photo's are not half as bad as what it's been turning out~!  GRRRRR!
Can you kill a camera?

Love and hugs and a Happy Mothers Day to all you wonderful Mother's out there! 
Love,
Mona

~rather blurry STRAWBERRIES..~

For the better part of my life I thought I was allergic to strawberries.  I was told I would get hives if I ate them.  You know, those large lumps that can come up and itch like crazy when you eat something you are allergic to. 

So...I didn't eat them.  I remember I would sit so close to a bowl of them...or linger over them in the market...taking in their lovely aroma.

..and then one day I broke down and wolfed down a strawberry! 

Nothing.  Hours went by, nothing.  So..I ate another..and another..

and I have been gorging on them as often as I can ever since.

 Patient Husband came home yesterday with this huge box of strawberries..

 ...and in nothing flat I had them washed..WOULD YOU LOOK AT THE SIZE?? 

Huge berries..and so tasty!

Not easy taking a picture with one hand..at least not for me, so....

s'cuse the blur.  Kinda hard on the eyes, I know!

...sliced

(not excuse for the blur here!)

 and all ready to eat.

We had big bowls of them last night after dinner and this morning I had them on my cream of wheat!

 And I still have enough left for a pie..so I am going to just hop right over to see Joyce @

October Farm and look through her wonderful file of recipes on her sidebar! 

Lots of wonderful cooks on blogs..but when I want a killer recipe I run to Joyce!

 These strawberries were so sweet!  I have to do the pie soon or there won't be any left!

Have a strawberry filled day!

Love,

Mona :)

Ok, ok..so they were VERY blurry!!  :(  If you think these are bad, you should see the ones I deleted.

Stupid camera!  I know, you're right..it's never my fault! :)

~FOR THE LOVE OF HOME~

Thank you so much for the "shout out" Marty, and thank you for being such a gracious hostess!!A Stroll Thru Life

I have shown my new tray before, but I wanted to jump in, if a bit late, and show you what Thrift Shopping..ie. Garage Sales, has done for me. 
Every single thing but the topairies on this table is second hand.

The hand painted lamp in the background is by Rebecca at A Gathering Place!

(oops, forgot to remove my birdie seed from the table... :)

I  bought these on Saturday for just a quarter each!!  So sweet.

They are German and I cannot understand the words.  Kinigt pn Tettau,

Germany US Zone, whatever that means.  And there is some sort of symbol.  There is a tiny rose inside each cup. 

Both table clothes..garage sales.  NO STAINS! 
I've gotten very good at removing stains... :)

Remember my silverware find?  Prelude.  Yep.  $10 is what I paid and when I looked it up?

$4100.00 which doesn't include the soup spoons or the tiny butter knives.

Nor does it include all the additional silverware found in the silverware box.  Yep, it came in one of those lovely silverware boxes.  Deal?  I think so!

 

My blue and white china...the entire set for $30.

Set of  Nortaki china ..$35.00!  Discontinued in 1939.

I love this set.  Friendly Village..I've found some at garage sales, some on ebay and inherited some.

All my crocheted doilies, wall paper even the shelves...garage sales.  We had one..and matched it up with another at a garage sale.  $20.00!

Every single thing on these shelves are garage sale items.  the entire shelf of silve bottom right, came to no more than $15.00.  It was $8 but I added a couple more items.  The tea caddy was one. 

Yes...every single thing you see, garage sales..even my favorite rooster lamp!

Again...garage sales...but the shelf was made by an old man and I found it in Temecula CA at a little Thrift shop.  (Needs a bit of new paint I think..) The little Rooster and Hen are Copley's.  (Whatever that means!) :)

 

Once I discovered that I didn't have to pay so much to have nice things...and that it was and adventure to meet folks, make new friends and bargain...well...I've had such fun findng things for our home. 

It's become a hobby and it spills over to my children.  I love to let my girls share in my finds.

 

Thanks again, Marty!

 

Love n' hugs,

Mona 

~A STRESSFUL WEEK..BUT ENDING IN FUN..~

On a day to day basis  I don't think there is much that makes one suddenly sit up straight and feel the blood run from their face!  Something in my brain screamed "OH NO!  This CANNOT happen!" ..but it had! 

I could not sign on to...anything!  No Internet Explorer, no AOL, no Google Chrome, no ANYTHING! 

I could see three years..or something like that, gone! Lost!  All my pictures..my blog..my cyber life..gone!!

Thank heavens for phones..that worked!

What a hopeless feeling.  Of course after trying all sorts of things like calling AOL, calling our provider and  I called on Patient Husband for advice.  He said, "just wait until tomorrow and I'll think of something." 

Had the man gone MAD?!  I had no computer!  I couldn't blog, I couldn't read my email, I couldn't do...anything!  And it was only 5pm!  I wanted help and I wanted it NOW! 

To make a LONG story short, we finely bought a program from our provider that fixes computers.  It would cost $49.00 for a one time fix or 15.00 per month for a year.. After that, who knows!

I bought it!!

It took four hours on the phone..it seemed fixed for a few hours and then BLAM, it crashed once again.

The following morning I was up very early calling the provider and signing up for the service.

It still took two MORE days but ...I am was back on line... down again, another day gone..and finally by late Thursday, it had finally been ...so they say...fixed. 

We'll see! :)

So for nearly five days I was without my computer.  Intermittent service.  It seems alright now but I am insecure.  A bright spot?  Roses for our little red mailbox.  I found these today at my favorite thrift store!

Would you believe I've had this same plant for...about 8 or 9 years??  It has struggled..and at times I've thought it dead..but then a little spark of life and back it comes.  Now that's love!  It wants to stay with me I think.  :)

Here is another sweet little pale pink Geranium that I love.  I thought it was dead also..but..it just began to bloom and grow once again.  Bless it's little heart!

So...the point is that I've been able to get around to visit a bit here and there but I could not stay online long enough to post...I am sooooo far behind in just everything.

And of course, in the meantime, life is happening. 

But... I have some cute things to show you.  Well, at least to me... :)

At a garge sale I spied these little dutch shoes in one of my favorite colors..

And...they matched my newly painted patio table EXACTLY!  I am not usually a fan of "Dutch shoes" but..

:):):)  Price was three dollars..but..I WANTED THEM!  Someone else was looking over my shoulder..just waiting for me to put them down..I didn't haggle! 

Won't they be cute with maybe a delicate little plant in each one ...just sitting there ...on my patio table.  Excuse me.  OUR patio table! 

Yep..

I made up for it at the next sale..now this was on Friday..which is not our usual garage sale day..but..when you go for a ride..and there are signs...you stop.  Right?

25 cents!!  It's lovely!  The green is the reflection of the plant on my table.  It has numbers engraved on the back.  Looks like by hand...and Los Angeles..in someone's handwriting.

Then I found these little Gerber spoons.  NO idea why I buy these when I run across them..

Well...actually I do.  There will always be babies being born in my family.  A little Great Grandson is due July 4th and he will need something to eat with!  (after a fashion of course..)

I have more I will show you later..  What a neat day today was..and after a stressful week..it was so nice..

More later...I have to spend Sunday catching up on visits to y'all.  If you don't see me...give me a hollar and I'll hop over quick as a bunny..  :)

Have a wonderful and blessed Sunday!

Love,

Mona

~SWEET TABLE TOP DEALS..

There were so many garage sales..that at times we just parked the car and walked.

However..there was very little I found that I wanted or needed. 

Here are a couple of things..

..but first....

This little guy sat on a perch right in front of my living room window this morning.  Didn't move.

An half hour..no movement.  PH came to peek and said "is he breathing?"  I answered "dunno.."

another twenty minutes..and finally I couldn't stand it..and opened the screen door.

Walked right up to him..and ZOOM he was gone.  :)  What a nice start to our day!

After about four garage sales and nothing..following my visit to the sweet little cottage, I found these.

They are Corning's French White stoneware.  Not a flea bite..gorgeous..and..

...there were three of them!  Price? $2.00!  Yes, two dollars for all three and the lid.

Love it!

And books of course.   I found four, one of which I already have, but this one, The Painted House is to loan out.  Vivien Liegh has always interested me so I think I will enjoy this one.  Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is another I've wanted to read but have not come across in a garage sale.  Three were paper backs which I seldom buy..but I really wanted these books.  The Street Lawyer may be another one I give away.  I think I have it too.   No matter.  For 25 cents each..it's a deal!

A Zuchini, a squash and another tomato plant..for a dollar...yes indeed.  It's the beginning of my little big container garden on the patio.  I promised not to plant anything else...except these!  :)

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

We went out to breakfast (waffles) as I already told you, and right near the bakery is this little shop.  Gardeners Cottage...so I took a stroll through while waiting for my waffles and Patient Husband read the morning paper...Yeah..it's the kind of neat place where you can do that and be totally comfy!

I wasn't really shopping..I mean not REALLY, but you know how it is when you suddenly see something and it just grabs you?  Well, this tray did that. 

Problem??

I put my pretties on it and my pretty sort of disappeared ... I might add that I love trays!  Handy things, trays.

Oh..and before I forget...

I also saw this lovely dragonfly.  His wings are sort of sparkly and when you pull on him he bounces just like my li'l green frog. 

Nice day, Saturday. 

As I said, I didn't find much at the garage sales, but seeing that little house with the perfect front yard, chatting at Patient Husband and directing his parking etc...just made for an all around fun day..waffles topping it all off.

Have a wonderful, fantastic tomorrow.. :)

Mona

I'm joining Marty @ A STROLL THRU LIFE

Thank you Marty, for being the hostess with the mostess!

:)

(Wow, does that date me or what???)

~A BEAUTIFUL SATURDAY MORNING..~

Early Saturday morning and we were headed out.  A Reality Co. in Riverside was hosting the Wood St. sales which meant they put up all the signs and took them all down for the entire neighbornhood!

Me in my blue jeans..denim shirt, tennies and I'm ready to hit the road..

However..

...right off the bat I spyed this adorable little house and screamed said sweetly  "dear, could you please stop the car so I can take a few photo's?"  That's exactly what I said!  Just like that.  And the dear man SLAMMED on the brakes!  Just like that!

I LOVE the little front porch..and that old wicker porch swing!  Sooooo cute!

 I immediately jumped out of the car and rushed to the sidewalk.

A nice woman was out watering.  I complimented her on her lovely little cottage and asked if I could take a few pictures and, of course, she said yes!

Needless to say I already had my little red camera out all ready to snap away!

Not so sure she was overjoyed that I snapped a photo of her..but she was kind enough not to boot me off the property!  There was just so much to look at.

Exactly how I want my home to look. 

 Curb side and the front yard..all just manicured to perfection..

You must enlarge one more time to get the full benefit of the details of this yard.

 These little tulip lights are not all that rare, but the way she had them coming through the little box hedge that lined the red brick walk way was so nice. 
I wanted our patio in red brick but sometimes you have to give a bit..and Patient Husband wanted the flagstone..

Here at the edge of the street was this gorgeous little area with a concrete bench for a pause in the shade..and delicate pink roses to keep you company.  A tiny path led to the bench..



The difference in neighborhoods is interesting.  I say that because even the city favors certain area's more than others.  I shows in the attention they give the parkways, the tree's they plant and the way they maitain the different area's.  

Ours has never been a favored neighborhood.  It is odd, because just down the road and across our main street, things abruptly begin to change.   Why is that do you suppose?  I wish I knew more about city government and how it operated.  Perhaps I should educate myself on this. 

And do...

Tomorrow I will show you the few little things I picked up when we finally got back to the garage sales.  Not much...not for as many garage sales as there were!  But we had fun and that's what it is all about!  Having fun!

How was your weekend..did you stay home and enjoy or go out and enjoy?  We followed up the garage sales with a lovely waffle breakfast at our children's restaurant!  Thank you Cheryl and Pat!!

YUM!!

Luv'n hugs to you,

Mona

P.S.  I can do this yard thing!  Takes time, but I CAN do this! :)  Just one baby step at a time.