~THINK BEFORE I TITLE MY POSTS...~

I really must remember that from now on! Thanks, Rebecca! LOL
My original title today was "use it or lose it..." NOT good! :) I meant painting...lol..I really did!

See that little foot stool? Well, a long time ago, I bought it from my best friend who was moving away. Well, actually, she and her husband decided to travel full time in their motorhome (never could do that!) and they sold nearly everything they had and this was one of the items. It's good solid wood..and ever since I got it I've been meaning to paint it...some color. I painted it white once...and it got kicked around a lot in my kitchen..and finally...

...this morning when I got up, I decided today would be the day. So sweet husband went off to Home Depot and bought some more red paint...my favorite red!
After I painted it...it seemed to need something...so I got out my little bottles of paint..and found out quickly that I was OUT OF PRACTICE! Yikes! Would you look at that? I can't even paint grass anymore..


...that's a little better..but not much...

...but I kept trying and finally decided to quit while I was ahead.
...and settled for a few daisies. I need LOTS of practice...
That old saying is right..."use it or lose it!" :)

Love and hugs from "ye auld master painter". *giggle*
Monet ...OOPS!
I mean,
Mona

~SUNFLOWERS AND SON~

The View...

...from the pool..

...and the afternoon visiting around my son's pool..

....the sunflowers that nearly surrounded us..




And then of course there was dear eldest son...napping...
It was an exciting day! :)

Peace! Exactly what we pray for.. *smiles*
Mona

~GOD BLESS AMERICA~

~SECONDHAND ROSE HERE..~

BETWEEN NAPS ON THE PORCH has some of the most glorious tablescapes you will ever see anywhere! If you haven't seen them, but surely you have, do go take a peek! You will be amazed!

Well, not everything is secondhand.
But...I did make a sinful meal tonight. A large pork roast with baked beans and a tossed green salad. Jammin'bread huge cupcakes with Vanilla Bean ice cream on top.
So...I wanted to use some of my favorite dishes...and I did. Even a bit of candlelight. The candlestick was won on a giveaway. Lucky me!

The dishes are Neiman Marcus. "Rooster" is the name of them by Queen's china co.
The flatware is by Towle and I love it. I don't recall the pattern. The little teapot napkin rings are silver plate and were gift from my daughter, Mary. Well, not exactly a gift.
She was going to give them to Goodwill and I rescued them. She "rescues" a lot of things from me too...and usually things that do NOT need rescuing!
The apples? Who knows. They just looked nice sitting there so left them.
The placemats with the open cut were just beautiful and I bought them at a garage sale. I bought six of them and the price was almost nothing. They are my favorites.
The pretty little etched glass in the pictures were bought at an estate sale, 10 for $6.00. I think they are from Princess House...but who knows. They are crystal and just beautiful.
The footed tray was also a garage sale item and it was $1.00. The silverplate service was $6.00 at another garage sale. I bought twenty eight napkins for $5.00 at the same garage sale.

Daughter Mary carted off a dozen of them. No matter, I have plenty left. :)
I tend to buy my things at garage sales as some the of stores that sell things for such great prices are not near me. Bummer, huh? :)

Well...that was fun! Have a great Thursday and those of you with all that wonderful rain..send some our way..ok?
Love and hugs,
Mona

~JUST PERFECT...~

I love to find great recipes that some of our bloggers share, print them out and save them. As of last Saturday, for just 50 cents, I found the perfect way to keep them. No more printing folding and sticking in other cookbooks. It was brand new! Never been used. I was delighted!

(if you are interested in getting one, I just found them online. Just type in the name of the book and it will pop up for a very reasonable price!) :)
I found this absolutely great notebook put out by Betty Crocker to save my recipes in. I usually use a recipe box..and of course I will keep the one I have, however...
This is just so sweet. I love it!
Like a regular cookbook, it has the usual..
..but it has little special things like sheets of plastic to protect the pages...
..and what cute pages they are! There are a lot of them but you can also print more, as many as you like! Nice? :)
I loved the colors, the checks and the little decorative pictures on each page.
You can cut out recipes from magazines and glue them on, and be as creative as you want, like a scrapebook!
You can print out a recipe such I have done, from October Farm, perforate it and ...


just find the right catagory it fits and add it...or...
...just slip it into this handy dandy pocket provided on each page!!
Would you just look at those adorable polka dots on both the front and back page?? :)
I LOVE it when I find something that is so useful! I can put it right up there on my counter with the rest of my cookbooks and know exactly where that recipe I cut out of that magazine or printed from a favorite blog, is!

It's one of those neat little things in life that make me smile. :) Yes indeed!

Soo...what do you think? Do you like it? I hope so!!

Love and hugs,

Mona

I joined A SECOND TIME AROUND today. Please visit Diane at
A PICTURE IS WORTH A 1,000 WORDS and see what others have to share. You could get a great idea..yep!

~ANYTHING GOES...~

....as long as it goes with red!
And pink is a color that for me...goes perfectly! It's funny, because I didn't used to think so.
My little kitchen timer...

...and if you have seen it before....well, darn it, look at it again!! :)

My favorite clipboard..however, when something is clipped to it, you can't see the blasted roses!

My collections of file folders. Everytime I find some with pretty roses, I buy them..and therefore..

I have a lot of them to go with my file holders behind my desk. LOVE IT!

And my desk phone? Roses of course!

A sweet blogger I bought something from enclosed this with my purchase.

This little desk organizer is a favorite. Books, etc. on top, and drawers for small things below.
(I need to do some serious sorting...and soon.

I love these for magazines or papers or whatever needs a place to rest before filing..

And that's it for now. I wanted to join Beverly for Pink Saturday, but I realized I had to register at a certain time on the EAST coast not the west coast..so I missed out.
I love Tootsie's Fertilizer Friday...but..missed that too.
Then, alas and alac, I couldn't join the rush to join the Bloggerette Sorority! Now that one really hurt! Yes it did! I couldn't think of a single thing to do with that cute old photo..so...I'll just go see what others did with it! (I'm feeling SOOO left out and I'm very sad. I wanted to be SOMEONES Bloggerette "sista"...*sigh*

I'll try to do a thing for Monday. How's that..or...I could tell you a story...or?
Never mind. I'll think of something. Have a great weekend!
I love you guys!
Mona

~ROCK? PAPER? It really doesn't matter...~

Today is our SECOND anniversary! What is that one..paper? Rock? Well for me it's a box of See's Candy..and a precious card.
We are only 73 and 76...so please do plan to join us when we celebrate our 50th! Ok? :):)
Love and hugs,
Mona

~WANNA SEE WHAT I FOUND...OK..BOUGHT?~

How I love those treasure hunts!

Our Garage Sale Saturday began with nothing. The first couple...were TRUE junk! I thought the first yard just needed a good cleaning and that someone had put the signs up as a joke!
No..I am serious! That really did pass through my mind. :)

We didn't plan on staying out until noon as we usually do. An hour and a half later we were about to go home when things began to look up..

I am always in the market for good frames at very cheap prices. This one was a bit more than I like to pay at $1.00! But...it was worth, it so into the trunk it went!


And this sturdy dyed red basket caught my eye for just 25 cents. The sweet little cookie plate was too great to pass up for another quarter..and also the old video's at .25 each. I have been searching and hoping to find "All About Eve" and there it was! I kept my VCR...so I love to find old classic films and spend an afternoon curled up watching them. Another dollar spent at this garage sale...I was not doing too badly...as I didn't have an agenda except to NOT spend much. (Famous last words!)


And books! I am always on the look out for books. I found four hardbound ones (a couple for great grandson) and two for me. Nice. .50 cents each! Yippee! I was on a roll!



I loved this little lamp with it's shaded leaf and floral design on the shade....so muted.
It is made of very heavy iron...and even came with the light bulb. Sweet little rope design...

I loved the soft colors of red, green and gold...



And here it is all lit up...


And then..OH JOY! A perfect little table for...um...somewhere!
To paint or not to paint. The stain is much too deep into the wood to remove it..and yes I could cover it with a doily or whatever ...but.. decisions, decisions!!

I had seen this little table and the lamp at one of garage sales but passed them by, then when I couldn't get them out of my mind..we backtracked trying to find it. Up one street and down another...and finally..there they were...I was really fortunate they hadn't sold.
Ever tried to backtrack when going to garage sales? Felt that urgency to rush, and it's one wrong street after another? Frantic that it will be sold by the time you find it??? Have you?

$3.00 for the lamp and $20.00 for the table. Not bad at all..but Sweet Husband was beginning to look nervous...so it was off to our favorite place for breakfast. I think it was the $20 that sent him over the edge. I noticed his hands were beginning to shake as he took that $20.00 out of his wallet. LOL Poor baby!

Of course it was another pot of beans when it was a "JOHN DEER" bike for $175! I mean, what the heck??!! At a garage sale no less! :) Please remember, he only shook, he didn't say anything! Gotta love that man!

Gosh the coffee tasted good...and the ice cold orange juice! So what do you think? Should I paint it?? The table, I mean...

Love and hugs,
Mona