Tuesday 4

Welcome to Tuesday 4, inspired and kept up in memory of Toni Taddeo. Hosted by Annie!

This week, let's talk about home.

1. Do you like the way your home is decorated or would you tweak things a bit if budget allowed? 

I do like  it the way it is; it feels cosy and homely to me!

2.. Do you have any plans/dreams to change anything about your home ?For the last several years all we could think of was redoing our  very small downstair bathroom  and  the kitchen..  Finally, in 2015 we  did the kitchen..it  was ,and  remains,  small,    as  was the style in the 1930's when our home was built. We used the same footprint, but upgraded it  a bit!

   

                                            Before                                                      After

                                 

                                   

Since  then we have  replaced the stove and microwave with 

  stainless steel...  just can't find a photo!

 I know  that the paint color for the cabinets looks almost the same, but it isn't all.  I t is a color I love that changes with the time of day.  I t can look almost a colonial green,  then it is  a taupe,  and    sometimes it is  a  creamy coffee..I love the color..  

I love my  computer station right here in the kitchen. the heart of the home!!

  

 Our  bathroom was  hideous. so small you had to step over the toilet to get to the shower!

We had a storage closet  right beside the bathroom, so we   bought  this storage  cabinet to house the needed items  from that closet

and incorporated the closet space into the bathroom so  with  added  extra width!

By adding the  stick built  wainscotting, it  gave this small  bath a stylish  glamour which I now  really love!!

3. What style of furniture do you have or want  to have in your home and why?

We started out with    everyone's   hand me downs... some  nice things and with others we made do!  We called our style early attic... I suppose it was  characterized as country.. bleah!!  Then I fell in love with Victorian when we moved here..  the window treatments  went with it and   I was  working with   green carpet and cranberry, pink and mauve  accent colors...   It  was a change and I tried to say it was my style.... 
 But when I retired  I received  a painting   of a medieval  chapel  from my oils  master teacher.  It was then I realized that my  most beloved style was Olde English  with  medieval  accents. It was so much fun to create the look  incorporating some of what I already had..  and    changing  up  the upholstered  furniture   with new  colors and patterns.Then I set about  collecting fun items from  consignment shops and    antique stores.  

Photos from various seasons!!

4. Tell us about your ideal dream house or dream kitchen if you prefer.

I live in it!

Happy Homemaker

Well, it was a great weekend.  On Saturday hubs and I went out and walked the track  and saw a couple of friends   from a distance! Then  Sunday service online was  great...  but Sunday night was the best. we did a zoom  prayer meeting.  We got to see our friends from church and  pray for one another! It surely does making a new week of quarantine much easier to  bear!!

Welcome to Happy Homemaker

by Sandra!

What is your weather:::

Man,  did the winds of March howl last night..  even though it had been a hot day the night was  rather  chill. We had the windows open and sometimes the wind really made the shutters clatter!! I'm glad the temps look  more seasonal this week..  I'm not ready for 80's!

How I am feeling this morning~

I am a little  concerned about my new normal.. I have gotten rather caught up watching old tv programs I used to love and  it  gets me  into a late start of my day... I rationalize that I don't watch that much evening tv so watch it , besides, I   really like the programming!  

I'll list below the programs Heehee

On my mind~

I have some more calls to make today..  We were  really encouraged at church to  show love and concern for  others and I am taking that one seriously!

On the breakfast plate~

Hubs made his  delicious coffee and fruited yogurt this  morning.
He is the best!

On my reading pile~

The book of James, in association with an online study of James by Jen Wilken!

Also, studying the book of Judges.

On my TV~

No judging now,  but here‘s the morning programs I have  started watching:
Leave It to Beaver, 
Tales of Wells Fargo
Laramie

Otherwise: When Calls the Heart
Call the Midwife
Youtube vlogs on travel

On the menu this week~

Leftover    Spaghetti
Last week hubs had taken some leftover  pasta chicken out of the freezer and we ate on that for days it seemed....  so I can still do the following
Caesar salad with  chicken tenders

BBq pork loin and cole slaw

Hamburgers on the grill and fries
Fish sandwish po boys and  sweet potato fries

From the camera~

I love facetime with our girls!

Looking around the house~ 
Confession time::

I have been dreading taking care of the guest room where I keep my clothing..  It is a wreck... Clean clothes piled high on the bed...   and things not put away for  probably a month  ...

  partly due to my   sickness and  inability to get around much,  but now it is just that I  dread getting into it!  I figure if I write about  it  I will at least get some of it done this week so I can write about that next time!

Chore I'm not looking forward to today or this week~

see above

To relax this week, I will~

Hopefully, take a book or magazine out on the porch and have a cup of tea!!

That is if the pollen isnt too bad!  

On my prayer list~

Our president for protection, wisdom, courage, strength of body, clarity 

For our government for transparency, truth, justice, and doing the jobs they were sent to do! Guide them in the continuing decisions  they need to make to protect the country and  our economy.

For this coronavirus to stop  in its tracks and not spread any more...  Lord, protect the elderly and those  in compromised health situations. Protect the health providers and the families where  the virus  is bringing suffering. And Father, speak to the hearts of those who refuse to take this seriously and refuse to
stay home.. Not counting the many who necessarily must be out and about..  but those who in rebellion choose  not to...  They are  not only putting others at risk, but are prolonging the  time of the virus! I pray thst this week we will begin to see a decline in the numbers.
Thank you for the front line folks who are helping to stem the tide of the virus.   Medical staff,  ENt's,  janitors,  custodians,  food providers and  servers,   truck drivers who are     tirelessly trying to g et supplies to those who need them.. any who are    on the front lines  who face off with the virus  on a daily basis!  Protect them, Father!

For those I know and don't know who are suffering with debilitating and worse conditions and sicknesses.. for healing, strength, perseverance, find the joy in their suffering.. especially my dear friend, Jan, who now daily must brave going into the hospital everyday alone (without her husband) for radiation.  how daunting to be so compromised yet must  do this daily for the next 45 days!

For the mess in our General Assembly to get straightened out.. peacefully and with godly wisdom 

The lost in these divers places 

For God's mercy to hover over the earth and give people rest and the forbearance to continue to persevere in their trials and testings! 

Devotional/Bible Verse~

I saw this on facebook and thought it was very uplifting

https://www.facebook.com/MarcianoAndCompany/videos/890353981401829/

if you copy and paste it it will play...  words cannot adequtely describe    this.. many  folks who have seen it like myself  have  cried over it!!  Good tears!

Sunday Stealing

Hosted by  Bev Sykes. . Welcome to Sunday Stealing. 

Bev's  friend, author, artist and theater critic Alec Clayton decided to write a series of more complicated questions to answer during this coronavirus time, when we are all looking for something to do if we are staying home. She thought his questions intriguing.

1. If there's a personal god, what quality would you most like that person to have (and why)? 

Well, there is a great God, the God of the Universe,  the Creator of the world.  Because of His great mercy and love He provided a means for us to  know Him in a personal way. John 3:16.  His being surpasses  more than   one  attribute,  for He is all-knowing, all-present, all- powerful.   At the same time He is all love, mercy, compassion, grace.  He is, also,  completely holy,    and without  saving grace  through  believing on the death and resurrection of His perfect son, Jesus Christ,  we would not have access  to Him  for He cannot look upon sin!Unless we  repent and turn from our sinful self reliance  and wicked ways, ..believe Jesus did what the Bible said He did,   and  trust Christ as Savior, , then we are lost.  But  why wouldn't  anyone choose to accept  these truths and be saved?  That is beyond my understanding.

2. What's your death-row meal? 

I do not think I could eat,  and if I did I'd  probably feel very ill all night!

3. Assuming we make it through this outbreak with minimal loss of life, what do you think our big takeaway should be?

Appreciate  the wonderful opportunities we  have,  support    those businesses that have  given us  those opportunities like shops,  restaurants,  schools, churches, etc..and hopefully we come out  trusting God and  loving Him even more!

4. Whom do you find yourself missing more than you would've predicted?

Well, I can see and talk to all of those who mean the world to me  just as I usually can,online.   I miss  going out to eat with dear friends like Dot, Bill, Gerri, and David.  We didn't get to go out to eat  on our monthly  dinner with Lynn's cousins so I miss them.

5. What brings you the most joy? Not happiness, not contentment -- JOY.

Enjoying    times around the Word of God with  my church family, and  being with my daughter and grands.

6. Do you find yourself regretting anything you've said or done on social media?

yes

7. What are your favorite and least favorite things about your body and face?

 Favorite-  I hope I respond to people with a loving smile... I have  lovely hands just like my mother

least favorite,,  my out of shape body  and    extra pounds

the double chin I inherited from dad ...even  had it  as a child and I was  pretty  skinny

8. and your life?

I am grateful for  everything in my life.. it either came to me    through the God's ordained or permissive  will...  I accept it all  as being for  my good...

9. How's the self-isolation affecting your libido?

What is that?  Ha

10. Which three places in the physical universe would you most like to visit?

My feet are best suited for the ground. so I prefer earth... Yorkshire Dales and Cotswolds, 

Stirlingshire, Perthshire, and Invernessshire regions of Scotland, and Braunschweig, a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, all places from which I hail, according to Ancestry.com.

11. On whom did you have a crush years ago? Have you ever told them?

I had a long term crush on the  western star, Robert Fuller..  and yes, I did meet him as a teenager and got to tell him,  at which time, he actually kissed me on the cheek!

12. How have your religious views changed since you were in high school?

I am a new creature in Christ, I am forgiven  for all sins  from my past and future, and I do  bring my  sins before God  seeking his  forgiveness and restoration.  for I do not wish anything to separate me from  His presence.  My hope now is in heaven.

13. If you could change one law, what would it be?

I would change the Constitution to  make Congress  have term limits.

14. If you could add one commandment to the original ten, what would it be?

I do not feel comfortable messing with God's  law.. even though Christ came to fulfil the law,  we are not to add  anything to His  written Word!

now if I could  add back an element to blogger, I would reinstitute   the spell checker!

Saturday 9

Welcome to Saturday 9. Hosted by Sam!

Everybody's Somebody's Fool

 Saturday 9: Everybody's Somebody's Fool (1960)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

None of this week's questions mention the corona virus. However, if you want to share how you're feeling about Covid-19 at this extraordinary time, please feel free to do so. 

1) Next Wednesday is April Fool's Day. Do you have any pranks planned? Do you expect to fall victim to any April Fool's Day mischief? I have nothing planned, but hubs is going a bit home bound crazy so I don’t put anything passed him!

2) When she was a kid, Crazy Sam would fool her mom by putting bubble wrap under the bath map so there would be a POP! when her mother stepped on it. When you encounter bubble wrap, do you always indulge in a pop or two? Absolutely,  I love bubble wrap.

3) While we're using this song to celebrate April Fool's Day, it was written about another subject entirely: heartbreak. The lyrics tell us that at some point, we each get our hearts broken by someone who doesn't love us as much as we love them. Do you think that's true?Well, I’m not sure the feeling was actually love.  I believe we thought it was love, but once true love strikes we immediately know the difference.  I believe that anytime we had expectations that went unmet, the rejection coupled with the let down of expectation was crippling to a immature heart.  I experienced this a few times in my predating years. Say age 13-15. Once true love was requited, no more.

4) In 1962, this week's featured Connie Francis published a book aimed at teens called For Every Young Heart. It addressed topics like going steady and schoolwork vs. social life. Do you ever read advice columns or self-help books?  I used to love the advice columns in say Seventeen magazine.

5) Connie Francis can play the accordion. Sam has never met anyone adept at this complicated instrument -- not even in her high school band. What about you? Do you play the accordion, or do you know anyone who can? I had a young friend in hs who played the accordion. Sadly, she developed a kidney disease and died senior year. 

6) In 1960, when this record was popular, Harper Lee's classic To Kill a Mockingbird was published. Have you read it? Several times.... a personal favorite!

7) Also in 1960, one of Life magazine's best-selling issues had Sophia Loren on the cover. At that time, she was an international film star and considered one of the world's most beautiful women. Who do you consider one of 2020's most beautiful women?Perhaps I am too old to take notice.  I can tell you I would judge beauty on the basis of inner beauty more than what is pushed on society like sex appeal.  The first person I thought of is Kate Middleton,   She is the real deal in my opinion.

8) A 1960 issue of Vogue acknowledged how expensive it had become to maintain a fashionable wardrobe and asked, "If you were to buy only one thing, what would it be?" If it's good enough for Vogue, it's good enough for Saturday 9: If you could purchase only one new article of clothing for spring 2020, what would you buy?  An exciting accessory, either a necklace earring set or a wonderful scarf to jazz up my old wardrobe.. I’m gradually losing weight and passing old clothes on, and very gradually replacing articles of clothing.  I do not wish to purchase too much, but it surely is  great to root out old items that do not work anymore!

9) Random question: When someone makes you really angry, are you more likely to respond with stony silence or a big noise? Definitely, stoney silence.  

Clear Skies and Budding Trees

  Visit  our host at Skyley.

Clear skies and budding trees!
It's Spring!