Blog posts I've enjoyed

(Picture: ___Ally via Flickr)

Where does the time go? I have so many projects to do and pictures to take and posts to post...for now I'll share a round-up of some posts I have really enjoyed recently:

Surprise benefits of an uncluttered life -- this is hub's and my goal in housekeeping. We want to have a comfortable house for us and one that is ready for guests whenever they should appear. We are still working toward this!

Do you have a big 'But...'? -- there are excuses for anything and everything in life. Nothing changes when we use excuses, but the potential for great things to happen when excuses are let go is just too big to ignore. I am working on getting rid of my big 'But...'!! Literally and figuratively!

Everyone can learn to be organized -- there is hope for me! Actually I've come a long way from where I used to be, and this post is very encouraging as I continue on my quest for organization in all areas of life.

Are you an unclutterer? -- not fully, but I'm working on it! Clutter can take on many forms, and I don't want to fool with any of them.

(Picture: Country Living via My Sweet Savannah)

~for the birds~ -- Oh, how I love bird cages! This post has some great eye candy.

You never know what will inspire you next. Keep your eyes open and notice the little things!

Oh, the conviction

(Photo credit: fensterbme)

So I got on the scale several weeks ago after not getting on the scale for several months because of a dead battery. The scale's dead battery, not mine. And I was NOT pleased with what I saw. And I already knew I'd been eating too much and that my clothes were feeling tight, so the number shouldn't have been a surprise, but don't we hold out hope that things will be different than we know them to be? In so many areas of life? I do. I still walk in the door after work hoping my fairy godmother has dinner all ready for us.


So I'm back to weighing in once a week, monitering my portion sizes and my calorie intake and fitting in exercise where I can. I still eat pretty much whatever I want; I just have to pay attention to how much I eat.


Several weeks ago I signed up for daily "Devotion for Dieters" emails from Crosswalk (they have all sorts of daily devotionals), and today's was REALLY good. Let me share it with you:


June 2

1 John 3:2-3
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.


Sometimes we fool ourselves into believing that to be like Jesus means to act like Him or think like Him or pray like Him, and we ignore that we should try to look like Him, too. We don't know that Jesus was thin, but we can be confident that He was not overweight, because He preached moderation and denounced gluttony. He cared for Himself, and He called others to care for themselves, also. How wonderful it would be to be able to stand face-to-face with our Lord and to mirror Him in both His spiritual and physical perfection!


Today's thought: When people look at me, I want them to see Jesus!

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Yikes! Is that clear and specific or what!

Here are some sites that I've found to be very helpful in my journey to learn about health and proper nutrition:


My Pyramid website
What Would Jesus Eat by Dr. Don Colbert


God, help me to drink my water today and savor my food and partake of the proper amount. I want people to see Jesus when they look at me!

1 Year of Pink Saturday!

Happy 1st Birthday, Pink Saturday! Beverly made Pink Saturday a group event one year ago, and aren't we glad? Check Beverly's site How Sweet The Sound for tons more posts on pink!
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I took a stroll through my archives to see what I could find...




June 2007: Pink suitcase, estate sale near Cross Hill, SC. I love how the light reflecting off the suitcase is turning the concrete pillar behind it pink. The lady who owned this suitcase also had...

A pink and purple kitchen! What a fun lady! This part of the house was closed to the public, so I got the best picture I could from a distance, and I'm pretty sure I got fussed at :)

Sunday, August 19, 2007: Orchids at the Palo Alto, CA farmer's market.

Thursday August 16, 2007: Glads (I think) at the Medford, Oregan farmer's market.

November 2007: The Birthday Queen, I mean, hubs trying out a wonderful pink product at Swoozie's in Greenville, SC.

May 30, 2009: Hubs will have his revenge in this life or the next when he finds out I've posted this picture.

What a wonderful Pink year its been! Thank you, Beverly!

Easter Egg Garland Swap

Jennifer of Artrageous Afternoon hosted an Easter Egg Garland swap several months ago, and after a great and yet-to-be-posted experience with a Valentine card swap I jumped at the chance to trade more paper art. We each decorated 5 eggs and sent them to Jennifer who shuffled them up, put them into banner form with a ribbon and teeny clothes pins and sent them back.

By Amy Wald

Who made this one?? It wasn't signed! And they went all out decorating side 1 and...

Side 2; lovely!

By Melinda of Melinda's Fabric Fancies; here's her post about some of the eggs she made.

By Joanna of Sweet Finds; here's her post about the eggs she made.

Who made this one??

Here are the eggs I contributed to the swap.

I had to make a 6th one for me to keep of course! As you can see I tend to be pretty precise in my paper art; I'm working on being a bit more relaxed and free form. It's a process, and I'm excited to see where I end up!

I wish that all the artists had labeled their Easter eggs; as you can see there are couple that were blank, so I have no idea who to thank.

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This was such a fun swap and now I have a wonderful piece to add to my Easter and spring decor. Thanks to Jennifer and to each of the talented ladies whose lovely Easter eggs I received!

Pink Saturday/Majestic Feathers Tag Swap

Happy Pink Saturday! Beverly has the full list of bloggers posting about pink this Saturday, so check it out!


Jenny of Fated Follies hosted the Majestic Feathers Tag swap calling for tags, and I quote, "decorated with fancy birds, royal hues, crowns and majestic notions." Oh that sounded fun, so I had to sign up!




I envisioned deep purple tags decorated with peacocks in royal blues and teals, sporting real feathers in their tails. I bought a bundle of peacock feathers on Ebay and was so excited until I noticed the (not so) fine print: they would be shipping from Hong Kong...and would arrive in about 2 weeks. Plan B! I found some fluffy white feathers and sparkly pink crowns had me envisioning bright yellow and pink tags featuring white birds. Of course these tags evolved in the creative process as art projects do and I ended up with these which I really like:

A little pink castle on the back of each tag livens up my contact info (written in pink, of course).

I can't wait to receive the tag booklet of 12 tags each done by a different artist!

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These tags show that the inclusion of other colors can actually serve to enhance our beloved pink. Doesn't it look even happier and more vibrant next to the cheerful yellow and the snowy white? I think so.

Happy Pink Saturday!

Mother's Day 2009

Before I start this Mother's Day post I need to recognize today, May 22, as a very special day and say Happy Birthday, Mom!

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Now on to the Mother's Day Brunch 2009 recap!

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The brother, the mother, me

This past Friday saw another yummy Mother's Day brunch and a very fun day for my mom and me.

We had:
Half and Half with Lemonade Ice Cubes
Blueberry Maple Breakfast Bake
Cardamom Citrus Fruit Salad
Kale with Pinto Beans and Roasted Red Peppers
Sage-Mustard Breakfast Sausage
Ricotta-Mascarpone Mousse with Balsamic Strawberries


It was all delicious! My notes for next time:

--The lemonade tea was a bit tart for me, so I would increase the simple syrup by another 1/4 to 1/2 cup. I didn't leave enough time for the ice cubes to freeze, so they were a bit liquidy. Next time I will make the lemonade and the ice cubes a day ahead.

--The blueberry maple bake was SO easy, SO delicious and looked very impressive; I assembled it the night before and put it straight into the oven an hour before lunch. I want to try it with whole wheat bread next time.




--Instead of cutting up all the fruit for the citrus salad I took a shortcut and mostly used drained canned fruit: citrus salad, red grapefruit and mandarin oranges. I did actually section one navel orange myself. The salad was great; yay, canned fruit! Next time I would make the salad the day before.



--This kale dish is SO good. I made it for dinner a couple weeks ago and both hubs and I liked it. I am always looking for ways to make our vegetables interesting and yummy, and this recipe is GREAT. Mom likes veggies, so I thought she might like this (she did!).




--Sausage was easy and yummy. I used powdered sage as my local store didn't have fresh sage. Next time I will either make the meat mixture a day ahead and cook the sausage right before lunch, or cook the sausages a day ahead and heat them up before lunch.

--OH MY GOSH...ricotta-mascarpone mousse + balsamic strawberries = HEAVEN. Absolute heaven. I had some of the left over strawberries and mousse for breakfast Saturday AND Sunday...so ridiculously good. This is a simple dish, and it looks all frou frou and impressive. And in case I didn't say, its delicious.





--Each time I host a dinner I see myself improving. From absolutely wigging out and darting around getting not much of anything done to this time working steadily without wigging out, I'm getting closer and closer to having the food on the table when I want to with an absolute minimum of stress. This time I made a timeline detailing when to do each step in the whole process, but I didn't plan enough time in for prep work (chopping things, etc...I chop really slowly), so I will give myself more wiggle room in my next timeline. I also left myself too much to prepare the day of the brunch. Next time I will prepare as much of the food as possible the day before, so that the day of I have very little to do and can spend more time on the details (presentation, table decoration etc).
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The little brother ("little" as in he turned 22 this year) came a bit early and hung out as he had to race back to work. Sadly Dad had to work, so he didn't make it to lunch. Hubs, mom and I had a relaxed time over our lunch talking about all sorts of things. Hubs took mom on a tour of our two vegetable gardens. Mom and I talked and looked at my blog; I let her read the entire first page before I told her no more, she could read my blog at her house, we had to go have fun now :) I presented her with a little gift bag containing a Mother's Day treat, and she wanted me to take a picture before she opened it, so we ended up outside on the front stoop. She wanted one of the pots of begonias I had planted to be in the picture, too (I swear, she's just about the cutest woman you will ever meet...she really takes delight in the small things like a pot of begonias her daughter managed not to kill), so she ended up sitting on the front stoop next to the pot. After a couple pictures I came and sat down as she opened her little treat (chocolate covered cherries from Italy! she loves choc covered cherries).


There we were sitting on the stoop looking out over the yard that is luxuriously shaded with not 1, not 2, but 3 of the cutest trees you'll ever see. The sky was blue with a few puffy white clouds, the birds were singing and a breeze was blowing. Cue another one of those moments where you just have to feel grateful for all God has given you.
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After we tore ourselves away from admiring the lovely day, I introduced her to Schwartzentruber's Bakery here in Abbeville; we left with danish for dad, wheat bread and slices of homemade cake (I got pound cake with lemon icing...it was soooo good). Then we trolled through our local video place and after much consideration we came away with Twilight (she hadn't seen it and wanted to). After a short drive around Abbeville we made one last very important stop: the ice cream shop. Can it really be girls' day without ice cream present? Ice creams in hand we headed home and settled in for the movie before she headed home. It was a lovely, lovely day! I don't remember the last time we spent time doing whatever we wanted without much of a deadline. I think she really enjoyed herself, and hopefully she felt very loved and celebrated.
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Here we are; and the begonias, too :)

Animal Abuse

Why is this dog wearing a chain and padlock around its neck?

This dog was playing with another dog in the parking lot at work as hubs and I left for lunch today. It was not a very big dog, maybe 30 pounds or so, and the chain was big. It looked to be a Pit Bull mix and the other one, who seemed to be wearing an actual collar, looked like a Beagle mix with a smidge of Basset Hound. Both dogs came right up to us when we whistled and were only too happy for us to love on them for a couple minutes.

Of course my mind jumps to dogfighting and assumes that this chain is evidence that this dog is being trained to make its owner money, because that is something that I have learned recently does happen in our area. I just don't understand how someone could treat an animal with so little respect. Gabby of Sweetest Pea recently talked about her soft spot for animals, and I could identify. It really hurts to think of animals who suffer at the hands of those they should trust to care for them. This type of activity happens when the rest of us do nothing; please check out the Humane Society's website to find out if there is anything you can do to help prevent animal abuse in your area.

Maybe this dog's owner simply thought it would be cool to replace this sweet pup's collar and tag with a chain and padlock. Again I ask, why?