Teddies and Roses Tuesday

Do you remember when Teddy Bears were the number ONE toy for Christmas gifts and stockings??? Every great-grandchild that entered into my Grandmother's family Christmas celebrations got a Big Teddy Bear!!! It was expected! :-)

I have always loved these antique worn looking Steiff bears...



And then you have your Boyd's Bears that have a little more fluff and fur to them, but still look pretty real.



And how about this Terry John Woods sweet Blue Bear???? OH I would love to have a blue bear...*('specially one made by Terry...but I think all of these are a BIT out of my budget!)



Well...enough dreaming about precious Teddies...

Let me introduce you to Rosie...



This worn little girl wearing a faded cotton-candy pink felt hat with roses was somehow discarded...She ended up in a Salvation Army store in Cedar Rapids, Iowa...all 15 inches of scruffy fur and sparkley black eyes...



She was not with the toys and children's items. She was on a shelf up front with a bunch of odd and end items. Lying on her back...But I saw her paws sticking straight up on the table...they were acting as a magnet, pulling me over...I went and saw this precious little well-loved face looking straight up at me.



"Well,this little bear was just meant to come home with me"...said I!

She was destined to grace the ROSE guest room. She will be the lovliest feather in there.

Here are a few of the twigs and fluff in this unfinished "Thrifted" room that are building it's personality...


This Rose painting on a unique textured canvas... (Salvation Army Store, also)



and this vintage Roses print. (Matthews Thrift Store - NC)


And this large pink Tole tray with white roses...not too shabby...a little scratched and a bit worn, but still lovely. (Goodwill Store - Cedar Rapids)


This is the only piece of my Grandmother's Kitchen Rose China that I have...one large platter. I feel privileged and blessed to have it. I still remember the dishes in her cabinet.
She was the Farmer's wife. She loved her flowers...and oh how I loved her...

I think Rosey adds the PERFECT touch to a room I hope will feel like it is from a by-gone era. I wasn't LOOKING for a worn out Teddy Bear for the room. She just appeared out of the blue one day with that sweet little Hat of Roses, and there you have it.... It is FUN to slowly put together a room by waiting and watching for just the right treasure to be discovered to complete the project. Life is about waiting....

How about you?

Do you have an OLD or at least WORN Teddy Bear sitting around somewhere in your house...showing signs of love, and hugs, and cherished wear-and-tear by little arms carrying it everywhere????

Hugs and Roses to all dropping by.


Have a Terrific Tuesday.

Merry Monday...

"The shortest distance between two people *(or three)... is a smile." ~ Author unknown

You know what to do on Merry Monday...Go out there and fulfill your MISSION! RAH!!

Hugs to all bloggy sisters dropping by...I am smiling at you.


"This is another day, O Lord. I know not what it will bring forth, but make me ready, Lord, for whatever it may be. If I am to stand up, help me to stand bravely. If I am to sit still, help me to sit quietly. If I am to lie low, help me to do it patiently. And if I am to do nothing, let me do it gallantly. Make these words more than words, and give me the Spirit of Jesus. Amen."

Saturday Snoozing

choices...choices...so MANY choices....sigh....I shall snooze on Mom's bed...no...wait...I want to drag the quilt up here for my head, and to hold in my mouth...no WAIT...I will haul the doggy bed in from the family room and drag IT up on the bed....
There...I think that is....."juuuuust right" said Goldilocks....errr I mean Kobester...

SIGH...

what a quirky dog...notice the glance he is giving me....(like WHAT?????!..haven't you ever seen a dog resting???)

Wherever you are, have a Sweet Saturday, and may you find whatever makes your day JUST RIGHT!!!!

Hugs to all.

Friday Favorites

Missed my FAVORITES last week!! {:-o

This Friday I am posting about a favorite morning breakfast treat!

Here she goes...

Add these items up for the answer to the equation.



PLUS



PLUS



EQUALS...



Yummy!!! BUT WAIT!!!! Don' forget what's in the parenthesis!!! ( )



Okay...Bottom Line ~ Grand Total = DELICIOUS!!!!

That is my Friday Favorite for this chilly LAST Friday of February....

Hugs to all. Have a Fabulous Friday as you start your weekend. Keep a Grateful Heart. It is a blessing to live in this nation of America...She is still Grand. There are still awesome remnants of Beauty and Wonder and Awe left in her...GOD BLESS HER...GOD PROTECT OUR TROOPS WHO ARE GIVING IT THEIR ALL TO PROTECT HER...


Amen... and Rah!

!! **Please ~ Asking prayers to be lifted up for the families of the Marines who were killed in a double Helicopter crash in California...They were in Training...We, as parents, know...Injuries ~ and yes, the possibility of Casualities can happen, even during the training exercises...It is always, always a path paved with prayer.... Thanks from a Marine Mom.

Thinking Spring....

SNOW on the way...again...I should look back and see how many times I have posted or Facebooked "It's snowing in Cedar Rapids..." since November of last year!! A mild winter it may have been - but I can't remember having so many incidents of snow in one Wintertime in my life! This being NO surprise since I lived in the South my whole life up to this past year...

Up to 6 inches forecast between this afternoon and tomorrow sometime...AND IT'S MOVING EAST! But it doesn't look to be moving towards my Peeps....SORRY Kit Kat...but don't give up... Keep the Faith! :-)

I'm going to move away from all this Winter WHITE stuff and have warm happy thoughts about COLOR!!! A Warm Summery Peachy Color...and a Beautiful Cerulean Sky Blue Color.

WHITE is so calm and neutral in our lives....Clean, like freshly fallen snow...BUT! ~ Sometimes TOO much white can almost seem sterile. I NEED my color!

This sweet little pop of color in my nest is another example of a serendipitous find...not EVEN looking or searching for it, but when in a thrift store one day...there it sat. And I reach for it, simply because my eye is delighted by the COLORS.


Do You SEE it???


Four cup and saucer sets. SO pretty...loved the glazed look...**(LOL..when my eyes saw the price...{$1.38 each}...my EYES were probably glazed over more than the finds) A woman walks up to me and gives a thumbs up and says, "THOSE are HIGHLY collectible...awesome find"... REALLY? I reply...She gets upset that the name for it has slipped her mind, as she deals in antiques, but I don't mind.


On the drive home, I tell myself to send a pic and ask Nancy, my Marine Mom sister- Go-To gal about anything like this. She knows something about EVERYthing. (All I know is that it is lovely, and is stamped Made In Japan, in red on the bottom) She WILL know what it is called. LUSTREWARE she responds back to me...right away. OH! I have heard of that for sure...just don't keep up with it. Nancy says I Did GOOD! Okay, that's solid confirmation.

And so a DEAL....a POP of color...a Thrifted Treasure graces the nest. And Serendipity visits again.

If you are anywhere in the Central Plains or the Midwest these next two days....and you get hit with a wall of white....think SPRING...warm juicy peaches...



Beautiful blue skies with white lazy puffy clouds floating across, and YOU...sitting in the sun, soaking up some RAYS and Vitamin D...maybe sipping on some good old-fashioned homemade Lemonade...

I Know that's where I'll be. Let the dawgs have their romps in the snow...I'll be smiling at their frolics as I dream of patches of flowers in my yard.

Snow in your back yard? STAY WARM!

Sun on your back? Soak some in for me... xoxo

It's Possible....Really...

It is Wednesday - February 22, 2012. The high for today in Cedar Rapids, Iowa is 50 degrees..... FIFTY!!!! Woot! (can't move away from this statement without reporting that there is snow and freezing precipitation forecast again for tonight...but we shall take what we can get...A mild winter here - as well as for the rest of the nation, from what meteorologists are saying)

Monday night I walked to Bible Study. It meets in a home on my street. A group of 8 fabulous girls....studying, tackling, tearing apart the works and words of Beth Moore. Using Scriptural study to learn about BREAKING FREE of strongholds on our lives that we may or may NOT be aware are affecting us today. Cycles ~ Patterns ~ Baggage ~ Attitudes....oh my... It is GREAT stuff...difficult at times...emotional at times. but GOOD.

Okay - now where was I? oh yes...(sometimes I digress in my posts...yep)... SO I walked to Bible Study just a few houses down...And when the study was over and the door was opened...SURPRISE! Snow everywhere...and so I walked home with white wet snow falling all around me...only porch lights shining...it was nice.



The next morning there was only a little evidence that it had snowed the night before....NOW THAT is the kind of snow I like. :-)

Just for fun...I am posting a blog today with my peeps in mind...the ones over on the Southeast side of the USA...who are experiencing 65 -70 degree days...

Hey gang... this one's for you....Do you remember this STUFF???

March 1, 2009.














**oh my...a lot of memories and emotions flood over me looking back at these photos from the Cottage on Woodberry.....

Enough of THAT!..so peeps...SNOW CAN HAPPEN in Charlotte...in North Carolina...even as late as MARCH FIRST!!!!...so don't give up yet. :-)

One OOO-RAH statement to end this post...

The ticket is purchased.

The Marine is coming to Iowa...oh it will be brief and bittersweet....but we will enjoy every moment of it. I hope he does too.

HUGS to ALL!!!

Merry Monday Musings...

Good Monday Morning ....it is! MERRY Monday Morning....Today in this little corner of Blogland I have a beautiful SMILE coming from Tibet to grace my post...



She is precious! Enough to make my smile wake up! Childhood Innocent Bliss ....It inspires. :-)

REMEMBER: A smile is a girl's best makeup!

Random Musings to post here in the Cedar Rapids corner of my world...

The Cedar Valley Christian basketball team entered the basketball semi-finals last Thursday night for the WIN!..They move on to the next game this week. It is very contagious and a dose of sheer fun to watch the student area of the bleachers get pumped and excited and do all of their moves and cheers....EXCITEMENT and ENERGY!:-)



I heard from MY MARINE!!! Their BLT workup and certification is complete. They are back on land. Now we await his pre-deployment leave...(bittersweet it is)...but we are anxious to spend time with him. Kurt has not seen Justin in 10 months and it has been 6 months for me...that's close to a deployment timeline!!!! We anticipate his visit to Iowa.


One of the last photos I have of Justin at Woodberry Cottage...and this little furry guy will be soooo excited...it will be a hoot to see how the dawgs react when Justin comes here for the first time...

When I pull the blinds up every morning - this sight still makes my heart beat fast -Never Fails....



Joining this Liberty Inspiration for me today, is a new little treasure from a GW...(of course) A suncatcher of this group of feathered friends...I took the hanging chain off and sat them on the ledge to oversee the impish Scottie trio...



The expressions on these little birds' faces makes me SMILE!

A solid fact still remains in my life.... I absolutely L*O*V*E the color Blue!



This lamp is SO pretty with it's Robin's Egg shade of blue...it's a favorite...Do any of you have these Ginger Jar style lamps?...They seem to come and go in the fashion world of decorating...but I know that they are a long-time Classic!! Something that never goes out of style. Top it with a newer shade if you must, but the lamps are keepers!



Once I got Da Man and Da Man Jr. out on their way this morning, I went back to do some ironing..I love the smell of the hot iron on Cotton...definitely the "ironing scent". :-) This cutwork cloth was the ending part of a wall project in a guest room.



I have wanted to hang my blue floral "Rachel Ashwell shabby chic" comforter on the wall. (2.99 at GW in Charlotte...You Can NOT beat that!) It had rested on the end of the bed. I took a curtain rod that made the move here to Cedar Rapids with us, and hung that first. Then I hung the quilt, then topped it with the sweet table cloth.


YES! ~ Just what I was envisioning...I love it when a plan (image) comes together!
And the quilt now on the end of the bed (there at the bottom of the photo) was one my great-grandmother made out of feed sacks. My mama gave it to me! I am grateful...


THIS is definitely a sentimental treasure!!! And it has a LOT of bright colors in it - must not forget the PURPLE!!! I needed that color to tie in a pair of vintage chairs that are in this room.


Believe me when I say - these chairs may look deep blue but in reality they are a ROYAL PUPLE! I love this style of chair - Cane Bergere! I have another Blue one in the Living Room that has the cushion slip covered, because everybody knows Woobie has claimed it as his...

I need to get moving! This e-journal of events and projects is stretching out TOOO long...My computer is SO slow again, and sometimes I wrestle about whether to even make an entry..if too many priorities are on the list...the blog goes to the back burner lately...

But I do want to remind everyone who may pop by here for a quick visit...to SMILE!! It looks so splendid on you...beautiful! and thanks for continuing to lift up our heroes all over the world who are making a difference for us back in America...whether we think about it or not... If you see a soldier, a veteran, a military person today....give them a smile...in fact don't be shy...go up and stick out your hand and thank them for their service....I did this in Sam's Club last Friday to a Senior gentleman who was wearing an Air Force veteran hat...He gave me the biggest smile back. Let them know....you appreciate them and their service and sacrifice....whether past or present....

RAH!... Have a Blessed Merry Monday!!! {{{HUGS}}} to all my bloggy sisters.