Just Sittin' Here Daydreaming

One of the things I love most about this mission for my Church is just being able to sit here taking calls while I blog! I'm so loving this. We all need to serve in some way and this is my small way in helping people.

Having been the highest paid woman in a very top Fortune 500 company, you would think this is beneath my capabilities. Noooo, it is not! When we serve our fellow man we are serving our God. I know it's hard to believe someone so humorous—ME—can be very religious, but I think God loves humor. After all, he gave us teenagers, didn't he? *Smirk*

Today, I give you more photos of English kitchens, which are very homey. I love the look of them and the coziness they exude. Isn't this window arrangement just lovely? I like the cheerfulness it brings.

I am a big devotee of mismatched chairs.

These next two photos are the same kitchen if you can believe it, huge by my standards, but just scrumptious.

I have a pantry but nothing near what this larder is.

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A group of us women had lunch together a couple of weeks ago and the subject of sociopaths came up. Yes, I know, it's a strange subject to come up but I had a question about something else—narcissism—and that segued right into sociopaths. One of my friends is a licensed psychologist so she was more than willing to answer a question. So I told them my first experience with a sociopath—and hopefully, my last!

Our decision to move to Idaho was a fluke caused by the 1989 earthquake in San Francisco. We arrived here and bought a small business and retained the one employee of that existing business. (This was a total lifestyle change for us, trust me.) That woman was the best salesperson I'd ever seen. If someone walked through the door, it was rare that she would not get the sale. She was that good. The problem was she was a sociopath as I found out later.

She never had access to our finances but she got around that in other ways. One was giving our product away at our cost. She apologized and we lost a great deal of money, but she was our employee so we bit the dust on that one.

Then she would lie and tell people in that small town that we were doing things we were absolutely not doing. She could look right at you and lie and you'd believe her before me. It was truly mind boggling. But she was so believable that it almost destroyed our reputation. Come to find out she had been in prison for embezzlement. Then one day the Secret Service showed up and asked us about her! She had been using a credit card belonging to a friend of hers in another state. That is a federal crime. Talk about shocked. While this woman wasn't a very attractive lady, if she had fixed herself up and dressed more stylish, she could have been a millionaire in selling.

At that time a new friend, whose husband was a psychologist, (Why have most of my friends or their husbands been in the mental health field?) and I were talking while sitting at a park one day and I told her the story. That's when I found out about sociopaths. She told me that's what sociopaths do. They have absolutely no conscience of right or wrong. It certainly enlightened me and I am much more guarded around people now. Our church excommunicated her and the leaders came to me and hubby and talked about it but we assured them she didn't have access to our finances. But it is kind of sad when someone with such a skill as selling does things like that when they could be so successful honestly.
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Just a few Random Thoughts for today:

Embarrassing moment: The other day I was on Skype with another missionary who was helping to train me doing this mission. I hadn't even combed my hair that morning as I wear a headset when sitting here taking the calls. I started picking my nose and several minutes later I realized we were on video chat! Talk about embarrassing. So be careful when you are skyping with someone. I have my preferences set so no one can video me without me clicking on Video. I screwed up that day for sure. I didn't know what to say. Deer in the headlights?! So quiet I could hear my brain cells dividing?! Yep, all of the above.
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Am I perfect because I'm a Christian? Nuuuuu, I am as imperfect as people come. I don't dance with the devil but he sure signs my dance card frequently!
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Next time I think I'll talk about padded bras.
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Pink Saturday 1/7/2012 English Country Rooms

Happy Pink Saturday once again and thanks to Beverly for hosting it. Visit all that you can or at least one new one you've never visited before. Have fun!

Click on the logo below to see what it's all about.
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Here I've shown some scenes from English country life. I love England and the British Isles, but I wouldn't want to live there. I love my country, as I'm sure the British do, but home is home. I can not even imagine living anywhere else in the world. Too much is romanticized about living abroad, but that's all it is: romanticized. Having visited other countries I do have knowledge of them, plus we have family members who came here from other countries. They risked much to get here and have become U.S. citizens. They tell me other countries, especially where they are from, would give all they could to come here. So be careful what you wish for, sweet bloggers.

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Random Thoughts:

Over on her blog, Claudia has been blogging about the English language used today, and I'm definitely with her on this one. But I have one more thing I hear a lot in conversations and that is: there's. When speaking there's is singular; plural would be there're or there is and there are. I majored in English so trust me on this one. Example: There's the men of the organization coming towards us. Incorrect. It should be: There're the men of the organization coming towards us. Men is plural. Okay, I'm OCD about proper English, but a nation that can't speak well because they aren't taught well and aren't corrected when wrong because someone is afraid of hurting their self-esteem, shows its ignorance. And that brings up the proper use of its and it's.

It's is a contraction for it is. Its refers to possession. The bird was preening its feathers. It's the bird that is preening its feathers. Get it. You will be thought of as well-spoken if you master this one and a few other very, very common English errors. Speaking well shows knowledge and intelligence.

Oh, and anyone reading this has my permission to use this in your blogs. Please! We must be better educated with our native language. Help me to get the word out.
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Love bunny and I go to restaurants at least twice a week. (Read previous post for why.) A restaurant is a place to eat. Their goal is to make good food, have happy customers and make money. Okay, for those of you out there that have a problem with people and/or businesses making money, let me ask you: What would you have a business for? Making money, right? Yes!! Okay, with that being said, the restaurants aim would be to make you happy so you'll come back. If you don't see something on the menu that you'd like, then ask if they can fix something for you that you'd prefer. A good restaurant will try and most will be happy to please you. Trust me on this one also.

Recently at Applebee's we noticed they had taken 2 of our favorites off their menu. Mine was Asiago Peppercorn Steak. I LOVE that! Voilà, I now order it though it is not on the menu. Problem solved or I would have gone elsewhere. I'm an assertive woman who usually gets what I want, being gracious and smiling, of course. There's no reason to be rude...ever! I'll tell you about my letter to Olive Garden in a later post. ;-) Ooooh, and the apostrophe in Applebee's? It's because it's intended to show possession as in Applebee's Restaurant; we just shorten it. Besides, it's the way they spell it.
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More 24 and Jack Bauer.

It truly amazes me how many traitors get into CTU (counter terrorism unit). I hope that isn't true in our actual government; although, looking at it makes me wonder!
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I can't think of one instance where Jack Bauer has been wrong. Why don't they believe and trust him? Boggles my mind.
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Most spoken phrase: "It's imperative this stays between us." Then the man or woman turn on their heels and run to spread the news. Sheesh.
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Another popular phrase: "Everybody's losing it.
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Jack Bauer should be given a bill for everything he's destroyed. That man goes through some equipment!!
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They keep giving the traitors a gun.
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They are constantly on their cell phones, and they never go dead. I want their cell phones!!
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Tough guys don't have to act tough. Example: US Marines, my heroes!!!
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But all in all, I absolutely still love that show.
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Until next time...and there will be more. And if I've made any errors here it's because I'm too lazy to go back and read it again.
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Happy New Year 2012

This holiday season is officially over, but hubs and I both noticed that there was no big celebration on the news sites this year as in years past where they at least have the ball dropping in Times Square. I mean the internet sites since we have no television. It kind of fizzled out with a whimper. I wonder if it's the apathy or are people actually realizing the reason for this celebration or if it's just the mood of the country: tepid and/or frustrated with how things are going in general. I love this time of year but we just don't celebrate much and try to keep the spirit of the season. We don't have small kids at home though so it's very easy for us and I truly have everything I need and most of what I want. At any rate,

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE

Again, just look at the homes below without any descriptions from me. I'm too lazy to do it right now.

We went to the cinema today to see War Horse. A strange thing happened though.

We bought the tickets and actually splurged on popcorn and sodas for a total of $33.50. I thought it was outrageous but I wanted popcorn. Hubs "scrooged" a bit but he finally stopped complaining and got a soda, and I shared my popcorn with him. In 20 years we've only been to the movies about 5 times and 2 of those were free tickets from our home teachers in our ward. I'm not interested in movies much but I cannot understand how a family of 6 could even afford to go on a regular basis. With just popcorn and drinks it would easily be $100.00. Now I know why Netflix is so popular.

Anyway, we went into the theater for War Horse according to the ticket person and the marquee inside the theater. The movie started with several coming attractions, and by-the-way, the only one I would want to see is Mirror, Mirror with Julia Roberts, a take on Snow White with humor. Absolutely my kind of flick! Then what I think was a cartoon about self-esteem. Ooooh, puhleeze! How politically correct can we get? Then a muppet cartoon also. I thought it was kind of strange to list so many credits at the beginning of the cartoon, but after about 20 minutes, hubs said, "Give me the tickets." I did; he marched out, came back and said, "We're in the wrong theater!" It was a muppet movie. But we were so clueless as to cartoons and such that we actually thought it was a cartoon.

We got up and went to the cinema manager and told him what had happened. He said the movie we wanted to see was about 20 minutes into the story and we could go in. I said, "No, I want to see it from the start, so we'll come back at a different time." (I am NOT a wimp and very assertive—VERY!) He said that was fine so we elected to see it at the 6:30 time.

Bottom line: If you haven't seen War Horse, go! It was absolutely wonderful and a true family movie. No swearing, nudity, sex or anything that you wouldn't allow your kids to see. Just a great movie.

More in a few days. I have much to say lately.
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English Country Rooms

For this Pink Saturday's participants, just click on the logo below and go to Beverly's Blog where you'll see all the participants. It's my favorite thing to do on Saturday, and Beverly is just a sweet person to know.

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For Pink Saturday I'm going to show a painting a dear sweet friend of mine painted and I bought a couple of years ago. She has gifted me with several of her beautiful roses paintings also. She does beautiful work. Her name is Lorena. I believe she incorporated pink into the Christmas stocking in a dazzling way. Just love it!

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The holiday season is almost over, and it's calmed down here quite a bit, so I'd like to try and get back on track with blogging. I spent the Friday before Christmas in bed and didn't get out until Sunday night when Love Bunny cooked the whole turkey dinner for me. We believe I got food poisoning from a bad jar of salad dressing I used on tuna salad a few days before. I'm fine now though. And his dinner was superb. I did mash the potatoes for him however.

I'm sick to death of food at the moment. I ate my way through about 2 boxes of chocolates, a pumpkin roll a friend surprised me with (DELICIOUS!), numerous Milky Way Simply Caramel bars, cinnamon rolls, a Dutch apple pie, a pumpkin pie, Coldstone Creamery LARGE (Is that one called Gotta Have It?) chocolate ice cream dish, Olive Garden Black Tie Mousse pie, Applebee's Triple Chocolate Overload cake, pumpkin cookies, a popcorn and nut mix with chocolate drizzle, a cake that sent my taste buds into survival mode with all the sugar in the frosting and a Jack in the Box Chocolate overload cake also. My sugar level is right up there with the National Debt, trust me.

So with that being said, let's view some pictures of some English homes I love. I incorporate English, a touch of French, Traditional, Romantic, Shabby, Chic and a bit of ME thrown into the mix in my decorating. I always have thrown in a bit of ME, but certainly over the years my styles have changed. Just view the rooms without me saying too much about them. Pictures speak louder than my words ever could.

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And just for your information, I'll have more pictures this week with more thoughts on 24 and Jack Bauer very soon. ;-)
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Romantic Country Rooms #4

Aren't these rooms lovely also? Girls, look at some of the ideas in these room, adapt them to your homes and run with it.

Pair a red and white check chair/sofa or cloth with a kilim rug and some old pottery found at a garage sale. Do NOT be afraid to mix several patterns in a room. I think it's dramatic when done.

Or look around your house or your mother's or grandmother's house for some old furbelows (trims) and bibelots to showcase in your homes. Showcase them magnificently!

Add drama with a bold color somewhere in a room.

Or find what you might consider an ugly oddity and showcase it. I'll bet you it will grow on you. That has truly happened to me.

While I absolutely love pink and most colors associated with reds, I'm not averse to other colors, especially yellow. Yellow is a cheery color when you have a dark house. Nuuuuu, I'm not changing my walls from pink to yellow, but I truly LOVE pink and bright yellow together. I guess the owner of this room does too because she pairs those bright yellow walls with a red/pinkish sofa on the left.

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Romantic Country Rooms #1

Romantic country and shabby chic have a great deal in common in my opinion. Both styles are comfortable, use shabby elements along with romantic elements. Both express a desire for a very liveable style along with things that would be considered unfashionable before the 90s.

I consider this a handsome room. But it is very feminine and masculine both.

This is my type of room—comfy, white sofa with a plethora of pillows.

Ohmystars, what can I saaaaaay???? Loooove it!!! Everything.

Country. Shabby. Elegant.

Ordinarily, I wouldn't even look at such a room, but this one won my heart. Don't know why, just comfy and elegant.

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Darling Aprons for Pink Saturday 9/26/09

Pink Saturday is once again here thanks to Beverly of HowSweetTheSound so go and view the other participants and get your fill of PINK, chicks!
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I've finally finished the aprons I cut out and made into various stages of apron making for the church activity we had a week ago. It has taken me about 2 weeks to get all of them done, but they will be for sale if anyone is interested. Just email me from my sidebar. I make them in colors I love because if they don't sell then I get to keep them and I'll have no aprons—or anything, for that matter—in my home that isn't pleasing to my eye and in a color I love. I plan on making some more and have cut out about 8 to list in a couple of weeks. I think you'll enjoy looking at them. Truthfully, I've sold every apron that I've made so far or I have given them away as gifts or giveaways. One of these aprons will be given away very soon so you might want to stay in touch.

This one is special because every time I see cherries I am reminded of my friend Dolly and Miss Emma. Truthfully!! This is a vintage fabric that I am almost out of and doubt if I have enough for another apron top but we'll see how I can incorporate it onto another "cherry" apron. A piece of vintage crochet is attached to the front with more trim at the middle with candy cane stripe for its ties. A ladybug button is on there also because I thought it was appropriate for the cherry apron. Notice also the pocket and ruffle are roses and the bottom half is pink polka dots. Every single apron I make will have roses on it in some way.

This is a bit french country with its checks and roosters. The top is black and white plaid with red rick rack and the ruffle, neck strap and ties are polka dots also. Roses make up the pocket and buttons and ribbon roses are on here also. I also use decorative stitching on a lot of the pockets.

Blue Waverly fabric on bottom and a sweet roses print is the top. A vintage doily makes up the large pocket. There are a couple of dark spots on the doily should you be interested in buying it so if that bothers you then you are invited to pass it up. For the most part, all vintage things have something "wrong" with them and it just adds to the appeal for me. The ruffle is a Daisy Kingdom print. Neck strap and ties are roses prints.

Simply polka dots in red, pink and white. Roses trim adorn the middle. Pocket is a beautiful paisley roses. Almost Cath Kidston in its print but it isn't hers. Alas, I wish we could get her fabric here in a store instead of sending all the way to Great Britain for it. Sigh...

This one is stunning but I assure you it can be washed should the need arise. I make them beautiful but I also make them for the function they are intended: using in the kitchen to keep my clothes spotless! Let's face it: I'm a slob when it comes to cooking. This one has very high-end fabrics on it and if someone can't bring themselves to wear it to cook in, then it's absolutely gorgeous hanging on a peg in the kitchen. Roses, polka dots, ribbon embroidered fabric, rose trim and ribbon roses scattered all over it and topped off with an organza bow.

Again, I love this paisley fabric—which I scooped up in California several years ago and it is flannel! A very high end flannel and stunning. Bottom is a pink and white stripe with gathered ribbon across the front and a pink ribbon rose. The top I simply sewed on some cord I was going to throw away and added a cute "diamond" button. Darling! Ruffle is polka dots. I just love polka dots!! You can tell, right?!

Why is it that pink roses on black brings images of the french country side to me? Although it isn't especially "french country" it does remind me of France. Polka dots and vintage ecru lace across the middle and pink polka dots make up the ruffle with a pretty paisley pink pocket. Wide white rick rack and ribbon roses across the top.

I love this old fabric and decided to just make one that was one complete fabric on top and bottom. I then added the tiny rosebud pocket and a tone-on-tone white ruffle. It may be "plainer" than the rest but it still really cute. The neck strap and ties are another fabric however.

Yep, more roses but with a lot of green and a red and white check for the bottom. Wide rick rack. A little orange button in the shape of a ladies purse is on the middle just for fun. I love throwing in unexpected things on the aprons and that button just screamed to go on it because it is so totally different in its orange-yness. ;-)

Stripes for this one in a beautiful sort of ticking stripe of roses. Pink and white checks and a ribbon trim. Ruffle is another roses fabric and the neck strap and ties are polka dots.

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I'm calling these "scraprons" as in "scrap aprons" —pronounced "scrape rons" or long A—because mostly these are made from scraps left over and I just couldn't figure out what to do with them until I decided to just put these together. I hope you enjoyed viewing them. There are more to come in the coming weeks.
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Random Thought:

Why is it people will answer a question with an explanation instead of a "yes" or "no"? This happens with Love Bunny all the time. I'll ask him something and he'll think I'm "questioning" him in some way so he defends it when all I wanted was a "yes" or "no"! Hmmmm...very strange to me.

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Creating Your Own Style

First of all, I need to apologize to all the regular bloggers I visit for not commenting. I looooove commenting, but the posts got to over 250 and I could just not catch up, sweet thangs! I was negligent and I don't mean to be or even like doing it but passing these stones and being on pain killers for over a week kinda "dulled" my senses and I was truly "loopy"or sleepy for the better part of 10 days. Combine this with not getting a shower or worst...WASHING MY HAIR!!!!....and I was heading toward grouchy, chicks! It warn't purdy I tell ya....... So please accept my apologies and I'll be trying to catch up in the next few days.
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I've been thinking about style a lot lately as I redo my rooms and thought I'd share a few things with you. I may have said this before in some fashion but it bears repeating I think.

Create your own style! Yes, you do have one. Maybe you haven't "connected" with it yet but each person has a style. Define your style and then refine it. This can take years, chickees, years!! When the wealthy redo a home it takes them 3-5 years to get it all done and sometimes more. It's a long process even if you do it yourself. So don't be too eager to get it done in a week because it ain't happening - usually.

It makes me feel free to select my own style and not be matchy-matchy with my furniture. Again, I want the look that says I've collected these wonderful things you see in this room over a lifetime. That's my style: romantic collector. Nothing truly matches except for a pair of Baker chairs I've had recovered twice. They are "lifetime" chairs because I paid good money for them 20+ years ago and they take to recovering really well. Somehow it all seems to fit together beautifully - for me anyway. I just "play" with it. I have fun with it. I make things work. If I love it, it works. Simple as that. You can do it also, just PLAY with it and have fun doing it because there truly are no rules when it comes to decorating. If you love it then it works. I'm absolutely not afraid to try new things or combine things that most people don't think go together. If I like it that's all that matters. I don't give a whit or fig about other people's opinions. Mine is what counts in this house! Love Bunny accepts anything I do. He would have to come up with a real dislike for something for me to change something in this house.

I "shop" in my own home.......and my daughter's home. That means I go into the garage attic, other rooms and look at the fluff on the walls and "redistribute" it to other rooms. It makes the whole space look different. When we go back to California to visit the kids I also "shop" in my daughter's house because she'll get it back when I'm dead and I give her stuff now so she doesn't have to wait until I'm dead! She's always telling me to get rid of what I've got because she doesn't want to have to do the job for me and that she's going to put all my "stuff" on ebay for 99¢ with free shipping! Can you imagine?!?! I think I'm cutting her out of the will and just giving it to my granddaughter! At least she'll put it on Craigs List and get a few bucks outta the' deal!! No matter.

I rarely spend a lot of money to redo the look of a room. So change things around in the home for a different look, add a fresh coat of your favorite color of paint if so desired and voilà - a whole new look. Puhhhhleeeze, do NOT tell me hubby would cringe or say no. Men rarely care about how you decorate your home. YOU are the one in it most of the day and if you can't stand that ugly wall color then just change it. If he then threatens to divorce you then you can change it back, but do one wall and see how he reacts. He will, of course, react viscerally and not intellectually so tell him to adjust and see how it goes from there. ;-)

I've included some photos of what I consider beautiful creative rooms of truly divergent styles, but ooooooh sooooo beautiful. I love them all.

Okay, this has to be my favorite since it has PINK (!), roses, RED (!), and vintage fabrics and just all around romantic shabby style. I love this above all others in this group. It's a room to create or craft or sewing room.

How could you not love this bold and bright room to sit in and dream or read or whatever???? I don't know who owns this room but she was bold. Now, you need to be bold. Bold doesn't mean bright vivacious colors; it means taking a risk, being courageous and confident in what you are doing. I'm a bold person but I don't necessarily use "jonquil yellow" or "flamboyant pink" in a room. I'm just bold in what I do because if it turns out less than perfect I can change it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained and I plan on "gaining" a lot in this life, my sweet cherubs. Go for the gusto or you'll never know what you are capable of. Make yourself happy and others will be happy to just be around you.

Even the outdoors can be beautiful. Just hang a collection of your favorite things on the back side of your home, flaky vintage bench and voilà - instant "fabulous"!!

This room also spoke to my heart. I'm not really into the rustic style but I do love this room. It shows that the owner put a lot of thought into it. She mixed all elements of comfy in this room: a beat up old leather chair, the texture of the rock fireplace, books (!), roses and florals and a comfy plaid chair that looks like it might be a favorite of someone who lives in that house, a favorite old cabinet and pieces of furniture that are used in diverse ways. The ottoman is a coffee table on which to put up your feet. It just looks like an all around "collected over time" place to relax. Yep, I love this room. Oooh, and about books....even if you don't read, put some books around the room. On shelves or the floor or table. They're a really great decorating statement and cheap! Of course, if you love to read like I do it's all the better. ;-) Plus it gives instant personality to a room. Plus it'll make people think you're an intellectual! ;-)

Here the rustic is combined with vintage barkcloth fabrics in florals. Another outstanding room! This is a feminine, masculine room. What man wouldn't like having the florals on the sofas if he could hang pictures of animals on the wall and have it look this stunning?! Sort of Hawaii Lodge look. I love this room also. Uhhhh, notice the open book? Yep, just keep a book opened on a table so a visitor can peruse it also. Yep, I do that. I even stack lamps and faux plants on books. Makes me look smart. ;-)

Ooooh my, another fabulous room where the owner combined the french provincial country with the vintage look. Different textures with the peeling paint of the chairs, the tattered, upholstered bench and the burlap looking table runner with that fabulous arrangement of food. Ooohooo. Gorgeous with that green cupboard and salmon colored settee.

Who would think a simple inexpensive thing such as a canopy could do so much for a space – whether inside or outside? It gives "intimacy" to this tiny little "room" in the garden. I plan on trying this but it is a bit more difficult in this hot desert in the summer. We don't spend much time out in July and August, just too hot. I want to do it for the visual effect though so I will. It will have to be a while though. It's down the road because of all the other projects I have in mind. This will be hubby's job. I tell him what I want. He'll give me a bit of static about how it can't be done and I just tell him to make it happen and that I trust him to make it happen. He then figures it out. Men love a challenge!!! ;-) I don't think he can make that lemon tree happen in this cold winter climate however.

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