Monday, August 31, 2009

Bunny Cottage, part three












Hello, and thanks for dropping by for a visit. As I said in previous posts, I love my home and consider it a great blessing from God. I have always been like a mother bird wanting to "feather her nest" when it comes to my home. My home and garden have always been a place of peace and quiet calm for me. The first pictures are of my bedroom and the last pictures are of scenes around the outside of my home. I hope you enjoy them and again, I am so glad you came by. I will do part four of my home in a day or two. I hope you have a wonderful and happy week.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Life lessons learned. . .

Several years ago, I witnessed this same scene every morning on my drive to school. A mother would come from her house pushing her special needs teenage son in his wheelchair. She would carefully guide him to the schoolbus driver and awaiting bus. The bus driver would greet them heartily, and then gently lift the young man onto the bus. Mother was watching and smiling as her son was being boarded. Then, as the bus began to pull away from the curb, mother began waving and waved until the bus was around the corner and out of sight. This mother, her son and the bus driver taught me some valuable life lessons: the lesson of perseverance, the lesson of love that knows no bounds, and the lesson of thankfulness in all things for we have much to be thankful for!
Have a blessed week!

Friday, August 28, 2009

Happy Pink Saturday!!! August 29






Hello, friends! Welcome to another fun Pink Saturday! Thank you, Beverly, from "How Sweet the Sound" for hosting our event each week. The first picture is of a vintage image, girl with pink roses. I love vintage images and like to include one each Saturday. I am pretty sure this may be a famous painting, but I don't know the painter or name of the painting. If anyone knows, please let me know. The second picture is of a cake box with pretty pink roses, and it sits on my dining room table. It was made by Catherine from Pink Rose Pastries. This is the kind of cake that will not add pounds!! Which is the kind I need to eat!! If you have the opportunity, visit Catherine at her on-line shop. I love everything she does. She is a very kind lady, too. The third picture is one of my favorite pieces of embroidery. I love bluebirds, and these are surrounded with pretty pink flowers. The workmanship on this piece is excellent. You can also see a little bit of handpainted blue china with pink roses in this picture. These pieces sit in front of my fireplace. The fourth picture is a Rose of Sharon in my garden in full bloom, and if you look carefully you can see some hot pink zinnias in the lower left corner. The last picture is one of my favorite pillows. I love the sweet image of the little girl and her kitty. This pillow hangs from one of my dining room chairs.

Thank you so much for paying me a visit this Saturday. Please visit Beverly at http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/ to see her wonderful blog and to also find a list of the other participants for this week. Have a wonderful weekend!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Best Friends. . .

During my growing up days, my best friend, Pam, and I loved to go shopping on Saturday afternoon. Our first stop was always Woolworths five and ten cent store. We headed directly to the jewelry counter upon our arrival. Pam always bought a beautiful "diamond" ring, and I a "pearl" ring. These, of course, were our "engagement" rings (I am pretty sure our boyfriends at elementary school did not know they were "engaged"!) After our ring purchase, we would then peruse the Barbie dolls and all of their lovely adornments. Sometimes, if we had enough money, we would buy paperdolls. These paperdolls gave us hours of endless enjoyment. Last stop for the afternoon was The Corner Drug Store. This was one of those old-fashioned drug stores with a soda fountain. We always ordered a hamburger and coke. What a wonderful time we had and how grown up we felt on those magical Saturday afternoons. Pam and I haven't kept in touch as much as we should. Sometimes friends grow apart with the passing of time. Because we were friends of the heart and spirit I feel like we could pick up right where our last conversation ended. I hope you have enjoyed many friendships in your life.

I will post part three and four of Bunny Cottage next week. Hope you will join me then. For those of you who do Pink Saturday, I will see you then.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Bunny Cottage, part two and I won a beautiful blog signature!!!









Hello, and thanks for dropping by for a visit. This is part two of photos of my home. As I said in part one, I am sure that my home is a gift from God, and I am very thankful. I apologize for so many photos today. They are also a little dark, but you can click on the pictures to see them up close. I now have a digital camera (the first one I have owned), and I tend to go a little crazy with it. But, I must say, I am having a lot of fun. These pictures are all from my living room.

Also, please check out my new blog signature. I won this from Claudia at Mockingbird Hill Cottage. I love my new signature!! Thank you, Claudia!! Also, thank you, Mandy, for she is the one who designed and installed the signature. Mandy is a sweet person, and I enjoyed getting to know her. Claudia has a beautiful blog, and I ask you to go and visit her. You can find her here: http://mockingbirdhillcottage.blogspot.com/

Mandy has an etsy store where you can see her beautiful blog designs and purchase them. Her store is called A la Parisienne blog designs. I think you will love her work. You can find Mandy here:
http://a-la-parisienne.blogspot.com/

Have a blessed week!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Bunny Cottage, part one






Good morning! I hope this finds you doing well today. I wanted to post a few pictures of my home over the next few days. I have always loved my home. If I have money to spend, I will always buy something for my home. Due to certain circumstances in my life, I did not own my own home until I was well past 40. This is the second home I have owned and where I now reside. I consider both of my homes as gifts from God for without Him I would not have been able to purchase either of them. When decorating my home, I have this philosophy: If I find something I really love, I buy it and then know I will find some place for it in my home. The pictures I am showing today are of my sun room. This is where I drink my morning coffee and gaze out my patio door to watch the humming birds fly up for a drink of nectar from my feeder. Thank you so much for dropping by. Have a wonderful day! Vicki p.s. If you click on the pictures, you can see a closer view.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Angels Watching Over Me. . .



All night, all day, angels watching over me, my Lord.
All night, all day, angels watching over me.

Sun is a-setting in the West; angels watching over me, my Lord.
Sleep my child, take your rest; angels watching over me.

All night, all day, angels watching over me, my Lord.
All night, all day, angels watching over me.

I taught this song to my children at school for many years. We would sing it while waiting in line for lunch or when we had a few minutes to spare before the dismissal bell rang. It always sounded so beautiful with those sweet children's voices singing those wonderful words. As our students, teachers, administrators, school counselors and nurses, bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria workers, and all those involved in education get ready for a new school year, let us pray God's protection and guidance over them this coming year. Thank you for stopping by for a visit. Hope your week is a really good one! Vicki

Friday, August 21, 2009

Happy Pink Saturday!!! August 22




Hello! Thank you for stopping by for a visit! It is time for Pink Saturday once again. Thank you, Beverly, from "How Sweet the Sound" for hosting this event each week. In my first picture, you see a vintage advertisement with beautiful roses. In my second picture, you see a rose covered canister set that I have in my kitchen. It was painted by the very talented china painter, Farnaz Farzad. Her painting reminds me of the old Limoges china painters from France. In the third picture, you see rose G. Nabonnand bursting forth into bloom in my garden. This is an antique or old garden rose and dates back to 1883. In my last picture, you see a place setting on my dining room table. Miss Rhea made the sweet angel cone and Char from "Someplace in Thyme" made the cute bunny cookie. The china is a vintage set from Germany. I used a quilt covered in roses for my tablecloth. Please visit the other Pink Saturday posts. You can find a list of the other participants here:
http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/
I hope you all have a blessed weekend and again, thanks for dropping by. Vicki

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Victorian Children, Angel leading the heavenly choir, and Renoir








I wanted to share with you my collection of Victorian Children pictures that I have hanging throughout my home. I have always been drawn to these prints of rosy-cheeked children and the innocence of childhood on their sweet faces. The next to last picture is actually a card I received from a friend. The little angel is leading the heavenly choir of bluebirds. The last picture is by Renoir, and it is called "Dance at Bougival". It is my favorite Renoir painting, so romantic, and hangs in my living room. Thanks for stopping by today. I love having company. Vicki

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

My love affair with roses. . .



My love affair with roses must have started when I was very young. I can remember one Saturday when my mother, sister and I went for our weekly visit to "downtown" Carlsbad, New Mexico. It was close to Mother's Day, and I was around six or seven years old. We were shopping in J. C. Penneys, and I must have asked my mom for some money so I could go shopping for her a Mother's Day present. I went next door to Woolworths and found this most gorgeous rose (at least in my mind's eye it was). It was a huge pink cabbage rose, plastic of course, this was way before silk flowers and dried flowers. Well, let me tell you. I was so in love with my present that I promptly went back to J. C. Penneys, and proudly announced, "Happy Mothers Day, Momma!" and handed her that rose. My mom had that rose proudly displayed for years.
Wishing you all a rosy week ahead. Vicki