Antique Double-desk ~ What a find!

Well, this is a first. I just learned of a blogger who is having an "I'm A Flea Marketeer Party" and I just wanted to spread the word. I'd also love to win the prize; a bag (as in, purse, I believe) made from coffee bean bags.  Now, could there be anything more charming?  I ask you.
If you'd like a chance to win this lovely bag, scoot on over there and post a picture of your blog entry about your favorite flea-market find. Mine is an 'Old English Double-desk' that we found for $7 shortly after we got married. In my home, it is now 37 years old. I wonder how old it was before I got it. It has stood up through my husband's college, all of my children's schooling and asundry neighboring children and business deals. All in all, I'd say we have gotten our money's worth, wouldn't you?
Here's the link to the party:  http://fleamarketstylemag.blogspot.com/2009/10/join-im-flea-marketeer-party.html

Let's Get Organized, Together...One Idea At A Time

There is much to be said for living in one area for many years. Its something I never experienced, until I married. Then, it was as if my life came to a sudden, screeching halt. Well, as far as moving around, anyway.
Naturally, with all that moving, there wasn't a lot of opportunity for figuring out the finer workings of a smooth-running home. Just about the time I felt we were beginning to put down roots, whooooop! Another move.
We were a military family and I have lived in more towns than I could count. Now, however, it would seem that we are in one place to stay and I love it. Time for a new strategy.
Thus, I have decided to dedicate this blog to the care and feeding of Dust Bunnies and Sock Orphans. Do you have hints and tricks that you are willing to share?
For the most part, our home is comfortable. There are many of the finer details, however, that I would love to know more about.
Perhaps you have a particular way of staying on top of the laundry? Or, your sock drawer is free of orphans and you'd like to share how you've managed that?
Maybe... and here's the big one in my life; you have learned some secrets to making notes, then being able to recove those notes later?
I know of no one who has absolute control in their lives. In fact, I would go so far as to say, I doubt that there is such a person living. So if you know of some way to help the rest of us do something a little better, I'd love to hear it. Just think of it as your way of helping to clean up the earth.
Thanks for your input.

My Captive Audience

I've been cruising the blogging world today and I have discovered one very important fact; there are a lot of talented people who should be discovered. Gone are the days when pioneers had only their children and distant neighbors whose infrequent visits offered stolen moments of story-telling bliss. I wonder if some of those children and distant neighbors ever felt as if they were a 'Captive Audience' to the storytellers?
I remember my gramma' and my mama telling the stories they thought up on the spur of the moment. My brothers and I often tried to pull them away from their many chores for storytime.
I have been very blessed that in recent years, most of what I do is write. My good husband knows how I love to craft words and he graciously affords me the opportunity to do just that. With my wonderful computer and the internet, I can pretend that all the world is listening in to what I say. Look out, World! Whether you know it or not, you are my 'Captive Audience.' If you are reading this, I thank you with a Big Hug. If you haven't discovered me, yet, you just haven't realized your part in the equation and I look forward to meeting you when you do. Keep looking. You'll find me.

Shouting To The Masses

It has come to my attention that I have been shouting to the masses. Upon further investigation, however, I realize that the masses are a very small and loyal group who may or may not be enjoying the words I share.
As an author who continues to love writing, whether or not my words are read, I'm sure I will keep doing the writer's tap-dance, aka, pecking away at my computer keyboard. However, it does tend to make me wonder just where my words are traveling to, if no one is actually reading them.
Shakespeare said, "All the world's a stage," but if that's so, am I sending my thoughts only to be scrambled with others like mine? Do my words have merit and will I ever know the joy of someone's kind gesture at a comment to one of my posts? Time can only tell.
In the meatime, I am quite thrilled that I have had the opportunity, unlike my wonderful story-teller mama, to send the birth of my creativity out into the world for viewing. What a glorious time we live in! Send the words out. Search creations that others have posted. Find new and exciting bits of trivia and news that triggers the whole thing to start again.
I am quite sure that our ancestors must be amazed at our ability to think ourselves clever. That is, if our departed ancestors have the privilege to know how much fun we have in our modern world. I'm so thankful that I live now, rather than having to struggle as so many of those who laid the groundwork for my eventual joy in life.

Happiness Is A Four-Letter Word

If there is never another time in my life that I am this happy, let this happiness carry me until I am too old to worry about it. Being in a new home with new surroundings is, as they say, good for the cleansing of the soul. Or, maybe that's something else that's good for the cleansing of the soul, but all of my insides are feeling "Spic and Span," these days. I could've never imagined that somewhere in my world, there would be a beautiful two-story home on a small piece of acreage that was waiting for ME to move into it. And do I hear the sound of 'Love' reverberating through the walls? They say that you are what you eat. Well, I can't help but wonder if that somehow works with houses, too. After all, you open the door and the house swallows you, whole. Depending on what kind of dinner you are (spicy, bland or seasoned just right), you may just find that you wish you had been flavored just a little differently.
Don't believe me? How about this? Have you ever noticed the homes of very excitable people? Quite often, chaos ensues throughout the home. Not always, but I tend to believe that a calm nature invites calm results. And if calm invites calm, doesn't it stand to reason that excitability would invite excitability? Naturally, that can be taken one step further, at least, to my way of thinking. Harsh, angry words that are habitually thrown from one person to another will cause the house to shudder and fear for its very safety. On the other hand, people who treat their homes and family members with love and respect seem to have homes and families who embrace them with love and respect.
Perhaps you could call me the "House Whisperer." I dunno'. I just have always felt that what goes around, comes around and I think that extends far beyond the boundaries of people treating other people kindly or poorly.
In fact, if you'll take the time to watch, you may notice that animals react pretty much as their owners do. Show me a person who yells and carries-on about insignificant details and I'll show you their pet who reacts angrily or 'cowers' from the hand that might 'pet' him, fearful that the hand may bring an onslaught of attack. much the same way. Want your little dog to quit snapping at you for the slightest infraction? Start noticing where your little dog is learning it. Of course, there are always exceptions to every rule, but for the most part, anger begets anger and kindness begets kindness.
So, the next time you go to cuss that wall for the crooked nail you just pounded, consider how the wall must feel. Maybe a little sweet-talking wouldn't be too far-fetched to include in your updates. It just might help the remodeling to go a little smoother, ya' think?

Christmas In July

Different people have different ideas about what Christmas is and should be and I, of course, am no different. I could give you all kinds of things that Christmas means to me, but yesterday I realized that the term, "Christmas in July" is a reality, this year.
Every year, I dread the promise of hot weather throughout July and August. This year, however, has been a far-cry from so many past years of miserable, hot weather. This year, we've been fortunate to enjoy cool days, interspersed with an occasional touch of somewhat uncomfortable heat. Nothing could please me more than this welcome relief from what I have come to accept. I like cool weather. I like snow and the beauty that it brings. I like the way that snow covers up the flaws with her beauty.
In Summertimes past, I've noticed that tempers flare and people have a tendency to look as if life is too much for them. Not so, this year. There's a cheerfulness and upbeat attitude that I miss during those hot, sticky months.
Now that I think about it, I wonder what the whole worry is about Global Warming. If the earth is getting warmer, why are we having so many pleasantly cool days and nights? And if it is getting warmer, who says its our fault? Where was man to stop Global Warming and keep it from eliminating the dinosaurs? I wonder if anyone has considered the fact that, after every Ice Age, the earth got warmer. When this Global Warming has run its course, will we then make a mad rush to stop the Global Cooling?
I am convinced that, with or without man to help it along or hinder its progress, the earth has a job to do; live. And every living thing must go through a changing process. Global Warming and Ice Ages are merely the outer effects of those changes. Without change, nothing ever gets better and the earth is no different. It was created with change built into the basic pattern.
Yesterday was the last day of a very pleasant July; something I can't recall ever enjoying before. If this is Global Warming, I sincerely hope that no one is successful in finding a way to correct it. In fact, if I could have Christmas in July, it would include much of what this July has been; cool days, cooler nights and an occasional warm break to keep life interesting

How Hot Is It?

Evidently, the weather can be quite cranky. Yesterday, my hubby and I were visiting another town and had many errands and much work to do. We just kept plugging along with our tasks, aware that it was uncomfortably hot, but plowing through as best we could. It wasn't until 5:00 in the evening that we were driving from one area to another and saw one of those dreaded signs that likes to taunt you with how much you are suffering. You know the kind of sign I'm talking about; those that say congratulations on the fish that 'Got Away', happy birthday to the 50 year old and don't forget that its April 15th and your taxes are due. Well, after managing to avoid any discussion that might tell us it was too hot for human habitation, that sign was like meeting up with a brick wall. There, for all the world to see was that awful message: 100 degrees fahrenheit!
Instantly, my body was ready to fade away. There is nothing quite like realization to put the crimps on an otherwise perfectly good day. I noticed that my hubby even seemed to shrivel a little bit, as well.
I don't know how the pioneers survived such heat, but I strongly suspect that 'Blissful Ignorance' played a big part in their ability to make it from morning until night without needing to be rejuvenated. Then again, maybe they were just from stronger stock.