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“Rock-a-bye baby”
Could there be any sweeter book for babies or bears?
My bear is holding an old 1956 Junior Elf book to read to the baby dolls.
Aren’t the illustrations
and nursery rhymes precious?
Enjoy your day!
Let something you love put a smile on your face!
I’m joining Corey for Lil’ Vintage Story Books.
I mean CLOUDS! heehee!
I love looking up at the sky!
I don’t know how many photos I take of clouds!
But this week we had a storm roll through
one late afternoon and the clouds boiled up!
And look at this beautiful tree we spotted in our neighborhood.
I think it’s a Kumquat tree! (the fruit was small and still a little sour!)
A quick peek at my sofa with the Prim Quilt on the back!
We don’t really need quilts on the sofa here in Florida
but I think it makes it look cozy in the lanai!
AND for more EXCITING NEWS!
Shanti from Sunshine Bliss Studio
is having a GIVEAWAY on her blog HERE!
She is giving TWO necklaces…one to keep and one to share with someone special! Here’s a close up…
Hurry over to Sunshine Bliss to enter!
Better get there before I do! heehee!
Most of us work hard all week and look forward to a little entertainment on the weekend. Even though we are retired, our week consists of meetings, classes and volunteer work. So we are ready to do something different on the weekends! (I’ll sneak some photos in of our drive to the coast last Sunday)
Our community has a lot of events to take part in and clubs to join. So we have a lot to choose from. Most of the plays, musical productions, movies, seminars and lectures are ‘donation’ only so you can pay what you can afford.
But there are other ways to ‘create’ your own entertainment. We check movies out of the library, and still have date nights! It’s still fun to get dressed up and ‘go out’ and there are lots of things to do that don’t cost very much. We enjoy going out to eat and the movies…and the museum. But we find ways to do it economically. Of course for the ‘over 55’ group, we can get discounts and that helps.
What are some of the ways you enjoy entertainment without breaking the bank? I’ll add some of your ideas to this post as they come in! I would love to find out how you save money! We can’t work ALL the time! ; )
Maybe we should get our fishing license!
Ricki Jill mentioned checking magazines out from the library! I do that, too! And in the lobby we have a table for ‘free’ magazines! Great tip, Ricki! Thanks!
And Lilybets mentioned a picnic…I love that idea! Karen mentioned free movies and I googled ‘free movies’ and found Hulu and some others where you can view movies online. A great source!
Ginger has a great bit of info that we can use! When you rent Redbox movies, reserve them online and they are even LESS AND they send you a promo code for free movies after you rent so many.
Please join all of the other Thrifty living ladies…or “Frugal Five” for their posts on this subject!
Brenda of Cozy Little House
Claudia of Mockingbird Hill Cottage
Elaine of Sunny, Simple Life
Jen of Muddy Boot Dreams
It’s almost the weekend…..have FUN !!!
I’m linking to Katherine’s Corner ! ♥
We took a drive out to the Gulf Coast on Sunday
and these were some of the neatest signs on one of the back roads. (and no, my camera wasn’t tilted!)
We were on an adventure to get ‘off the beaten path’
and see if we could get to the water!
I took this quickly as we drove by!
And here’s a quick pic of one of the places we found that was accessible to the water!
NOW…for the WINNER of the
Valentine’s Day Giveaway
sponsored by Sunshine Bliss Studio …
Jann from Have a daily cup from Mrs. Olson
wins the beautiful necklace and earrings!
Thanks to everyone who entered and to Shanti for designing this special gift for one of my readers! ♥
Visit Shanti’s shop HERE to see more of her amazing jewelry!
Enjoy your day!
Don’t forget to take the ‘path less traveled’!
They were on the way to the doll room to get their clothes changed…really they were!
But I put them down on the sofa for just a little while and left.
When I got home, Anne was reading a Teddy Bear book to Wendy and Raggedy Annie.
I think you all encouraged my hubby too much and now he is posing my dolls, too!
He sure got a kick out of all the ‘chicken’ comments on the last post!
(and truthfully, he has always moved things around…sometimes just to see if I will notice!)
Sweet Annie was made by my friend,
Maxie at Prims and Annies!
I just have to show you the cute little ‘vintage’ pillow that I found at the thrift store. I washed it and it came out great! Something ‘new’ for the baby bed!
And yes….I know it’s Tuesday! My week is crazy so far! Maybe I can get a day ahead! lol
I’m joining Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
and Your Cozy Home party !
Wednesday I’ll announce the winner of the
Enter on the original post…HERE !
Remember to ‘take time to PLAY’!!!
Shopping at the White Elephant Sale in my neighborhood started my weekend off right!
I walked over to this sale, bag in hand to do some serious shopping!
Hubby carried the camera…obviously! heehee!
And I was CAUGHT with a Raggedy Annie doll…
grabbed right out from under all of the other savvy shoppers!
I also bought chickens from a lady that made these!
Aren’t they adorable?
I asked hubby to put one on top of the fridge and he ‘posed’ her!
I’m joining Mary at the dear little red house
for Mosaic Monday! Hope you’ll join us, too!
Enter the Valentine’s Day Giveaway HERE!
♥
Have a little fun…go a little crazy!
I am SO pleased to announce a special giveaway thanks to my Florida girlfriend,
Shanti from Sunshine Bliss
She has designed a beautiful necklace and earrings just for one of YOU!
I wear a bracelet that she made and it’s one of my favorite pieces of jewelry! She has such amazing style and craftsmanship! Everything she makes is FUN!
So what can you win?
This gorgeous SET!
Here’s her description…
Dreams of hearts & flowers & luv luv?
Oh my this necklace does that & more!
Beautiful Vintage Brass heart with Rhinestone
middle dances & shimmers as the Copper Vintage
Hand Stamped "Luv" key frames this piece nicely!
Copper clasp and two sparkling bling bling pink
rhinestone balls makes this necklace a Knockout!
On 22 inch copper chain of bliss!
Also a pair of way too darlin’ copper earrings that dangle & prance with a vintage copper lock on one and vintage copper key on the other earring! FUN! Pure copper earwires!
This set is pure Vintage Valentines Bliss!!!
We’ll make this quick and announce the winner on February 8th so that you can get it in time for Valentine’s day.
1. Required….Please follow Lavender Dreams.
2. Required…Follow Sunshine Bliss
3. EXTRA…Visit her Etsy shop HERE and tell me your favorite item!
4. EXTRA…Twitter this giveaway.
5. EXTRA…Blog about this giveaway or put the button on your sidebar!
Thanks Shanti for the sweet Valentine fun! ♥
I thought it would be helpful to me and maybe a few others to compile some of the tips I got in my comments about my “prim” quilt. My first post on the quilt is HERE !
I still feel like I need a ‘disclaimer’ before I take credit for ruining the old quilt. It had already been washed and the cotton was lumpy and the fabric was very soiled and rotten. The cotton was falling out of the squares before I washed it. But I did wash it….and rinse it until it was clean. I would not have anything in my house unless it was clean so if I find an old one again that is in better shape but dirty, I will have to ‘count the cost’.
So here are some of the helpful hints and tips that I appreciate so very much! It’s really been a learning process for me!
Pam at Antique or Not “Next time you get an antique quilt, you might want to just soak it in your bathtub with baby shampoo, then let the water out and run clean water in it to rinse it. These old quilts don't take to washing machines too well; they are much too fragile.”
I even had an anonymous comment come through that was good! Anyone want to take credit for this one?
And which comment stood out in all of the 65 that I got? This one…
So what did I do with it?
I put it back together. I have never made a quilt…..and most of you will say that is obvious.
I bought a new fleece blanket for $3.99 ( Vee suggested this! ) and an old white sheet at the thrift store ( and yes, I soaked it in detergent and BLEACH ) washed it and dried it with a Downy sheet. I layered it all, put some ties back into it to hold it together and stitched it around the edges.
It is the measurements of a full size blanket so this worked great!
Now I need to insert the truth! I did it wrong the first time and called my sweet cousin, Cindy and she told me to layer it, quilt top right side down, and sew three sides and turn it. Then I stitched the fourth side (the end) by hand! And then tied it! Thanks Cindy for helping me through that! (she’ll be surprised to find out I took it apart and did it right! heehee)
So now it is not only a ‘prim’ quilt….it’s a ‘make do’. I worked on most of the squares to repair them by hand. Only 3 of them are beyond help but that’s OK with me. I may work on them sometime, too and replace the fabric.
I knew when I saw it that I wanted to keep it so now I am happy with it. Now it can go on the sofa in the lanai for me to enjoy! WHEW!!!
I’m joining Time Travel Thursday
and Thursday’s Favorite Things!
I’m linking to Honey’s Potpourri Party,
AND Kathy’s Home and Garden party!
So now do you think I should try to make a NEW quilt? Be honest! heehee!
We will be covering many interesting subjects and each of the ladies listed below will have a post about this subject today.
This is a big consideration when you are in the researching and planning phase of retirement. It’s important to make of list of what you need to be near. When we were in our 40s we bought a piece of land in a remote area in the mountains of Western North Carolina. As a matter of fact we still own that piece of property. We spent a lot of time designing a house and finding the perfect location with a view of the mountains. It was fun to drive out there on the weekends and dream of living there. We fished in the stream and hiked in the forest. But when we got a ‘little’ older and sat down to make our list, we realized we would rather live in a place closer to all of our favorite conveniences.
My list of places I like to be near included, the library, a nice park with walking paths, a good grocery store and a hospital. Our home here in Florida is less then 15 minutes away from all of these. We've lived here 7 years and haven’t had to ‘visit’ the hospital but it’s nice to know it’s there in an emergency.
We even chose a house in a walking community. I just got back from a Zumba class and I walked! We can walk to the pool, Fitness center, an auditorium that hosts lots of wonderful events and a restaurant.
(this is my street)
Many of you plan to retire to live near family and that’s important, too. My husband and I have six 'grown’ kids and they are scattered all over the country so for us that wasn’t an option. But when you can, that’s wonderful.
Now that we don’t need to drive to work every day we are more flexible about running errands. We group them together and sometimes make a day of it. When you’re together all of the time, it’s also important to get out on your own to do your own shopping. I like to ‘make the loop’ as we call it…stop by the library, shop at the Thrift store, run into CVS or Walgreens to check on their specials and then pick up items at the grocery store. (we’re very close to Walmart, too but I’m not going to brag on that…it’s not my favorite place to shop although the prices can’t be beat on some items)
(This is the street I drive to go to Walmart. I don’t live in a BIG city!)
I will end by saying that being retired means having the time to do some of the things you’ve always wanted to do. I would rather buy a tank of gas and go on a ‘day trip’ and have a little adventure than go out to eat at a nice restaurant. We pack a picnic lunch, lots of water and some snacks and take off for the day. That is a very good use of gas, when you are retired and live in the sunshine state of Florida!
Please stop by and visit the others….
Brenda of Cozy Little House
Claudia of Mockingbird Hill Cottage
Elaine of Sunny, Simple Life
Jen of Muddy Boot Dreams
Remember to ‘make the loop’
when you have errands to run
and save your gas for an adventure!
I’m linking to Katherine's Corner !
and we sit down to talk, the conversation will eventually get around to healthy living! I love to talk about nutrition and exercise…rest and relaxation! I read every article I can find and for the most part I ‘practice what I preach’!
(I look goofy in this photo but it was the quickest one I could find…taking a Zumba class this week!)
I’ve enjoyed Kim’s blog, Snug Harbor Bay for a long time and I was always happy when she featured Tony’s Tips.
(she says this is her son, but she looks too young to be the mom so you go over and see for yourself! I thought he was her brother!)
And now I am pleased to announce he has his own blog,
Tony’s Nutrition and Fitness Tips.
He has done his ‘homework’ and writes from his own experiences AND from information he gathers. Everything he talks about is easy to understand and to put into practice! These are changes we can make to be healthier! Be sure and read ‘his story’, too so that you can understand where he’s coming from.
I’m going to keep this short and skip all of the ‘tips’ I could share to give you a chance to visit his blog!
What a great way to start the month! Find some positive tips on his blog and put them into practice in your own daily life! You’ll be glad you did…and feel better for the effort!
Do you need to lose weight or maintain your weight? Do you need to get more exercise and sleep better at night? Could you do better with your food choices? What areas of healthy living are you most interested in?
PS If you want to receive a card or note from me this month, go to my post HERE and let me know!
