Happy First Day of July!

Happy 1st Day of July!  The month where we celebrate our nation's freedoms, and essentially our own freedoms and hopes for a better future...

Our front door is proclaiming our pride in belonging to America, the land of the free!

And as is my custom on the first of each month, we have the "roll call" of the calendars!  I will start with this wonderful little Susan Branch calendar today...Oh, I love this picture for so many reasons....

That little redheaded girl with her sunglasses on reminds me of this picture and story HERE, of another little redhead with her sunglasses on, many years ago:

This quote below goes well with both of those pictures...

And of course, no July would be complete without a visit to the beach!  I wish I could say that I will be doing that sometime soon...I bet the salt water and air would be very therapeutic for us right now! Maybe not quite there yet, as hubby is still a few days behind me in his recuperation status, but perhaps we can think about it in another week or so. Sure looks inviting, doesn't it?  But thank you for your thoughts and prayers, and thanks be to GOD OUR HEALER, we are getting better day by day and we are so very very thankful!

I love this Thomas Kincade calendar, which always has the most beautiful paintings as well as the perfect scripture verses to go along with it...

Oh, who wouldn't love to be playing hide and seek in a field full of what my mother called "hay doodles"?  What a beautiful bucolic scene from our John Sloane Country Seasons calendar!

Again, another picture that reminds me of a precious old photo found in this old post from a few years ago.

This was on my Grandpa's farm back in the early 1940's. My Grandma Tedlie is on the far right. The other people are some of my cousins and my Aunt Belle. It was harvest time. Most of these people are already enjoying their eternal reward in heaven.

Then there's always time for tea, no matter what the season...

What a unique and interesting tea set! Maybe a little fancy for my taste, but it is lovely. And I totally agree with what Noel Coward said below:

Of course, here in Florida in July, iced tea is the most preferred form of tea!

So yes, we are getting off to a good start on our first day of July. We really are turning the corner on this covid thing, and I can tell a big difference in how I feel today.  Hubby had a later start than I did, and he's still got a ways to go, but he's getting there. So thankful for a cool house to recuperate in.

As  I've mentioned before, our kids were also sick,  but being young and more vigorous than us, they have recuperated quickly, and this morning they took off for their much anticipated trip to Minnesota.  Yesterday they wanted to come by to say good bye to us, and called us before arriving to let us know they were on their way home from the store and wanted to stop in.  So we got ourselves presentable and also prepared for the doggies to arrive like we usually do. We always prepare a bowl of ice water for them (with ice cubes in it) and set their beds with their toys  out in the living room.  The pups always expect things to be exactly like this when they arrive.  So you can imagine our disappointment when the kids arrived without the doggies!!!!!  What???? No puppies, I cried? (almost literally cried, still being weak and weepy with illness, I said).   Well, they were on their way home from the store and didn't have the pups with them.  We almost didn't let them come in the house! LOL.  But we did relent and had a nice little visit with them, but I let them know that I was very disappointed not to see the doggies before they go away for almost a month!

So, sure enough,  later in the evening they called again and asked if they could come back over and bring the puppies this time! Of course I said YES!!  I think they got the idea that we really care more about seeing the puppies than them! LOL.

Here's Sugar, who right away went and found her bed and her ball!

And here's Spice, who was having a "bad hair day". She was so funny. The pups had just been groomed on Thursday to get their summer cut before the trip.  Apparently Spice is confused about her tail that keeps touching and tickling her backside. She couldn't feel it as much before her coat was cut off...

And so she went through these antics of twisting and turning and flipping all around for the whole time she was here.  

She was so funny.  Every time she'd get up to walk, she'd twist around to see who was following her!  That tail kept tickling her behind and I think she thought there was someone else there!

I told Rose she was going to have to trim a few extra hairs off her tail or something, because it was obviously driving her crazy!  I said her new name was "Twisted Sister", because she'd walk all twisted trying to get around and look at that crazy tail following her.

Oh, and they certainly know who loves to spoil them!  Yes, Grandpa loves to sneak a few snacks to them when they come over, but he always asks permission first to make sure it's okay.  

Yes, I'm afraid we will miss these "girls" while they are gone for almost a month!  Oh, we'll miss Benton and Rose too, but honestly, they just aren't as much fun as these pups! LOL!

Well, I've sat here as long as I can for now. Time to go take a little nap.  I don't think we'll be having any big July 4th celebrations at our house this year. No home made ice cream or BBQ.  Our son Scott may come over the weekend briefly, provided we are totally well. We made sure he knew not to come this past weekend as we certainly didn't want him to get this bug!  It will be a very different and quiet celebration here than what we've normally done in the past, but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.  We are just thankful to be able to do anything at all!

So, since we are on the theme of furry friends...here's few 4th of July memes to close this out:

No matter what you are doing this week, always take time to remember the price so many have paid for our freedom to do whatever it is we are doing.  Here's a song that brings goosebumps to my body everytime I hear it:  "God bless The USA"

"Proud To Be An American"

If tomorrow all the things were gone I'd worked for all my life,
And I had to start again with just my children and my wife.
I'd thank my lucky stars to be living here today,
'Cause the flag still stands for freedom and they can't take that away.

And I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free.
And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.
And I'd gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today.
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land God bless the U.S.A.

From the lakes of Minnesota, to the hills of Tennessee,
Across the plains of Texas, from sea to shining sea,

From Detroit down to Houston and New York to LA,
Well, there's pride in every American heart,
And it's time we stand and say:

I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free.
And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.
And I'd gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today.
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land! God bless the U.S.A.

And I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free.
And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.
And I'd gladly stand up... next to you and defend her still today.
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land God bless the U.S.A.

Amen!

 

Tuesday 4: Your Kitchen

 Your Kitchen

Per our hostess Annie: "Howdy friends and welcome back for another of Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4.
I need renovations throughout my home and that includes the kitchen. So, I've been collecting pictures with ideas on painting my cabinets, replacing my 1957 kitchen window, my cracked tile floors and my rusty sink and damaged counter tops. Could be talk about kitchens for a bit?"

1. Is this kitchen in the photo one that you would enjoy working in? Did you have one of those step stools in your home growing up?

I love the homey-ness of that kitchen, although I would not like that stove in the corner like that without any countertops around it. (I love the old fashioned vintage stove, just not in the corner!)  And yes, we had a step stool just like that, except it was red, in my family home growing up. Or was it yellow? Now I'm not sure. Maybe I had a yellow one at some point, oh I don't know now and I can't find any pictures, but it was the same style! LOL. It's tough getting old and not being able to remember things. That's why I rely on pictures so much!

2. What appliances are absolute necessities in your kitchen and what can you do without.

Well, of course we can't do without a refrigerator and stove. And I am quite attached to my microwave too. I don't have a dishwasher anymore and since it's just the two of us, we get along fine without it. When we have company there are always volunteers to help wash the dishes, and it is a good time to stand at the sink and visit while we wash and dry and put away the dishes together.  Of course, we have a coffee pot and a toaster and a toaster oven, a mixer and an electric can opener. I am a lefty, and I cannot use the hand-type can opener at all. Oh, and I have an electric tea kettle for heating water. I used to always use a teakettle on top of the stove, but I burned up too many of them, so hubby bought me the electric one, and it shuts itself off when it boils. 

It's fun to watch it light up as it comes to a boil!

3. What items are always in your pantry?

Well, besides the usual spices,  flour, sugar, brown sugar, confectioner's sugar, I also keep things like cooking oil, vinegar, molasses, and other baking necessities...oatmeal, shortening, baking soda, and baking powder. 

 There's always tea bags of many varieties, and coffee.

And of course we keep things like canned vegetables, soups, chicken broth, beef broth, dried beans and canned beans, spaghetti sauce, canned fruit, cereal, pasta, and rice, peanut butter...all the basics.

My Pantry closet that my son Benton built for me when we moved to this house.

4. How about your counter tops... filled with things or empty?

Well, my countertops are pretty full. So are my cupboards. I like to keep things that I use often handy.

I shared these photos of my kitchen in a recent post, but here they are again. I didn't bother to take any new pictures, because it still looks pretty much the same! LOL.

My Little Kitchen Prayer

"Bless my little kitchen, Lord

I love its every nook

And bless me as I do my work,

Wash pots and pans and cook.

May the meals that I prepare

Be seasoned from above

With Thy Blessings and Thy Grace,

But most of all, Thy Love.

As we partake of earthly food,

The table Thou hast spread,

We'll not forget to thank Thee, Lord

For all our daily bread.

So bless my little kitchen, Lord

And those who enter in,

May they find naught but Joy and Peace

And Happiness therein. "

Author Unknown

Proverbs 24:3-4 NKJV

"3 Through wisdom a house is built,

And by understanding it is established;

4 By knowledge the rooms are filled

With all precious and pleasant riches."

I hope you enjoyed this Tuesday 4 post about my kitchen. Now let's go see what others are sharing about their kitchens, shall we? Have a blessed and beautiful day, my friend.

Tuesday 4...Home Sweet Home

a 1939 Living Room

 http://tuesdaysplace.blogspot.com/2023/01/home-sweet-home.html

Home Sweet Home

Welcome once again to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4, where we hope you will stretch your mind, your imagination and your friendships online by sharing a bit of yourself with others.

This week the subject is Your Home .

1. What kind of home do you have and does it need repair or improvements this year?

We have a manufactured home, which has its advantages and disadvantages. One disadvantage is that it sits up fairly high off the ground, and one has to go up several steps to get to the porch and inside the house. The older we get, the more we realize that soon we will need a ramp to access our home rather than steps. Already we are limited in who we can invite over to visit, as we have some friends who use walkers or canes or have difficulty climbing steps.  I would love to go ahead and add a ramp before we get any older, but it is rather expensive to do so as it needs to be quite long based on the height of the steps.  The ramp needs to be one foot long for every inch in height of the steps. Our steps are at least 48" high, so that means the ramp needs to be at least 48 feet long! That's a lot of ramp to build!

Advantages are that once you are inside, everything is very convenient and we do enjoy the floor plan of our home. We have three bedrooms, and actually there are three bathrooms, because our Master Bath is divided into two separate bathrooms! One has a sink, toilet and a shower. The other has a sink, toilet and a garden tub! Very handy for hubby and I to each have our own bathroom in our bedroom! That was a bonus we did not expect when we looked at this home! The other bathroom is on the other side of the house where the guest bedroom and our son Scott's bedroom is (although he no longer lives here). Our house also has a great room (living/dining combo), and a little den, a.k.a. "My Room with a View".  The kitchen is large and has an island with a breakfast bar top, which never gets used for breakfast. LOL.

   As far as improvements go, we just did the most major improvement we can manage for now...replacing the carpet with vinyl plank flooring in the great room, den, and master bedroom. We are enjoying that very much, as the carpet really needed to be replaced.

Master Bedroom

Living room (Great Room)

Den (My Room With A View)

2. How do you accessorize your home inside and out? Plants, art, books, wall hangings, maybe music in the background?

Oh jeepers,  my home is a mixture of old and older, family heirlooms...yes, there are books, wall hangings...not many plants in the house...This is the extent of the current plants inside...a blooming amaryllis, an amaryllis plant from last year that might decide to grow but I probably need to take it outside and plant it in the spring, and a Christmas cactus that has stopped blooming for the season.

I have posted many photos throughout the years of the furnishings and items in our home that have meaning to me.  Most everything we have came from someone special to us and so therefore we keep it. I teasingly but lovingly call our home the family "museum". 

3. What objects reside on your coffee table? Night stand? Side tables? Kitchen/Dining table?

Our coffee table currently.

My bedside table currently has an alarm clock, a box of kleenex, a fingernail file, some eye drops and a flashlight. There is a lamp that doesn't work, but it's too pretty not to keep it. Just needs a new electrical fixture for the lightbulb...one of those "projects" on the to do list.  Baby Elva's cradle is close by my bed. Lily Grace also sleeps there at night, but she's off playing with her friends right now. LOL.

This is the table in the foyer. (below) There is a guest book under that basket. If you come to visit, I would love for you to sign my guest book. I think I forgot to ask the last few visitors, so you need to come back and sign it! LOL. (Terri, Linda, you know who you are). The basket has cards in it that are waiting to be mailed out to church members for their birthdays. I write them all out at the beginning of the month, but don't mail them until a few days before the actual birthdate, so they wait their turn in the basket. This is a little ministry that I volunteer to do for our church.  

Our son painted the sign for our last home that was in the woods, but it still works for this home. It says: "Welcome to our neck of the woods...where life is good. Fresh Air, Star Gazing, Quiet Spaces".  I wanted him to paint a new one when we moved here that said "Welcome to Still Waters Pond...Where life is good, etc...."  He said someday when he has some time...LOL. I guess I'll stick with this sign and be thankful.

This is another little coffee table, a.k.a. a bench. Our son built this for me a few years ago. Our sweet DIL made the sign for me that says "He leads me beside the still waters" for Christmas last year. The chess board was built by my father many years ago for my hubby.  There are puzzles to put together when anyone wants to stay around awhile...and there is a game of Yahtzee and some Dominoes on this table...because we just played those with our kids the other evening when they brought some pulled pork over for dinner and stayed to play games!

When it comes to the dining table, it depends on the season/holiday/occasion as to what might be found there, but what I like to find there most of all is my precious family, gathered round the table for any kind of meal. This picture was last Father's Day, I think...hence the hamburgers, corn on the cob,  etc.,  We were very casual with paper plates.  But I can dress it it on occasion as well...

(another view from last year Father's day...)

Christmas Dinner 2022 (below)

4. Do you like your kitchen organized and with counters cleared off or do you prefer to have the things you use often out on counters? Do you mind what some might see as clutter or do you hate having to dig out tools and appliances when it comes time to use them? and prefer to have them within easy reach?




above : a 1940's Kitchen.   Oh, I love the look of that 1940's kitchen above! I actually once lived in a house that had the white metal cabinets like that, with a large farmhouse sink. I loved it so much!

There is a picture of it in  THIS LINK https://pamelasopenwindow.blogspot.com/2017/04/interesting-places-ive-lived-story-of.html That is a fun story that I think you will enjoy reading if you haven't before.

To answer the questions in #4 above, 

a. Do you like your kitchen organized and with counters cleared off or do you prefer to have the things you use often out on counters?  This is my main kitchen counter beside the stove. As you can see, I have the toaster oven, coffee pot and hot water pot, a crock of cooking utensils and knives all sitting out on the counter.  I won't show you the other side by the sink, because it needs to be cleaned off first. LOL. 

B.  Do you mind what some might see as clutter or do you hate having to dig out tools and appliances when it comes time to use them? and prefer to have them within easy reach?

Well, I really don't mind what others might see as clutter. This is my kitchen, and I have it arranged to what works best for me. I do have things like my mixer and crock pot and other big items stashed away in a cabinet. What you see above is pretty much what I leave out, plus on the other side is my electric can opener. My kitchen is organized for my use. Spices and baking things and cooking utensils are near the stove in cupboards. Serving dishes and plates and glasses are kept in another area. Coffee/Tea mugs are kept above the coffee pot. Pots and pans are in cupboards below and beside the stove.  

This is my favorite counter/cabinet, where I can decorate for each season. Dishes are all stored in the cabinets above and below.

This is an old picture below from last year, but it is a glimpse at the island counter, where the sink is...and the dish drainer because we no longer have a dishwasher. I do keep the dish drainer on the counter because we use it for every meal. 

This is also an old picture, but the island is where the Memorial Garden Rose is displayed when it blooms, next to the picture of our son Matthew.  The rosebush hasn't bloomed in a while, I guess I need to trim it back and fertilize it, when the cold weather goes away.  

And so thus ends another episode of Tuesday 4.  Every week is a group of four different questions about different topics. I hope you enjoyed this week! 

Oh, and regarding our home, one of the BEST parts of it is our Still Waters Pond. We enjoy so much the views we see from the back porch overlooking the pond. It's never exactly the same. There are all kinds of birds, as I've shown you frequently. And then there are the sunsets.  

This was the view last night: (Sunday night)

And here's the view from tonight, same time and place. (Monday night).

God is the Master Designer of our beautiful world around us. He loves to display His masterpieces for us each night. No two are ever the same.

And He is the Master Designer of our home as well. Not just the physical house itself, but the love that dwells within the walls of this home. 

Here's some thoughts from God's Word about our homes...

"For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God."

Hebrews 3:4

Matthew 7:24-27

24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

Proverbs 24:3-4

"3 Through wisdom a house is built,

And by understanding it is established;

4 By knowledge the rooms are filled

With all precious and pleasant riches."

So dear friends, from my house to yours,

Y'all come!

Good night and God bless you all.

Go visit our other Tuesday 4 friends HERE