I'm still here, guys, but I'm melting....... I guess I'm just too old for the dang heat any more! It is just sapping my strength. I even found myself sitting in my darkened living room today, watching a movie and trying to stay put, and still just sweating up a storm! But not to worry, I'm still visiting you all on a daily basis, keeping up with everything else going on, and one day soon......I will be able to move about a little more. I have something called Fibromyalgia or however you spell it, and it's hard enough to more around on the cool days. But, I'm making plans, gathering supplies, plotting, scheming, and I have alot of projects ahead of me that I am so excited about. Please don't forget about me, I'm just so afraid of that, and I love you all so much!

It's Too Hot To Do Anything!

Remember I told you when I started this blog that it was my job to complain about the weather when it got to be over 110 degrees? Well, it's time! Phoenix has never been known to be balmy and  mild, but 112 degrees and climbing? Naw, it's just not my kind of weather. It just saps my strength and energy, so I tend to do nothing but think, plan and connive! Hahahahaha................boy someone's going to get it!  I have had my Grandson, Joshua, for several visits during his school vacation and we have had some wonderful visits. He's feeling much better these days, so I wanted to thank you for your prayers. I'll admit I have been discouraged about my blog undertaking as of late, because it requires good photography, downloading, linking, linking back, installing a button to a side bar, etc, and I always have a hard time getting those to work, so today I thought I would just blog, without any of the fancy stuff, and just have a good time.
My brother Steve and sil Becky will be here in July for a visit and I'm really excited about that! They will spend most of their time in Sedona and then before they leave AZ they will make a visit to Phoenix. No, they're not crazy, they just love me.  I met a gracious, sweet, and wonderful lady by the name of Susie, who has a blog and Etsy shop with some awesome vintage items in her store. She blessed me in a way I never expected, but I will have to save this wonderful story for later, since it would ruin a surprise I am putting together for my Mom. You can find this sweet lady, Susie, at lemonverbena1 on Etsy and on her blog with the same name. Thank you again, Susie, for your gracious gesture! I can't wait to tell the whole story!

I'm Having GW withdrawals!

I haven't had a trip to GW for 2 weeks and I'm freaking out, as my grands would say. It's payday tomorrow and I've just about made it, but boy, am I having withdrawals! My best friend Randy had to go without me (absolutely unheard of, we always go together) this last week,  but I've found that I'm in more misery if I go, then I see something I can't buy, and then...well, it's not pretty! Sooo, here I am with nothing to post. BUT, then I came up with an idea, and this is long over due.  I am going to make this a tribute to the amazing Ms Karen Valentine who designed this beautiful space for me to have fun with. Her business is called Valentine Designs and her book is called Building Beautiful Blogs (see below). I purchased this book and I highly recommend it for each and every blogger, newbies and experienced alike, because it has so much new information and it has wonderful reference material (.http://buildingbeautifulblogs.com/) .

Thomas Kinkade

I feel very fortunate, especially after the recent sad event, that I have a Thomas Kinkade  picture hanging in my home. I've always admired his great talent and I agree he is indeed "the purveyor of light" that shows so wonderfully in his paintings. My brother Steve and Becky started collecting his works over ten years ago, and one visit to Phoenix they took me to a Kinkade Gallery and asked me to pic the picture that I loved. So I choose this old victorian home, which is now a B&B in Placerville, CA. The lights show so beautifully inside this home in the painting, and I loved that warm feeling I got from looking at it, so they bought it for me and my Mom and Dad had it framed. It is one of my most prized possessions and I thank them for it. Sorry about the glare and the bad photography. I am not a photographer so it is what it is!

This is a picture of my Kinkade on my table in the living room.

This is a lamp I got from Goodwill earlier this year for $12.50 on half off day. They had a matching pair, but I only had  enough for one. I felt very fortunate anyway. It's a beautiful crystal lamp. The little book next to the lamp is a Thomas Kinkade of scripture verses next to some of his paintings. The little birds are some that my mother gave to me.

This little table under the Kinkade is an old  La Galerie by Thomasville tea cart the was my MIL. It has wheels and little leaves on both side that you can pull out and the top is made of slate.

Better view of the birds and the little book. Do any of you remember the Decor Store in Phoenix area? That's where I bought this beautiful box, greens and spire. I miss that place terribly!

This is the same table after I added my French plate that my daughter bought me.

This is my Joshie Bear with his vampire teeth. No really, his teeth are gone in the upper front and the lower adult teeth have already grown in so when he smile, his bottom teeth fill in the empty space and look like vampire teeth! Here, he is showing you that he got a trophy for the season of soccer that he just finished for Boys and Girls Club and his new glasses that he just got this past week. 2 new things for him, and for some reason he wanted to pose with the birds, too. Hummmm....This  is what 7 looks like! He's very sick right now, and we would appreciate prayers.

ANOTHER GOODWILL TREASURE!

Yes, I went to GW again this week, and I found a treasure that I'm hoping someone with knowledge of collectors pieces can help me with. These cute little things are a sugar and creamer set in ironstone that look like flow blue and stand about 5-6" high. There is a stamp on the bottom that is impossible to read because it is "flowing" into the white and can't be seen clearly. There were marked $1.99 each and I got 25% off. I love GW!

 This is another treasure that I got a GW. It is a plate stacker and since I live in an apartment, I have very little room to put anything on top of my counters. I did have the fruit bowl on the counter, then after I brought home this plate stacker, I plopped the bowl of fruit into the bottom portion, and put some of my pretty French plates on the top. Of course, Mizz Froggy had to go with the fruit bowl, since it's her home, so there it is! One fruity froggy bowl plate stand treasure for $7.99 minus 50% off; whole treasure cost me $4.00 because my daughter bought my plates for me and I already had the fruit bowl and Mizz Froggy.

And this last treasure is one of the plates my daughter bought for me at Hobby Lobby yesterday.

They were having 66% off houseware and I she bought me 4 of these plates, regularly $10.00 each

and marked down to $3.40 each. I put the other 3 on the top of my plate holder.

Thanks for visiting me today, please leave a comment and I promise I will answer back. How am I doing? I'm new to this and enjoying it immensely; however, I would treasure your feed back!

Now, let's get started on the good stuff, Home Decor. It's always on my mind; updating, fluffing, re-arranging, adding new things, moving things around. It seems it's never done, and that's the fun of it! I am going to start showing you different rooms in my home, but first, here's an important fact to remember; I live in 800 sq. ft., an apartment. Many of you are saying, " I could never do that, I have too much stuff" and that's exactly what I said, when I found out in 2009 that I was losing my beautiful 4 bedroom home in Chandler, AZ. But, the comforting thought was, well, I have more than enough stuff to make myself a beautiful apartment, so that's what I did.

The above picture is an antique doll that my mother gave. Her Aunt Ruthie had this doll for years, and thus her name is Ruthie. It is my understanding that this is an old German doll. My mom, many years ago, had her clothes, her hat, and her shoes redone especially for her. She also has a new wig. And here she is in all her glory, in a curio cabinet purchased especially for her.