TRASH TO TREASURE and 2ND TIME AROUND TUESDAY

PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO MAIL YOUR RED ENVELOPE TO

PRESIDENT B. OBAMA

TODAY.....

CLICK ON THE RED ENVELOPE ON MY SIDEBAR FOR DETAILS...

AND....MY THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT TO HELP SAVE

UNBORN BABIES.....

* I am so happy to be a part of the wonderful sisters fun day....

TRASH TO TREASURE, that our wonderful sisters,

KARI & KIJSA

are hosting.....

Thanks so much, girls, for this fun event....

*

and, 2ND TIME AROUND TUESDAY, hosted by DIANE is always a really fun event.

Thanks, Diane!

*

PLEASE go by BOTH of these sites and see what all is being offered up today

for your viewing pleasure.

I always get some good ideas when visiting all the blogs that are participating...

Hopefully, you will, too..

and

MANY THANKS for coming by to see me today...
*
I have blogged about this hutch before but

nothing wrong with a few repeats every now and then...

right?

*

;O)

I found the top part of my hutch in a little shop

smack downtown ....they have darling things,

a lot of MACKENZIE-CHILDS items (new)

and some old pieces. At the time I bought this upper cabinet,

the shop had a LOT of antiques....very reasonable as most

of the pieces needed TLC....

the shop has since decided not to have furniture for sale.

BUMMER...
*

This top piece is very old...the glass is all wavy

and you can just tell it was made a long time ago...
*

I hung KATHY'S little heart on the door...

I have several of Kathy's hearts and they are all so sweet..

You might want to give a heart to someone and when you do,

think of KATHY !
*

I had to have a bottom piece for this short little top...
one day, I was at one of my favorite thrift stores and
spotted this piece way back in a dark corner....
it had been left out in the weather...it was blonde,
with lots and lots of peeling paint....
and...
it was marked $14.00, as it..
*
I was just beside myself...$14 bucks ?
Well, I called Mr. Sweet to please, with sugar on top, to
come a'runnin' with his trusty PICK UP TRUCK...
and...
he did !!
*

I painted the entire thing, put new rosy pulls with brass backplates...
*

the appliques on this old, beat up piece were just beautiful....
and in fine shape...
*

You can see a little warping on this end of the drawer...
not to worry....didn't bother me in the least...
"character" remember ! :O)
*

I delight in dressing the top of this honey with pretties...
changing with the seasons....
the painting is one of my very favorites and was bought
at a thrift store several years ago..I put it in a
snappy, new frame and I love the look!
*

There's that pretty vase from our CRUISE....
Beautiful Daughter surprised me with it...
springy looking little girl with a basket of flowers...
*

All in all...once the two pieces were married,

and painted the BEST shade of SAGE and added RED fabric to the back,

I found myself a wonderful piece of furniture that

has charm, character and the all-sought after....

STORAGE.....

NOW, I COULD

BUY MORE DISHES !! WOO HOO

XO bj

"HOME is what catches you when you fall....and we all fall."

TRUE BLUE .......

TIME, once again, for

BLUE MONDAY,

hosted by SMILING SALLY

be sure to go by, leave sweet words and visit

all the other BLUES in town...! *
A TRUE BLUE FRIEND....
Loyal, faithful, as in "You can count on her support; she's true blue."
This expression alludes to the idea of blue being the color of constancy, but the exact allusion is disputed. One theory holds it alludes to the unchanging blue sky, another to the fastness of a blue dye that will not run !
*
I have been blessed to have several

REALLY TRUE BLUE FRIENDS....

*

I realize that I have introduced you to these ladies already...

These are some of my TRUE BLUE friends..
I have know them a long long time and
I love 'em all dearly..
*
The other day, through my FaceBook, I found another
friend that grew up, went to school and graduated
in my little hometown, 45 miles away.....
that's her on the right end....
*
We, OF COURSE, had to "do lunch"..
and lunch we did.....2 1/2 hours of it....
at CRACKER BARREL....a favorite.
We brought annuals and pictures....
we laughed, talked and cried a little....
We were all so glad to meet up again after all the years.
(what nearly made me mad is that she didn't have a GRAY HAIR one!!)
*
oh, and we had CHICKEN AND DUMPLINS with a salad...
then, we all three split the BEST
HOT APPLE PIE, WITH CINNAMON ICE CREME
and all drizzled with HOT CARAMEL...
Oh Honey !
*
* MARTHA = TRUE BLUE

* BARBARA, MARTHA AND VIV = TRUE BLUE
This is ALICE...one TRUE BLUE FRIEND...
we went to high school together and have been
friends ever since. She and I have been through
some of the highest and some of the lowest times
in our lives and she has ALWAYS been right there, beside me !
************
TRUE BLUE FRIENDS ARE ONE OF THE BEST BLESSINGS FROM GOD.
**
I hope you will call a friend today and have lunch soon...
you'll be so glad you did...
I SURE AM !!
XO bj
**
"NEVER kick a cow chip on a hot day!"

YUMMY PINKS...

AND....I BELIEVE IT !!
*

HAPPY PINK SATURDAY, hosted by BEVERLY at HOW SWEET THE SOUND

lots of PINK out there today..... be sure to stop by and see what Beverly has

to show us and leave her bloggy love with a comment.

Then, take a look at all the other PINK.....

and thanks so much for coming by to see mine!

**

REMINDER PRAYER BALLOONS ,

Please pray for BEVERLY'S mother.

PLEASE PRAY FOR MORE and MORE and MORE SURVIVORS
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*

*

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THIS is what I usually drink in the afternoons but....

I would MUCH rather have one of the following...

MUCH MUCH MUCH rather !!!*
**

THESE PINK cold drinks looked so good to me,

I wanted to share them with you....

I have made the smoothies but not the others shown...

SOOOOO, make them at your own risk !

and WATCH OUT..

***

they just may be HABIT FORMING !!!!*
*

Just Peachy Smoothie

SERVINGS: 4 (1-cup servings)
2 cups sliced fresh peaches, nectarines, and/or apricots
1 cup fat-free milk
1 - 6-ounce carton peach fat-free yogurt with no-calorie sweetener
1 cup small ice cubes or crushed ice ...

**********

'course, you know we can use any fruit we like...

i love them made with strawberries, bananas and almonds....

*
1. In a blender, combine fruit, milk, and yogurt. Cover and blend until smooth.
2. Gradually add ice through hole in lid, blending until almost smooth. If desired, garnish each serving with fresh fruit. Makes 4 (1-cup) servings.

*

Sparkling Red and Green Tea
Combine green tea, your favorite juice, and sparkling water for a refreshing take on iced tea.
*

i can't wait to try this one! sounds devine to me....

***

now this one....it looks "to die for" good...

chocolate stir sticks ?

Oh ! Honey....

********************

Start to Finish: 15 minutes
Ingredients
1-1/2 cups frozen or fresh raspberries
3 Tbsp. raspberry liqueur or milk
1 Tbsp. seedless raspberry jam
2 cups raspberry or other berry gelato or ice cream
1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup chopped chocolate bars, crushed shortbread cookies, or chocolate wafer cookies
To top drink: Chocolate bars, shortbread cookies, or chocolate wafer cookies
Directions
1. Thaw raspberries, if frozen. Place 1 cup berries in blender or food processor. Cover and blend or process until smooth. Press puréed berries through fine-mesh sieve into bowl. Discard seeds. Add liqueur and jam to pureed berries; whisk until smooth.
2. For frappé, in blender or processor combine berry mixture, gelato, and milk. Cover and blend or process just until combined, stopping blender to scrape down sides as needed. Stir in chopped chocolate or crushed cookies.
3. Divide remaining berries and frappé between two chilled glasses. Top with chocolate or cookies. Serve with long-handled spoons. Makes 2 servings.

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it sounds so good, I can't stand it...

Grandkids are going to love these this summer...and Memaws, too!!

**

HAPPY PINK to everyone!

XO bj

****************

"peace is seeing a sunset and knowing who to thank!

**********************

*NOTE FROM Granddaughter, JESSICA, regarding OUR FIRST GREAT GRANDDAUGHTER....

"Yes, it's getting close! The due date is officially April 23, but we go to the doctor on Tuesday so that he can do an ultrasound to measure her. He said he wanted to see how big she's gotten and maybe consider inducing 2 weeks early, if it was needed. So I'm really anxious for the appointment, so we can kind of make a game plan. I kind of feel like it could be anytime now, so I'm trying to be ready for anything. "

WOO HOO !!

"Can you bake a Cherry Pie, Billy Boy, Billy Boy....

IT'S THAT TIME OF THE WEEK AGAIN...

FRIDAY......FOODIE FRIDAY

hosted by GOLLUM

*

I love all these ladies.."THE GIRLS" we call ourselves....

We try to meet each month for lunch and visiting...Here we are, last month, in front of

SUGARBAKERS CAFE AND BAKERY..

*

We decided to start meeting at each others house for awhile...

just a change of pace and save a few dollars, too..

**

This month, my contribution to the Mexican Lunch was

homemade SALSA (i've already shared that recipe with you)

and

A CHERRY PIE.....

****************

I gathered all my ingredients...

using canned Cherry pie filling but added butter and vanilla,

cooking it until all was melted before adding to my pie crust...

OK...my recipe from my Aunt Lola for a

NO FAIL PIE CRUST....and it is sooooo good...

BUT, horror of horrors....

I can't find my recipe......

bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.....

*

Had to resort to a cookbook for a pie crust recipe..

found one that used an egg...very strange...but I tried it....

JUST keeping it real, girls...

YEP....welcome to the real world !

This is so pitiful I don't know what to do....

Bwaaaaaa...I CAN'T take THIS to THE GIRLS !!!!!!

This crust and I fought all OVER my red kitchen....

flour being flung everywhere...

even Mr. Sweet got a little on him!

Well, after patching and rubbing the CRATERS with cool water

and using fingers to even things out, it is FINALLY

beginning to LOOK like a pie crust...

maybe....

*

Once those bright red, sweet cherries go into it,

I'm not even looking at that ole crust...

Maybe I CAN take this to the girls...

(i know that a lot of people call their breasts THE GIRLS !)

well, THEY are coming with us to eat!!) tee hee.....

be awkward trying to leave THEM at home!

:>)

* Got the lattice crust on the top...

and my little PIE BIRD perched right in the middle...

He is supposed to keep the pie from bubbling over...

and he is so cute doing it !!

NOW...it is lookin' pretty good at this point

but sometimes....TRAIN WRECKS HAPPEN IN THE OVEN....

things don't always come out looking like you think they oughta!!

Seems they take on a whole new personality sometimes...

awh, man...I hope it is FRIEND LUNCHEON worthy !!!!!

*

I laughed so hard when I saw this photo...

he looks like a real little bird with his mouth open....

*

He didn't do his job all that well.....spilled over a bit...

ah...but it does look good...

******

*I took it to the luncheon and it was just fine...

especially with a couple of scoops of

VANILLA BEAN ICE CREME...;O)

*

*

later in the week, i made another cherry pie...
we didn't get our fill from the other one.
made a double crusted one this time and
my Pie Bird did a MUCH better job of keeping all
that good juice INSIDE the pie....
*****************
that's the one in my header...
*


Do you ever make these little Pie Crust Sticks with your left over crust?
I always do...
just cut into strips, brush with melted butter and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on them...
pop them in the over until brown...
they are good and crisp and Mr. Sweet really likes them...
My Aunt Lola taught me that !!
***********
*
"i can bake a cherry pie,
quick as a cat can wink his eye...
i'm a young thing and can not leave my mother.......
**

Bake a pie today and see if you have as much fun as I did...haha.. and many thanks for coming by to see me on this FABULOUS FOODIE FRIDAY.....don't forget to visit all the ones that GOLLUM has a list of.....

XO bj

*****

"not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious !"

VINTAGE THINGIES THURSDAY...

My thanks once again to SUZANNE at COLORADO LADY for hosting this fun day each and every week...

VINTAGE THINGIE THURSDAY

Be sure to go by and see what she is showing us today, leave her a sweet note

and visit all the Blogetts that are anxious to show THEIR vintage treasure...

and THANK YOU very much for coming by to see mine...

*

*

This is my PINK hand painted PIN MONEY bank...

complete with rhinestones and little raised flowers...so pretty !

Made by Lefton China between 1948 and 1953....

They are fairly rare and very collectable and this is the only one I have....
*

I bought it off EBAY a few years ago

and it's in very good condition.

I want about 29 more !!!!

**

*
This is one of my very favorite and most beautiful decorator magazines in the
whole wide world....

and MY LETTER is printed in this very issue !!

JULY, 2004
*

I read in one of the magazines about this fabulous collection
of PIN MONEY BANKS that a lady in California had and... it prompted me to

send an email to the magazine...
I simply told them how much I loved the article and the fabulous collection

and you could have knocked me over with a feather when they notified me that

they would print my letter and sent a complimentary issue....

which I still have and will be buried with !!

*
MY letter in ROMANTIC HOMES....*sigh......

Well....OF COURSE I had to have one of those banks!

Thus began the search...ending at EBAY...

I am tickled to death to have ONE...

I never could get a decent photo of my letter...

but here it is....

*

"BANKING ON THE MONEY"

"I just had to write and tell you that the collection featuring PIN MONEY PURSE BANKS (IN THE PINK,

March 2004) has just about set Ebay sellers and buyers on their ears! We are all staying glued to our computers, trying to get that last winning bid in on these beautiful collectibles. Cindy Cook really started something sharing her awesome collections with us readers. Even though I grew up in the '40's and '50's, I didn't know these little banks existed---now I am out looking for them all over the place. Thanks for a great magazine. I love it!"

*************************

A cousin that lives several hundred miles away received HER copy of the

magazine that month and said she just about DIED when she read my letter...

She called and was just squeelin' like a little piggy....

as you can tell, not too much EXCITING happens to us very often ! ;O)

*****
MY QUESTION ?
Am I now considered .................PUBLISHED ?

;O)
**************************
XO bj

*"ONE OF THE HARDEST THINGS IN LIFE TO LEARN IS WHICH BRIDGE TO CROSS AND WHICH BRIDGE TO BURN !"

*************************************************

Meaning of: Pin MoneyPin Money: Catharine Howard, wife of Henry VIII., introduced pins into England from France. As they were expensive at first, a separate sum for this luxury was granted to the ladies by their husbands. Hence the expression "pin-money."

A MAKE-OVER that took waaay more than 10 minutes....

DIANE is having another 2ND TIME AROUND TUESDAY

and it promises to be a lot of fun.

Please stop by, see what she has to offer today and she will have a list of other fun things to see...

and THANK YOU for stopping by to see me today while I play

2ND TIME AROUND TUESDAY....

maybe NEXT Tuesday, you will want to play, too !!

*
TODAY, I am showing my

2ND TIME AROUND BEDROOM....

*

OH.....YOU REMEMBER THIS Pitiful Pearl bedroom that I was a very brave girl
to post for the whole, entire world to see ?

So tacky and neglected and forelorn......

*

I really and truly never thought it was UGLY....

until I took this photo of it.....

OH....THE SHAME OF IT ALL

I guess I just got used to it and didn't pay it that much attention....

**

*

*

and then I found THIS beauty that belongs over at CHERRY HILL COTTAGE !

MY INSPIRATION ROOM !!
*

Oh, yes...with the purchase of the RED and WHITE quilt,

things are beginning to look a LOT better

and I am getting a LOT excited...
*

BUT....those GREEN walls have got to go and that means

the WALLPAPER BORDER with it !!

*

I like to have an inspiration room to guide me along when I am

redoing a certain room...( I used to tear them out of magazines...before BLOGGING!!)

I don't intend to mimic the room right down to the nitty gritty....then, it wouldn't be ME...

I have to have ME in there or I'm not happy !!

I just seem to stay more focused on what I am doing if I have

a visual idea of what I want that room to look like...

keeps me from going off into outer space....

yep....green walls and wallpaper border HAVE to go !!

AND THAT MEANS W.O.R.K.

*

THIS BORDER was the devil to get off...
but, a couple of weeks of working, off and on, sweating, whining,
cryin' and moaning.... and having a sip or two of WINE.....

*

.........I was able to get it painted in the best YELLOW, ever !

I love this shade of yellow...just prefect for my North bedroom....

Not too dark, not too light......JUST RIGHT..

some shades look good in a West room but not a North one..

and, of course, visa-versa...

*

I added white ironstone plates above the windows...

a few other white pieces on a shelf....
*

and lots of LOVE around the room....

;O)
I also like a little BLACK in all my rooms...

just makes the other colors really stand out

and seems to ground the room...

*

The wrought iron inserts in my foot and headboard of the bed
have oak leaves and acorns....giving me lots of GOOD LUCK..
I love that ...
see the little fairy lights on the headboard?
i love those, too....
*
Mr. Sweet Nothings bought this vintage wicker love seat for me years ago...
it looks pretty in a corner of the bedroom with a quilt that
I made a few years back....
*
* AWWW, I remember..our little boy, DAVID, was 2 years old
when we got this loveseat...he just turned 45....
bwaaaaaaaaa
*
SOOOO, my poor little PITIFUL PEARL of a bedroom....
went from Rags to Riches, mostly thru color...
and lots of enthusiasm and inspiration...
Oh, I still am looking for some pretty RED and WHITE pillows...
they are harder to find than I ever imagined....
does anyone in Blogland make pillows?
until I DO find them, the red and khaki ones will stand in...
and I am also on the look-out for a pretty, little
candle-burning chandy to hang in here..maybe the
next trip to the thrift stores will turn up the perfect one...
you just never know..
and I am thinking seriously of asking for
PLANTATION SHUTTERS....
at Christmas time.....
oh, honey...I'd LUV those !!

*

KEEPIN' IT REAL...

even Mr. Sweet Nothings Texas sized cowboy hats look good in a soft yellow bedroom!
*

I'm happy !!

*

*
*
*
*

OH, YES....

I am very happy !

XO bj