We hope you have a wonderful 4th of July.

New Blog Address

My email address is now
bjconklin2@gmail.com
and
my new blog address is

bj-sweetnothings.blogspot.com 

Please put it on your blog list...

THANK YOU.

This is pretty random, but....

Is this not the cutest canvas art.....

I tell you, I am going to buy this....

I don't care if it "goes" with my other things or not....

I JUST LUV IT....

"Lynn...bet you love it, too....hahhaaa...."

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

Dear friends,

It seems I have TWO blogs now and I am going to try to MERGE the two....

I hope and pray I don't blow myself and my two blogs right off the planet..

Just the word "MERGE"

sounds scary to me.

HOWEVER, I can't blog from both blogs...

every time I want to post on one, I have to sign in with the email address I created that blog with..

Both blogs have different emails....sooo frustrating ...

So,   

 until I get this mess figured out,

please watch my

bj-sweetnothings.blogspot.com

blog as I'll use it for awhile longer.  

XOXO  bj

HOOOOLY COW....

Every post I am making seems to be working.....

BRENT RIGGS of LINKY FOLLOWERS fame put me on the right road to RECOVERY.....

Hmmmm....not sure this is working...

I lost control of this blog of 6 years when I changed email addresses.

I couldn't get back into it until today.....so....what's a girl to do but start ANOTHER BLOG....
and this new one is the one I'd better stick with until I get some kinks worked out on this original.

NEW BLOG ADDRESS:

bj-sweetnothings.blogspot.com

Please use this new address and COME BACK TO SEE ME......
I have been adrift for several weeks now and felt like a fish out of water.

hugs to everyone...
bj 

TESTING TESTING 1 2 3

OH MY GOODNESS...

I just got back into this original blog using the email address that IS NOW GONE.

Not sure how this will  work....or for how long.....and.....if it DOES work, what do I do with the NEW blog...??

TESTING TESTING......

October Note Card Party and many other GREAT parties to visit....

 Time once again for our friend, VEE and her OCTOBER NOTE CARD PARTY.

 In SPREADING THE WORD of the
FIGHT FOR BREAST CANCER,

my cards, this month, are a glorious 
"PINK"

"The best thing to hold onto in life is each other."
Audrey Hepburn

"I believe in pink.
I believe happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day, and...
I believe in miracles."
Audrey Hepburn

"Opportunities don't often come along. So when they do, you have to grab them. "
 Audrey Hepburn

 

" Paris is always a good idea."
Audrey Hepburn
 *********************************************************

Please remember to schedule your annual mammogram SOON...
and take a friend with you for her to get hers, too.
THEN
you can share a fabulous lunch together.

Cottage Style Party

Show and Share

Whats It Wed.

Sometimes, I can't see the BLESSINGS for the TREES.....but I can SURE SEE THIS ONE !!

THIS post comes straight from my heart...

Of all the earthly things I've possessed over the years, one of my favorite THINGS has been our

VINTAGE FRANKLIN WOOD BURNING STOVE.

With the stove being on an inside wall, the flue pipe had to run up the middle of the stove....

which made it very hard to decorate the mantel behind ....

that stove pipe and I have fought round and round about how to decorate the shelf...and .....most of the time...I WON...

I've always had so much fun decorating the shelf in sooo many ways...

loved loved loved this one with the little
WHITE BOO PUMPKINS....



and the vintage ironstone pieces...

A few days after we signed the contract on the CONTINGENCY SALE of our house,
I found myself tearing up every time I walked into the living room....

Even when I told myself....
HEY.....get a grip...
This is just a HOUSE and just look at the beautiful house we are being
handed on a platter.
A gift given to us out of PURE LOVE....!
"SHAME ON YOU !"

 I THOUGHT I was going to miss my STOVE...

This beautiful cast iron stove belonged to my mama.

The old home place was very old and when she decided to move over to be closer to us,

she sold her house to the Episcopal church next door.

The church was going to tear down the old house and use the property for extra parking for their services.

Mr. Sweet took the stove out of the house and we stored it in our garage....

FOR 11 YEARS....

With Mr. Sweet working out of town most of the time during those years,
we just never got the stove installed in our cottage.

One year for a Christmas present to his mama,

our sweet son, DAVID KEITH, said,

"Mom, I don't have any money for Christmas gifts (he was a young married and knee deep in college)

so I would like to install your fireplace for your gift."

I am squalling like a baby just remembering and writing about it.

Such a sweet, tender thing....he knew how much that would mean to me and I'll never forget his tenderness and thoughtfulness and love for the rest of my life.

We had a professional do the installing of the flue and etc.....and my sweet boy did all the 

brick work  and made it all so pretty.

I can't begin to express the many hours of enjoyment this gift has brought to me.

It belonging to my mother...

my son putting the stove into our house...

there's just so much meaning there for me, I THOUGHT I was  sick about leaving IT.

I knew I sounded ungrateful for the most blessed gift he and his family are giving us...

a beautiful house to live in.

I didn't mean that at all.....I will forever be grateful for this beautiful house
that I am growing to love in the week we've been in it...

and, then.....the  INFAMOUS LIGHT BULB  came on....

It's not really THE STOVE I will be leaving and missing....
it's the deep-seeded memories I have when I just even LOOK at the stove.

The gift of  love  is ALWAYS there.

I don't HAVE to SEE things to remember the love shared in this house
and this makes my heart swell so big, it almost jumps right out of my body.

Tears are running down into my coffee...
my nose is so stopped up, I may NEVER breath again...
sometimes, it feels like the LOVE will just make you explode.

I wouldn't be completely honest if I said that I am not going to miss anything

 about our home of almost 40 years.

Of course, I am bound to miss it.

I can still see my sweet girl, STACY LEIGH, sitting on the bar stool by the front window...
watching for the "boy next door" to drive by the house a hundred times a night....and rev his motor
so she'd be SURE to see him....

and watching DAVID make a huge jump on his bike over the large bush in our front yard every day
after school....

OH, YES.....

There's lots of wonderful memories here but the great thing is that those memories are something

that I will always .....ALWAYS.....have tucked into my heart.

They are all held together with my heart strings and they will be there,
no matter if I NEVER see this house again...or some of the things in it.

OOO, what a blessed and a "WHEW" moment when I realized I wasn't being
ungrateful by saying I would miss these THINGS.

Once I realized it wasn't the things I would miss at all...
and when I realized that I would be taking every single one of the precious memories
WITH me,
all was well with my soul.

All  IS  well with my soul !!

 This fireplace warmed more than our bodies...

it warmed our souls and spirits..

..

and how wonderful that the warmth will NEVER go away.

The memories  won't ever go away because they are GOD-GIVEN memories....

HALLELUJAH ..... !!

The WONDERFUL THING...???

GOD has seen fit to let me live long enuf to make  MORE precious memories.... 

MEMORIES in a new place.....

New memories, being closer to our family...

new memories of the fun times of  NESTING and making this new place

OUR HOME.

The reality is that our family loves us and wants things better for us...

a chance to live in such a beautiful, new, AWESOME house that

is so close to all our family....
without the financial burdens that come with owning a house.

The BIGGEST blessing of all.....
seeing our loved ones even more often than before.
O MY !!

I AM BLESSED.

XOXO bj

 seasonal sunday
blue monday

mosaic monday

mix it up monday

mod mix mondy

marthas monday

A Pretty Pink Bow and a Pork Steak

Hey, Everyone... 

Hope all is well in your world.. 

I think it's so funny the things that we just fall in love with.

I mean...a $2 pink and white stripe bow wouldn't be something most people would just LUV.....

but I do !!

Silly, I know....but every time I go in my dining room and see the pretty green ivy with

the pretty pink bow, I smile.

...another GOOOOOD breakfast at SWEET NOTHINGS this morning.

 ...a bowl of fresh

BLUEBERRIES...

BLACKBERRIES...

and GRAPES.

....a strong cup of my favorite coffee...

Dunkin Donuts.

Here's where it

goes BAD....

A huge pork chop,

panned fried in a small amt. of oil....

and, even tho I know it's a 

heart attack waiting to happen,

I just HAD to make a small amount of creamed gravy over toast.

...and....I KNOW that looks like a glass of WINE..

(is there even a breakfast wine..?)......  

but...but....

I can explain....

Strawberry Orange Banana Crystal Light

just TASTES better in an adorable WINE GLASS.....

:>)

"There's that SLIM, CURVY ME on that cute cup again...."

Ya'll have a great day....

xoxoxo

 FOODIE FRIDAY

After frying pork chops, add a little oil to the same

skillet and a spoonful or two of flour...

let it all brown slightly,

then add milk....

always stir gravy with a SLOTTED spatula or spoon.

this will keep lumps from forming in the gravy. 

Serve over toast....biscuits....it's good on most ANYthing. :>)

...but  YOU KNEW THAT.

TICKLED PINK FRI.
FEATHERED NEST FRI
HAPPY HOUR FRIDAY
FESTIVE FRI FIESTA
PINK SAT.
SAT. SHOWOFF
WEEKLY TOP SHOT
FAVORITE THINGS SAT.
SEASONAL SUNDAY

This is TOTALLY RANDOM (but it has a PINK rose...)
but just sayin' that this pretty bottle did NOT have

very good wine in it....in fact, it was the WORST wine I've ever tasted...
it was, like, carbonated or something weird....









but the bottle looks so cool with a few fern fronds
in it....









hahhhaaaa....ain't life just the GRANDEST !!!

INTERMITTENT

Hi, Everyone....

adjective: intermittent

occurring at irregular intervals; not continuous or steady.

My poor computers didn't make the move as well as Mr. Sweet and I did.....

I'll be back after they both straighten up and ACT THEIR AGE !!

OOOO....

no.....wait a minute...!!

Their age just may be the reason they only want to work PART TIME....

See ya when I can....

Love, kisses and hugs.....

bj

Sunshine in a Can....

 Hello ya'll...

Time for more of those awesome
ORANGE CINNAMON ROLLS....

...store bought....

...delicious..........

...quick as a wink......

 ...eight big ole cinnamon rolls....


heavenly


light

ya can't eat just one

that's right, baby...

fry up some soft, chewy BACON

you know you want too.

Mercy me....SHUT THE FRONT DOOR !!

.... OOO, forever more !!

fill up those rolls with every single bit of  GLORIOUS

ORANGE ICING that comes in the same can...

here's one for me.....

...and here's YOURS !!

Are you licking your screen yet.....??

 

  Centerpiece Wed.
Cottage Style Party
Show and Share
Whats It Wed.

A few more glimpses into THE MOVE....

Mr. Sweet built the nicest utility closet to house our great little 

stackable washer and dryer.

We never could have gotten it done without the help of our son, DAVID KEITH...
he is such a blessing........(and so handsome !)

Mr. Sweet  did a wonderful job on the closet....as always. :) 

This unit looks tiny but it actually has a nice sized washing and drying ability.

I haven't "broken it in" yet but my laundry basket is beginning to get full so I'll give it a try tomorrow.

This HALLWAY OF CLOSETS and SHELVES

is between the bathroom and the living area.

In case you didn't know....
this is a large POOL/GUEST house behind our son's beautiful home...

So much storage in this wonderful house by the pool......


I haven't unpacked many blankets as yet....
but there will be plenty of room for whatever comes along.

...big, nice shelves and I still have several with nothing in them....


never fear, tho.....like I've said....
many unpacked boxes yet to go..

I am looking at a large moving box that has
TOWELS/WASHCLOTHS

so there will be lots more stacked here....

I LOVE these closet shelves...

so handy, so roomy, so neat....

 THIS room, full of individual closets is the most amazing thing, ever.

No more climbing 

attic stairs, carrying large boxes and Christmas tree down ....

this is going to be a lifesaver for olden Mr. Sweet and myself.

....just walk to the closet...open the doors and bring out what we want to decorate for Christmas with.

Of course, with a laptop, you aren't chained to one spot...

Back in the summertime, I moved it all outside by that pool...*heavy sigh

A little corner of the tv room....commonly called LIVING ROOM....:)

I have my wicker desk looking good....this is where I'll sit to pay all those BILLS...(bummer)
This desk is in front of the stairway to the basement. ........

so far, the rest of the room is still full of BOXES.

More to follow later....

Hugs to all....
and thank you much for knowing I can't visit much right now...
too much on my plate.

Linking with:
 BLUE MONDAY
SEASONAL SUNDAY
BE INSPIRED
YOUR GONNA LOVE IT
OUTDOOR WED.
COTTAGE STYLE PARTY
SHOW AND SHARE