BLONDIE GOES NUTTY

I'd like to thank everyone who came to my blog with such thoughtful comments and prayers so shortly after I heard the news from my father. I am so appreciative. A year ago, I don't think I would have known where to turn except for my immediate family. While I was not shouting out this news to the world, I did send it directly to a community of lady friends that I hold so close to my heart and cherish. So thank you again...

My father is of a very quiet and private nature, therefore I will not publish too many details as I think that would be unfair to him. But since the situation is one on which I will dwell, I do want your support and prayers so I will give you updates as I see fit. I hope you understand.

As of now I am doing well. My thoughts are consumed with what lies ahead and maybe selfishly, I keep reverting back to the memories of my loved ones who succumbed to this hateful disease. I feel powerless. But I will give it my all and I will continue to support Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center , because it is not only an organization that researches the cures for cancer, but also the causes and prevention. You can click on for more information.

Now for Outdoor Wednesday, I thought I would do a post about nuts. The ones running around my yard and the ones falling from my trees! Please join Susan at A Southern Daydreamer for more outdoor posts!

I apologize for the quality of my pictures. I just got a new camera (Whoo Hoo!) and I haven't quite figured out all the settings. But this is one of the thousands of squirrels running around my yard. It's that time of year for everyone, but for me, it's worse. My joy and my curse is that we have Black Walnut trees!

At this time of year they start to fall off the trees as they are starting to over ripen. If they were to be used for commercial purposes, they would be removed from the tree earlier. So, the squirrel's have a feast and they have stockpile hidden for the winter. I just wish they would stop trying to hide them in my potted plants. I have window boxes and I can be sitting here at my kitchen table, right next to the window and there I'll have a squirrel, staring at me smugly while his wee little paws are sending soil and flowers flying. Little varmints.

And here is one now. Just gnawing away at one of my walnuts. Not a care in the world...

These are walnuts I picked up off the ground. They are a bit larger than a golf ball, and have a little of texture to them. They smell a bit fruity and spicy. These outer coverings will leave a yellowish stain on your fingers, so wear gloves if you are handling them.

You can see the stem on this one to the right. Now I googled some information on Black Walnut trees and found some interesting facts through the University of Minnesota Extension Program. Hulling the walnuts is difficult and messy, as I found out because I wanted to show you the walnut inside. I used a chainsaw...er, a regular old hammer and pounded like all get out until I managed to make a small crack. Then I used the other side of the hammer (the side with the two pieces you use to remove nails from the wall after an overzealous and frenzied hanging of pictures that I have been known to do. I pried away this tough skin as you can see below...

According to the U.M. Extension program (and I think this article may have been written by a freshman with an ACT score 0f -11), "Take care when hulling walnuts. The practice of driving over nuts with an automobile can be a dangerous one. Nuts and shells can be thrown into the air by the tires, possibly causing bodily injury or property damage." I think he/she should be an insurance adjuster when they grow up. I just used my good old hammer which had never been used for anything so dangerous in it's life, although it does lie under my bed at night, waiting to do serous damage to the head of an intruder...

So here you have the walnut. It's sort of like finding the Tootsie Roll inside the Tootsie Roll Pop! But I withheld tasting it. It grosses me out. Plus, I was busy trying to wash my stained hands.

If you have not had your fill of nuts by this time, check out Sherri's blog. She did a post on harvesting almonds last week that was quite interesting.

I hope everyone is enjoying the weather we are having. It has been in the 70's here in the Midwest, going down to the 60's at night. I am getting ready to go for a bike ride, and when our trees start to change, I'll take some pictures. I know so many of you are putting up some very cool fall decorations, but I am holding out until at least October 1. My flower pots still look great and although the air has that sort of hazy quality, it still seems like summer. And...if I set out pumpkins now, my little outdoor pets will fore go the walnuts and start on another feast!

Wishing all of you a perfect week in every way! ;-)

xoxo

Jane

My Dad has cancer.

CLOCHE PARTY & PINK SATURDAY!!!

Oh happy day!! The Cloche Party has finally arrived!! I haven't been to this many parties since my wild twenties!! Oh, the fun I had with my girlfriends. We had a whole slew of bars we haunted; The Mug, Gonzo's and my favorite, P.O.E., which stood for Port Of Entry. It sat on the grand St. Charles River in Illinois, and we had the greatest times there. I once took a dare to do cartwheels down the dock, and oh did I!! Didn't land in the water, but should have. I sprained my ankle and now, 100 years later, it is weak, gives out and I have arthritis in it. Oh, the good 'ol days! But this is a cloche party and I believe I will behave myself!

Above is a gift from friends that came to visit us at the Lakehouse a few weeks ago. Thank you Carol & TJ!! It looks like a huge wineglass. Whoa...Partaaaay! No, it was empty and ironically, right on the bar that it is sitting on, I had a box of faux fruit from Target, just looking for a container. As our hostess Marty advised, we could use all types of vessels in this party, therefore I present, 'The Humongous Wineglass With Fruit'!!

I missed the last Cloche Party as I didn't have a clue what a cloche was. I caught on a bit after visiting some of the party goers. I loved all the pretty arrangements under glass and was determined I would make a darn good one!! On my trips to little resort towns in Michigan, with all sorts of shops and boutiques, I searched and searched for cloches. No one knew what I was talking about and I certainly wasn't articulating it well. Finally, I was in a little shop that sold gourmet food. And there it was. A beautiful white pedestal with a gorgeous dome. Inside was a jar of gourmet peach preserves. I talked the owner into selling me the whole set up. She thought I was nuts. I didn't dare explain the cloches or the party. She seemed glad to get rid of me.

Now, I thought I got the whole concept of the cloche and how you filled it with anything you wanted to your hearts content. But after that, I was lost. What do I fill it with?? Where do I get the stuff. I am up in Michigan with nothing but lakes and woods and corn fields...and then a light bulb went off in my blonde head and I hopped into my car and drove to our one horse downtown area and burst into Village Floral, where Jody stood behind the counter, her angel wings gently blowing in the breeze of the ceiling fan. She knew. Bring it in, she said. I ran back out to my car and zipped back in holding my Gourmet Peach Preserve Cloche close to my chest. I must have looked like a crazed woman. Jody gently took it from my sweaty hands and said, "I will take care of this.". Spoken like a true angel. I headed for the door and turned when I heard Jody ask, "But what is it?"

The following day, promptly at three 'o clock, I returned to Village Floral. And there Jody stood with my beautiful cloche and a bill for $20.00. My eyes lit up. It was magical, as you can see. Two little brown birds and all sorts of greenery and moss. Jody brushed her wings back with her manicured fingers that had delicately created this little domed wonderland. She patiently explained to me that she placed a piece of floral foam on a reversed piece of duct tape and attached it to the bottom of the cloche. This way, nothing is glued down and I can change out the cloche any way I want. Jody is one sharp angel. Then she said, "Shhh...come with me.", and she led me back through the aisles of silk floral arrangements, past the cool refrigerators filled with gorgeous roses, carnations and daisies. Back to where she opened a secret door. And in the dimness of the room, I saw shelves of faux silk flowers and grasses, tiny rose buds and dainty baby's breath. It was a fever dream of florals! She took a plastic bag and filled it with tiny flowers with stems. She added moss and to my astonishment, reindeer moss, which I had only heard of in a dream (or from a blogger). She added tiny birds and nests and some dried flowers. She gave me the bag and quietly said, "Do what you will with this. You are on your own. And please don't make a fool of yourself at the party." And then with a swoosh of her angel wings, she was gone.

I fiddled. I played. I laughed hysterically and ripped everything apart and started over. Many times. Finally...

Nope. This was a practice one! I found the vessel at our Farm market.

Cute bird though.

And finally. My finished cloche. Vessel also bought from the Farm Market. Inside is an avocado surrounded by different mosses and various faux and dried flowers. It sits on the hearth of the stone fireplace at the Lakehouse. Jody's cloche sits on my harvest table.

I think I did good.

Before I met my angel, Jody, I thought cloches and apothecary jars were just for the mundane. But I was touched by an angel. No, that's not original...I was touched by the ladies of Blogland who forced...er, inspired me to create, to learn to create, and to share. Thank you ladies. Thank you Jody!!! :-)

And in the spirit of Pink Saturday, I am going to lie down on my lounger with my pink pillow and then I am going to visit our hosts, respectively, Marty, who so selflessly planned this party, and Beverly, who has been the gracious hostess of Pink Saturday since forever. Visit these ladies and see the LONG list of participants. Visit these ladies and friends, who worked so hard to create a great post for us!!

xoxo

Jane

UGLY ROOSTER WINNER!!!!

Today is the big day to announce the winner of the Ugly Rooster Giveaway. I will be so glad when this whole thing is over with and those rooster's are out of my house. I wrapped them up carefully and brought them home from the lake. Gee, I hope nothing broke...Who in the world would want these things?? Probably someone like me, who stood in the little dime store in South Haven, Michigan, ogling the price of said rooster's, thinking, "Wow! This is only $3.50!! They are practically giving this away!"

But before we get to the winner (Don't you hate when they do this on shows like American Idol and Dancing With The Stars? Make you wait through a commercial before you can get to the good stuff?). I won't be long. It's just that I forgot two things that were up at the Lakehouse that I wanted to include in that Rooster Party waaaaay back when. Above is a recipe I tore out of the newspaper when I first heard of the party and I thought it would be cute to have a signature drink the day of. I took the picture of the recipe but forgot about it. You will probably have to enlarge it. It sounds good, but I don't like vodka. Maybe I will have one just for the heck of it, now that the birds belong to someone else named...

Oops!! And then I was unpacking boxes at the lake that held all my wall art that we put away while we had the renovations going on. I found this beautiful plaque that my sister gave me years back. I love the chicken wire!! It's real! I felt so bad that it didn't make it to the party, so here it is. Gosh, I feel like I am having my own wee little Rooster Party all over again. I am never joining one of these things again. ;-D

Here is Layla, ready to announce the winner (If Debbie can have her cat's run the show, I can have my dogs. Except I think her staff can type. So, c'mon, Layla...

Oh yes, one other thing. I had many responses, both from ladies that wanted the rooster's and ladies that were downright blunt, and did NOT want these ugly rooster's. I consider the latter quite brave, verbose if you will. But who am I to judge? I decided these ladies needed to win a little something for being so smug. I mean brave. I mean honest. They didn't hurt my feelings. In fact, someone is getting a little 'runner up' prize of sorts. And that person would be anyone who blatantly refused to be in the giveaway or wisely said nothing.

So Layla, without further ado...

"What do I get for being cute??"

2nd Runner Up of the Ugly Rooster Giveaway: Brenda of Cozy Little House!!! Brenda, please email me your address and I will be sending you a little something for being so full of your...I mean sure of yourself. ;-)

Winner of Ugly Rooster Giveaway: Sue of Sullivan & Murphy!! Please email your address! I thank you for being so nearsighted.

And without further ado, Layla and I are calling it a day!!

xoxo

Jane

THE IRONIES OF OLD & NEW AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN

I am joining our friend, the beautiful Chari from Happy To Design,for the 1st time on Sunday Favorites. After you have finished reading my post, please visit our sweet friend and see her contribution and all of the other ladies who are posting oldies but goodies!! This is my first time joining and this is one of my favorite posts. I must warn you...it is LONG!!! Longer than the normal 'Blondie Long' , but I had so many reason to love what I was writing about. I hope it makes you smile!!

I really enjoy reading blogs with pictures of sweet little daffodils poking their yellow heads through the ground in West Virginia, the blue delphiniums waving in the breeze in Texas and the azaleas blooming in all their glory down in Florida. Well, the above picture is about the only sign of spring I have here in the cold midwest. I promise this is not going to be a post where I report and complain about the weather (although the temp is 4 degrees above zero and the wind is picking up...) but rather an uplifting post about looking forward and looking back and some of the small ironies in life that make a big impact.
I love seed catalogs. I began gardening almost as soon as I had my own first home (this one). Our home was sold as a "fixer-upper" and priced accordingly, so my husband jumped on it. He is not a fixer upper type of person but he knows a good deal when he sees one! Our home was also in a nice parish, just a few short blocks from the schools and church. Anyway, if the house was a mess, the yards were a disaster. The original owner surrounded the whole perimeter of the house with maple, oak and black walnut trees. All available space inside the yards was filled with evergreen trees. Hence, the house was absolutely shrouded and actually looked haunted. Not one bit of sunlight came through and nothing could grow, not even grass. I certainly had my work cut out for me. And "cut out " is what I did. Out with all the evergreens, out with some old maple trees with roots that were lifting and cracking the sidewalk and driveway, and after a lot of preening & pruning (and a lot of new sod) I finally had the groundwork to start planting my gardens.
I'm rather a bookish person so I probably spent the whole winter planning said gardens. I thumbed through the seed catalogs, checked books out of the library and made notes. I pretty much immersed myself in this whole gardening thing until The Husband warned me that if I didn't stop showing him diagrams and reciting the Latin names of my favorite flowers, he was going to plant rows of corn in the backyard and blacktop the front!
To make a long story short, I grew my flowers, my vegetables, my vines and ivy, and of course every year you switch things out or add something new, so it's an ever changing process and I love it. And that is why I love seed and plant catalogs. I can almost feel the cool soil in my hands and the warm sun on my back. Sitting back in the evening with a tall glass of iced tea watching the sprinkler flow back and forth, splattering the flowers and making them glisten. Oh, I am in heaven. And these sweet catalogs make it seem so much closer, even if it is frigid outside now!

Hooray!!! Look at this! This is my first piece of transferware! I am so psyched!! I don't even have a china cabinet!! Hee Hee! I bought this last week from the shop I photographed in my last Pink Saturday post. (I didn't include it because it is more red than pink). I am not really a collector of anything. My brain is spread way too far out to want any more than one of anything. (Does that makes sense?) But this transferware is definitely something I could get in to! Isn't it pretty? Next...a china cabinet???

Yesterday was a thoroughly enjoyable day. It was my birthday (yeah, yeah, yeah, another year older). But I am only telling you because the irony part of my post plays in to this, which I will get to sooner or later. I treated myself to another visit to an antique shop, yeah, two in one week!! I'm still sneezing!! This shop was listed on the last page of Romantic Home magazine and I went wow, this is really close by! So off I went. I have to say that this shop had more treasures than trash, and the prices were out of sight. I was actually looking over my shoulder to see if anybody was going to attempt to snatch up something I was drooling over!! I purchased the above porcelain pitcher and saucer. I would say it is about 32 oz. and in mint condition. See the detail on the saucer below.

I paid a whopping $12.00 for this. The bottom shows a little wear and there is nothing on it as far as origin, but I don't profess to know my antiques, I just know what I like. Maybe it's from K-Mart. Behind the pitcher on my quilt rack is a round tablecloth I also bought that needs a few stitches here and there but is going to look wonderful on my table. Can you feel me smiling? :-))

And this is what I was told is a very old chamber pot. Is that what I think it is?? If so, why is it so fancy? Why the delicate handle? Am I going to use it for anything other than a receptacle for flowers or the like? Nope!!! $10.00. Need I say more? By the way, it's big, the top is probably about 16 inches in diameter.

Finally, I saw four little plates hanging on the wall. They are about 5 inches in diameter. The artwork caught my eye. It's sort of whimsical. Quirky, if you will. Like me. Upon scrutiny I discovered the artist is none other than...Norman Rockwell! Who would have thought? The same guy that illustrated the Saturday Evening Post for 500 years. The guy with the museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The guy that did the pictures of the poor, frightened little kids in the doctor and dentist offices that used to hang in every doctor and dentist office I ever went to as a kid? Yep!!

These collector plates were limited editions of hand-colored private postcards that Norman sent to his friends when he traveled in Europe in 1927. You will see that when you get down to the photo of the back of one of the plates. He was 33 years old at the time.

There is one plate each from England, Germany, Rome and Paris. Since I really didn't associate this type of illustration with Norman Rockwell, I did a little research. I learned that when he traveled he liked to use watercolors and oils and went for an impressionistic and less detailed look. I so much prefer this to his later, more commercial work.

I also learned that sadly, when Norman was at the Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain in 1927, the sketchbook that he always carried when he traveled was stolen. Thirty years later he said about the sketches, "I'd done them for my own pleasure...I still almost cry when I think about it. I've never lost anything I felt so bad about".

I can't help but think that I have a little bit of Norman's sketchbook here. I feel very badly that his private work, the work he shared with his friends is gone. But I have come to know a little more about this man and I think I like him.

And the irony is, I bought these plates yesterday, February 3, 2009, my birthday. The same day that Norman Rockwell was born in 1894. Priceless.

My birthday dinner last night (minus Kevin :-( ...). I came home and hung up my Norman plates.

xoxo

Janie

OUTDOOR WEDNESDAY: AUGUST LAKE PICTURES

I love reflections on the water. It seems the closer we get to fall, the calmer the water is and I can get beautiful shots like this. Welcome to Outdoor Wednesday!!

Today I am going to share some pictures from the lake. We were on a little vacation that we take every year during the first two weeks in August. We do some work around the house and a little visiting of some small towns in Southwestern Michigan. So I have some pictures I took outdoors at the Lakehouse. I am saving pictures from our little jaunts into the other towns to share next Saturday on Sightseeing Saturday that Christine from Christine"s Travel And Home Adventures hosts. This is a great event to showcase your vacation pictures or even a day trip. You can click on this link or the button on my sidebar. But today's event is hosted by Susan at A Southern Daydreamer. After reading my post, visit Susan and all the participants in today's event. This is a great way to visit new blogs and make new friends!

We invested in a new dock this year. This is it in the picture above. The one we had was wood and it was in such bad shape I wouldn't walk on it. The dock is a great place to sit in a comfy yard chair with a good book and a cool drink, soaking in the sun and looking out at the tranquil water. We are fortunate that we face a bay because it is very calm here. The front of our house faces the lake, which can be quite noisy with all of the activity (boats, wave runners, screaming kids...). We have a channel that takes us out from our dock around to the lake. Anyway, the dock was rotting and I really wanted another wood dock, but The Husband explained that they only have about a thirty year life span which I thought was perfect timing for us. ;-) So we bought this instead, and it does look good. Next year I will have some pretty flowers on it.

I took this picture one evening while sitting on the porch of the Summerhouse. For some reason the air really had that fall feeling to it. Only when I decided to take a picture did I notice that the leaves have started to change. Has anyone noticed that taking so many pictures for our blogs makes us notice and see so much more around us? I really enjoy carrying my camera with me because I notice the little things more and it makes me feel I am living in the moment, which is the biggest hope I have. Our neighbor built this screened in gazebo a few years ago. It's a great place to get out of the sun and to avoid mosquitoes at night. It's pretty, isn't it?

This is a nice little place to have coffee in the morning on the patio. These are the palms that The Husband fusses over constantly. He won't even let me water them which makes me want to cry... ;-)

Here we are sitting on the porch of the Summerhouse. The Lakehouse is in the background. Being the devoted attorney that The Husband is, he mixes business with...

...pleasure!!

This is the cute little chair I found a few months ago at a resale shop. I like it under this oak tree on the patio. Have I mentioned that we have flying squirrels living in it? The tree, not the chair. I truly did not know they actually existed. I mean, I did watch Rocky and Bullwinkle when I was a child, so I thought they only existed in cartoons! But yeah, he pokes his little head out once in awhile and soon we will have acorns dropping and see him more. Flying squirrels have a thin piece of tissue that connects the front paws to the back paws and these serve as "wings". They don't fly like birds. They use their flying ability to avoid predators and generally glide from tree to tree. I will try to get pictures this fall.

This is a nice spot against the Summerhouse to sit and read or relax. It hardly gets any sun so it's nice and cool on 90 degree days, which we only had about a handful of here in the Midwest. That is Monster Fern that I kept here in Chicago over the winter. He looks sick. He didn't do well at all and a wonderful summer at the lake is not reviving him. Maybe a ski trip?? My bare English Garden is in the background. My tall perennials are around the parameters of the garden. I am working my way gradually toward the paths with shorter plants. Now is a great time to buy plants as they are all on sale. I have some work ahead of me!

So this is what I have for this Wednesday. The rest of my week is busy. We have a wedding to go to on Saturday and of course, Procrastinator Blondie has put off getting a dress until now. I am not looking forward to this ordeal. It's not like I am fussy about dresses, in fact, my taste in clothes is very wide ranged. It's just the Dressing Room Phobia I have. They really know me at Macy's here. I am in the little room where all the loud screaming and swearing is coming from.

Since I probably will not post again this week, this will be your last chance to leave a comment and be entered into the giveaway for The Ugly Roosters. This must be the first giveaway in the history of blogging where people are commenting that they don't want to be entered, that they don't want the free gift!! lol!!! Let me just say that this is going to have a bit of a surprise ending!! :-)

I hope everyone has a fun filled Labor Day weekend. Wherever you go, be safe. See you all next week!!

xoxo

Jane

ROOSTERS & RELAXATION

We had the best time at the lake this weekend. I truly sat back and watched time pass without a care in the world. Abby left for college last week and I will post about that soon. Now I am in that strange but content state you might be in after a good cry. I have accepted that my nest is empty and I am okay with that. Luckily, it seems the summer work at the lake is over. Yes, now that fall is around the corner!! I forgot my little Mouse Power Sander, so I could not fiddle with any of the furniture I am painting (a headboard, two nightstands and an end table). I forgot to bring a book and I decided not to bring my bike or laptop. After visiting so many people in the Rooster Party Friday, I truly felt I was going blind. All those colors!! Did anyone have to pop some Tylenol??

I took some pictures of the outside of the Lakehouse for Fifi , who has finished the painting of the Summerhouse, the wee, blue building you can see on the left, and she is now going to paint the house. Not literally come out and paint the house, do a painting. How she is going to see through all those trees to do it, I don't know. But Fifi has quite an imagination. Maybe she can throw in a new roof. The weather was in the mid 60's after a week of rain. I thought for sure I would have ripe tomatoes by now, but I looked and they are still small and green. I can just imagine standing out there in October, popping them into freezer bags!

Remember these roosters from Barb's Rooster Party? The UGLY roosters? A lot of bloggers agreed with me that they were God awful, but many thought they were cute. And a lot of people tried to figure out what the heck the big black rooster was doing with his wings! Swatting flies? Dropping something on the wife's head? (I would too if she were that ugly! lol!!). Well this might answer the mystery questions.

Ugly Male Rooster is holding this little bowl that says, "Keep The Home Fires Burning".

And this is what it looks like with a tea light candle in it. Still, that woman looks crazed!! If I were him, I'd let her freeze her ugly claws off!! Soooooo...I am announcing a giveaway. You can win this piece of frightful art by leaving a comment on my posts up until Saturday. If you do not want this UGLY THING, just say so, and I won't include you (and I will admire your good taste forever). I just can't wait to be done with the thing. I'll throw in some tea lights too.

While standing in my kitchen, not cooking or cleaning on this relaxing weekend, I decided to take a few more pictures of the renovations. I know it seems that I am teasing all of you with bits and pieces of this job, but we have not seen Resident Carpenter since May. Maybe we never will. It's just so hard to get good work these days. Anyway, this is the new tin ceiling and these are the ceiling lights I chose. Aren't they cool? (There are two). The frosted glass lamp can be made to hang down a bit like this, or installed flush against the ceiling. I bought these at Home Depot and I am pretty sure they were under $50.00 each.

A closer view...

This is a close up of my counters. They are quartz and the pattern is Mont Blanc. Also from Home Depot.

The floor is porcelain, but I think it looks and feels like stone. I do love it. It is from a local floor shop.

On my relaxing Sunday, without books, laptop, sander and bike, I put a roast on the grill and sat on the dock to fish a bit. Along came these little cuties. Old enough to leave Mom and Pop, but still new at "testing the waters". The Husband bought me a new deluxeroo fishing pole (doesn't it seem like he has been buying me a lot of things lately? First the bike, then the fishing pole...I think he is trying to get me outdoors more!!). I did find it difficult and somewhat unsanitary to handle worms and then check the roast so I didn't test out the new pole and the lake was safe again.

Hi little guy! Soon we will know if you are a beautiful male or a plain female in need of mascara and botox...

Goofy Milo enjoyed lying in the cool grass...

rolling around a bit...

...and just not doing much of anything. Like me.

Don't forget the giveaway. Mention it in one of your posts with a link to me, and I will enter you twice. Have a wonderful and RELAXING week!! :-)

xoxo

Jane