Ten Days!

It's been 10 days since my last post.

I seem to have lost my blogging mojo, 

but I hope it will come back soon.

I have found a few thrifty goodies to share!

This pretty plate was in the secretary for Valentine's 

Bordallo Pinehiro and only .75  Score!

I replaced it with this for St. Patrick's Day

Both of these pieces were thrifted several years ago and found at separate times!  

I will continue to change out the plates seasonally I think.  

Fun way to decorate!

I found another cubbie!!

It is bigger then my other's.  I need to clean it and find a place for it.  Then the fun part, filling it!! 

This past week has been a pretty good one with a few ups and downs.  I meet a blogging friend and will write that post soon.  It was also my youngest daughter's birthday and we have celebrated all week.  Last night Tiger wanted to make his Mom a mountain cake made out of mac n cheese.  He has such creative ideas.  I had the pan

 and his Dad had the mac n cheese. 

Here is how it turned out! 

 Tiger was so excited that his vision came true!  Macaroni Mountain! 

And I'm sorry but I can't be old enough to have a child that is 34...right?? 

Happy Birthday Sara!

Wishing you JOY,

Linda

Catching Up

Thank you all for your kind words about the loss of my sweet Charlie.  They have comforted me so very much.  I will miss him forever but I am doing better now. 

I had to put this little memorial on the table in front of the window where Charlie would always sit.  
It has brought me comfort this week.

Last week I had to pick up a package at my local post office which is across the street from a great vintage mall, 
Junk in the Trunk!

So of course I had to stop in and shop!

Here are some of the fun things I found!

I love this adorable pink poodle!

Turquoise!  

Pink top and teal flower frog oh my!

This flower print is so pretty!

Pink Milk Glass is hard to find!

How about another Paris print!!

Does this egg cup look familiar?  When I downsized I donated this and it shows up here for $10...so no I didn't buy this! 

So many sweet things but this is what I decided to buy! 

This pale pink milk glass vase and the teal frog!
Both on sale!!

I've spent a lot of time with family and especially these sweet grands lately.  Being with them makes me so happy!

 My favorite Darth Vader

and this sweet girl just made my Valentine's Day wonderful.  

Tulips to brighten up the day!

I've taken a break from my 'Simplify' series, but will be back next week with more.  

Wishing you JOY,

Linda

Linking to SYC 

Happy Valentine's Day

There are many kinds of love in this world.

Today I celebrate the love of family

Always there for me and giving me comfort.

Friends who have filled my heart with kind words

and so much love. 

I wish you all a beautiful Valentine's Day!

Linda

Charlie Kitty 1998-2016

I am not sure when, if ever, my grieving will end.

The last few months have been so hard.

Losing my brother before Christmas and now Charlie.   The last couple of months have been a watch and see kind of life with Charlie.  

He has been losing weight and going downhill but he still had light in his eyes.  Friday night that light was gone and he looked deep into my eyes and said, Mama it's time.

I always say 'our eyes met across a crowded PetSmart and he was mine and I was his'

That never changed and never will.

I held him and loved him until his last breath.

I will never be the same.

He has taken a piece of my heart with him.

How do you thank and honor a sweet kitty that has been with you through so much!

Always a beautiful boy and early on he knew how to 'pose' for the camera

Years later he could still 'strike a pose' and make my heart melt

Always more then just 'a cat' he was my constant companion.  He filled that empty place when my girls left home.  He comforted me through a divorce, deaths and much loss.

Now I mourn his loss.

Sleep well sweet Charlie!

Goodbye Sweet Charlie...

1998 ~ 2016

My heart is broken. 

I will write a tribute to my sweet boy soon.  

Right now I just need to grieve. 

Love to you all,

Linda

Simplify #4

I am finally feeling a bit better, but this cold just does not want to completely go away.   I spent several days this past week taking my Mom places and dropping off supplies for Sara and family as they had a stomach virus.  A pretty busy week so what else did I get done?

This pile of items was finally taken to the thrift store!  Yay.  
So of course I started another pile!

This weeks goal was to start on these two bookcases

A mish mash of cookbooks, novels and junk! 

I love cookbooks as does my Mom.  When we moved her I took several of her cookbooks to add to my own collection.  This will be the 3rd time I've downsized it.

Some vintage cookbooks and Pillsbury bake off pamphlets.  I just have so many and I don't look at them and I really don't cook much either.

This is where I keep Charlie's canned food and that won't change, but this red basket is a catchall so I went through it and this is how it looks now

I keep appliance manuals here and cloth napkins.  The cowboy one is Tiger's.  I'm sure things will be dropped in here again, but the plan is to keep it neater.

Down to one shelf of cookbooks.  

There are some I just can't part with. 

The other bookcase holds books on my TBR pile and well, JUNK!

I went through all the books and decided to donate all the one's I probably won't read.  I still have my Nancy Drew books to decide about.

That's better and with an empty shelf I can figure out what to store there.  The top is still a work in progress.  Might be a good spot to do seasonal vignettes. 

 I'm hoping to work on editing more books from my shelves and working on the top shelves of both bookcases this coming week.

I am planning to continue this Simplify post each week to keep myself accountable.  Maybe you will join me?

Wishing you JOY,

Linda