Spring Time!

My allergies went bonkers this past week with all the pollen, but I kept soldering on.

  I went to the dentist for a cleaning but found out I need two crowns as soon as I can manage it. $$$ 

Back before Christmas my Mom got me an electric pressure cooker.  I haven't used it until now.  She told me how to cook a corned beef so I did! 

Oh so yummy!  Tender corned beef, veggies pressure cooked to perfection!   I will be using this appliance again for sure.  Looking for recipes now!

Rosemary Scout turned 11 months on the 16th.  It won't be long until her 1st birthday.  She is such a sweet and happy little girl.  She can say 'Grandma' but often just calls me GIGI!  I love it.  Sara says she only says that to me, so we know it is her name for me right now.  She is taking a few steps but doesn't want to let go yet.  She is also starting to climb!  

Tiger is busy being a very active boy.

This weekend he learned how to make his own arrowheads.  Daddy supervised of course. 

I babysat both kiddos here and to 'baby proof' I had to line up bins in front of the TV

Move breakables to where Scout couldn't reach them and

 clear this small table of plants and put a 'barrier' (vintage high chair) in front of this corner shelf with plants on it.  It worked!  She could stand up but not reach anything.  We had great fun!

I forgot to take photos of their Easter baskets but they loved the books, small toys and a few chocolate eggs for Tiger. 

(photo by Jack Jones)

Easter Sunday we bring flowers to decorate this cross in the sanctuary and then it goes out in front of the church.  

It is so pretty. 

My Adorable but goofy family! 

It was a good week, but after talking all day yesterday I knew I was loosing my voice (oh allergies go away).  So no talking today and I'm treating my throat with hot tea and honey.  I should be feeling much better soon.

I hope you are having a great Spring time!

Wishing you JOY,

Linda

Junkin Finds!

The downsizing continues, but of course I do find little things I just need to bring home.  Once a junker, always a junker!

I needed a small cooler for car trips and outings with the Grands and this blue one fit the bill for $2.  The mixing bowl is a great size and the red bag is a wreath holder for .99!!

 I'm always looking for jars for storage!

An old Nancy Drew book for .25 for my friend Donna, a cute vintage tea bag holder, decorative scissors and random wine corks.

 Love this fun mug for .55 at Goodwill.  I found some online for $10+...which is crazy to me!

This Xtra Large blue bag was .99 and will hold my new white Christmas tree that will not fit back into it's box.

Books for .25 each are always a great buy.

While thrift shopping with Donna awhile ago, she told me that no donkey is ever left behind.  This one is so little and cute so he did come home with me for .49

The pollen is really giving me headaches but I'm glad that Spring is here.  I'm starting to work on downsizing some more of my collections.  I'll be sharing some of that soon.  I've been spending lots of time with these two and loving every moment of it! 

Wishing you JOY,

Linda

Joining:

Share Your Cup 

Blue Monday

It is always hard to lose a fellow blogger.

Recently Sally from Smiling Sally passed away.

She hosted a Blue Monday party and it was one of the first parties I joined when I started blogging.  Over the years I found I didn't join as many linkups but I would often visit Sally's Monday posts.

Today in her honor I'm joining once again.

Sally asked Jeanne of Backyard Neighbor to take over the hosting and she has.  This is her first Blue Monday!  

I decided to share with you a view of my new living room sofa, ottoman and wall art.

Honestly I am not much of a decorator, but I am so happy with how these items blended together.  The sofa is a sleeper and so perfect in my small apt.  Tiger loves to sleep on it when he spends the night.  I have been looking for an ottoman and found this one on sale at Target.  It is perfect and opens up to store my blankies! 

After finding the ottoman I knew the wall art would need to be contemporary but not too 'out there'.  I found this online at Kirkland's and love it.  The colors are just what I wanted and the flowers are so me! 

And in case you ever wondered where I sit and blog,

 well this is it.  

Happy to be joining Blue Monday

Wishing you JOY,

Linda

Bunnies, Chicks and Sheep, Oh My!

We have had a lovely week here! 

Spring Break so I've had some special time with Sara, Blake and the Grands!

While Tiger was spending the night on Tue we decided to open my Easter decoration bin.

Tiger had a great time picking out some treasures to take home.  Now I'm trying to figure out where to put all my decorations.

These rabbits were a thrift store find several years ago.  The were less then $1 each and they like to pose on the pass through to my kitchen each year.

These little books are mine from High School.

The cute rabbit was part of my daughter's collection which I now have.

Some of these are from Sara's collection but many of them are mine.  I think I have a thing for bunnies!  Now to find places to display these cuties for a few weeks.

Many of these are from Avon and I kept finding them at the thrifts until now I have a collection.

Not nearly as many chicks but these are pretty cute!

The sheep I have seem to arrive in twins! 

So how do you decorate for Easter or Spring?

Wishing you JOY,

Linda

The Grands!!

I am a very blessed Grandma!

Warrior Tiger!

Singing Scout 

(photo by Sara Tabb)

Wishing you JOY,

Linda

Simplify #4 and More!!

After a really great start, the simplifying my home has taken a break.  Losing Charlie has been really hard and I haven't felt like doing anything! A few sunny days have helped. 

I mentioned that a blogging friend with a booth was interested in some of my things.  I kept sending her photos and adding to her pile of stuff. I ended up with 4 boxes full!  

This is the 'simplify' part of the post! 

Donna of Distressed Donna Down Home lives in Aikens, SC a couple of hours from me.  We arranged to meet last week in Madison, GA where she frequently goes to shop.

We met at the Goodwill and took a quick look around.  We both bought a few little things.

Then we headed to a fun Vintage Mall!

A little photo with the zombie and we continued to

shop, shop, shop! 

We then headed downtown to another couple of Vintage malls but first we had lunch at 

Madison Produce Company.  

They made wonderful sandwiches! 

Donna and I both had the smoked turkey with cheese and avocado!  I finished every bite!

Then more shopping!

We talked and talked. Shopped and shopped!

It is always so much fun to meet a blogging friend in person.  We plan some more shopping trips in the future and I plan to visit Aiken, SC and Donna's booth! 

So I had some money in my pocket from Donna and decided I did need aka WANT a 'few' things!

This little plaque is all I found at Goodwill.  It will go on my gallery wall that is getting closer all the time.  It was Sr Discount Day so it was $1.21!

I added to my collections.

These salt & pepper orphans are so pretty and at very low price, they both came home with me.

A great egg cup

 and this cute Flamingo planter

(excuse the bad photo)

This little Limoges ladybug egg stole my heart!

This framed print was only $4 and will go in my bedroom.

At our last stop I found a 75% off booth and scored some really cute things!

This little celluloid box is just charming!

Labeled 'French Ivory' it had to come home with me to hold some jewelry treasures.

This adorable turquoise planter was also 75% off and I could not leave it!

My last and most expensive purchase was a McCoy pink bud vase.

So sweet!

Thank you Donna for helping me downsize some of my treasures.  It is so good to know that they aren't going to the thrift shop where someone might not appreciate them, but will find new homes with other junkers like myself! 

Of course as bloggers we exchange little gifts.

Donna gave me some adorable tags she made, some vintage postcards and my first frozen charlotte!   I love it all!! 

I gave her some old 1920's photos of my Grandmother who was a beauty queen in Ottumwa, Iowa.  I had a few duplicate photos and I knew she would love them.

Donna shared a few items she found on a recent blog

But there is so much more for her to share!

I'll let you know when she posts again!

Meeting Linda in Madison
Friday Finds

So I did add to my collections, but I did downsize much more then I bought.  I need to get back to downsizing.  A lot of the things left are heading to the thrift shop.  Wish me luck as I hope to get lots more donated by next Monday.

Wishing you JOY,

Linda