Friday, February 24, 2012

Whimsy For Pink Saturday


Hello Friends....It is another Pink Saturday and where did this week go? Again! I am really not sure. The days are getting longer and yet they are somehow shorter. I think it is all we pack into each day! It surely is a full life and that is a good thing!

You know the drill...it is off to visit Beverly to enjoy beautiful blogs all dressed in PINK!

I have had this cute set forever! It is by Fitz And Floyd. I fell in love with the teapot hen pouring from a blue teapot....so cute! The colors are soft and pretty and the reds more like shades of rose...
And in the first picture...I love Marie in the teacup! The colors are so pretty with the pink roses....
Thank you for stopping in! Thank you, too, for all the friendly, sweet comments! I love reading them!
Be Happy!
Jil ♥

Friday, February 17, 2012

Yearning For Spring And Roses


The grass so little has to do,
A sphere of simple green,
With only butterflies to brood,
And bees to entertain.
Emily Dickenson

I did not know what to post this Saturday when my new Victoria was delivered yesterday.
I opened the front cover and here is this beautiful sunny picture of roses and a poem by Emily Dickenson...what could be better to warm our hearts?

I am sure I am far from alone in yearning for warm days, the buzz of bees, soft green grass and our gardens all in bloom....sweet tea in a porch swing....Oh, how ready I am!
So, in the meantime, up North here, we have to content ourselves with pictures and enjoying the beauty our china offers with their lovely pinks and roses...And speaking of pink, this is our day to celebrate this lovely color and to do this click on over to Beverly's to visit all the beautiful ladies sharing theirs ...♥


Isn't this the prettiest platter? I have been searching my brain to remember where I found it....I have had for a while. It was gracing one of the shelves in my pie safe, kind of hidden in the back. I brought it out and have it on an end table in the dining room and I have to say, it brings me sweet pleasure every time I look at it! Sort of like having something new...

And this pretty lidless pitcher....I found this in a small antique store that is in the back of a sweet olde home soon after we moved here, nine years ago. Up in Lexington, MI. Before I was on ebay or even knew what a blog was...I asked the old gentleman how much and expecting much more was given the pleasant surprise of just $5.00. I don't think a$5.00 purchase has ever made this gal happier! ♥

All these beautiful roses inspire me to paint....

May years ago, while living in the Prescott, AZ. area, I spotted these in one of their many area antique stores....My dear Mr. S. surprised me with it for our 22nd anniversary...

And, lastly, a plate found recently at our Salvation Army store for a mere $.99 cents. I left the price on the back as I was so amazed! It is now the last in a collection of pretty plates that frame a dining room window.....

I hope you enjoyed my pinks....I have to say, I love the Paris and white looks and because I am an eclectic soul, incorporate it here and here. I could never have it all one way as I would find that a tad boring.... It is very restful and so pretty, but for me, there will always be pink and roses in my home as there always has been....

Have a sweet and happy weekend!
♥ Jil

Friday, February 10, 2012

XOXO PINK SATURDAY

Valentine Day! A day of love and fun, candy and beautiful cards and flowers! I have had some very romantic and memorable Valentine celebrations and as a child this day could not arrive fast enough! How I looked forward to the beautiful Valentine box we all filled with sweet cards for our friends .... the homemade cupcakes and cookies decorated red, white, and pink, made by our mothers to make our parties even sweeter! This is one of my favorite days of the year!

**Visit Beverly to join the Valentine Party....

When I think of a love story, other than my own, I first think of my maternal grandmother and grandfather. My "Granna" adored her husband and he loved her! Even when he was bed ridden with a stroke and broken hip at 90 and could not speak, tiny, energetic Granna in her late 80's took all the care of him and you could see the love and trust between these two even then...

Granna and Grandpa lived in NE Iowa in a tiny town called Alta Vista. It was a ways from where we lived in Omaha, Nebraska and so visits were in the summer, and not every summer, at that. When we did get to go we usually went by train. It was a great adventure and it was a trip filled with joy and great expectations....I was never disappointed.

My grandfather was a Quaker and lived as such. Being a medical doctor, with his degree from the University Of Iowa, he was what we refer to today as an old fashioned family doctor. He had a sleigh in the long barn/garage. As a child I was fascinated with the graceful black sleigh that had a modern car sitting next to it. Such a contrast...

When the phone would ring, a wall phone that you had to crank to get out, it was usually someone that needed his help out on one of the farms. Grandpa could never turn anyone away. During blizzards, he would get the sleigh out and Betsy their horse and take off covered in mounds of blankets with his bag. It took hours sometimes to reach the one in need and I always wondered how he did not get lost. When the weather was good, he often took my Grandmother as she was a registered nurse....I heard wonderful stories, both with happy endings and with sad endings....Both of my grandfathers were doctors and their wives registered nurses....

Granna was not only a wife, mother to four and nurse, she was a speaker and well known in her area. She loved poetry and reading and did many readings at the local library and the church at special functions.

A red leather journal...

This journal starts in March of 1909, and tells of their journey to Philadelphia. My mother was eight months old.
In this precious olde journal are faded newspaper clippings and a letter from her to me in 1959 written on pretty paper with pink flowers...

They had four children. Three girls and one son. The second oldest being my mother.
When WWl started, Grandpa, knowing they would need doctors, signed up immediately, with my Grandmothers blessing. They did not see each other for five years. Grandpa was at an Army camp in the South and later shipped to France.

During that long and difficult period, my grandmother learned to manage every aspect of their home as well as the cows and horses. Grandpa wanted to hire a man to do the work and my tiny grandmother refused. She learned and did it all. She looked forward to each letter as Grandpa did not come back until the end of the war...How many couples, today, could survive that? Their love and relationship is also a testimony to values that were common place in America at that time....as I sit here and reminisce I feel blessed to have had them for grandparents and blessed I have such happy sunny and loving memories

My Grandfather, being a Quaker, refused to carry a weapon of any kind. He received awards and medals for his bravery as in the hail of bullets he, with his orderlies, and carrying a stretcher went out in the battle field to tend to the wounded. He was never wounded, but he did have orderlies shot right by him.

The stress of never turning away a person in need ruined his health. When he was in his late 70's he had to give up his practice. His son and family, in San Diego, California, came and after everything was auctioned off, took my grandparents to live in California. They purchased a nice little home first in Ramona and later, after a stroke and broken hip they went to live by their son in one of his nice apartments on his property.

Granna lovingly took such good care of Grandpa. At first he was in the Naval Hospital in San Diego. He developed a deep bed sore and the doctor was at a loss as to why they could not heal it....Granna asked to have him brought home. A hospital bed was set up in the sunny living room and Granna healed those sores! She made his food and then would puree it and feed it to him.... Grandpa died on my oldest sons third birthday...he was 95 years old.

This picture was taken in La Jolla, California in the lovely Scripps Park...see the adoring look....

I hope you enjoyed my not so short tale and I wish you a loving and happy Valentines day!
Smiles and hugs,
Jil ♥