What Happened To Spring??

I thought Spring had arrived last week.  Temperatures neared 70 degrees for a few days, then the rain came and now it is windy and very cool.  Is March supposed to come in like a lion and out like a lamb?  Looks like it is the opposite here.  I went over to Lewes Beach which sits on the Delaware Bay right near the Atlantic Ocean and the Delaware River.  It is a great little beach for families because the water is calm, they rent umbrellas there and the Dairy Queen is a short walk away. 

I am waiting for Spring again.

Show and Tell Friday

I am quite a bit late for this, but it is still Friday anyway.  I am joining in Cindy's weekly Show and Tell at My Romantic Home.

I think I wrote about this a few years ago, but here it is again.  This is one of my very, very favorite things.
This little dish was made by a good friend of my parents as a baby present for me (64 years ago).   My first name is Meryl and as you can see, it says "This is Meryl's Dish."  I was named Meryl after my mother and my middle name is Kristina.  This was given to me before they decided to call me Kristina or Tina instead of Meryl.

Stop by and visit Cindy at My Romantic Home and see her beautiful post for her Show and Tell and see all the other people who have entered theirs.

BEAU

Our little Beau, first, five years ago when we got him, and now.  Isn't he a handsome little man?  He rules the roost around here.

Mosaic Monday

The Little Red House hosts a Mosaic Monday every week so I thought I would join in this week. This is not really a Spring theme since there is one of snow on a tree, but I like the combination of colors. Stop over there and visit the other mosaics -- they are lovely.

Also Barbara over at My Painting Room is offering a lovely giveaway just in time for Spring and Easter.  She is celebrating her 100th follower and has a lovely blog-stop by.

Spring Is Here

I took these pictures last year at our local lavender farm. I look forward to another visit there when everything is in bloom again.

It was a beautiful day here in Delaware. Hope it was the same where you are!

The River Queen, A Memoir -- by Mary Morris

This may be your new favorite book.  At least that is what one reviewer said.  I did totally enjoy it -- it was my kind of story:  true, adventurous, sentimental, bittersweet.  From the book jacket:  In the middle of her life, Mary Morris went home, to the heart of the country and the river that runs through it.  This is the story of a journey that transformed her life.

The author, Mary Morris, embarks on a trip down the Mississippi River with two river rats, a dog named Samantha Jean and a quirky houseboat.  She is looking for her own story in her past and how it brings her to the present.  The story centers on her recently deceased father (at 102), his life along the Mississippi and her complicated relationship with him.  The story is not difficult to hear, however -- it is thoroughly engaging.  The author meets memorable characters along the trip, she learns to pilot the boat, swim in rough currents, and visit places her father lived. As the author states, "My father played jazz piano years before I was born.  In the 1920's, he lived on the banks of the Mississippi and I was raised on his river tales.  All my life, I've thought about the river."

The River Queen is actually not the christened name of the houseboat, it is the name of this particular type of boat.  But, they call it River Queen anyway.  I especially like the title, being not only the boat, but who the author becomes.  Mary Morris has written many books and I will be reading them.




Note:  If you look for this book, there is also a book called River Queen by another author.  This is another true story about a woman piloting a tow boat.  Also, the cover pictured above is a different edition, not the one I had from the library.

R.I.P. FESS PARKER

Fess Parker died on Thursday.  His most memorable role on screen was that of Davy Crockett.  Oh, how I loved that weekly television show in the 1950's.  All the kids, including me, wanted that coonskin cap.  My parents bought me the yellow t-shirt with Davy on the front of it, along with the tan pants with the fringe up the side.  I don't think they could afford the coonskin cap, too.  I remember that shirt and those pants like it was yesterday.  I wore them when we played outside in the woods, pretending I was the girl version of Davy Crockett. 

Even at that young age, I thought Fess Parker was absolutely dreamy!  Of course, I also thought Liberace was.

MORE AUCTION FINDS

One of my favorite things to do at my favorite Rehoboth Beach auction is to wait until the very end. That is when the auctioneers go around to the tables with the leftovers and take bids. Usually you can get a batch of things for $5-$10.

I got this little gold china set at a recent auction.  I bid on something else and this came with it.  I am not sure what it is for because the pot is quite small, as are the little cups and saucers.  The six cups and saucers could be demitasse cups for strong coffee or hot chocolate, but the pot would only hold a small amount.  It is labeled "encrusted gold - Stouffer's" on the bottom.  The color is a little gaudy for me, but charming in its own way.  I have it sitting on a thrift shop find -a little hand painted tray that says on the back "Occupied Japan" which I guess dates it to around the late 1940's.  (You can also see in the corner one of two carnival glass bowls that came with something else I bid on at the auction.)  I am not sure what to do with this set except display it...if I had room.

To see other Show and Tell posts visit our hostess, Cindy, at My Romantic Home.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

MAY THE GOOD LORD TAKE A LIKING TO YOU....BUT NOT TOO SOON.

THE GOOD OLD 5&10

There is an e-mail going around showing this menu from Woolworth's from 1957. It got me remembering how I loved this store. We didn't have a Woolworth's 5&10 in Willow Grove where I grew up, but we did have a G.C. Murphy's which was similar. We used to go there as much as we were allowed to walk the mile there, starting when we were about twelve years old. I even had my first little job there when I was fourteen. I remember getting "working papers" in order to allow me to get a job. Do they still have this process for kids? I worked after school at the baby counter, selling little baby clothes and other items.  Murphy's. Soft pretzels, Tangee lipstick, Evening in Paris cologne, boys.

The big Woolworth's that I loved was in center city Philadelphia. It had two floors and the best one was on the ground floor with the lunch counter. I attended medical secretarial school in Philadelphia after I graduated from high school and rode the train from Willow Grove everyday. Whenever I could, I would go to Woolworth's. What wonderful, inexpensive stuff you could get at Woolworth's.

Woolworth's is gone.  Murphy's is gone.  They are replaced by Walmart and KMart and dollar stores.  But they just aren't the same.  Even today I look for an old 5&10, preferably with a lunch counter, in a small town. There are a few around. If you know of any, please let me know.

BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH

Today is the Ides of March.  While it has come to be known as a day of foreboding, it actually was no such thing during Julius Caesar's time, nor even when William Shakespeare wrote his famous play.  The 15th of any month was known as the "ides" during Roman times.  So you needn't beware of today -  after all it is just another day!

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS IT?

Here is my recent purchase at my favorite local thrift shop. It is a triangular shaped bottle with a shaker style metal cap. The bottle is about 6 1/2 inches long and about an inch wide. It says "OWENS" (my last name) on two sides and on the bottom it has an "O" in a triangle. My research tells me this is from the Owens Glass Company, maybe before 1939.  What I do not know is what this bottle was used for. Was it a salt and pepper shaker? A laundry sprinkler bottle? Some kind of bottle used for medicines? I think it was meant to be kept on its side because of the triangular shape and the narrowness of it.

Does anyone have a clue?

JUST THE THING

I do not have a chandelier over our dining room table and have been looking for one for a few years.  I think I have found just the thing.  This is made by a company called "Jellio" and sells for $9,500 for one of a limited edition of ten.  It is comprised of 5000 acrylic gummy bears.  I love gummy bears.

Hope you are having a delicious Saturday!

Violetlady

WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO?

Tonight I saw the movie "Valentine's Day."  Well, I don't know if any of you have seen it or not, but in my opinion it wasn't anything special.  The best part about it was the ending -- not just that it was over, but it was a sweet ending.  What I couldn't stop thinking about the entire time I watched it though was "This is rated PG???"  Isn't PG supposed to be 13 or 14 and over?  I certainly wouldn't want my thirteen year old grandson watching it.  Believe me, I am not a prude, but REALLY.  Some of the subject matter should not have been PG rated.  If any of you have seen it, let me know your opinion. 

I LOVE/HATE FACEBOOK

As some of you are aware, I have been the victim on Facebook of a hacker.  It is called a money transfer phishing scam.  Yesterday morning I got a call from a friend to let me know that she had received an instant message on Facebook purporting to be me mugged and stranded in England and asking for financial assistance.  Quite a few of my FB friends received the same message from the hacker pretending to be me.   I hope they all realized that #1, I was not in England and #2, I certainly wouldn't be asking them to wire money to me.  Some of the FB friends are actually blogger friends, whom I have never actually met.

I immediately changed my password, but within a few hours Facebook closed down my account (as if it were MY fault) and are totally unresponsive about reinstating it.  If you will notice, Facebook does not post any contact number or e-mail if you need to get in touch with them.  I finally filled in a form which was directed to someone -- all I received was a standard canned reply.  I did a google search and learned that this is what Facebook does.  They deactivate accounts and then are unresponsive about reinstating them.

According to a recent  article on CNN's online report, "Seventy percent more companies reported spam and malicious infections arrived via social networks in 2009 vs. 2008.  By the end of last year, 72% of companies expressed concern that their employees' use of poular social sites could result in a security breach.  And 60% of companies now consider Facebook to be the riskiest social network out there."  In addition, Facebook has new privacy settings that are opening members' information up to more cybercriminals.

I did not have a lot of "friends" on Facebook, I did not play the games, I was cautious.  And still I was victimized.

While waiting for Facebook to allow me access to my account, I opened another account.  However, as I sat and pondered the enormity of it, I stopped.  Do I really want to do this again?  I miss my Facebook.  I miss the running commentary of messages between old classmates reunited through FB.  I miss my pictures. I miss knowing what people are doing.  But I am just plain ANGRY at Facebook for being unresponsive and unhelpful.  So for now, I am giving up on it.

One interesting note is that I had been receiving anonymous messages here on my blog which led me to moderate my comments and require registration to leave a comment.  My blog address is mentioned on my Facebook.  Is there a connection?

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!   I woke up to a sweet Valentine, a funny, little stuffed bear and chocolates!  How sweet of hubby!  Twenty-two years ago he gave me an engraved gold locket.  I think that might have been the last jewelry he ever gave me, but I still love it.  I will make him his favorite Tollhouse (chocolate chip) cookies and a nice dinner.

As you can see, I have changed my blog layout a little.  I was up last night (this morning) until two a.m. fiddling with it.  I got tired of that same old violet, but I may go back to it eventually.  Right now it is still a work in progress.  I wanted a different photo, something more personal, but that is all that I could find in my photos. 

I hope you all have a SWEET day.

NOTE:  I JUST FOUND THIS IN MY "DRAFTS".  I THOUGHT I HAD POSTED IT ON SUNDAY.   HOPE YOUR DAY WAS NICE!

BEACH BLIZZARD 2010

A *Facebook* friend of mine posted these pictures she took at the beach right after the blizzard.  She doesn't read my blog, but just in case, thank you Adriane for sharing these.  They say it all.

 

 

I am off to the local estate auction.  Not in my budget to get anything today, but it is always fun to eat hot dogs and watch the show.

MORE SNOW??

Two blizzards in five days.  You know what they say -- be careful what you wish for.  I have always complained (since I moved to southern Delaware from Pennsylvania) that we never get any snow.

The snow over the weekend gave us about 18 inches I think.  And this one I think is about 8 inches, maybe 10.   And other areas in Maryland and Wash. DC and Virginia were hit even harder.  I think Pennsylvania also is getting really dumped on.

It has been drifting a lot and it is totally drifted over my front steps about a foot or more and I shoveled them at six o'clock -- it is now after eleven p.m. 

I have not been out since Friday except to walk Beau.  My husband drove me to the grocery store in his truck yesterday.  A lot of people are snowed in -- my friends who are on Facebook are keeping in touch with the status in different areas.  Some people still hadn't regained electricity since the last storm.  I filled the bathtub with water in case it would be needed to flush toilets (we have a well with a pump which is electric, of course.)  We have plenty of candles, two oil lamps and a few flashlights.  We have two gas fireplaces.  And plenty of food.  So we are set if the worst happens.  The snow has finally let up, though.  I think I have gained five pounds in the last few days.  Cook and eat, cook and eat, it's all I have been doing.  Sometimes not even the cooking, just eating constantly.  Apparently, I am not alone.  I guess that is what we do when we are snowed in. - Celebrate snow days with comfort food.

 If you are in this blizzard, stay warm and safe, everyone.

THE GREAT BLIZZARD OF 2010

The snow finally stopped last night.  Our cable is back on.  I am so glad we never lost our electricity like so many thousands did in Sussex County.   The sun was out today, and miracle of miracles, a snow plow actually was plowing the streets in our community.  That is the first time I have ever seen that happen.

Our driveway is still full of snow.  My husband can barrel through it in his truck, but my little Toyota is snug and safe in the garage.  Neither of us intend to shovel the driveway and risk having a heart attack.  Maybe I am a "wuss", but better safe than sorry.  I did shovel the front steps and a little of the walkway.  We don't have sidewalks here so that is not an issue.  I do wonder about the teenagers that used to appear years ago with their snow shovels to earn some extra money.  Guess they are all sitting in front of the television or computer nowadays.

Here are some pictures of the Great Blizzard of 2010.

LOOKING FOR A LOST BLOGGER

If any of you can help me find someone, I would appreciate it.  There used to be a blog I followed and she didn't write anything for a very long time so I took her name off my list.  Then, apparently she closed her blog, but started another one.  I lost the name of the new one.

Her name was Kris, she lived on a lake in Minnesota, she had a poodle, and she loved to garden.  Her blog was primarily devoted to her gardens.

Does anyone know of this person?  I would love to follow her blog again, but can't find it.

Update:  Just found her blog:   http://gardensbythelake.blogspot.com  but see she hasn't posted since last August. 

I have often thought of stopping my blog, but even though I don't have a lot of readers, it is fun to keep up with people and I miss the ones who don't blog anymore.  Don't you agree?