Love is in the air....

...and on the table, in the store, just about everywhere you look. Here are some items of "love" I have around the house. This is a tin that was full of Hershey kisses from my hubby about three years ago. I keep it on my night stand..full of Hersey kisses. One of my favorite chocolates.

When I got to church last night, there was a gift bag from my Secret Sister from church. In addition to an adorable card, I had a pair of Valentine socks, a sweet little inspirational book and this little Valentine box full of .... you guessed it ... Hershey kisses. Told you they are my favorites.

And Valentine's day is not complete unless I consume tons of conversation hearts. If you look closely, you will notice there are no oranges. I go through and pick those out and put them in a candy dish on my desk to make sure I get all the oranges. I know that sounds selfish, but I love the orange ones. I'm not sure why I do this though because I'm the only one that eats them.

At our WMU meeting at church the other night, Ms. Janet surprised us all with this little treat box full of miniature candies. It was a good think too. I missed the soup and dessert the youth were serving because I was running late. When I walked in WMU, I was complaining about being hungry and Ms. Janet gave us our surprises early so I could munch. We love her!

My sister sent me some photos over the weekend and she shared with me this new table runner she had Mom make for her. These table runners are a new thing Mom is making for holidays. I am sure we will be seeing a St. Patrick's day one really soon.

This last Valentine's day decor gave me an idea. This is hanging over Sis's Kitchenaid Mixer. I remember back at Christmas she had a Snowman towel hanging over it. I have the same mixer and I always see cute holiday towels and say I have nowhere to hang them. I'm thinking I may have just found a spot.

And in my bedroom, I have this cross stitch piece hanging on the wall. It was the very first thing I ever cross stitched. I did it for hubby in 1981 before he was my hubby. This was my Valentine's Day gift to him and it was also the day he proposed to me.

 

That's my Valentine's day tribute. I hope there is lots of love being sent your way today.

Today I am riding the Tuesday Train

The following message is brought to you by...

My Sis. Yes, Rachel has commandeered my blog for the day. Please welcome her as she visits with us.

I thought I would stop by your blog today, Sis, and show you some of the signs I have around the house. I love signs. Here they are. These two signs I found last week at Hobby Lobby for 50% off.  The Country Living went in the kitchen and the Home went in the sewing room.

 

 These are two of my favorites.  Do you recognize these, Sis?

I sure do remember them. I bought them in the Home Decor section at Smoky Mountain Knife Works. They match my kitchen decor now so I should have bought me some back then.

Here are some more ...

This one says it all.

We want to thank Sis for stopping by and sharing her signs with us today. Leave her a comment and say hello if you'd like.



Tisket a Tasket You Gotta Love a Basket....



From the time we are little girls riding our first bike, we fall in love with baskets. Give us a basket and we will put something in it. My current obsession is baskets being used inside cabinets, drawers, shelves, just about everywhere. In my home re-decorating project, my major area of complaint is my bookcases in my home office. I want to get rid of the cluttered accumulation of stuff by placing it in other areas where it won't look so jumbled. This is the before picture, I will keep you posted on the after when I get everything moved out and my new ideas moved in.

I want to incorporate the use of baskets in the shelves. I've been busy on Pinterest looking at all the different ways people are using baskets. Here are some of my favorites.

They cut the legs off an old dresser and took the bottom drawer out. Look out yard sales, here I come.

I really, really love this one. If I can find one to fix up, I'm going to do it in this distressed blue and put it in the beach (kids) room and put toys in the baskets. I'm looking for something to put in there that I can put a lamp on and a bowl of shells.

How cute are these. I have a starfish and Walmart has these baskets. I'm thinking I would like these in the bathroom I am redoing with the beach theme.

These wall baskets are precious. You could easily spray paint any basket the color you want. I've done it many times in the past.

This is a great idea for a kitchen pantry or cabinets.

Here is my favorite simply because it is what I'm wanting to do in my office. My wood bookcases are not this dark, but it is the basic idea of what I want to do on some of my shelves.

I'm working on this project right now. I will need to buy more baskets as I go along. But I went through the house yesterday and accumulated these baskets that were sitting in other rooms for decor. I'm going to see what I can use in my office. The one with the green plaid lining was a Christmas gift from my daughter-in-law. It is one of my favorites. I think I know what I want to do with it and the light colored one on the back left top row that is lined with two handles. Stay tuned for updates.

It boggles the mind....

Who would have thought deciding to redo a few areas in the house would be so mind boggling. I have been waiting to do it when I could just do everything at one time. But since that is going to require purchasing some new items that I want to take my time to look for, I decided to start with baby steps. So I just looked at my home as if I was having a giant yard sale. I walked around and saw things I would like to have in other places in the house. Thus, my journey begun.

Over the next few weeks, I will keep you posted on any accomplishments.  I have moved a couple of things, but plan to work on a lot today. So far, this collection was in my office and I wanted to move it somewhere else.....

Enter the Secretary....

Which now looks like this.... (excuse the glare on the glass)

I found this in the secretary when I was moving the stuff out of it...

This is an antique butter dish that has all three pieces (a tray is inside to put ice under to keep butter cool). It is Wm Guerin & Co France Limoges. It was worth around $200 and we bought it at an antique shop at the Milton, WV flea market for $25 years ago. I don't know why I had it in the hutch, but decided to incorporate it into the kitchen decor. It now resides on the wine rack. I want to find a doilie to put under it.

The shelf had looked like this. So I changed things around.

I moved the chicken tea for one set on the top shelf with the other rooster items so it looks like this now.

I need to pot the philodendron as soon as I can find a flower pot I like and it will go in the living room. I couldn't decide what to do with the little wagon. The color goes good in the kitchen. So I looked around and saw my aprons in this.

So I took them out to make them a little neater...

And put them here...

Today, I will figure out where I am going to set them.

Well, I'm off to "yard sale" around my house again. The winds are blowing and the rain is turning to sleet. What a great way to spend a Saturday, shopping at home. Stayed tune tomorrow for some ideas on baskets....

A romance to remember....



Hubby and I were talking last night about some of the movies we have seen and some of the scenes we will never forget. I noticed that many of my most memorable moments from film were from romances or at least a romantic movie in a film, whether it was a love story or not.

It got me to thinking about some of my favorite film moments. Here are a few of what I consider all time great romantic moments....

In Sweet Home Alabama at the end when she tracks him down to the beach and the storm is raging and rain pouring down. He keeps busy with what he's doing and he asks her: What do you want to be married to me for, anyhow? And she replies "So I can kiss you anytime I want."  That is so romantic to quote back something he said to her when they were 10.

The American President is one of my all time favorite movies. I could watch it over and over again. As a matter of fact, I have. I love this movie. My favorite scene in the whole movie is where he finally manages to give her the dozen roses he has tried to give her numerous times. She asks him how he finally managed to be President and give a girl roses and he replies "It turns out I have a rose garden." That is one of my favorite scenes in the movie and one of my all time favorite movie quotes.

Hubby and I both agree that the most romantic scene in any movie of all time is the spaghetti scene in Lady and the Tramp. While it is totally gross to think of sharing the same strand of spaghetti, the romance of the moment is not lost on us.

What are your favorite romance scenes from movies?

Be still my heart...



I was looking for something last night and as usual got sidetracked by finding things I had forgotten about.

When I was little, Daddy would walk us uptown to the little stores that graced Main Street and let us pick out Mommy's Mother's Day gifts. One year we picked her out a little heart pin with "rubies" and "pearls" at least in our mind they were. Then another year we found this little pin with Mother on it. A few years ago, I was at Mom's and was borrowing earrings and found these in her jewelry box. I was touched that she still had them after all these years. She tole me to take them home with me so I could have them whenever something happened to her. So they are in what my grandkids call the treasure box.

In that same box was a heart and key that I got one year for Christmas. We were around 10 or 12 and had just started wearing jewelry. I love the little baby blue stones.

This little red felt heart was in the treasure chest. It was on a wire inside the flowers that Hubby bought me our first Valentine's day when we were dating. It was also the day he proposed. We joke about how romantic the evening was because we went to dinner and a movie. The movie was 9-5 with Dolly Parton and dinner was at Mycroft's where we had bacon and cheese croissants. My ribs had been hurting all day and after the movie we ended up in the emergency room because of the pain. I had pulled something and caused bruising in the muscles around my ribs.  The little heart pendants are the various hearts he has bought me for Valentine's day over the years. One was ruby and diamond, one was diamonds and one was my birthstone.

I also found this little gold heart locket which was the very first heart locket he ever bought me. We had just been married about a year when he bought this. The bigger heart is from Things Remembered and was on a key chain he got me for Christmas one year. It has my BKK initials on it. The ring broke off and it is a little tarnished but it is still special to me.

He bought me this a couple of years ago in a little religious shop in Dollywood. It is GOD in a heart so that I can always keep God in my heart.

All the other hearts above evoke such precious memories. But this one actually brings bittersweet memories of my precious K.C. (short for Kitty Kat). It was her ID tag from when she got her shots. We adopted K.C. when she was barely 6 weeks old. She had been abused and battered and was living in the local animal shelter. She didn't bounce and play like most kittens. She just hunkered back in a corner and looked at us with those big sad eyes. We both said "She's the one" and brought her home. From day one, that precious little kitten was a snuggler. She layed on my lap every night and watched TV with me. If I laid on the couch, she laid right beside me. She took every step I took and if I was gone for a few days on a trip, she would barely eat till I got home. She was my baby. She never went outside except to sit in the swing with me or to walk on the patio. She would never venture to the grass. When she was 17, she started having trouble with her bladder and I took her to the vet. The news was not good. She was going through severe kidney failure and there was nothing they could do for her. I had to take that precious little baby back to the vet after I got the news and have them put her quietly to sleep. She never ever went to strangers and especially men. But when I went back and the doctor to her to take care of it, she just went right to him and snuggle down in his arms as if she knew her pain would soon end. I said goodbye through eyes blinded with tears, knowing I would never lay on the couch and feel her snuggled up against me again. She has been gone 4 years come August and I still set here and type this with tears in my eyes. I always laughed at people who got attached to animals until K.C. came into my life. I will never own another animal. I wouldn't trade my time with her for anything, but I will never go through that pain again.