Calling, texting, and cruising the net just got so much easier...

I have had a cellphone since 2003.
It was never a snazzy jazzy swanky phone...
just a simple dial and talk model in basic black.

My adult children are way ahead of me and so is Mr. HB...they all have IPhones.
Most people that I know have Smartphones, Blackberry's or IPhones and I was feeling left out as my kids text instead of talking,
it's free with most plans so that's a no brainer.

My dear Husband has been encouraging me to get one for the past few months and I was resisting.
Why? I really don't know.
So we went together and bought one.

The Humble Bungalow Roses

are carried with me as are thousand of my photos

especially my "brag book" with sweet Isla's images.

I sent my first texts to my children letting them know I was now "available to chat" (text)
The second text was to my BFF which said...

"Hi! I just got an O"...

I inadvertently hit send instead of backspace.
We were sitting on a bench in the mall laughing so much my eyes teared up and I could not see clearly for a few moments to resend the correct text message.

So I am on a learning curve...
I feel that I have entered the 20th Century...or rather the 21st Century...
(those grey haired moments have been happening a lot more frequently!)

I keep this vintage landline as it works during a power failure

and I love the sound that it makes when dialing.

When I was young we were on a party line which meant that another family shared the same line.

My sister and I would listen in and eavesdrop if Mother was busy elsewhere.

(she would have grounded us if she caught us)

Sometimes our breathing or snickers would be audible by the other party and they would say

"if you don't get off this phone right now I am going to tell your Mother"

Those were the days when Father had an egg timer by the phone and 3 minutes was the extent of our conversations.

I remember turning the sand filled vessel over before time had elapsed to see if I could talk for longer.

Often if Mother and Father were enjoying a pre dinner cocktail I'd get away with it.

Most of the time though my sister would come by and say in a very loud voice...

"I'M TELLING!"

Things have really changed.

Have you resisted embracing change

or are you the first on the bandwagon?

Wool is the word...

Metscan posted asking what we have purchased for the upcoming season.

While I have been avoiding the shops I did take my lovely daughter to The Great Canadian Superstore that offers President's Choice products...and the president is Galen Weston.

Lovely daughter does not drive and lugging numerous heavy bags of groceries is not much fun nor is it very ladylike wearing heels. Groceries were the main reason for driving for 30 minutes out of town.
I browsed the Joe Fresh section, as did she...
I found a new grey wool tunic top to pair with my leggings.
Lovely daughter found much more and reasonably priced too...she looked very happy with her haul!

While it might look like a gunny sack here

it is much nicer looking off the hanger.

Are you loving zippers as much as I am?

We had an unfortunate incident while shopping there...

when I started the car the gas tank showed empty and I had filled up the day before!

I can't believe that someone siphoned off an entire tank of gas...

well that's what I thought at the time

My trusted mechanics enter on the scene today 

and the news is not great.

The mechanic said that someone did try to get the gas 

and that Volvo's have a screen and a system which prevents siphoning

and they have broken the sensor with whatever they put into the tank

and they also keyed the side of my car...

so it's in the hands of the insurance brokers now.

Janet at The Gardener's Cottage 

is over the moon about her new luxe linen drapes and I love her enthusiasm.

 While my recent find pales by comparison it has excited me nevertheless.

I found a new bowl that makes my heart soar with joy.

It is a simple white vessel

round and olde

and I cannot put it away just yet

I want to soak in all it's simple beauty.

Bowl of beauty 

with Frog Tree Alpaca wool yarn.

My latest knitting project is a "Faux" Mobius wrap.

I googled Mobius and watched the You Tube presentation and realized that I was not savvy enough to tackle it!

I am knitting one long strip 

using the easiest garter stitch as it looks very loose and lacy

and then twisting after completion before joining the seam.

I have cast on 125 stitches on size 6.5 US needles and will knit until I have about 48 inches in length, give or take...

I'll wrap it around and see if it is adequate for the look that I want.

I highly recommend bamboo needles 

they slip the stitches as if they were silken gossamers with wings.

I will post the finished product but that will be many weeks away as I do not knit 24/7!

What projects have you got on the go right now?

I am closing with an image of the newly printed vintage photos in their new frames 

(this is for you Ida!)

Sea Scallops

While we were on our boating holiday in the Gulf Islands we invited our lovely daughter to join us for a weekend.
Seafood reigns supreme onboard our Chris Craft and not to disappoint we kept the theme going and bought some sea scallops. There are many ways to serve these tasty morsels and I have tried numerous recipes and as we sat chatting about how we should prepare these...lovely daughter grabbed her IPhone.
(which is never far from her reach!)
She googled scallop recipes...she found this great one and while my BFF (whose boat was tied up next to ours) and I sipped our cocktails she prepped this delicious appetizer...
did I mention that I have a very clever daughter?

It could be a main course if served with a salad.

Don't they look delicious?

cooked and prepared in our teeny tiny galley

served on the aft deck in the sunshine.

If you'd like to make this dish

go here for the recipe.

Bon appetit!

Adventures in Fashion!

Independent Fashion Bloggers are a breed unto themselves.
They take the time to document what they are wearing with their OOTD posts and sharing their individual thoughts on trends and highlights. There are hundreds of Independent Fashion Bloggers and I follow several of them. Today I am highlighting and sharing one that I know and love...

These bloggers are creative, colourful, stylish risk takers who manage to look chic in thrifted vintage finds combined artfully with off the rack and haute couture.
Accessories are not to be underestimated, ever!

Never wearing head-to-toe all of one designers' line, but creatively mixing it up with a flair for fashion and pushing the envelope just enough to get keep us looking a wee bit longer, in appreciation of their personal style.
I find their images inspiring and exciting and I love that they link a lot of their clothes to the source so that we might peruse the stock and make a purchase if we are so inclined.

There is so much creative talent out there and so many of these women show us hip and savvy ensembles.
I know Vickie and she has been working hard on a project which she has just posted and I thought I'd like to share her work with you.
Please go and look at her portfolio that she is submitting to Elle magazine...
to become the next Style Correspondent!
Good luck Vickie, my fingers are crossed for you.

 Adventures in Fashion 

Pop by and cheer her on and please let her know I sent you...

Sweet peas + roses = painterly pursuits for Floral Friday.

An imperfect vintage glass vessel...
found in a thrift shop.

I bought this because of it's tilt.

Sweet Peas 

Jude The Obscure Roses

Inspiration

The most recent painting...

Happy Floral Friday!

Thank you for all your kind and wise words about yesterday's post on Mother.

I appreciate the support.

Craving Comfort Food.....a tonic for sleep deprivation.

Let me seek out comfort food without judgement......
let me feed my belly with something satiating.
I am in dire need of some "feel good sustenance"
sleeping sporadically...
listening to the neighbourhood sounds as most slumber....
thoughts running through my head refusing to be still.

Mother's health has become a factor, and it's affecting her daily routine and I am quite concerned.
She says that I am the worrier in the family...it's true.

She tires more often these days and it is difficult for me to accept that she is not as spry and energetic as she was even a few months ago. Changes that I see with our regular visits and shopping trips, lunches and teas.
I do not know why I am struggling except perhaps to come to grips with the fact that she will not be on this Earth forever.

She has also become very nostalgic and wants to talk of the past and has mentioned Father more and more in her conversations. She misses him so much.
It must be lonely living alone, the hours pass slowly and her voracious habit of reading must help fill the time and be of some comfort...but it's not the same as sharing a home with a spouse.

Happily she is surrounded by a lifetime of treasures and many family photos framed and hung on the walls remind her of happier times.
Her bright condo on the top floor of an older building has views to the ocean on one side and the treetops and roofs looking toward town on the other. It's a warm and spacious place which she loves and rarely does a day go by that she doesn't thank me for finding it. (The credit goes to the realtor that we hired but she thinks it was me)

Having Mother living so close makes it easy to see her often...she is just a hop skip and a jump away!
She is close in proximity and at home in my heart.

It's funny to think how far we've come.
From our struggles when I was a teenager wanting to stay out late, negotiating to wear to school what was then a new trend, "jeans" and our disagreements over the use of make up. Those days are long gone and they lasted only a few years and in the end Mother was right about being protective and her idea of proper attire does not go unheeded as she has set the bar very high.
Her "no make up look" has stood her in good stead and the skin care routines that she instilled upon me have influenced my regime to this day.
I owe her a lot...
Thanks MOM!


Sitting here somewhat sleep deprived, sipping on decaf tea...
(I have given up caffeine for health reasons)
I have thought enough and now I need to get on with things.

So I am succumbing to a little butter melted on apricot raisin bread.

a little indulgence is going a LONG way!

Let's have some fun and forget our troubles.....

"Keep Calm and Carry On"

"Views from the Sink" participating bloggers

Last Wednesday Views from the Kitchen Sink was an idea...and I hoped that a few other bloggers might share their images.

I am happy to share the links of those who have participated...

Thank you!

pondside
metscan
privilege
materfamilias
Faux Fuchsia
cupcake caramel
SydneyShopGirl
une femme d'un certain age
Judy Heinrich
restinginmotion
smallbutcharming
moonlightreflections
the gardener's cottage
lovelythings
a farmer's wife
Mummaducka's kaos
SewWest
breaking ground
My Yellow House
stepping my way to bliss
Blighty

if you have posted a view from your sink on your blog
please comment and I'll add your link here!

Remember to Moisturize

I love this oil

I love the scent

it's rose

so that's probably no surprise!

Janet at the Gardener's Cottage has recently discovered Olive Oil

Olive oil is the only oil I use in cooking and salad dressing.

Mother used to give her hair an Olive Oil treatment

she would apply it to her hair

 wrap it in a towel for several hours and then several shampoos later

resulting in glossy healthy looking hair.

Real friendship, like real poetry, is extremely rare - and precious as a pearl. 

Tahar Ben Jelloun 

I appreciate the connections that I have made here on Blogger

your email and comments are very important to me.

I am in debt to you...

in gratitude.

Thrift shopping and frugal finds.

The current economic crisis is making people nervous and the stock market is experiencing a major dip with many investors selling in a panicked frenzy.
The uncertainty has people running scared.

While I do not spend willy nilly, I do balance big ticket purchases with frugal ones.

I am more than happy that we have thrift shops in our town. I patronize them on a regular basis and have fun looking at the wares. You might be familiar with that saying "one man's junk is another man's treasure".

Shopping in thrift shops offers opportunities to acquire things at reasonable prices. It is an adventure and one must shop with an open mind, keeping your eyes open. Go slowly and peruse carefully, move things around, and you might be surprised what you'll find. Thrift shops are not just for the needy and impoverished. Well shod, bejeweled, ladies - who - lunch have been spied gathering goods and conversations are shared in the aisles over themed table settings for their upcoming dinner parties!

I have seen more Mercedes parked outside and think that thrifting has been elevated to include the upper middle classes.

I would encourage you to venture forth and seek out your local charity shops...

Here are my latest finds...

Leather wallet

Very similar to the Hobo wallet

I paid $100 for the Hobo

and $10 for this one... 

the lining is bright and cheery

in perfect condition.

A book for Grammy's Home Library

$2.00

Isla loves books!

A new release which I nearly bought at the book shop for $30.00

I found this mint one for $4.00

He who does not economize will have to agonize.  ~Confucius

Has the current economic news changed the way that you think about money 

or have you decided to stop shopping for anything that is a non essential?