Manners are not what they used to be...please, thank you, excuse me.....

A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.

Marcus Garvey 

I am appalled at the lack of manners these days. I don't know if I should let this go or if I should hang on tooth and nail and pontificate loudly.
My upbringing was such that there was an unwritten code of rules that one followed. I was born into a middle class family who had endured financial hardship, during that Great Depression. My parents taught me at an early age to say thank you, wait my turn, chew with my mouth closed, not to speak with my mouth full and men and boys were NEVER to come to the table with their hats on! It would appear to all intents and purposes that their financial state did not affect their ability to acknowledge what was considered proper and polite. Courtesy and comportment still mattered.
I see men dining in restaurants and cafes with ball caps on...why? Are they bald? Are they cold?  Did their mothers never tell them that the hat comes off at the table? There is a time and a place for everything...OK wear that cap at the game in the stands, eat your hotdog, burger and drink that beer.
And while I am on the subject, where are the thank you's for gifts and flowers? A telephone call will suffice, definitely not a text or an email.
Pushing ahead in line up at a movie or bakery, what is that all about? I offer the person behind me in line up to move ahead if I have a full cart of groceries and they have a few items, common (or so I would think) courtesy, is it not?
I recently went to the local museum and was standing in front of a display, not too closely mind, as there were others also reading the posted information and a man pushed in front and stood directly in front of me totally obscuring my view...did he not see me?
I am getting worked up over this and I need to find that zen Yoga breath and put things into perspective!
I am quite possibly an over-the-top manner snob!
I phone to thank my host and hostess after a dinner party, acknowledge gifts and flowers, write thank you notes, sympathy cards and letters and send them in the post.
I have heard this before, in the presence of my dear mother...I have become a parrot of sorts but share the same values.
I am now stepping down from the soapbox and slowly walking away....pontificating no more, at least for today!

Simon Chang meets Marcel Boucher

Saturday: matinee, live local Theatre production, with Mother.

Outfit: Ca va de Soi taupe tank, Black trousers, Simon Chang jacket,

Brown Nine West shoes.

Accessories: Diamond studs, diamond solitaire pendant, diamond engagement and anniversary rings.

and introducing Marcel Boucher...the brooch.

Boucher designed jewelry and apprenticed for Cartier in Paris in the late 1910's and early 20's. He was transferred to the New York branch in 1922 and continued making jewelry until the 1929 Wall Street crash. He worked in the costume jewelry business with the Mazer Brothers and then opened his own small company Boucher et Cie in 1937. He had a reputation for innovation and exceptional metalwork, his rhinestones were exquisitely cut and enameling so colorful that the pieces were often mistaken for precious jewels. Saks Fifth Avenue carried his designs, and when he died in 1965 his wife, also a French jewelry designer, Sandra Semensohn kept the company going until she sold it in 1972.

Wonder women...in Town and Country.

I picked up the latest issue of Town and Country at the Market. It's focus is Wonder Women, and Cindy Crawford graces the cover. Inside there are some truly interesting stories of strong, creative, talented and resourceful women.

I read them all but am choosing to mention two of the women.

Fleur Cowles was a pioneer in publishing and a socialite and lived to be 101! Her life sounds fascinating.

Alexandra Penney a victim of Madoff,  has written The Bag Lady Papers....what a transition she has had to make in her life. She is an inspiration in her determination to regain some control of her life.

I will put the book on my list of must reads...that book list is getting longer as the days go by....so many books so little time. (to read)

"I've learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances."
—Martha Washington

Nearly 100 years old.....Bungalow kitchen, over 10 years in the making!

I promised Frugal Scholar that I would post some pictures of my kitchen. The renovation took years as we did most of the work ourselves while living and cooking in said space. We actually entertained, hosted dinner parties and celebrations here amid dust, and lack of walls...think Thirty Something! We lived it too. I cannot believe it has been that long...thirty something  and now we are 50 something..where did the time go?
It has to be noted that we opted for granite countertops and they are not traditional and we have been severely chastised by Jane Powell of Bungalow Kitchen fame! We really are beyond critiscism in that area because we felt that the benefits of being able to put hot pots, pans and roasters directly on the counter would outweigh the negative comments. We are, after all, the ones who inhabit the space.
Mr. L made all the cabinets himself using just a table saw and hand tools. The glass panes were cut by a local sash and door company and the hardware is new but in the same style as the original would have been. The sink is a Shaw French Country model in porcelain, now in vintage looking condition with scratches and a few chips. The stainless appliances are new of course and yes Jane Powell sneered at them as well....tsk tsk! The floor has been patched and resanded and is soft fir so it is honestly "distressed."

The walls are dark stained fir in "board and batten" is the same as the rest of the house and in an original bungalow there would be "wainscotting" which would more than likely have been painted white. We dithered about for several years in the planning process and the "architect" in the family convinced me to stay with the dark fir. The architect has the professional eye and I bow to his expertise!

The room is smallish, with 3 door openings; the butler's door which is on hinges that swing from the kitchen to the dining room, the French door to the deck, the third has been removed and opened up  onto the family room/den and then there is the stairway to the basement. These were challenges that we had to work with because we did not want to add on and expand.

The granite we purchased from a dealer, had it professionally cut and we installed it ourselves....very hard, heavy work. I do not recommend doing it yourself...we were slightly crazy to attempt it but budgetary considerations played a huge part in that descision!

I did not keep receipts, but I do remember one Valentines Day I received a large piece of steel painted red...a reinforced brace designed by a local engineer...and it was about $250....more than a dozen red roses and dinner out. (It was in the late 1990's) We were frugal and resourceful because we had to be. We sold our Catalina sailboat and had purchased the Chris Craft Constellation, so our time, money and energy was split in several areas...not to mention being parents and holding down jobs.

Wood on the water...propelled by fossil fuel 2 X 350 CC conversions...not that green, but a lot of fun.

It is a quality ride...I am the admiral and the Galley Slave!

After taking the Power Squadron course I am aka as the "Nag-i-vator"...it has paid off, I am a second set of eyes and am aware of the rules on the ocean...

Red shoe diary...there's no place like home...

Salad anyone?.....or rather, Harumi Ota meet Mee Too...I feel like clicking my heels together...there's no place like home...there's no place like home, Judy Garland at her freshest.

I love orchids and I have some young paphiopedilum orchids... aka Lady Slippers, in the background.

(I only grow orchids that are able to survive in my kitchen environment)

Mee Too...Tyler Red Patent Leather shoes with Kitten Heels!

Not even looking...they popped up into my radar...on sale, comfy, and will be wearing them with dark denim jeans, crisp white shirt, masses of pearls, circulating books at school.

A cause for a celebration and some bubbly...I have been looking to replace my worn out BCBG red flats for quite sometime now...Mr. L said to daughter "Your Mom really likes red shoes!"

I do!  I do! I do!

Who doesn't?