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?

Advanced Age...and eyeing up some alone time.

I think it was Duchesse that steered me to a blog which I am now following with great enthusiasm.

Advanced Style is a fashion blog with older women as the focus.
It is a peek at chic older women who have amazing and I do mean amazing, style.
The women that are focused here are extremely well turned out confident women who have not "given up"
or resigned to spend their elder years in polyester pull on pants, baggy tops and sensible "old lady footwear".
They are putting themselves "out there" and getting noticed.

I applaud their energy and enthusiasm and admire the joy that they bring to their everyday round.
Go and check it out and see what you think...you might be inspired to add a flash of colour or some big chunky jewelry to your ensemble.

Things are ticking along slowly here in The Humble Bungalow.
Life does have a wee bit of routine...
home keeping, shopping, cooking, gardening, and blogging.

Many of my friends are away on holiday right now so I am feeling more alone than usual.
It's good to be alone once in awhile...a lot of reflection and deep thought can be had.

At work, coworker friendships are comfortable, easy and fall into a happy rhythm.
Rather like a work family.
I do miss that daily contact when school is out over the summer.

Lucky for me that Pepper thrives on attention!
(and the fact that I have many great books just waiting to be read.)

The garden roses have been dead headed and the foxgloves desperately need pulling.

There are no blooms left, just straw coloured stalks waving in the breeze...

saying goodbye for now...

see you in a couple of years.

Same time same place

another great display of their unfailing beauty.

Those reliable and stalwart performers never let me down.

Looking blurry

(sans specs!)

I desperately need glasses to read

am blind as a bat these days!

and 

 scared silly of Laser surgery

so I must get some hip and trendy specs.

I am leaning to tortoise shell or black

possibly larger frames

perhaps a chic pair 

like Ines de la Fressange wears 

on Little Diaries 

at the Roger Vivier website.

I am currently reading Kate Morton's House at Riverton.

The lovely commenter Gretchen, suggested that I try her books

 and I am happy to say that I have bought all 3 of her novels!

Thank you Gretchen!

What books are you reading these days?

Any recommendations?

If you join in on your "Views from the Sink" from last Wednesday's post

please send me a link so that I can put them on my blog.