Walking Around My Yard For Some Encouragement

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden {and} overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]" ... Matthew 11:28

“This day will never come again and anyone who fails to eat and drink and taste and smell it will never have it offered to him again in all eternity. The sun will never shine as it does today...But you must play your part and sing a song, one of your best. ” 
― Hermann Hesse

“Excellence! We all want it from others and we should want it from ourselves.” 
― Glenn C. Stewart

“Cultivate an optimistic mind, use your imagination, always consider alternatives, and dare to believe that you can make possible what others think is impossible.” 
― Rodolfo Costa

“We can't be afraid of change. You may feel very secure in the pond that you are in, but if you never venture out of it, you will never know that there is such a thing as an ocean, a sea. Holding onto something that is good for you now, may be the very reason why you don't have something better.” 
― C. JoyBell C.

“You can do anything you want to do, if you want to do it bad enough.” 
― Tim Carter 

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And here's another delightful woman I came to know only through her obituary in my old CA hometown newspaper online. Here are some cute highlights:

On May 3, 2016, our beloved Katy Kennedy died peacefully and joined the party in heaven already taking place with the Kennedy family...

Katy attended Quincy Junior/Senior High School and her lifelong friend and sister-in-law Starra Kennedy loves to tell about her first day as a new student as she was met by Katy in her pink cashmere sweater to show her around school. Katy Mrosla graduated Quincy High with the class of 1964.

Pink was Katy's signature color and highlighted in her wedding to David Ray Kennedy on June 21, 1964.

As most Kennedy stories become enhanced over time, some legendary stories of Aunt Katy are true – she did drive her car off of a steep part of the Feather River Canyon with her mom and she did light the mountain above Silver Creek on fire in an attempt to send out a rescue signal. But mostly Katy will be remembered for her iconic fashion. Her signature pieces not only included all things pink but also bold dangling earrings, bedazzled sandals, white pedal pushers, perfectly teased hair and of course that frosted lipstick.

As per Katy's wishes there will be no service or donations. She asks instead that you hug your children, grandchildren and friends and tell them you love them because time is too short and waits for no one.

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Throw That Self-Pity Away, Ok?

"You have turned my mourning into dancing for me;
You have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy"   ... Psalm 30:11

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Yard sales. How I love thee. 

This old print, above, sat on the ground and I walked past it, but Tom spied it and alerted me. Just $3! Now, it did have lots of scratches, but yesterday with my craft paints, I dabbed at them and now--unless you stand there and search (as Tom did)--the scratches faded away.

And so it goes, my goal to make our old-but-made-new house look just plain old again, old item by old item.




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Another find? This 1936 book by Marjorie Hillis, the only vintage one amongst 50+ modern paperback romances, the kind I never read. (The lesson? Never assume anything. Walk over to that bunch of looks-all-wrong books anyway, for hey, you never know.)

A quirky, delightful book, indeed.

Her main point? If you live alone and begin to feel sorry for yourself--you're sunk. Self-pity ruins what might have been an adventurous life.

If you have a problem with self-pity (even if you live with others), this book will snap you right out of it. Guaranteed. (If only she'd added the wonder of living in God's daily presence, it would've been perfect. heh. This isn't a Christian book, in case you wondered.)  :)

Anyway, to close this post, I'll add some of the many common sense lines from this fun book:


" For the basis of successful living alone is determination to make it successful ... You have got to decide what kind of a life you want and then make it for yourself."


"It's a good idea, first of all, to get over the notion (if you have it) that your particular situation is a little bit worse than anyone else's."


"...an extra-special dinner charmingly served on a night when you're tired and all alone; bath salts in your tub and toilet water afterward; a new and spicy book when you're spending an evening in bed; a trim little cotton frock that flatters you on an odd morning when you decide to be violently domestic. The notion that it "doesn't matter because nobody sees you," with the dull meals and dispirited clothes that follow in its wake, has done more damage than all the floods of springtime."


Read more about this book here.

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“When we pity ourselves all we see is ourselves. When we have problems, all we see are our problems and that's all what we love talking about. We don't see the good things in our lives.”
― Ann Marie Aguilar


"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness."   ...James 1:2

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So Where Do You Go?

 " ... for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose."   ...Philippians 2:13


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Remember Tom and Debra, the estate sale junkies? How we love attending sales in houses which whoosh us back in Time? Well, today I get to show you a pretty typical local house not redecorated since the 1970's (or earlier).  

In the same family 75 years, its vintage loot was (mostly) removed but still, you'll see why these sales make me all dreamy-eyed and place me in a whole other dimension:

(Check out the bits of turquoise and the orange curtains, also. Wow.)

(The living room!)

And of course, the obligatory basement rumpus room:

 We've seen at least 50 such basements, always with cast-off furniture and usually a bar.

This house is for sale and you know? I'd be so tempted to leave it just as it is. No, really. I'm serious. 

Oh, it's even niftier to find houses not redecorated since the 40's or 50's, but ones like this are still cool.

You're welcome. :)

Why share these photos with you today? Because when this world gets to be too much, I go retro. My vintage magazines and cookbooks get pulled out, swoony music plays on my 1930's replica radio, I put on an apron and sweep the front porch. My whole day goes like that--peace, God and Grace envelope me and it becomes easy to pretend the 2016 world out there went retro (and kind, sweet and happy), too.

This works for me. I come away refreshed, encouraged and smiling and ready to help lift others from their downward spirals.

The main thing? Sometimes people tell us there's only one way (theirs) to recharge our batteries, to again become refreshed, renewed, rejuvenated. You know, like one size fits all and if it doesn't fit you, well, you're weird. Impossible, not spiritual enough. So get with it and blend in.

Phooey. 

God made us all differently, in individual shapes, sizes and colors. What matters is that we discover our own right fit so that others will be inspired to discover what keeps them sane and standing while spinning upon today's chaotic planet.

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 "If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. ..."   ... from 2 Corinthians 12

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Would you like to view some gorgeous paintings by the artist, Abbott Fuller Graves? Go here. 

Wow. Inspiring to the nth degree.

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R.I.P. dear Millie Helper.

A.k.a.  Ann Morgan Guilbert.

October 16, 1928 - June 14, 2016

To view one of my very, very favorite Millie scenes, go here. 

Hilarious!

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