A New PINK Bike!

Over the weekend I got a new PINK bike! The very first bike I owned was a pink stingray with a white banana seat and white handle bar grips. I have so many fond memories of hot summer days spent riding my bike through the neighborhood.

I saw this particular bike about a month ago and stopped the girl who was riding it to ask what kind it was as it has a very unique shape to it. I went home and told my hubby about it, but he commented that I already have a bike that I don't ride...this is true, but if you look below you'll see THE BIKE! Any way, I was looking at one of my favorite new blogs The Beehive Cottage and there on Mary Jane's front porch was the exact bike I wanted, BUT IN PINK! So I took my laptop over to my hubby to show him the bike. He liked it and decided that would be our mission for the weekend...TO FIND THAT BIKE! What an excellent hubby I have!

I have decided that each bike has a voice of its own. This bike always says, " I am going to make you ride hard and fast. You will do no less then 15 miles per hour and maybe as much as 26. I am going to make you sweat, your muscles scream, and you'll be out of breath. You will ride me for at least 15 miles and by the time I'm done with you you'll be exhausted. This is no pleasure cruise sweetheart...I mean business."
Look at this seat that I have to sit on. Actually it's quite comfortable even though it's nearly non-existent.
Look at these pedals that I have to clamp my feet into. Sudden stops are always interesting when you forget to shift your ankle to the right and become detached from your bike.
Now look at that comfortable BIG seat and those HUGE tires.

This bike says, "hop on! Lets go for a little spin around the block. Oh, you don't have to worry about changing your clothes...that darling skirt will be just fine, but you might want to put on that sweet floral cap to keep the sun out of your eyes. Maybe we'll ride through the school yard or go over to an old neighborhood and look at all the beautiful houses and gardens. We can even stop to talk with people, pet puppy dogs, and of course we'll be able to make a trip to your favorite bakery for a scone and coffee. I'll take you places that will awaken your senses, fuel your imagination, and feed your soul. We can be gone as long as you like. When we get home you'll be refreshed and renewed."

So tell me, if you had your choice which bike would you choose

Summer's Bounty

In the Lord do I take refuge

PSALM: 11 verse 1

The writer of the psalm illustrated in his life what it means to have faith. Faith is a complex and many-faceted thing. It is impossible to define to the satisfaction of every person, but illustrations and examples abound in the scriptures and in life. One of the greatest men of faith , George Mueller, said of this facet of the Christian life: "The only way to learn strong faith is to endure great trials. I have learned my faith by standing firm amid severe testing."

In one sense of the word, faith is learned. There are those who would question this statement, but there are illustrations in life to back it up. Those who win Olympic medals are more than just gifted athletes. They are dedicated, disciplined, and devoted to their sport or speciality. An Olympic athlete may devote as many as ten or twelve years to training for his or her particular event. Weather, all kinds of obstacles, or disappointments do not keep him or her from training, preparing for victory. In the spiritual realm, too, it takes dedication, discipline, and devotion to develop great faith.

Taken from the book: "Today, Lord, I Will"

June Gloom has finally made an appearance in our little town. I've been able to pull back the drapes, open the windows, and allow the cool morning breeze to come wafting through the windows. I love mornings like this.
Today I'll spend time in my garden gathering roses to be placed in each room of our little cottage and the rest of the day I'll be sewing curtains and making flowered pillows for the Adirondacks.
I hope you all have a sweet and restful Saturday.

While playing with my blog the other day I realized it looked as if it were still wrapped in winter garments. What with all the browns, parchments, and nearly monochromatic colors I tend to use. So I decided to give it a new summer look. Something a little brighter, but hopefully not too bright! If it's too bright please let me know...I won't be offended and hopefully you'll still come back (smile).

My husband isn't so sure about the new look, but I assured him that when Autumn rolls around I'll go back to my original template as I love the cocooning effect it has.

So, I hope you'll like the new look too!

Summer Tea

It's my favorite time of year, at work, as we're making all the necessary preparations for our Summer Tea. It's an event we've held every year for the past four years and it gets better every time! I think we're getting a system down for what works and what doesn't plus it helps when you have a great team of women to work with. There are three of us that plan the event, menu, and any other details that are required to make it a special day for our guests.

The part that I enjoy the most is that I get to create all the invitations and I'm given Carte Blanche to create whatever my little heart desires. This year I decided to go with a Blue and Brown theme combined with that sweet little bird that has been alighting on everything I've put my hand to lately.

We have table hostesses who decorate their tables in whatever style they choose and whether they use family heirlooms or paper plates each table is unique and special in it's own way.
So, if you are in the Orange County area and would like to join us for tea just give me a ring or an email or just post a comment on my blog.

Have a great day!

How beautiful upon the mountains

are the feet of them that bring

good news.

Fun Monday!

This is my lovely contribution to FUN MONDAY! that is being hosted this week by: Hula Girl at Heart. This weeks topic is :Clothes you can't part with." If you would like to see other peoples clothes from who knows what era, simple click on "Hula Girl" above.

Do any of you remember Gunni Sax from the seventies and eighties? Well, they were my favorite! Actually they still are, but I can't exactly walk around in wedding gowns so I merely look at them in the magazines.
I purchased this skirt when I was a junior in high school (1978). I still have it hanging in my closet with the sweet little black velvet jacket. Every year I tell myself that I'm going to lose enough weight so I can wear it and when the next year rolls around I tell myself the same thing. Wishful thinking! I have two whole boxes of this stuff all dripping in yummy lace.
What kind of fun clothes do you have stashed in your closets or boxes?

Asking for Roses

A house that lacks, seemingly, mistress and master,

With doors that none but the wind ever closes,

Its floor all littered with glass and with plaster;

It stands in a garden of old-fashioned roses.

I pass by that way in the gloaming with Mary;

'I wonder,' I say, 'who the owner of those is.

' 'Oh, no one you know,' she answers me airy,

'But one we must ask if we want any roses.

' So we must join hands in the dew coming coldly

There in the hush of the wood that reposes,

And turn and go up to the open door boldly,

And knock to the echoes as beggars for roses.

'Pray, are you within there, Mistress Who-were-you?'

'Tis Mary that speaks and our errand discloses.

'Pray, are you within there? Bestir you, bestir you!

'Tis summer again; there's two come for roses.

'A word with you, that of the singer recalling-

- Old Herrick: a saying that every maid knows is

A flower unplucked is but left to the falling,

And nothing is gained by not gathering roses.

' We do not loosen our hands' intertwining

(Not caring so very much what she supposes),

There when she comes on us mistily shining

And grants us by silence the boon of her roses.

Robert Frost

We have been dealing with debilitating heat that simply put "saps every bit of strength out of you." I suppose it wouldn't be too bad except for the fact that we don't have central air in our house so by the time we go to bed it's around 87-90 degrees in our kitchen. I know I shouldn't complain as there are people in this world who are suffering far worse conditions and situations.

In order to escape the heat Saturday evening, my sweet hubby and I headed for Downtown Disney.
I was amazed that there were so many people out, but they probably had the same idea as we did...GET OUT OF THE HOUSE! I decided that as I was wondering about I'd take some pictures. So here they are for all you who have never been to D.T.D.

If you would like to have a Fairy Tale wedding, Disney will gladly accommodate you. It may cost you an arm and a leg, but you get to walk (or limp) away with the beautiful memories. As my hubby and I turned down the corridor to the Grand California Hotel we were drawn into this beautiful window display. All the women were ooohhhhhing and aaawwwing and all the men were tugging at their sleeves to move on. My hubby, being the sweet man that he is, allowed me to linger as long as I wished. Oh...this was my favorite dress out of the three displayed.
Another breath taking look at the Disney Wedding display. Everything was so gorgeous and yummy!

AAAHHHH! The entrance to the swimming pool. How I longed to sneak in there for a little dip.
A lovely tree. During the Christmas season these are dripping with giant colorful lit orbs and the trunks are wrapped with little silver light. Very festive indeed!
Another window display inside the hotel. The interior of this one is covered in my favorite wall paper from my favorite wall paper company, Bradbury and Bradbury of Benicia CA. They specialize in Historic papers and adaptations. Any one in need of Victorian wallpaper should check them out.
This guy with his little alligator stands outside Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen. Have you even had alligator sausage? I have and didn't like it!

The little kitchen next door has the best Bignets!

I have always found this guy to be very strange. I won't comment any further.
Funky Disney architecture.
Speaks for itself.
Ice cream. That would have been so good!
This is the entrance to Downtown Disney. After 9-11 they put blockades all over the front.

This concludes our little walking tour.

Have a great day and stay cool.

No true , faith-winged prayer goes unanswered, but many a prayer that seems to us unanswered is really over answered. God does not grant the actual thing we ask, because He is able to do something infinitely better for us. We ask only for bodily help or relief, and He sees that we have more need for some deep spiritual blessing. He answered our souls needs before He gratifies our personal wishes. We ask for the temporal favor; He does not give it to us, but instead He gives us a spiritual good which will enrich us forever. We ask for the removal of a burden or the avoiding of a sorrow; our plea is not granted in form, but instead we receive a new impartation of the power of Christ, or an angel comes from heaven and ministers to us. Thus many times our little prayers are really over answered.

Taken from: "Today, Lord, I will"

When I was growing up there were certain words and phrases that my mother constantly used...so I thought I would share a few.

Every morning as I was leaving for school my mother would say, "Have a fun day, Dear." I always walked out the door grumbling, "what's fun about today, I have to go to school." Now each day as my husband leaves for work I say to him, "Have a fun day, Dear." He always grumbles on his way out the door, "what's fun about it, I have to go to work."

Whenever someone was mean to me my mother would say, "Pretty is as pretty does and she's not very pretty is she?" This one baffled me for the longest time.

And then there was, "Well! A proper lady would never say something like that!" Or, "Well! A proper lady would never behave that way!" The word "Well!" always came before the "proper lady wouldn't do this or that statement." I remember hearing this one quite often.

This was one of my all time favorites:
"Don't forget to heap coals of kindness on their heads, Dear!"
I always imagined someone carrying a huge tray on their head piled with coals and I always thought to myself, "how is that showing kindness?"
As an adult I discovered the answer. It was in the Bible if you can imagine that. I learned that there was a Jewish custom that if your neighbor ran out of coal in the middle of the night and came to your door you were to give them enough coal to keep their house warm until the morning. But if a person were mad at his or her neighbor they usually only gave enough coal for a couple hours warmth. The neighbor would then have to go out into the cold to get more coal. It goes back to "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
I asked my mother if she knew what it meant and she said it was simply something her mother said to her when she found herself in the same situation.

When going out to a friends house for dinner or a restaurant:
"If it is not offered to you, don't ask for it."
Always say, "Yes, please and No thank you!"
"Never ask for seconds."
"Never, never address an adult by their first name."
"Never speak unless spoken to. Children are to be seen and not heard."
"When you are done at the table politely fold your hands in your lap until you are excused."

I know there are so many more wonderful pieces of wisdom that she left with me but, I just can't think of any right now...except, when something didn't go the way she thought it should we always heard a loud "Yee Gads!" which always produced a little giggle from her girls!

Any funny sayings that you remember from your childhood?

I've Been Tagged!

6 Unimportant Things about Me!

I've been tagged by Pat over at Mille Fiore Favoriti to tell 6 unimportant things about myself. Pat has become one of my favorite blogging people and a great tour guide of New York City. Since I may not make it there in my life time I look forward to all her tours and have learned quite a lot. If you haven't been to visit her blog stop by.

These are the rules of the game:

link back to the person who tagged you, include the rules in your post, write six unimportant things about yourself then tag six other people at the end of your entry.

1. Not a fish person and never will be. Sorry all you fish lovers but It's not for me!

2. During the winter I always wear striped stockings under my long dresses. My husband calls them "Pirate socks," while my boss calls them "Witch socks," but they're really Victorian. All proper Victorian women wore striped stockings. Just a little fun fact :). Yes! Those are my chubby little calves.

3. I've owned 4 cars in my entire life. Out of the 4, two have been stolen (from me, not by me), three have been broken in to and so far this one has suffered no mishaps. Knock on wood!

4. Two years after getting married (1994) I enrolled in Jr. College where I spent the next 6 years. Doing what? Having fun! It's become a big joke with my husband and I. After all, I didn't spend 6 years in Jr. College for nothing!

5. Disneyland is one of my favorite places in the world! I feel so blessed that I can wake up in the morning and hear the steam whistle blowing from the Mark Twain. Simple pleasures.

6. Every once in a while I talk my husband into driving through neighborhoods at night so I can peek in peoples windows. I love to see how houses are decorated and what color walls people have. It's especially fun at Christmas time.

I'm going to tag:

Ellen B. @ The Happy Wonderer

My sister who does not blog enough @ So What's Next?
Anyone else that would like to be tagged just jump on in...It's a lot of fun!!!

Lately I wonder as time hurries on
what have I done with the days come and gone?
and I remember how once I was drawn
into Your sanctuary

When did I wander so far away?
How did I get here? Why did I stray?
And can I ever find my way
back to Your sanctuary?

Nothing have I on earth but You
no one but You in heaven
so why do I continue to do everything else
but come to You?

All of my folly I finally see
I've nowhere to hide, I've no place to flee
if I ran to You, would You run to me
out from Your sanctuary?

Nothing have I on earth but You
no one but You in heaven
so why would I continue to do anything else
but come to You?

I will remember what You did for me
climbing that hill to die on that tree
there I will go and bend my knee
There I'll find sanctuary
Oh I'll give You thanks for Your sanctuary.

Music and lyrics by: Marty Goetz

I often listen to this song and feel as if it is the very cry of my heart. There is a Great High Priest in heaven who loves me (and you) so desperately and yet this life has so many distractions that pull and tug me in so many different directions. Why do I struggle to keep my focus? How do I fight to keep my focus? Why is it that I'm always running in the opposite direction?

This morning the air was dripping with moisture but, I could tell it was going to be a hot day. The puppies scurried out the back door and returned a short time later with grass in their pretty white hair and soaked paws from the morning dew. The weather man said the high was going to be in the mid eighties but the thermometer read 91. I don't understand how they can always be so far off in their predictions...but then maybe that's all it really is...a prediction. Tomorrow they are predicting that it will be in the 90's.

Did you know that the high today in Victoria British Columbia was only 61? It was also 61 in Quebec Canada and in Inverness Scotland it was 58 and raining. Oh to be in cooler climbs where you can enjoy a brisk walk on a winding path down by the shore.

This morning as I was doing my daily devotion I stumbled upon this scripture. I've read it so many times over the past 24 years but, somehow, today I saw it in a different light. The part that struck me was the, "as much as depends on you (me)!" It's my responsibility to get along with that difficult person now matter how disagreeable they may be. It's my responsibility to smooth things over with them and not expect them to smooth things over with me first. It is my responsibility to humble myself and to esteem them above myself. It is my responsibility to treat them as I would want them to treat me.