SATURDAY PHOTO HUNT

http://www.tnchick.com/ is sponsoring a photo hunt each Saturday and today is a photo of ourself or part of us'n. This is my hand over a plaster cast of my Dad's hand that sits on a table in my bedroom.





PhotoHunt

SHOW AND TELL FRIDAY

Thanks to Kelli for hosting Show and Tell Friday. To learn how you can join go to:

http://kellishouse.blogspot.com/

Man, I'm just going to get this one in under the wire. Totally spaced it plus main computer tanked tonight. DH finally got it up and running. I'm in big trouble in cyberland without him.

I'm going to show not only a great item but a great gift. Yep, that's right. A friend in our neighborhood called me about 6 years ago and said " I have this beautiful pedal organ and I've decided I'm not going to use it, but I want it to have a good home. You can have it if you want it." You have never seen me move so fast. Grabbed some cute neighbor boys that could lift and
we moved it from her basement to my living room. I love it.

The little blue china dishes on the top are identical to a smaller set my grandparents split between myself and a cousin when we were very little. I only have about 4 pieces of the original set and a couple of them have been broken and badly repaired. I looked for about 15 years for a complete set that I could afford and finally found them in a great little shop in Livermore, California. The red floral tea cup and saucer belonged to a Grandmother.

The little Roseville flower pot had been my Grandmothers but what I didn't know until reading my Mom and Dad's WWII letters last year was that my Mom had given it to her for Mother's Day in 1943. The dark blue teacup, saucer and dinner plate belonged to a Great-Grandmother. The little heart is a gift from Grandchildren.

Handpainted picture was done by my Mother and the handpainted tea pot and little dish under the creamer was painted and given to me by our oldest daughter for Christmas one year. She had taken china painting lessons from her Grandmother. The little "turning purple" creamer also belonged to a Great-great grandmother.

The green carnival glass? also belonged to a Great-grandmother.

VINTAGE THINGIES THURSDAY HURRAY

Just found another great post opportunity. "Vintage Thingies Thursday" I can do Vintage-- I am Vintage. Until 3 years ago at the cabin we had avacado green countertops, and a refrigerator the same color until about 6 years ago. The girls in our family would love to redo my house and I would love to win the lottery so they could. I cannot tell you the last time anyone saw me in an apron and yet my fondest memories of my grandmothers always have them wearing one.

Please visit here for all things vintage and a fun time.

http://anapronaday.blogspot.com/.

This is a photo of some great friends and neighbors of ours. They have 7 or 8 antique Model T's and Model A. This is their newest baby. It was in about 10 pieces when he found it and hauled it home and put it back together. They all run-- very smoothly, thank you.

The following pictures are of a great store that just opened a branch in my neighborhood. It's called "Hip and Humble" and is owned by two sisters that grew up in our neighborhood. They deal in retro and vintage originals and reproductions.
I was so excited when I rounded the corner in the small shopping center and there it was in front of me.

MY DAD

This is my Dad.

The best dad anyone could ever have. I am the oldest of 5 children and the only girl and he always introduced me as "his baby girl". I was born while he was in the South Pacific serving in WW II in June of 1943. He didn't see me until I was 18 months old. My mother tells me the night he came home he watched me sleep most of the night with a flashlight in his hand. As I got older I realized it was important so I always told him I loved him, either in person or during a phone call. I often called to say "thanks Dad for my hair" because I inherited his natural curl. His Navy service was a large part of his life. Some of his best friends were other men he met in the service. He attended reunions until they ended several years ago.

I hope I always let him know how much I loved and appreciated him but the one thing I never did was thank him for fighting for his country. Several times I tried but couldn't get past the emotion of it. I need to tell him now. Thank you Dad for fighting in WW II and especially for being a wonderful example of "The Greatest Generation". I Love You.

FUN MONDAY HOME EXCHANGE VACATIONS

Allison is hosting FUN MONDAY this week and we are suppose to tell about a fun vacation. Our funnest vacations have always been when we go with our children and grandchildren. New York, Vancouver, Hawaii, Washington D.C. My weeks in New York with my girlfriends is insanely fun. But our most unique vacations have been with my special travel companion- DH. We joined HomeLink in 1995 so I could afford to take my Mother to England and have exchanged about 20 times since then. It is the most wonderful way to travel. People have two very distinct reactions-- either they say "Oh, that sounds like so much fun", or they say, "Oh, I could never do that". Let me emphasise that we have NEVER had a bad experience. Neither have we had any problems with people staying in our home. True, we don't use our primary residence (we use our cabin because it is in a more desirable tourist area) but 98% of the people in the exchange program use their primary home. We have only stayed in one exchange that was a secondary home. You shop in neighborhood shops, experience new and different beds, kitchen appliances, neighbors and sometimes feed cats and rabbits (France). It is so fun. For more Fun Monday's visit : http://rdhmom.blogspot.com/

One of our favorite exchanges was in 2005 when we went to Holland

There are 19 windmills along this canal. It is the only place in Holland with that many in one place. As the story goes, there used to be over 11,000 windmills and when they updated to the new windmills they started tearing the old ones down. They are now protected but there are only about 900 left in all of Holland.

The winter before we went I finished my Grandfathers WW I history. One of the first things we did was drive into France and go to the exact field where he was fighting when he was wounded. We left at 5: a.m. and spent the entire day criss-crossing places he would have been. I'm certain at some time that day my path crossed his. It was very memorable to me.

This was the valley he fought in. And yes, we climbed 300 steps to take this photo.

Church in tiny town in the valley. Many of the buildings had bullet holes in them. Lots of bullet holes

Our Exchange Home was the second from the end on this Historic Street. 2 doors further and through a large archway was where the country of Holland was formed. The beautiful town was called Dordrecht. During the 3 weeks we were there, not once did I pronounce the name correctly.

This is the beautiful backyard.

This is the view of Dordrecht from the church tower--Yep, another 270 steps.

We rode bikes on cobblestone streets around the canals. It was a beautiful city.

Anne Frank House

I think Amsterdam might be one of my favorite big cities.

This is the most beautiful shopping bag from a gift shop I have ever seen. It was huge and had so many beautiful masterpieces protrayed on it.

A TULIP SUPERMARKET. YEEPEE

We wanted to visit a cheese factory and this is one of the few left that gives tours. A wonderful family owned and operated effort. A mother and father, son and wife with two small children and they do all the work. Plus raise 100 head of pigs. They work 365 days a year. I ask the son "when do you take a vacation" and he just smiled at me and said "why would I want a vacation, everything I love is here. My family and my work." If you ever get to Holland it would be worth your while to visit them: Jongenhoeve, Fam. deJong, Benedenberg 90, BERGAMBACHT, Nederland.