Company is Coming...updating the little home!

Guest Bedroom re-furnished!

We are going to have company!  Yikes...!  For the first time in three years we have a second bedroom with a bed in it.  So I invited people to come visit and they accepted!  Now boys and girls we need to get ready.

Old Pendleton Blanket on back of chair!

My husband and I sit around in our condo comfortably with a laptop computer on one ottoman and our feet up on another.  Did I mention that they are mismatched?  The 8 inch space under the TV has been needing something for I don't know how long....9 years?  I finally stuffed my magazine collection in there.  sigh!  I have a blanket over the back of every chair because I like my Pendleton blankets and they are very warm when you need to get rid of the chill without turning on the heat!  (Company or no company they are staying where they are.)

The question here is...do I fix everything just for show or do I let people see how I REALLY LIVE?  If I had time I would take a poll and do what you said.  But since I don't, I have decided to clean my act up.  I see this as the perfect opportunity for us to get some projects done.  It is like we are putting the house up for sale but we don't have to move.  That is a good thing I think.

WHATS NEW?

We went shopping for lamps and lampshades because we were huddled under two lamps that gave off bad light in an attempt to read in the evenings.  Failing eyesight is something most aging people deal with.  I started at Target.  We found a great photographers tripod lamp and a linen shade that looked just perfect.  Boy do I love Target!

Silk shade from Lowes

Then we moved on to Lowes where we bought a silk lampshade that we added to an old floor lamp we already had but was stored away.  I  considered painting this lamp an espresso color but reconsidered after we got the shade home.

Pot light converter kit!

We also bought a pot light converter kit and a shade glazed with nickle.  It fits in the kitchen perfectly.

Wreath + Star...bought separately!

White enamel spray paint was purchased for a wreath stored in the basement. After the paint job it was paired  with a tin star covered with decorative paper I found in a paper shop in Sumner, WA.  The star was a display item and owner was willing to part with it for the cost of the materials it took to make it.   We both loved this hung over the bed.

Pottery Barn had pillow covers on sale so I bought two for my wing back chairs.  They it beautifully with the other colors in the room.

COMPANY IS COMING!

I mentioned that didn't I?  There is no way what we would have gotten all these things done in a few days if that were not so.  Now I will make the grocery list, do a little cooking and wait for the day to come. 

Have a wonderful day!

b

If you are a regular or would like to be, I would be so grateful if you would click on the follower button...it looks so lonely right now!  You will not receive emails and can select the way you want to register.

ORVILLE REDENBACHER AND RV SAFETY

I have been seeing this commercial over and over and over.  You know the one where the people are going down the road in the RV.  Mom is up walking around popping corn and the kids are sitting at the table playing a video game.  When the corn is done,  POP gets up and walks back to have a taste...leaving the steering wheel unattended!

My Motor Home...I know what I'm talking about!

That part is so obviously bad...no one but an idiot would ever leave the steering wheel!  But the part about everyone wandering around the motor home as it drives down the road...that is one very dangerous thing to do.  DO NOT EVER GET UP AND WANDER AROUND IN A MOTOR HOME WHILE IT IS GOING DOWN THE ROAD....EVER!!!!  In fact do not carry more people than you have seat belts for.  If the driver has to slow down unexpectedly even a little bit,  you become a flying missile and your last stop will be in heaven or at the very least the hospital.

Do the math folks!

If a motor home is driving down the road at 60 mph and must stop for a deer in the road, how long will it take you travel from the bathroom to the dash board?  Let me know when you have the answer now.  Because if this ever happens to you, you will not be alive to visit with me!

Just a thought.

b

A fabulous faux-llections...best Apartment Therapy idea yet!

...from apartment therapy!  That is a phrase I use frequently.  There is a good, absolutely sound reason why!  Apartment Therapy is a website written and followed by some very creative people.  The ideas they come up with just blow me away.  And yesterday, when I checked the latest email notice from them, I found a whopper of an idea for people that live in small spaces.

iphoto book making application!

It is called "faux-llections"...the idea being that although we love to shop for beautiful things where ever we are, we cannot possible buy all those beautiful things and live in our small place at the same time.  This is how Apartment Therapy put it:

 What's a Faux-llection? Well a faux collection of course! What's a faux collection? Well we're glad you asked! It's the easiest way to collect awesome items without filling your home with "stuff and things."

Physical space will not allow us to gather up "stuff" willy-nilly.  So what can we do?   They suggest that you click pictures when you are out window shopping or "just looking".  Then after you have a collection of the most beautiful things in the world...on your camera... you can publish your own coffee table book.  Of course the better your camera the better your book.  It just stands to reason.

Cover Picture? (Las Vegas)

After you down load and edit your pictures all you PC users can sign up with a website like Blurb.  By searching for self publishing photo books on the google search function in my sidebar you will find that there is more than one place you can go.   If you are a Apple user, Blurb probably will not work for you.  All you need to do is go to your iphoto application, create your little book and order it from Apple.  I have even created these and printed them on my printer. 

Mexican market...better in a picture than in real life!

Your collection of items in photograph form can go on your coffee table for you and your friends to enjoy.   Put that nicknack duster away and create a book...wouldn't that be fun!

b

Retired Snow Bird Migration: Planning a Vacation ...on the way to another vacation!

MIGRATION, MIGRATION, MIGRATION
The Snow Birds (retired boomers) are beginning to be restless.  A few fly south early, wanting to get in that extra bit of sun.  Many have been stuck in the snow in early October and learned the lessons taught by Mother Nature.  The cautious travelers along with those that love the second home as much as the first leave early. Migration and talk of migration fills the hearts and minds of America's retired population.

Down Town Palm Spring

Every year I marvel at the similarity of the migration of those beautiful snow geese that fly in lovely V's over head and humans following their example.  I have learned that many people are RUT followers and travel down the same road and stay in the same motel each and every year.  I think birds must do this very thing.  Restlessness drives their flight and the shortest distance between two points is their goal.  Then there are Snow Birds that take a vacation on their way to their vacation both going and coming.  I smile at the thought....that is what we do.  Those straggling birds that leave with the flock for Mexico and end up in Florida must  love a vacation too!

I cannot explain to those that don't see the wonder of the road.  They just disdain more vacation.  Too costly, no enough time, my wife's back hurts...and the list goes on and on!  All I can think is what a shame.

DREAM VACATION...USING TIME SHARES

We have a timeshare and can get bonus time (i.e. overnight lodging in a condo at about $40 per night) during the shoulder of the season.  Because we invested in this type of ownership, we have been able to travel and stay in beautiful accommodations owned by our timeshare company. We travel with a laptop computer so we can take advantage of those online coupons and golf deal.  We have learned to travel in luxury but do it on our terms.

This year I am dreaming of a short visit to the wine country of the Napa Valley and maybe a trip down the coast of California.  

Sedona, Arizona...another dream location on the way!

I would like to stay in Windsor, California for a couple of days and then go south through San Francisco and stay in one of our timeshare locations just outside of China Town.  We could then travel south to Pismo Beach north of Los Angeles and spend a day or two in that part of California.  We have never been there.  Our next stop would be in the Palm Springs area where we can choose from two locations...or just take the one that is open.

We might play golf while we are there...why not if we can get a good price on golf.  Fall is perfect for people that love to play luxury courses but don't want to pay the inflated price courses charge during high season.   This is the time of year when golf courses in Southern California and Arizona over seed their courses.  Putting greens are not wonderful but the beauty of the green courses make up for that.

Friends in the RV Resor

The Ocean calls our name....

So what do you think?  Don't you think this sounds like fun?  I have always wondered if those geese stirring about practicing for the journey south when they go from one corn field to the next, dream of warm swamp land in the south.  Do they dream of the stopping points like the one outside Burns, Oregon where birds numbering in the thousands linger every year resting and feeding?  Is that their idea of a stop in wine country?  I somehow think it is.

Have a wonderful day.  I'll see you in the sun later.

b

Links:

Palm Springs Golf
Park Model Living
Related Travel Blogs

Funny Signs...just when I think I have seen it all!

I am not an advertising guru or any kind of a guru for that matter.  I just know what amuses me.  I see signs like this all the time and wonder "Are they just....?"  These had me giggling.  It was the misspelling/mistakes/humor that caught my eye.  So do you suppose that people misspell things just for that very reason?  Could be.

Sign painter was plumb tuckered out!

Frank was very frank!

Frank really sells hotdogs!

There is a place you can buy funny road signs so it must be very common.

There was Nothing on this sign...Arizona's finest!

Is Gary in Business or just having fun?

b

Open for 24 hours in 1935!

Related articles by Zemanta

• Funny Warning Signs (interbent.com)
• Another Collection of Funny Signs (junkmail.co.za)

Beautiful Condominiums....links for decorating ideas + ++!

small flower...big impact!

So you have purchased that beautiful condominium in the city...maybe not that big.  Should you give up stylish?  I don't think so.   Retirement (55 living) can be all about style.  Downsizing or beginning small does not mean we have to live in a cluttered and less than stylish space.  I have a few links I have been gathering that give us a better image of retirement style (even clothes girls!) and living in a small space.  I thought I would give you the list of links so you can use it as a reference:

Advanced Style  I have no idea how I found this website but when I did it went onto my link list immediately.  The blog, as I understand it, began as a emulation of a blog from New York called The Satorialist (listed as one of the the top 100 design influences by Time Magazine).  Advanced Style and Satorialist writers photographs people on the street...generally beautifully dressed.  Advanced Style was born with a theme..."You are never to old to be beautiful."  You will love it!

Small Place Style  What a wonderful blog site!!! When they say one picture is worth a thousand words the truth has been spoken.  This is a discovery I will save so I can return often.

Apartment Therapy  This is a great site that keeps us abreast of what is going on in small spaces by posting photographs from readers around the country.  I have used several of these ideas myself.

The Kitchen  This blog is included in the tabs at Apartment Therapy.  Living small does not mean we need to give up a wonderful kitchen...even a very small one.  Gadgets, easy food preparation and cool tools are still ours to enjoy. The Cool Kitchen Contest pictures are worth a look...dreaming is always possible!

Re-Nest  This is a site that allows us to dream about a remodel or a new (old) purchase while staying GREEN.  Those of us that are retired came from a generation of savers/reusers!  This is perfect for us.

Unplugged  If you are a techno buff you know that when you live in a small space you need to be very creative...this is the website for you! 

Style At Home  This is a magazine website from a magazine published in Canada...the land of Candice Olson and many other wonderful designers.  I love this magazine and the website has a feature that allows you to clip the idea they post and save them in a folder on your desktop for future reference. 

Design Blog List   If you just want to roam around in the design world this is a page of links that will keep you busy...forever. 

Martha Stewart   Need I say more...there is always a wonderful idea from her people!

I am adding to this list daily...as time permits.  Do you live in a small stylish awesome place???  Let me know by leaving a link in the comments section.  I would love to visit you.

b

What is a SEO? Picking their brains (websites)!

NOTE: TYPE ITALIC WORDS INTO SEARCH AT RIGHT FOR MORE INFORMATION!

I become very curious once in a while.  I kept seeing this acronym in relationship to promoting blog traffic.  SEO STRATEGIES So I did the research and wrote this article on hub pages.  I thought you might be interested.  

 What is a SEO? Picking their brains (websites)!

b