Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Happy Fat/Shrove Tuesday

Happy Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Day!
    I know many denominations do not recognize any of the above, so I thought I would give a very simple explanation today. Shrove, from the verb "to shrive" which means to confess one's sins and receive forgiveness in preparation for a Holy Lent. Shrove Tuesday is a day of penitence to clean the soul before Lent and a day of celebration as the last day to feast and frolic! Back in the days when fasting was strictly observed during Lent, Christians would rid their homes of those items considered forbidden, including eggs, fat, butter, milk and meat. 
 Pancake dinners were an obvious choice for using up all of these items without wasting them.  Thus, Shrove Tuesday the eve before Ash Wednesday, became known as Pancake Day, Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras. So tonight, much to Mr Bubbles chagrin, we will have pancakes and bacon for dinner. Yum, personally, I love breakfast for dinner! 
(http://monthsofediblecelebrations.blogspot.com/   via: Pinterest)
     Tomorrow evening I will attend Ash Wednesday services. I always find this service such a spiritually moving and humble experience. To be reminded that none of us are without sin and that each of us will return to dust one day but through the sign of the cross, we are reminded, that we are saved.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Scripture in Pictures Sunday

You may click on the picture to bring up a larger, sharper image,
then right click and save. 
 Please stop by Spiritual Sundays for more inspiring posts!
Have a wonderful Sunday, Nan

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

The Mysterious Disappearing, Red-headed, Vintage Midge

When I was a little girl, I think every girl in America wanted a Barbie doll, every girl except me. No, I wanted Midge, Barbie's best friend.

 I'm not sure why, maybe Midge, with her curly Red hair and freckles seemed more down to Earth, a little more tomboyish like me. When I was nine years old, my parents gave me my Midge as one of my Christmas gift.
 (Here I am, making the goofy face, holding my Midge doll)

From that point on, I saved my allowance every week to satisfy "Midge's" desire for the latest fashions. By the time Christmas rolled around again, Midge needed a place for her growing wardrobe and so my parents gave me a trunk for all of her clothes.
 (You can see Midge's new trunk right over my left shoulder)

After that, I added Allan, Midge's boyfriend, Skooter Midge's little sister and of course their clothes and trunks to hold their clothes too!

When I was in fifth grade, I had a new best friend. She was an only child and had everything that Mattel produced in the Barbie line. She lived just a few blocks from me so everyday I would carry Midge, Allan and Skooter, along with all of their clothes and their trunks over to her house for a play date.
 At the end of the day I would have to carry everything home. I eventually got tired of carrying everything back and forth and decided to leave everything at my friends house. This worked out great for the next two years but then as the end of sixth grade drew near, and the excitement of moving on to Junior High  loomed large, my best friend and I began to grow apart. At some point I left all of my dolls at her house and never went back. At the time I probably didn't care, thinking what did I need stupid dolls for. By the time I realized what I had done, it was too late. My best friends Mom had boxed everything up and donated it to the thrift store.

Fast forward thirty years to 1998, my girls were in the basement at my Sister's house playing with some items that had been brought over from my Parents house when they passed away. I went downstairs to check on them and couldn't believe my eyes. They were playing with MY Midge doll. I questioned my Sister but she had no idea how Midge had made her way from my friends house, to my Parent's. Oh well, it really didn't matter, I had her back after all these years. I instructed my girls to put everything, including Midge back in the box before we returned to South Carolina. Unfortunately, when we got back to South Carolina and I unpacked, I discovered Midge was no where to be found. I asked my Sister to look for her but she never found her and we assumed she had been accidentally thrown out with some trash. Once again, I thought Midge was lost forever.

Now fast forward another thirteen years to this past Christmas. My sister sent me a long, skinny gift bag with a tag that simply said "something from the past". Imagine my surprise and delight when I opened it Christmas morning to find MY Midge!

At first I thought my sister was pulling a trick and surely she must have bought this Midge at an antique store. But she assured me that yes, it was MY Midge, she found her in the back of a drawer in an old filing cabinet in her basement. How she got there is a mystery but I finally have her back and I'm determined she won't disappear again!

Thanks for stopping by today! xxoo Nan
I'm linking this post to:
REDnesday at It's a Very Cherry World
Vintage Thingie Thursday at Colorado Lady
Alphabe Thursday for the letter M at Jenny Matlocks

(Footnote: the pictures of Midge, Allan and Skooter in their boxes are courtesy of Pinterest. You can follow this LINK to see more cool stuff from my childhood) 

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Scripture in Pictures Sunday

You may click on the picture to bring up a larger, sharper image,
then right click and save. 
 Please stop by Spiritual Sundays for more inspiring posts! 
Have a beautiful Sunday! xxoo Nan

Friday, February 10, 2012

Happy PINKterest Valentines Day!

Happy PINK Saturday!
I have been finding so many cute Valentines Ideas on Pinterest, I decided to throw a PINKterest Valentines Party and YOU are all invited! There are a lot of pictures in this post, so I apologize to all of you with slow connections and I have included the original link under the picture where possible. 
Shall we get this party started?

The table is set with lots of yummy treats!
 


First a little something to whet your whistle, A French Kiss Martini!


Or how about a Chocolate Martini.


These little heart shaped shortbreads look so sweet!


And these PINK Oreo hearts will look perfect on your plate!
 Strawberry Heart Oreo Cookies


YUMMO! Red Velvet Whoopie Pies!


And OH MY GOSH! Chocolate dipped Twinkies on a stick!


With all this sugar, we better have a little fruit! 


Now that we've had a little snack, how about some crafts? 

This altered Heart, carved from styrofoam is gorgeous! 


And what's a party without some banners. 


 I'm in LOVE with this sweet love birds box!


Who wouldn't LOVE to pop this Valentine balloon!

Well my friends, the clock is striking Midnight and so this  PINKinterest  party must come to a close! 
But please down leave empty handed, 
pick up one of these sweet goodie bags on your way out the door! 

Don't forget to stop by How Sweet the Sound where Beverly has many more PINK inspiring posts waiting for you! 
Have a wonderful weekend, filled with Bubbles of JOY! xxoo Nan

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

RED, Vintage LOVE

"You've got a strange way of showing Love!" Never were those words more true than the strange LOVE portrayed in these vintage Valentines. 
 Personally, I find them quite funny but imagine if a child handed them out at school today! 

They would probably be expelled immediately and charged with threatening or sexually harassing the other students.

Do you remember the joy of making your own Valentine box out of a shoe box?

We'd cover it with aluminum foil or construction paper then adorn it with doilies and glitter and hearts cut from construction paper. 
 The excitement you felt with the anticipation of having your box stuffed with little Valentine notes of LOVE!

My Mom made us give every child in our class a Valentine, including little Bobby with the Coke bottle glasses and the high water pants who picked his nose and passed gas in class. There was no use in protesting, Mom always said the same thing, "if you don't give one to everyone, you're not giving one to anyone". So we would pick out the Valentine with the least amorous sentiment for little Bobby with the Coke bottle glasses and the high water pants who picked his nose and passed gas in class, hoping he would not read anything into it. I probably gave him the one with the skunk!
 Do children even make Valentine boxes anymore? 

Probably not, they've probably gone the way of cupcakes on Birthdays and Christmas plays, how sad for our children.
 I LOVED Valentines day as a child and I LOVED making my Valentine box every year, so it is no surprise that I LOVE finding all these sweet Vintage Valentines on PINTEREST. I have many more PINNED to my board if you would like to take a look. Thanks for stopping by today!
xxoo Nan
I'll be linking this to:
REDnesday at It's a Very Cherry World
Vintage Thingie Thursday at Colorado Lady
Alphabe Thursday for the Letter L at Jenny Matlocks

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Scripture in Pictures Sunday

You may click on the picture to bring up a larger, sharper image,
then right click and save. 

Please stop by Spiritual Sundays for more inspiring posts and have a wonderful Sunday everyone! xxoo Nan