Honeeeeey I'm Hooome!

Happy PINK Saturday everyone!

I know I'm reaching a little bit on the PINK theme but I've been gone so long and I have lots to share, so I hope you'll cut me a little slack this one time!

We left two weeks ago to attend my youngest dd's college graduation in Ohio. It was a wonderful day and we are so proud of her! 

 She graduated with honors with a Bachelor of Arts in Music. This Fall she will begin a two year program to be certified as a translator in American Sign Language then she plans to pursue a Masters in Music Therapy. 

 Oh to be so young and have your whole future ahead of you!

And while we were in Ohio, 

we picked up the newest addition to our family. 

 Meet Bella! Isn't that the cutest little PINK tongue! 

Poor little Bella has been through the mill, literally and figuratively. 

She was born in a puppy mill in New York where she spent the first eleven months of her life. She was then taken to a horrible dog auction. 

 This chain was welded around her neck for the auction and shows her auction number and USDA tag. 

If it weren't for the wonderful rescue group HALO, she would have been sold to another puppy mill where she would have spent the rest of her life in a wire cage forced to continuously breed. 

 There's that cute PINK tongue again!

Bella is a purebred Havanese and turned one year old in April. After she was rescued from the auction, she spent the next two months at her foster Mom's, learning how to be a pup and how to trust humans. I have wanted a Havanese for a long time so when Chipper passed away in April, I decided to see if there was a Havanese rescue and thus discovered HALO. She is the sweetest little thing and is learning so fast. 

 When she was rescued her beautiful coat had been shaved down almost to the skin and she only weighed 10 pounds, as you can see in the pictures HALO took of her. 

But she has already gained two pounds and her hair is starting to grow in. She has quickly learned how to walk on a leash and has only had two "accidents" in the house. 

 Everyday she makes me laugh as she grabs my slippers and adds them to her collection of stuffed animals on the couch. 

You can read more about HALO at their website! 
And please stop by How Sweet the Sound for more inspiring PINK posts!

Scripture in Pictures Sunday

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then right click and save. 

Please stop by Spiritual Sundays where Ginger and Charlotte have more inspiring posts waiting for you!

Vintage Pink Seashell Bowls!

Happy PINK Saturday everyone!
Today I want to share one of my favorite treasures that I inherited from my Mom, 
this set of six vintage seashell bowls!
I love the soft PINK, yellow and turquoise borders on these bowls!

 The gold rim is such an elegant touch.

 The hand painted shells and corals are exquisite! 

 I don't think my Mom ever used these and I have never used them either!

 A number of them also have splashes of Lavender. 

 The bowls are not very deep but would be perfect for the soup course. 
They are approximately seven inches in diameter.

My Daddy bought these for my Mom at an auction many years ago. I don't know anything about these bowls but they do have this gold mark on the bottom. 

There is also a teeny blue stamp on the bottom of each but they are impossible to read even with a magnifying glass. If anyone has any information about these 
I would love to know!

Please stop by and visit with Beverly at How Sweet The Sound where you will find more inspiring PINK posts!

And Tasha at Frugalicious Me for even more PINKNESS! 

Have a wonderful weekend, xxoo Nan

Great Gunnera!

Welcome to Alphabe Thursday and the Letter G!
Holy cow, Great Gunnera! No... this is not something your High School Health teacher was embarrassed to discuss! 

Great Gunnera is a very unique and uncommon plant. 

 (Honeysome Aquatic Nursery)

Often called Giant Rhubarb and sometimes called The Dinosaur Plant, it is a native of the tropical forests of Costa Rica, Columbia and Brazil. The plant itself can grow to be ten feet high and just as wide, with single leaves reaching 4 to 6 feet across! 

 (photo found on Flickr)

Gunnera prefers wet, boggy soil and so it is a perfect plant to use beside a pond. It also prefers some shade, especially in hotter climates. I'm told it does not like cold weather nor does it like hot humid weather. I've also read that is very finicky and difficult to grow. Despite all this, I decided the unmatched drama of the foliage was worth a try! I located a nursery in Oregon, Forest Farm, that carries tuber plants at a very reasonable price. I ordered three and was very pleased with my purchase. Not only was the service fast, but the tubers were a really nice size with a great root structure and at least 3 new leaves on each plant. When the tubers arrived, I removed them from the small pots they arrived in and transplanted them into large pots for a few weeks so they could become acclimated to our climate. This past weekend I decided to plant them in the ground. I planted one at the edge of the pond near the waterfall, one towards the back of our yard in a very "natural" area and the third I planted in the shade garden off the side screen porch. 

 This is a shot of the one I planted near the pond. The other plant in the picture, the one in the far right,  is Alocasia Portora, another giant, tropical plant!
I can't wait to see how these guys perform and I'm hoping I'll have some spectacular pictures to share with you over the summer!
Please visit Jenny at Jenny Matlocks for more inspiring Big G posts!

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day
Dear Blogger Buddies!
    When I was a little girl, Memorial Day was one of my favorite holidays. The anticipation and excitement of the end of school, the start of Summer and the opening of pools and parks was almost more than a young child could stand! No matter how excited we were to start the festivities, we always knew that more important matters would take priority. 

   My Daddy was one of the most patriotic people I have ever known and instilled in us the importance of honoring those who served our country. Every year we participated in the memorial day parade. As very young children we marched, carrying a bouquet of flowers from my mom's garden in one hand and a United States flag in the other. As we got older, we decorated our bikes in red, white and blue crepe paper streamers, still carrying the flowers and flag as we rode.  

   The parade would wind it's way through downtown, past the Five and Dime stores, past the diners, past the banks and offices, all decorated with flags and buntings. The streets would be lined with people waving flags to the patriotic tunes played by the marching bands. Our final destination, the cemetery where the graves of every veteran were decorated with a star. Upon entering the cemetery, the children would all make a mad dash to find a grave marked with a star and once finding such a grave, would insert the little flag they had so carefully carried throughout the parade, into to the star and then lay the flowers on the grave. This ritual would then be followed by speeches by dignitaries and veterans. As children we found this part extremely boring and couldn't wait to get home and change into our swimming suits but my Daddy, being the true Patriot, would make us wait till the very end. In hindsight; I'm glad he did even though I don't remember a single word from one of those speeches but I'm glad he did because I will never forget how important it is to take the time to remember and thank those who sacrificed so much for our freedom. How sad that most of the children today will never get to experience a Memorial Day parade or even know how very important this day is. If there is a Veteran in your family, please thank them for me!

   I thought a would share a few pictures of some of the men in my family who have so bravely served this great country through the years.

This is a picture of my Great Grandfather Frank during the Spanish American War, taken in 1898!




 
And this is a picture of my Great Uncle Tommy home from furlough in 1943.





And this is my Great Uncle Tony. This is an amazing picture because he served directly under General Bradley (the other man in the picture) during World War II. I believe this was taken in 1947.


 
And this, well... this is my own dear Daddy! How sad, I don't have a picture of him in Uniform! He was in the Navy during World War II. He never talked about the war so I know very little about his service. This picture was taken in 1953.



So, from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU, to all the Veterans both living and passed on to greater glory!

So where have I been? A work in progress!

Happy THIRD Birthday Pink Saturday!!!!

Congratulations Beverly on THREE years of PINK inspiration! 

If you are a regular reader to my blog, you know I've been a little AWOL for the last couple of weeks. So where have I been? I've fallen prey to that nasty slump bug that gets most of us sooner or later. I've been on the internet but I couldn't tell you what I've been reading because it certainly hasn't been any of your wonderful blogs. And Lord knows I've neglected my own blog, I even missed my own 

FIRST blog-a-versary! I have had zippo motivation to do anything except watch the season finales of my favorite TV shows, oh, and work in my yard.

But two weeks ago I stumbled on a wonderful blog. This blog made my heart sing. This blog reached deep into my soul and pulled out a flood of childhood memories. Memories of holding my first real art materials in my little hands and the power to CREATE that I felt at such a young age! And for the first time in almost 6 months, I picked up my sketch pad and pencil and started sketching away and I have my first WIP (work in progress).

I will share my WIP with you in a second but first I wanted to introduce you to the blogger who has caused all this inspiration! 

Please say hello to Joni at  

 Pop Art Minis! 

I think I identified with Joni so much because my first creations were big eyed children and animals made with chalk pastels. If you visit Joni's site you will find lots of lots of color, including PINK! 

 Copyright Pop Art Minis

And now my own WIP, granted, the only PINK is the oil pastel and pencil laying near the sketch pad! Please be gentle as I know she has a loooong way to go and I don't usually have enough courage to show something as unfinished as this! I hope I can show the finished drawing next week!

 

 

Have a wonderful, safe Memorial Day weekend everyone! xxoo Nan

Scripture in Pictures Sunday

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then right click and save!

Please stop by Spiritual Sundays for more inspiring posts. Thank you Charlotte and Ginger  for hosting each week!