The Gift Of Three

~~~Thank You Sandi~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Thank You Heidi~~~~

I was recently honored with two brand spanking new lemonade
stands. This award is bestowed upon someone that shows and Attitude
Of Gratitude. I am very grateful for the two loveleigh ladies that gave
me these awards. Sandi from Barely Sane-Blog Of A Bear Nut and
Heidi from Fairy Footprints In The Sand.

If you have yet to see these fun blogs be sure to stop by. One is full of
wonderful teddy bears and one is full of magical fairies.

Thank You GIRLS!

I also received a non-virtual gift yesterday. I was told this gift was on
the way, I didn't know what to expect exactly, but I knew it would
be fabulous. I waited by the mail box all week. Camped out there and
everything. The neighbors all thought I was crazy, HEE HEE! Just
kidding!


FINALLY, it came! The Man Cub and the Princess were happily ensconced
watching Monster House, the new favorite around here, so I had the whole
kitchen to myself without little hands reaching into my surprise and spilling
fluffy pink popcorn all over the floor.


Once again a loveleigh something from Martha of Martha's favorites. This
wonderful lady is generous to a fault and more willing to share than anyone
I've met on this blogging journey. She is kindness itself and I was nearly
jumping up and down with glee at what was to come. You're lucky I had the
patience to take pictures and not rip into it like I did her last gift!


Here it is! A beautiful milk glass piece to add to my collection of 3. All
decked out in it's seasonal BLING! I think it is so delightful, just like
Martha! The little pumpkins are a pin I can remove and wear and the
dish, well here's what I did with it...

In went the candy corn!

One of my favorite Halloween snacks.

So thank you Martha, for your generosity. I am on the hunt for
something special to send your way. I guess that means I have to go
shopping, DARN! Don't you just hate it when that happens, LOL!!!

Magical Disney Sundays

Heidi from Fairy Footprints in the Sand is hosting her weekly Magical
Disney Sunday. She will be doing this every Sunday if you wish to join in.
The movie I selected for today is one I enjoyed a lot while growing up,
and still do, Pete's dragon. Please turn my Playlist on to hear some
music from the movie while you read along!



Pete is an orphan boy that was sold to a grungy and mean family called
the Gogans. They use and abuse him terribly and when Pete finally
becomes fed up with their cruelty, he flees with his only friend, a dragon
named Elliot.


During their travels, they land in a town called Passamaquoddy, where they
meet the local lighthouse keeper (Mickey Rooney)and his daughter (Helen
Reddy). Pete befriends them and begins to think he may have found a
family at last. When Elliot's antics and overall clumsiness begin to cause
many a disturbance amongst the townspeople, trouble is not far behind.



The locals believe Pete is the cause of all the mischief due to the fact that
Elliot, the dragon, is invisible to most people. Oops. Only the lighthouse
keeper can see him.


Also on the scene is a slimy snake-oil salesman and his sidekick Hoagy
who team up with the Grogans who are persistently pursuing Pete.
They want their free labor back and the slimy Doc Terminus wants
Elliot. To use for his slimy snake-oil potions.




Throw all this in the mix with some catchy songs like Passamaquoddy,
Brazzle Dazzle Em, I thought I saw a dragon and Candle on the water and
you get a movie that is lots of fun to watch and sing along with. Elliott will
steal you heart and make you want a dragon of your own. Almost!

This is Disney, so of course we get a happy ending, but I won't spoil the
whole plot for you in case you have yet to see it. I recommend it if you have
little ones, I think they'll love Elliot too!

Pink Saturday

Pink Saturday has once again rolled around very quickly. Beverly from How
Sweet The Sound puts this deliciously pink day together for us every week
and you can find all the other pink participants at her blog. This week I'm
going to show you some pictures I've taken of my bike and altered. I
placed some of the last of the Summer hydrangea blooms in my basket and
and had a little photo shoot!


This photo was edited using the Picasa photo editing program. It's free to
download and I had lots of fun learning to play with this as a beginner and
you can't beat the cost. It is also stored in your computer off-line so you
don't have to be on the internet to use it. Just Google Picasa if you're
interested, download and away you go!

Now for some time, I've felt I've been outgrowing Picasa, so when I heard
about a new photo editing program earlier this week, I jumped at the
chance! These last two pictures were edited using PhotoScape. This
program is also free and has a lot more options to play with. I've only used
it a bit and am enjoying it immensely. It too is stored off-line on your
computer.

I heard about PhotoScape from Susie at 1st Floor Flat on her Wednesday
post. She is also a Pink Saturday Lady and has many other useful tips for
the non-blogger savvy like myself. If you haven't already visited her,
please go and see all the marvelous things she has to offer. Caution though:
You may just get stuck spending quite a bit of time there discovering new
things!

Thank you for spending a little bit of your Pink Saturday
with me and I wish you all a wonderful weekend!

Happy Fall

Fall has officially arrived and I couldn't be happier. I love the colors,
the smell of woodsmoke, cool crisp and foggy mornings and the beautiful
light that only comes with Autumn. I hope the season brings you much
happiness and only good things!

The last day of Summer afforded me one last Summer Giveaway. I won
this fantastic bird house from Marie at Emma Calls Me Mama. Marie
had a drawing for all the people that participated in her Heirloom Party
and I was the LUCKY winner. What a great way to end one season and
start another. Thank you Marie and Hudson Goods!

A while back, at the start of Summer, I won this pretty piece of fabric from
Marsha at Sassy Mini Dolls. My original intention was to make a pillow for
my bed, but I changed my mind. I tend to do that. LOTS. Here is what I
finally decided on after much deliberation...

VOILA!

A new blanket for my Hollie Foo Foo girl to lay on when she decides to gift
me with her presence and lays on my bed. She likes CUSH does this diva dog.
She needs a soft place to rest her bones, like me. Her old blanket is getting
old and falling apart at the seams so I thought a new one was in order.

Yes, she thinks it will do very nicely. She and I gladly thank Marsha for the
pretty pink and yellow gift and our Nana, who graciously sewed it for her.
Because I can't.


I also intended to premiere my new blog on the first day of Fall, but
remember what I told you about that mind changing thing? It has reared
it's ugly head and I just can NOT decide what to do. I've learned to play
with the HTML codes too and that is adding to my problems. It's giving
me too many options! But it's SO MUCH FUN! This is what I've been
doing lately during my computer time, which is why I've been delayed
in commenting on your loveleigh blogs some days. I've been distracted
by the allure of Mr. HTML!!! So I'll shoot for October 1st. I think I
can hit that target date. Hopefully!

Thanks for stopping in today, hugs out to all
of you on this beautiful day!

Autumn Treats

Just a few treats I discovered this morning and HAD to share with you. Fall
is rapidly approaching and some more generous giveaways abound!


For the chance to win this beautiful rustic scale hop over to Rose Petals and
Rust...the Primitives.


If you love to decorate for Halloween like I do, you'll find these potion bottles ookey, spookey and FUN! Head over to Aunt Manny's for all the details.


And, of course, what's a Fall giveaway without a few pumpkins thrown in
the mix! You'll find these pretty pumpkins at Rooster Inn Primitives.

Good Luck to all of you, but not too much. Save some for me!

Pink Saturday

Georgia O' Keefe

Lifetime movie network is premiering a film about the great American
artist Georgie O'Keefe. I must confess that I don't know much about
her life or her work, although I have of course heard of her and seen some
of her more popular work. I find her flower pieces beautiful and found a
few with pink for you!



I know this one isn't pink, but I find it beautiful in it's own way. Georgia
moved to New Mexico in the 1930's, when the "dust bowl" was at it's
height. There were an enormous amount of animal skeletons in the
desert and Georgia frequently painted them.




The Lifetime movie starring Joan Allen and Jeremy Irons premieres:

Saturday September 19 @ 9pm et/pt

Encores:

Sunday September 20 @ 7 pm et/pt
Tuesday September 22 @ 9 pm et/pt

I think this will be a fascinating glimpse into the life of one of the very
few famous female American artists of the day. Fair warning, I don't
know if it could get a little racy! I've heard Georgia and her husband
had a rather unconventional relationship. I would love to know if you
watch it and what you thought. I plan to see it myself!





As always, our Pink Saturday is hosted by Beverly at How Sweet The Sound.
Be sure to go to her blog to find all the links to the other participants.

Happy Pink Saturday and I hope you all have a loveleigh weekend!

Heirloom Party

Today's post is all about heirlooms. A unique party dedicated to
something we consider an heirloom. Something old or something
new we think will one day fit that description. Marie from Emma Calls
Me Mama is the Hostess and you will find all the Heirloom Party
links there.

My heirloom in the making is this loveleigh afghan. It's not very old. It
was a gift at Christmastime several years ago and I hope it will one day
become an heirloom to be passed down through the generations.

This afghan has a very special significance to me. On September 1st,
15 years ago, I lost one of my Grandmothers to breast cancer. It was
unexpected and sudden. We all knew she was battling the disease, but
she kept to herself how far along it had progressed. We were not prepared
for her to leave us so quickly and it was a loss the family never really
recovered from.

About a year after her death, my Grandpa decided it was time to go
through her things. Tucked away in a hallway closet were several
complete knitted panels for afghans. Her original intent was to make one
for each of her Grandchildren. There were 15 at the time. Only the three
oldest had received their afghans. My Mom was the only one of the
daughters/daughters' in law that knitted or even wanted the panels,
so she took them.

There were 8 panels, enough to divide amongst my three siblings and
myself, and there was also extra yarn. My Mom took the two panels
my Grandma had knitted, added them to three panels she knitted and
also had my other Grandmother, my Nana, make two. When they were
finished we each had an afghan comprised of 7 panels made by our
Grandmothers and our Mom. It was one of the most beautiful, special
and meaningful gifts I have even gotten.

I hate to say it, but I rarely use it because I want to keep it looking nice
and don't want it to get ruined. I know I should forget about that and just
enjoy it, maybe someday soon.

Before my Mom finished, she added one extra special touch. She sewed
on labels to the panels so that we would know who knitted which pieces.
A gift of love to wrap around ourselves when we need the warmth or
just a special hug. An HEIRLOOM to treasure!