Awards gladly accepted.....

I love surprises...

and so today as I checked in to see what was 

happenin' in bloggin' land...

I was pleasantly surprised to see that 

MICHELLE My Belle

at the 

"Ramblings of a Peacock"

had left me a 

unexpected treat....

I have done 

not a single thing to 

be worthy...

But I like it anyway....

I am to pass it along to 15 

"newly discovered"

blogs....

Whoa!

that meant I needed to put on my 

reading glasses and 

hike around blogland for some 

undiscovered treasures...

So, off I've gone...

and come back with the 

goods...

1. WindLost

2. Wanna Buy A Duck?

3. Yeah, But Houdini didn't have these hips.

4. The World According to Isa

5. The Second Half of My Life

6. The Pink Peony of Le Jardin

7. The Paris Market

8. The Fifty Factor

9. Stuff No One Told Me (but I learned anyway)

10. Seens from the backs of my eyelids

11. Recycled Interiors

12. Older and Wisor

13. Inventing Weddings

14. Dwellers Without Decorators

15. Bless Their Hearts Mom

Admittedly,

there are some of my faves that I have been following 

for quite awhile....not really newly discovered, but 

honestly, as I went through the list I just couldn't 

pass them by....love them all...

hope I'm forgiven...

Go by and check them out!

All are worth the effort and you might just be surprised too!

smiles

Lonny love...

I admit...

I am a nut for online magazines....

Not that I can give up my 

hard copies...

sorry, no way Jose!

However 

I love 

the

way

Online versions 

can 

amaze me....

Check out 

Lonny's online magazine!

HERE

and 

scroll thru

to page

41!

The Waverly ad on that page

surprises and delights...

(maybe I am easily amused)

I think you will enjoy it 

even it you are not a mag-addict like me...

Happy Weekend!

smiles

Where did the time go....?

As I sat out on my back deck today,

in the sunshine,

wearing a sleeveless shirt,

face turning pink,

legs hopelessly pale...

I thought

"Where the heck did the summer go?"

I mean,

really!

Seems like just yesterday I was putting a load 

of sweaters away in the cedar chest....

And,

Holy Cow,

Halloween is over,

and Day light savings time

(does it really save anything?)

will be gone this weekend, right?

Well,

get ready...

here comes

the rain...

and the fog

and the snow...

But 

for 

today....

I have a 

pink face,

and a warm body...

smiles

Can we talk?

Do you have children?

Do they drive you around the bend?

Are you just about over them?

Are they living with you?

Are they in their sweet little Halloween costumes right now?

Are you going out tonight with dread?

DON'T...

be dreadful...

I promise that this is the very best time of your relationship with them....

some day in the near future,

they will be young adults

 (old children, actually)

and I mean that sincerely...

the relationship will be getting old,

and 

they will still be acting like children.

You will wish for the day that they come to you and say

"I AM MOVING OUT!"

with a huff and a puff 

they will want to knock your house down,

but they won't,

and 

you 

will 

be 

glad 

to see them out the door....

for nature, in it's infinite wisdom,

makes these old children.....

well, let's just say....

irritating as hell.....

really.

not kidding....

So, those of you who are heading out into the cold evening

with sweet little, excited children...ENJOY!

I mean it....do it while you can,

because they are aging too....

and will soon be scarier than 

the hobblin gobblins you see tonight

they will be the 

OLD CHILDREN!

Bwahaaaa!

smiles

A travel tip that will save your life...

Sometimes...

I kid, but not about your life, my dear...

Seriously,

if you plan to travel great distances

(an what travel isn't great?)

you have to learn to be responsible for yourself.

One of the tidbits I learned 

"on the jumpseat"

in my previous life as a flight attendant,
was that you take care of your legs.

That meant wearing support hose for years before

I even hit the ol' 30 yr mark.

Please don't ask me to explain the 

scientific reasons, (remember, I have a degree in History)

I only know that if you don't take care of your legs,

you will at the very least end up with 

road maps for "gams".

Then if you are super stupid and ignore this advice for
TOO long, you will endanger your life....
because as we age (can you believe I said that?)
our circulatory system becomes....let's just say "tired"
and when you sit in one place for long periods of time
your feet and legs collect all the blood that should
be in your brain helping you to think.....

This brings me to today's tip...
Wear these

I know...
these are men's socks...
(my sweetie just came home from China, so they were handy)
BUT 
most importantly, they are travel socks...
Compression socks to be 
more precise. 
They are like support hose, but are knee socks.
I don't know about you, but I haven't put on a pair of support hose
since I stopped flying for a living. 
But, I will wear travel socks to save my life.


Travel socks help in the prevention of deep vein thrombosis, or DVT.
Blood clots that is.....painful, ugly, even death.
So...
there you have it,
my travel tip of the day... 
smiles...

More London....

Thanks Georgianna!

I got so wrapped up in my "homeland" stuff

that I forgot about London.

Here's a bit more..

Early in our trip,

while still slightly affected by jet lag,

we were picked up at our hotel

early in the morning.

We boarded a truly beautiful tour bus,

a Mercedes, no less...

drove through the streets of Marylebone,

collecting other travelers along the way.

Then, arriving at Victoria (tour station)

we boarded an equally impressive bus

that would transport us to another 

place and time....

First, the station at 6:45 am.. 

Do not ask me what this means,

I can only imagine...

Other early birds,

on their way to work...

The Tour Guide,

a lovely woman, who I imagined

was the BFF of Twiggy in the 60's.

She was smart,

funny,

a delight!

She informed us that when we saw 

brick architecture,

it would be indicative of "Victorian England",

that is to say the time during the reign of 

Queen Victoria, which lasted forever....

or so it would seem from the sheer abundance of 

her influence in this town.

LOVE

the 

Wrought

Iron

in 

this 

City!

Cities produce dirt....

lots of it...

hard to keep your windows clean,

much less the entire exterior of your home....

More Londoners

on their merry way to work...

This is a very, no VERY pedestrian friendly place...

But you must pay attention to which way the traffic is coming...

(they know us, and are prepared)

Flowers!

love them...

Blue door!

Love that....

Crisp White Paint!

love that, too...

Neighborhood Pride!

it shows...

The very top floors of 

town homes were typically 

where the live-in help 

lived....best view I'd say...

More to come....

Again thank you Georgianna

for reminding me....smiles.

Fall weddings are lovely....

I have proof....
regardless of our age...
we still fall in love...
and when that happens,
sometime magical is
likely to occur...
I had the pleasure of photographing
the wedding of Jean and Charlie,
who beamed like teenagers...
and were giddy until the very last guest left..
Happy days!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Turn your favorite photos into a photo book at Shutterfly.com.

Nope I don't receive anything special from Shutterfly....

I simply have found their site to be easy to use...

and I can purchase fun, interesting products that I design.

Try it sometime for gifts..

smiles