~ Love Is ... A Happy 4th & Remembering Our Troops ... Pink Saturday~

I am joining Beverly for the first time @ How Sweet The Sound.

Thank you for the opportunity to join you ... please join Beverly's other participants at her blog.

~~~~~

I shared with you recently that we have a vast collection of LOVE IS cartoons by Kim Casali (http://www.tmsfeatures.com/bio/kim-casali/), which I adore.

Sherry(http://countrywingsinphoenix.blogspot.com/visited us in April & we were wandering thru an antique mall & found these gorgeous glasses, below ... & lo & behold in another antique mall we found more. You can just imagine my surprise & elation. I had not seen these before ... today I am presenting to you these darlings in a porch setting to enjoy. I had always been content just fingering thru the cartoons ... but fell in LOVE with these vessels

*** Please remember & pray for our troops on the 4th ... LET FREEDOM RING!!!

Welcome to our celebration ...

We placed red beads in a Waterford goblet & placed a primitive flag (made from actual tattered American flags) for honoring our nation & troops.

The tea cookies are from my friend Chieko in Japan ... scrumptious! They have edible red flowers on top.

The quilt is ragged with an American flag design fabric & police fabric.

We just replaced the cushions to blend with our rosy pink

entry decor.

The cusions are so comfy & the quilt is nice & warm on a cool eve ...

Draping a white dot on red fabric over our table, I gathered it with white ribbons.

And, now I present to you .....

Love Is ... Togetherness

Love Is ... The Greatest Feeling You Can Feel

Love Is ... Giving & Forgiving

Love Is ... Calling Her Just To Say "I Miss You"

Love Is ... A Warm Wonderful Feeling

Love Is ... Being Far Apart Yet So Close

Aren't they adorable in this setting?

Have a safe & lovely 4th of July holiday.

~ Kiss Me I Taste Good, Poppy ... Pinkies, Tootsies, Ice Cream & S'mores ~

Alyssa wanted Poppy to 'taste' her new lip gloss ... chuckle!!

Melt your heart picture.

Gathering together to read our This Little Prayer of Mine book that Terra Hangen http://terragarden.blogspot.com sent me ... we each took turns reading the pages, Alyssa repeating each word as I spoke them for her ...

If you do not have this book, it is a must. They all enjoyed it. The artwork is fabulous, as is the story.

Alyssa & Tatiana

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! A guest? pic!

Love that chocolate ice cream ...

Our afternoon at the amusement park ...

At the end of the Alyssa, Tatiana, Ansel & James

Whew! What a day ... everyone was pooped!

~ Love Is ... To Have & To Hold (Wedding Party) ~

THANK YOU Stephanie of Angelic Accents http://angelicaccents.blogspot.comfor this wonderful time of our lives to share in special ways ... you are an awesome friend.

Please join all the other participants in this very special event ... filled with fun, bliss, romance & joy ...

(http://blushingrosetoo.blogspot.com/2010/05/happy-anniversary-my-love.html)

~ Reflections ~

Will You Dance With Me?

Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine. (TY for sharing Marg.) A wee bit long but PROFOUND & worth the read.

I got to thinking one day about all those women on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.

How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word 'refrigeration' mean nothing to you?

How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched 'Jeopardy' on television?

I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, 'How about going to lunch in a half hour?' She would gasp and stammer, 'I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty.. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like rain.' And my personal favorite: 'It's Monday.' She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.

Because Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches.. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect!

We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet... We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.

Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of 'I'm going to,' 'I plan on,' and 'Someday, when things are settled down a bit.'

When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Roller blades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord.

My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-Decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.

Now..go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to.....not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?

Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butter fly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask ' How are you?' Do you hear the reply? ??? ???

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? Ever told your child, 'We'll do it tomorrow..' And in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say 'Hi?

When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift....Thrown away...... Life is not a race Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over.

~ We Are Featured In Porch Magazine ~

Polly (editor) @ Count Your Blessings blog & Tracie co-editor) @ My Petite Maison honored me, selecting our backyard terraces for their Spring 2010 magazine.

There are several other fabulous blog friends featured which you will enjoy visiting, with elegant, romantic, dreamy backyard & porch settings.

Thank you so much for the exquisite coverage you gave each of us ... it is a great magazine to sit back with a cup of tea on the terrace, enjoying the warming sun & wind caressing gently, melodic birds, scurrying squirrels, bustling chipmunks, blooming flowers ...

PS I have been having some really miserable allergy issues ... I'll be back with you all soon. Thank you for the sweet emails & concerns ... you are all very precious to me, & loved. Have a beautiful week.

~ The Beauty of Silence ~

Father, God bless all my friends in whatever it is that You know they may need this day! And may their life be full of your peace, prosperity, and power as he/she seeks to have a closer relationship with you.
Amen.

~ Love Is ... ~

Side by side, hand in hand strolling thru our gardens, we enjoy & deeply appreciate the beauty that surrounds us. It is worth every moment of hard work ...

As a child, Mother let me have my own little garden in front of the garage, just around the corner of her sweet pea garden ... I was so proud of 'digging in the dirt' & watching those seedlings come forth as I watered & tended them ever so lovingly ... exquisite blossoms with lingering fragrances to surround me.

My enjoyment & fondness of florals continues ... it is my place of joy, serenity & comfort ... in my gardens of peace.

... birds are winging, bees buzzing, bugs annoying ...

... billowing clouds float gently by ...

... gentle breezes caress ...

... angels hover ...

... come have a leisurely stroll with us .. ont un beau jour, mon ami.