grateful for good friends

You light up our {house} lives . . .

Dearest W-o-W {Wine-on-Wednesday} Friends,

We can’t begin to thank you enough for the generous gift cards that you gave us for our “Leisure House”.  After extensive searching for the perfect lamps we were finally successful and want you to see what we bought.

Now your job is to come for a visit so you can enjoy them along with us.  We miss all of you and would love to see you in sunny Florida.

                                                                        Love,

                                                                       JR and MM

monday mornings

My new favorite television show

After the first episode I didn't like it at all.

After several episodes - I really like it.

If you haven't started watching it you can catch up as it is available "on demand" {TNT Network}.

Only one thing still bothers me - Dr. Sung Park's lack of English skills {arrgggghhh}

however . . . . it often plays into the story lines

I'd love to hear what you think.

daylight shifting

The official spelling is Daylight Saving Time, not Daylight SavingS Time. Adding to the confusion -  the phrase Daylight Saving Time is inaccurate, since no daylight is actually saved.

Daylight Shifting Time would be better. The idea of daylight saving was first conceived by Benjamin Franklin during his sojourn as an American delegate in Paris in 1784, in an essay, "An Economical Project."

Daylight Saving Time
Daylight Saving Time begins at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday in March (10th) and reverts to standard time on the first Sunday in November (3rd).

Spring Forward, Fall Back
During DST, clocks are turned forward an hour, effectively moving an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening. In spring, clocks spring forward from 2:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m.; in fall, clocks fall back from 2:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.

Is it hard for you to adjust to the "shift"?
Did you know that it is regulated by the Department of Transportation?

Daylight Saving Time Facts

sleep sheep

I have a product "shout-out" today.

For the Leisure House we purchased these pillows

Serta Won't Go Flat Pillow
{queen size}
and it turns out we love them.

At home I use two pillows at night but with these - one is just enough.

We bought ours at Walmart but have seen them at other stores as well.

pasta with brie, basil and tomatoes

Pasta with Brie, Basil and Tomatoes

Serves 8

 photo credit: thepioneerwoman

Ingredients:

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes quartered

4-5 cloves garlic minced

1 lb brie, with rind removed torn into (1-inch) pieces

3/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp salt

½ tsp ground pepper

1 pound penne pasta

1 cup fresh basil leaves julienned

Put tomatoes, garlic, brie, oil, salt and pepper into a large bowl and toss gently to combine. Cover and set aside at room temperature to let marinate for 2 to 3 hours.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add penne and cook until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain well (don’t rinse) and transfer hot pasta to bowl with tomato mixture. Add basil and toss gently to combine. Serve immediately.

Recipe from Linda Allen, Tampa Florida

grouping

Every Sunday after church we have been going out to breakfast

trying a new restaurant each week.

Two weeks in a row we have been offered a seating choice new to us . . .

"Good Morning.

I have a small table for two in the corner or . . . 

we are doing grouping at the round table"

We have met some very friendly people during these breakfasts.

I say - give grouping a try.

{by the way: There are a lot of Canadians spending the winter in Venice}

between colorings

I totally have to thank Sunny Simple Life for this great tip.
Seems like I need to color those pesky grey roots more often these days.
Here a a temporary solution that I recently tried and was amazed that it worked so well.

Take an eye shadow that is close to your hair color. 

Use the applicator to "paint" the hair near you part where the grey shows. 

It will last and last until your next shampoo.

Hard to believe but true!

Leisure House 01

After much ado of which I will spare you the boring details

we have finally moved into our new 

winter get-away home in Venice, Florida.

I look forward to blogging about it in future posts

but for now this quote from Southern Living Magazine 

is a perfect introduction . . . 

{master bedroom}

"I never wanted the seriousness of a real house or anything 
in it to be so precious or valuable that it must be revered.

We like to think of ourselves as living as if we were on vacation."

times three

A new necessary bathroom accessory in my house is a magnifying mirror.

I recently bought one while shopping for our guest bathroom and decided to take a look.  

First of all – ouch – wrinkles are bad enough but magnified X3 they are painful to look at.

This winter we are spending four months in a retirement community and I have seen a lot of makeup mishaps on our new “older friends”.  I bet you can just picture what I am talking about.  

Hopefully my new mirror will help avoid these.

So . . . I put on my make up as usual and then looked in the mirror.

Woops – get out a Q-tip and clean up all the mascara smears.

Then smooth out that eye shadow.

Now blend both eyebrows with a brush.

A little more concealer under the eyes.

Much better. {why didn’t someone tell me?}

I guess I will have a love-hate relationship with this magnifying mirror.

A new necessity.

prayers

We are saying prayers for our friend's sweet little granddaughter. 

She is having some pretty serious surgery tomorrow and our hearts go out to them.

{Nissen Fundoplication and g-tube placement}

Everything will be all right in the end... 

if it's not all right . . . 

then it's not yet the end.

We love you guys.