Thank you

For the past few days, I've been catching up with you.

I'm not anywhere near doing so, but I had to stop and say thank you for all the sweet messages you wrote on my last post.

Some of you made me laugh.

And some of you put tears in my eyes.

But all of you touched my heart.

So, because I'm uncomfortable with being emotional, or more like I don't do well with mushy... or compliments.. or well, you get the idea....

I thought it was necessary to remind you that I can be a bit of a smartass.

And that's why you just got 6 pictures of the same silly bouquet from different angles.

I know just how much some of you love that ;)

Seriously though, thank you.

By the way, I FINALLY got the downstairs bathroom finished.

YAY!

Pictures soon :)

xo,

rue

True to my heart

I realize that a lot of my sweet readers may not agree with my views on many things.

My old-fashioned ways.

My refusal to paint antiques or upgrade my interiors.

That I don't follow trends.

etc.

This is true in my everyday world and in Blogland.

That's perfectly fine!

Honestly :)

But I can promise you that what you see (or read) is true to my heart.

I bought this little 1930 cottage almost 5 years ago with the intention of making it exactly what it was meant to be.

A true vision of it's glory days.

And even more...

a respite from a world that has turned into something unrecognizable to me.

And it's become one.

A place that I can call my own.

Something that takes me back to a time that makes me happy.

Not just me, but my family, and even the furry loves of my life.

And I want you to know that, no matter the season...

And even if I go against the grain and keep to the era of my home...

And fight against the ways of the world we live in.

My door is always open to you...

Even if you disagree :)

I'll keep the light on.

And that goes for my non-blogging friends as well...

Chris K., Kathleen of AZ, Ms. G, Lottie, Cindy, Mgster, Donnamae, Laney, Tammy, Jeannette, and so many others that have written me, even if only one time,.

I do reply to your comments, even if it takes me a coon's age, but I realize that you don't always see them, so I wanted to include you too :)

Thank you everyone for being apart of my Old-Fashioned World and thank you for every sweet word you write.

You have no idea what it means to me.

xo,

rue

Linking up with Thoughts of Home on Thursday.

posting and commenting

One of my very dear friends wrote me the other day, after I mentioned on a post that I was sorry about not returning the favor of your lovely comments right away and that I was sorry.

She thought that maybe all of you would be fine with it and they probably would rather have me post more, but as I told her...

I'm not okay with it.

I completely understand what she's saying and she's probably right, but...

Here's the shorter version of what I wrote to her:

The truth is, I'd love to post more, but I feel guilty when I can't get back to everyone. I feel that if someone leaves a comment, that they deserve a return visit on their blog or a comment back if they don't have one. I suppose that it stems from the old days when it was a smaller community and when someone didn't comment back to me, I felt they were rude. Honestly I still do. I even go so far as to read every post I missed since I last visited. That's the OCD in me, but also the need to let someone know I care about their life. So many of them are faithful visitors and feel as though they have a connection to me that I can't let them down or feel left out. 

I know what it's like to be the one left out as a child and I know what it's like to be the new kid. I also know what it's like to leave a comment on a blog, when I didn't have one... scared to death! lol But these people comment anyway and they deserve something from me, even if it's just a thank you.

You see, back in the olden days of blogging, before it was this big giant place on the internets, it was a small group of ladies (very few men) that commented on each other's blogs.

It wasn't just a community.

It was a family.

We shared our homes.

Our lives.

Hopes.

Dreams.

And everyone commented back and forth.

Kinda like Facebook, without the angry weird stuff, and so much more.

After awhile, new people came around and started blogs that were meant to promote themselves and they didn't comment back when you commented.

People were shocked and felt shunned.

Who were these new bloggers?

Why do they think they're better than us?

The truth is, it just progressed and moved on to something much bigger than we ever thought it would be.

It's turned into a live magazine, a fashion show, a contest to see who has the biggest advertisers, and who can remodel their house faster with the latest trends.

And like I've said, I have no problem with any of that.

It's just not as personal anymore.

And although I miss the way it was, and although I'm a gal who loves the past and tries hard to embrace it as best I can, I know that life moves forward.

But here in my little place on the internets, I try very hard to make sure I make everyone that visits feels welcome.

I can't help it.

It's kind of like writing a thank you note and sending it in the mail.

Remember doing that?

I still do it, but that's beside the point ;)

Basically, it's called manners and even if it means posting less, I'm going to do my best to get to everyone eventually, even if it's only one time and even if they never come back.

Because to me it makes it more personal.

And as Meg Ryan once said, in a little movie called You've Got Mail...

"What's so wrong with being personal anyway?"

Nothing Meg.

Absolutely nothing.

xo

rue

Lost and found

My kitchen has come a long way from when I first moved in.

This, of course, is what it looks like now:

Below is what it looked like before, when I had first moved in.

Do any of you remember the post with this picture?

Brown walls and cabinets... ewwww.

Back then, I promised to share pictures of the progress if I ever found them and I did find a few, while I was cleaning out old emails.

Here it is with the cabinets painted white (because I couldn't stand living with the brown for longer than I had to) and the gross countertop torn out:

Tile done and authentic 1930s sink in:

And the full view:

I'm sure a few ladies out there will like this white look better, but it just didn't feel right to me.

For the most part, the kitchens of the 1920s and 30s had moved on from the bright white kitchens of the early teens, which were promoted because of the scare of germs and disease, and had embraced color. So, I wanted to be true to that feeling.

Plus, with a few exceptions, I've always had white cabinets in my old homes, and was ready for something fun.

I found plenty of inspiration, as you might have seen in the post I mentioned earlier, but these two pictures were my main go to:

I chose the plain white tile for the counters, because there is a strip of it that went around a corner of the tiled back splash and I knew that was what had to have been there originally.

Also, I could have gone with the red floor pictured above, but I since I was keeping the aforementioned blue, green, white, brown and yellow tile on the back splash and I had painted the cabinets green and yellow,  I went with a somewhat different shade of green and yellow floor. I suppose I could have gone with blue or brown somewhere instead of one of those colors, but I didn't want the kitchen to look too busy.

Anyway, I personally love how it turned out and I think I stayed true to the time period in which the house was built :)

Looking through posts for full pictures of the kitchen made me realize how long it's been. These were taken almost a year ago!

I guess I should remedy that soon ;)

Anyway, going through my inspiration pictures led me to a little project that I just completed.

Remember the tiled yellow and green tiled kitchen above with the clock on a shelf, over the sink?

 And see that little shelf, the clock on the left is sitting on, below?

I happen to have a little shelf above my stove:

And I felt inspired.

So I painted it to match my cabinets:

Much better, I think :)

And a wonderful finishing touch :)

I love easy projects, don't you?

xo

rue

Sharing with Foodie Friday and Everything Else

PS

I'm really behind on my visiting blogs and responding to those of you that don't have a blog.

I think almost 3 posts behind.

Yikes!

I'm really sorry and I'll try to catch up as soon as possible :)

Nothing much

Just some glowing tulips lit up by the morning sun.

Mini sleeping the day away.

And Bubba keeping watch as always.

So, nothing much going on except the daily activities of our life here.

It is nice though, isn't it?

The regularity, I mean.

Personally, I enjoy the mundane activities of daily life.

I know that when the alarm goes off, the pups will be joining me downstairs in the bedroom.

Mini walks back and forth around the bed begging for me to feed her.

Bubba jumps under the covers to cuddle up for some warmth and closeness.

We go upstairs.

I plug in the old percolator.

They get fed.

I pour the coffee into my little pink and brown polkadot mug.

Take my first sip.

Watch the sunrise.

Then the birds coming to eat from the feeder.

Call my mom.

Get ready for the day.

So on and so forth.

And I'm happy.

No matter what happens for the rest of the day, I have that.

I look forward to it every morning.

A fresh beautiful start.

Every day.

I'm thankful.

And it's wonderful.

I hope you have wonderfulness in your life too.

:)

xo

rue

The safe chair

The night before last, I caught a glimpse of something looking at me...

It was Yellow Dog, Bubba's new friend. 

The next morning he was still there...

And later that same day Bubba had joined him.

You love Yellow Dog, don't you Bubba?

"Yes and I'm protecting him from my sister, Momma. You know what happened to Rocky Raccoon. It was ugly! But Mini's too big to jump on this chair, so don't you think he'll be safe here?"

Yes, I'm pretty sure he'll stay safe there, my little man.

I guess that was all he need to hear, because this morning, Blue Dog had joined Yellow Dog in the safe chair.

;)

xo

rue

Sharing on Tweak it Tuesday 

Early Spring?

On February 1st, I went to flip the calendar with fresh snow falling outside.

The forecast, the night before, had called for 1-3 inches.

By noon we had about 5 or 6 inches.

After living here for almost 5 years now, I know that if the forecasters call for "snowmagedon", then we'll get 2 inches.

If they call for 2 inches, we'll get a big snow storm.

Such is life up here in the mountains.

Since I'm always ready for the opposite of what they call for, I was well prepared. 

Actually I'm always ready, because I lived in Ohio for 6 years and being prepared is a hard habit to break ;)

So, I just boiled some water in my teapot...

made a cup of tea...

and hunkered down with Mini and Bubba.

They look like they're freezing, don't they?

It's 69 degrees in my home :)

Sure enough the sun came out the next day...

and if Punxsutawney Phil lived here in Arizona, instead of Pennsylvania, he would have seen his shadow on Groundhog day.

I'm pretty much thinking that even though Phil might be getting an early Spring, we'll be getting six more weeks of winter.

Bubba isn't happy with that thought, but at least he's ready ;)

Stay warm, my friends!

xo

rue

Sharing at Thought's of Home on Thursday