Pumpkin Cottage

Pumpkin Cottage
sit and visit a spell

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween

Pumpkin Glory.




















Just a note:  I have updated my favorite places to visit list.
Including a couple of memorial parks.
For me, cemeteries are not scary or morbid.
Death is just a season of life.  Most cemeteries are
quiet reflective places.

























Old cemeteries are among my favorites.
Modern memorial parks are filled
with activities, beautiful gardens, and art.

























Be open and explore. 

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

More of our visit to Peltzer Farms

There were things to mesmerize mom, too.

Peltzer Farms has a garden. There is a kitchen garden
planted in the bed of this American made 1939 GMC.
























When my mother was alive I would seek nurseries
in every community we visited.  Just to see how
others used plantings as art.  Alzira, my mother,
humored me and would plant our treasures when
we arrived home.  There are so many treasures planted
in our garden by her hands.

My mother was a true genius in the selection of
plantings and coordination.  She could make the
most beautiful arrangement out of weeds.







Monday, October 29, 2012

Glorious Autumn

A visit to Peltzer Farms in Temecula.

It was a simply glorious day.
We live in Pumpkin Cottage surrounded by
reminders of the season all year.
Nothing compares to the real thing.

Here I am trying to convince Jacob to find a pumpkin with
a nice stem.  This year we will save the stems for crafting
everlasting pumpkins.  Stems from small pumpkins are the best.









































Holly almost jumped out of her skin waiting to ride this pony.
The big surprise was Jacob wanted to participate, too.
























Corn maze.






















Sunday, October 28, 2012

Girlfriend Warriors

This is dedicated to my girlfriend warriors.

What a difference a few months makes.
No matter what is going on in your life.
No matter. This too shall pass.
Everything can and probably will turn in a moment.

Do not despair.
Be secure in your knowledge. 
In my own darkness, I did not despair.
I knew in time, my period of pruning would end,
I would eventually bloom. 

Because my girlfriends stayed the course.
Never lost faith in me.
Always with a word of encouragement.
I am budding now.


 Romans 13:12

The night is far spent, and the day is at hand: 
let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, 
and let us put on the armor of light.

























Amen.  My sisters. Amen
.


Saturday, October 27, 2012

More than a happy marriage

Greetings, friends please note my donate button on the top right.
Danette is my dear neighbor in bloggyland.  We met out
here during one of  darkness periods of my life.  Danette
reached out to me and became a fierce prayer warrior for me.
Now all these months later she is a dear friend.  Her beloved
husband, Scott, is recovering from cancer.  Their family needs
our help.  My own immediate family has been touched my four
catastrhophe illnesses not counting my own degenerate disease.

No family should have to suffer the strain of disease compounded
with the stress of  medical bills.  Please join me is supporting this
donation effort.

The secret to a happy marriage from someone who has
been married her entire adult life, just not to the same person.
Staying married is not the same thing as being
happily married.  I know plenty of people who
get divorces after 20, 30, 40 and, yes, even 50 years of
marriage.  They stayed married, out of some duty to their kids,
to keep face, and, the worse
reason of all, to keep stuff.
Cheaper to keep her, they say.



















First things first.
Happiness is fleeting and temporary.
Happiness should not define a marriage.

Joy should define a marriage.
Joy is rich with texture.
Mountains and valleys.
Moments running, walking and crawling.
Seasons of bent knees.
Challenges and triumphs.
Shared history.  
In all the good and bad life brings

Find your best friend and marry them.
A joyful marriage is based on mutual
unconditional love, respect and admiration.

No pretty face or promise of wild sexual pleasure
could  shake a joyful marriage.
Marriage includes a partner you can turn to
in seemingly worse of times.

No one should marry with the option of divorce.
No amount of physical or emotional abuse is tolerable.
There is no love in someone who abuses. 

In these very uncertain times turn to your
spouse and say:  If you lose your job
come home.  I will love you through
thick and thin. You can count on me.

My beloved, if you become sick or
incapacitated, I will care for you
and love you.  I will be your staff
when you are weak.

No matter what I will love you.
From the beginning, from the
first I told my children no matter
what I will love you.  There is
nothing you could say or do
to make me stop. And so, it
should be the same in marriage.

Unconditional love.

Is there disappointment? Yes.
Is there fear? Yes.
Do you need to make yourself vulnerable? Yes.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said it best in reference to
America's involvement in the Vietnam war.   
There can be no great disappointment where
there is no great love.


Until next time. 



Sunday, October 21, 2012

October

I have a love affair with October.
The shift to cooler weather, the whip of the wind.

The variety of colors from green to bright orange and yellows.
Falling leaves.  Sweaters and scarves.
Cozy nights.

Hot chocolate.
Mulled cider.
Cinnamon.
Cloves.

























"Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?”

Mary Oliver, New and Selected Poems

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Parabéns Mae Happy Birthday, Mother

Happiness is a form of Courage.

                                            George Holbrook Jackson


Here we are in December 2007 at Holly's baptism  


 

VoVo, me, Jacob and Joe...last Easter she cooked 2005



















Isn't that the truth?  I miss her the same as the day she passed.
If I tell the truth, maybe more.
Long hours just holding her hand because I knew I would miss it
so very much.  Her beautiful skin the medical personnel complimented.
Her secret, no sun, no alcohol or smoking.

We have conversations.  I ask for her advice and pray.
She prepared me well.  To have honor, to be brave, to pay my bills on time,
to recognize peace as critical to happiness, to be honest, to be generous,
to have a little fun, to work hard, to love education.

Joe once said that for a tiny person she cast a large shadow.
You betcha.  She asked me not to forget her.
Not even if I lived a million years.

In the winter, I wrap the many scarves she knit or crocheted for me around
my neck.  I feel her hands and I imagine her sitting on the corner of the
couch with her legs stretched and her happy toes. 

Holly used to dream with her VoVo all the time.
She told me VoVo is busy now she has so many friends.

Us, kids, we all believe it.

Happy Birthday my Beloved. 







Monday, October 15, 2012

Whew What a Weekend

When Lee and I are beyond exhaustion like tonight, we
listen, not watch, As time Goes On with Dame Dench as Jean.

We started with an all day date.
A bit of shopping.
Lunch with friends.

Vintage Flair. Trying on a crown for size.




















































Glitterfest.






 










































And rounded out the evening with
Noche of Calacas. Taste tested tequila and decorated
sugar skulls. 



















Sugar skulls.


Altar.



















On Sunday,  I attended Craft for a Cure.
A fundraiser for breast cancer.

A hostess' book list. 
Piripiri Starfish add to my Amazon UK wishlist.
My eyes tear up with my bucket list dream of Portugal.
























A hostess' dream studio.




















My tweet bird.



























Queen of Treats..glitter heaven. 

























Treats for attending. Check out the ring under
the dome.  There were prizes and I won a fabulous
necklace.  Saving that treat for another day.






Saturday, October 13, 2012

Love my weekends

Our weekends have become even more precious since
I don't participate in a alternative schedule. For over 10 years,
I could eagerly looked forward to alternating Fridays off.

What could be better than a alternative schedule?
An environment where I feel appreciated. 
The anxiety level is significantly diminished.
Check.
look what Joe found for my collection



















Let's talk about the fun planned for today.
Glitterfest is happening.  

Fall inspiration


























Don't you love their eyeliner



















 Date night at Noche de Calacas 

Happy 13th everyone.





Monday, October 8, 2012

Happy Monday

Romans 12:2

New International Version (NIV)
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, 
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 
Then you will be able to test and approve what 
God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Thinking of the time when mamas didn't work outside of the home.

vintage colors












































We had a splendid weekend. Went out for sushi with 
dear friends on Saturday night.  I don't eat sushi but 
I loved watching our whole party enjoy.  
It is a mama's pleasure to 
have a satisfied family.

On Sunday, our friends barbequed for us.
It was a treat to visit together. Visiting with
their dogs only made me miss having a dog 
more.  



No tracking of time on weekends.






























Dreaming of stitching. 


Sunday, October 7, 2012

Be thankful

This is one of my favorite Biblical verses. 

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, 
for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18


In these uncertain times, these words have been gold to me.

Today, and everyday, I have a spirit of gratitude for knowing the Lord.
For my health, this allows me to care and provide for my family.
My precious family and friends.

I am thankful for the government and all the taxpayers who funded
public broadcasting services and libraries.
These two things expanded my life beyond its modest beginnings.
No matter how poor we were I had in my possession the power of
a literary passport in my library car.  All for the price of asking.

Growing up, we had one television with basic channels.

PBS, more specifically KQED, was where I met Big Bird,
Mr. Rogers, the Electric Company.
Public Broadcasting introduced me to BBC produced entertainment
and the Masterpiece Theater.

My conscience will not even allow me to consider
voting for a candidate that even utters the words
cut spending in the same sentence with PBS.
Really?  Allow billionaires to tuck their
bankrolls in the Caymans but cut PBS.
That is okay, the wealthy have plenty of other choices,
nannies, private tutors, you name it.


Imagine if PBS goes away, it is already tainted by corporate funding.
Simply imagine it gone. Who would blow the whistle?

Locally, I support my PBS station and Pacific Radio
(still solely listener supported).
There is no other media outlet for real investigative news.

We are in this together.  On November 6, we will forever decide the
direction of this great nation.
There is a chill in my spine.
Could it be greed will out vote the righteousness.?
If you are on the fence, ask yourself why are Sheldon Adelson,
the Koch brothers, and Karl Rove
dumping fortunes into the Romney/Ryan campaign?

Will the voices of the 47% be heard?
Will the 99% be heard?
Will the President stop being a diplomat and come out fighting?

Is anyone out there reading this? 




















Get your own here.

I need a shot of Dr. Cornel West

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

My Beloved Cottage

“I would rather be poor in a cottage full of books than a king without the desire to read”


















This phone reminded me:
My girlfriend and I used to have a red princess phone.
The number had the last four digits.  7789 (PRTY)
Definitely the HOTline. 

Here's to good friends and better memories.