Revisiting Mesannie

It was not well visited nor much commented on so I decided to have a giveaway *on this post.* So easy to do when comments are low. In this case, there were 21 comments and two of them were mine. As some of you know, I'm whacky with giveaways. They are often silent giveaways and one doesn't even know that there will be a giveaway. At this point in my blogging, I am not looking for numbers and I like blessing my regular commenters.

In this case, no longer having my darling husband who used to reach into the bowl to select a name (he really enjoyed that), I have resorted to a number generator. My winner is number 7, discounting my own comments. Congratulations to Sue from Pear Tree Lane! 

Contact me, Sue, just to say whether your addy remains the same. I am ordering a paperback copy of The Last of the Saddle Tramps from Amazon using your address as the delivery. Nice and tidy that way. 😇

I loved the book. It was an easy read and is an excellent peek into 1950s Americana from one coast to the other. Mesannie amazed me. The people who helped her along the way amazed me. Her proposal of marriage amazed me and her wonderful animals amazed me. I was struck by the goodness of God to an old woman who saddle tramped from Maine to California with a couple of horses and a trusty dog. And that He granted her so much additional time: twenty-five more years!

Mesannie and Art Linkletter circa 1955 (I think.)

Thank you for revisiting Mesannie with me!

A Winner!

And you didn't even know I was having a Giveaway! I'm sneaky like that. When I first showed you my lovely puzzle, a win from Catherine Holman, I asked when you thought it might be finished. There were a number of guesses. The guess of eight days was the closest. I actually finished in nine, last Friday to be precise.

Probably should have taken a little more time working it because being hunched over  the table resulted in vertigo. I was pretty much out of it for Saturday, but by Sunday, after wearing a collar to remind me not to bend, I was feeling ever so much better. This getting older stuff is for the birds.
Probably now is not the time to mention my number one thought for last night's Downton Abbey... Life is short and death is sure.
I have a little package for  Deanna of Creekside Cottage  for guessing eight days! It will include the puzzle (of course), a wonderful cleaning cloth that I have fallen in love with over the past several months. Not mine! A new one! (It was shared with me by Lovella of What Matters Most. I like to think that this is a pay it forward kind of gift. Thank you, Lovella, I have already gotten at least three more gals to fall in love with them, too. It does all that you said and more.) And perhaps a wee surprise, if I make it back into my sewing room in time. Many thanks to you, Catherine for all the hours of fun. 
Let's enjoy a wonderful February!
ツ

Folk Art Print Winner

~a name waiting to be drawn~

Yes! We have a winner of a folk art print from Pigment of Your Imagination and she is the incomparable Niki at Rural Writings! Niki chose a wintry scene, a Christmas one. Once she does her post on it, I'll send you all over to see. Thank you so much, Catherine, for your sweet gift! Congratulations, Niki!

And we could leave this post at that except I am too much of a chatterbox so let us carry on for a bit.

Over the weekend, I was poking about in the garage attic where I found this old Allen's Toffee tin. It was filled with all the things you see on the right of the photo above, which are food coloring, flavorings, molds, and the recipe for my mother's famous Hard Candy. This was an annual Christmas event that she and my youngest niece, formerly my Boston niece, now my New York City niece, did together.

Thing is, that tin didn't formerly hold all those treasures; it used to hold cookies and baked goods. That was my childhood cookie jar! So out the stuff went on its ear into a lesser tin and a way too small one at that. Oh the washing I had to do to get the food coloring out and the old Allen's tin cleaned...the water ran blue for a very long time.

Then I began to get a pang...that tin represented something very special to my niece as well. I have remedied it, I hope, by purchasing the owl tin on the left. It's large enough to hold everything and it reminds me of the owls that my niece likes so well. It'll be a little gift for her the next time I see her. Gifts of sweet memories are the best of all. Of course, where she will keep it in that small NYC apartment...

~the lid~ 

A better representation can be found *here.*

We've been trying to figure out what the lid depicts. It doesn't look like Parliament or Buckingham Palace. Anyone know?

Hope that all are weathering the storm well. We have rain and slight wind gusts. Nothing major. Still praying for a fizzle.

Take care today...

Summer Bracelet Winner Announced

Thanks for participating in my little giveaway and for visiting FabFashion. I'm delighted to announce the winner...

Let's try that again...

Elizabeth @ Home is Where the Heart Is!

Elizabeth said: 

Hi Vee, 

I love your bracelet the colors are really pretty! 
I went over to visit FabFashion Bracelets and I really love the idea of the Magnetic Bracelet, it sure would be easier to put on alone with out any help. I always have to have Gary help me put on a bracelet. Who ever receives a bracelet will be one very lucky girl..
Have a sweet day, Elizabeth

Now I am glad to know that soon Elizabeth will be able to wear a bracelet whether or not Gary's available. 

Curious about what Elizabeth chose? See it for yourself right *here.*

***

I'm afraid that I'm out again today. Happy Canada Day weekend to all my Canadian friends!

Magnet Winners

It's late Sunday afternoon as I write this after a full day of making magnets. My refrigerator has a bad case of magnet measles.

The winner of a set of three magnets is Nadine @ Nadine's Nook. Congrats, Nadine!

And in no particular order, each of the following have also won a magnet:

1. Kate @ Postcards From a Real Life
2. Kathleen @ Cuisine Kathleen
3. Susan @Savoring Time in the Kitchen
4. Vickie @ Sand Flat Farm
5. Diane at Daylily Dreamin' (a private blog)

(And not necessarily the ones pictured. =D )

Congrats, Ladies!

If you'll send me your snail mail addy, I'll get these out to you this week.

But wait! There's more! I'd like to send each person who commented, who wished to participate, a magnet. It may take awhile months, but I'll work my way down through the list beginning with those whose addresses I have so send them along.

Congrats, everyone! Cheers all around...

***

Wasn't Downton Abbey good? I mean except for... Sigh. Another year? I don't know what we'll ever do.

Hope Deferred

~moose cookie cutter~

It's not every day that I announce a winner before I even announce a giveaway! We got such a kick out of the "thought bubbles" that we threw everyone's name who participated into the cap and selected one to win a little something, precious little something, from our corner to include this moose here. Hope that you have room for him at your house. And the winner is Kim at Happy At Home!

This is the iconic boot in front of the Fr**port store of L.L. B*ean. We natives must wait our turn don'tcha know. We are usually not going to be caught dead there in tourist season, unless we are showing off our own tourists. So yesterday we thought that since it wasn't summer; since it wasn't leaf-peeping season; since there'd be no snow bunnies; we were probably safe to go. I felt that we were in need of a bit of retail therapy. John needed a new jacket and shoes; I wanted to find something for the grands, and it was certainly lovely walking about in the Home Store. 

~Lobster Handles on the Home Store~

~Beyond the Lobster Handles~

(I'm a bit hestitant about the photographs today for I had turned off my vibration setting while using the tripod and forgot to turn it back on! I guess that will be obvious.)

So what's the title of this post all about? Just last Monday, John learned that the surgery scheduled for this morning and again next week would have to be cancelled. Cataract surgery is now so commonplace that one hardly gives it a thought. We did, though. First it was a spike in blood pressure and then it was a sty. The doctor put John on antibiotics and then rescheduled the surgeries for next month. Sigh. Hence our retail therapy yesterday.

Did any of you see the report on the evening news and elsewhere that bread is the number one source of sodium? (Thanks, Leslie, for the head's up.) I checked our favorite and, sure enough, there it was.

*Surprising source of sodium*

Sodium—200 mgs a serving or 8% of the day's requirements. That adds up with the more bread one eats. I may have to go back to baking my own bread after all! Oh that would take some serious willpower on several levels.

Have a wonderful Thursday!

My Winner Announced

"The Hand" draws again

And Suzanne of At Home with the Farmer's Wife wins!

This is Suzanne's sweet comment on my Fake Out post:

Dear Vee,

It's all about how we frame things....... photos, thoughts, our lives. If the whole picture is not exactly dramatic or noteworthy then we should look closer at the details.

Tell your family that we love to follow the goings-on in Maine, no matter how ordinary it may seem!!

I am a blogger. I have a blog. I don't share without permission and I'm so happy that you've reached 1,000 posts.

What makes this a great giveaway. The mystery! I love a good mystery and this allows me to make up my own story about what you're up to.

Oh, I am so glad that Suzanne loves a mystery because I'm still not clear about where I'm going or what I'm "up to." I do know this: I shall not be sewing as Suzanne is an excellent seamstress. Though, even now, a few thoughts are coming.

Be watching, Suzanne. An adventure is coming your way.