My Grama's Soul

"THE ART OF WISDOM IS KNOWING WHEN TO SPEAK YOUR MIND....AND WHEN TO MIND YOUR SPEECH." Don't know where I found this, but I think it could certainly apply to the world of today. Just saying' Me

JUST SAYIN' Me.....

"The most wrenching fear that one experiences is the fear one feels for others..when one loves, one fears for the other." David Brazier Why is doing the right thing oftentimes the HARDEST thing? When rescuing becomes EN-NABELING ...you have totally missed the target.  This has been a hard lesson for me to learn and I have suffered greatly because of my fear. Perhaps this time the lesson has been learned.  Who knows? Just me.... Jo  

Included the above just because I thought it was neat! O.K.....here is what I want to share with you........ This is perfect....is it not. xo Jo

I'm always looking for ways to make something on a shoestring.  I think it is wise in today's world to shrink one's footprint as well as doing things as inexpensively as possible. To wit.....I am sharing a little stick light I made from a tree limb found in my yard..and a string of LED lights that plug in to the wall. Had the lights left over from some other project and the best part is I can easily unplug them in the evening when I go to bed. Simplicity and frugality.....the perfect combination. xoxo Jo

I have posted many times about using what you have to decorate around your house.  CREATIVITY OVER CONSUMPTION.....has been my motto for quite some time now. This little house is full of my treasurers  collected over a lifetime during many of our travels both in the U.S. and Europe. Since I would certainly NOT call me a minimalist.....I like seeing all my treasurers and having them around me.  There is a certain comfort from being able to see items that bring back wonderful memories and are also beautiful to MY eye. This is the bathroom off the master suite and the one that I use.  Brad said he didn't care what I did as long as additional construction was not involved.  So I made it MINE.   I have named this little room ANNIE OAKLEY MEETS GYPSY ROSE LEE...Makes me smile every time I come in here.  I moved the feather boas elsewhere as they were a little over the top...even for me! haha When I see all the sleek bathrooms out there with all

Yesterday was my wedding anniversary.  June 1st, 1979 was the day my sweet Brad and I tied the knot...  as they say. We had a very simple wedding as it was a second marriage for the both of us...  In a small home down in central Phoenix....38 years ago.  Only immediate family joined us and we were married by a Justice of the Peace.   Neither one of us had much in the way of stuff or much money for that matter;  but we had my two kids and each other and that is all that seemed to matter. Lots and lots of flowers decorated our home for this event...are you surprised? Daisies were my favorite flower then so we filled the place up. The JP wore a Kelly Green leisure suit...which I WILL NEVER FORGET.  When he rang the door bell and I answered....it did take my breath away...I'll tell you that!   :0) The whole event was catered by Miracle Mile Deli.....one of our favorite inexpensive eating places...and I think the cake was from Safeway. Pretty simpl

My mom died when I was 32 years old.  I still miss her after all these years. Here is to you MOM!! Jacqueline Marie Robinson 1921~~1979

This photo, of my son, was taken  a few years ago.  He was so very healthy here...had been working out like crazy and was eating really well and taking care of himself.  He has been gone a little over two years now and I still miss him every day. This morning...when I realized what day this was I did a little trip down memory lane and remembered the day he was born.  I was only 20 years old, much too young to be having a child of my own.  He dad was just a year older...he was also too young.  When I think back over the years of my son's brief life I try to remember only the good times...in fact I think I have purposely blocked out the bad.   His love of music and animals is always something that brings me solace when I get a little sad about his passing.  He was a gifted drummer and never saw an animal he did not love.  His heart was as big as gold... although he did not have much to share with anyone...he would have given you the shirt off his back if you had asked f

This is a second marriage for both Brad and I.  His first wife, though I never met her sounds like a lovely woman, but the marriage just didn't work.  Fortunately, ours has. He has never shared much with me about his first marriage...but as I have gotten older I have been a little more inquisitive about that part of his life. One of my recent questions to him was what his home looked like. He has always loved wood and he has told me that his last home with her had Mahogany doors and window casements.  Perhaps that is why we always have wood floors  when we purchase a new home.   This led to me inquiring about the inside style of his home. He said it was pretty basic...black leather sofa from college days and a few other things they has picked up along the way. Her style was totally opposite mine....not so much stuff!  haha Anyway....as we are talking about this he was looking around our sweet little spot..and he said the sweetest thin

Hi dear friends.  This is a photo of me on my 70th birthday.  It was taken at a dinner in celebration of same.  I'll soon be 71 and of course should have spoken out about this little issue earlier.   Why is it that in today's society that once you are past 60 or 65 you suddenly become invisible.  Your opinion seem to no longer matter, your visibility all but goes into a closet and any  thing of new  interest always seems to be about the young.  I know.....we have had our "time in the sun" so to speak...but we still have ideas and comments to contribute to the world. I follow a number of different media sources and rarely are the older folks even mentioned.  We are still here and we still are interested in design, beauty, art, culture, reading, making a living, cooking, people, travel.....just to name a few things...and the list could go on and on.  Oh.....didn't even MENTION politics!!! Often times...even our own families don't value our inpu

O.K......I admit it, I have started reading the obituaries in our daily paper.  I think people can be separated into two groups.....those that do.....and those that don't.  I'm a do....and actually enjoy doing this little task daily. I come across old friends I've lost track of over the years.  Old neighbors from long, long ago and many, many other interesting people. In fact, there are quite a few I really wish I would have known while they were alive. There was an article in today's Wall Street Journal about the writing of  "obits"..and how some people actually "TELL THE TRUTH" about the one's who have passed.  You know the one's....who are tightwads, selfish, quarrelsome, nasty....the list could go on forever.  However, in the majority of "obits" the loved one is KING OR QUEEN FOR A DAY and most of us leave it at that. I'm actually thinking of writing my own "obit" before I pass....that way

SHOW UP PAY ATTENTION TELL THE TRUTH DON'T GET TOO ATTACHED TO THE OUTCOME There it is in all its simplicity. So easy yet so very hard at times. xo Jo

This is a picture of our kitchen when we purchased our little house a few years ago.  The only things we updated before we moved here were the kitchen floor and the appliances. Here is another picture from a different perspective.  you can see the light countertops and tiny white tiles that were at least 30 years old.  These white tiles also were on the floor...but we HAD to replace those when we moved in. This kitchen is fairly small so we could really not reconfigure the layout...but we did want to freshen it up a bit. Here is the update with just a few small improvements... Did not replace the existing cabinets as that would have been much too costly so we had them refinished.  Installed a "leather" granite as a counter top.  This granite has a lot of texture when you touch it and is matte finish... not the shiny kind we have had in the past. We live here and this is a WORKING kitchen so it is not styled to perfection but I