March 23, 2010

• Answers

  I don't really have much to write that is new.

  I still have a mess on the dining room table. 

  I've started a new book that is hard to read.  "Sabina."  The language is uneducated English and I feel I'm deciphering a code as I read!  But, it's a book I've own for 2 or 3 years and have never read.  I feel obligated to read the books I've hung onto for so long!    One of my changes I've recently made in my life.  Read more, and keep a log with comments.

  So, without pictures and anything new to write, I've decided to answer, or address, the comments on my last post, or comments y'all have left me regarding my comments on your site.

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  Tina, I have moved many, many times and it is NOT an easy job to wrap everything carefully each time.  I won't kid you, it's a huge hassle to move with china.  The last 2 moves, when we were making a trip to the new place, I rode with the china on my lap to avoid having to wrap each piece.  Each trip to the new house would find me holding plates, or saucers, or two sleeves of cups carefully on my lap! 

  I also own some small cereal bowls by Corelle - a plain white with a stripe of black or a stripe of red.  I like the thin feel of it and I've heard it's very hard to break.

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  Mae, on my 50th birthday some (ahem! 7) years ago, I wanted to make my china service (for 8) large enough serve 12.  I found it was too costly to order that Noritake, white china with the daisy border, BUT, I found a Noritake, white plate with silver edge (just a scalloped china design, making it a *little* different) that was a close match.  I purchased those four place settings for a fraction of what my own pattern would have cost, and I have set a table for more than 8 many times without anyone noticing the china doesn't match.  White with a silver edge - basic and easy to disguise when the food is on the plate!!!! 

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  Shanda, my mother's rose china pattern can be found at this link.  The crystal pattern (iced tea, low sherbet, & juice glasses) my mom chose is one I can't find.  It's looks like this one, but without the etching of a flower.  Just plain crystal with a simple carved stem.  Some of the water goblets have nicks at the top, but I've heard the nicks can be ground down by a crystal repair place.  The glasses are quite expensive, but restoring them (erasing the nicks) would be quite a bit less than buying the glass new - which I can't even find (not without the flower etched in it).

  The truth is, Shanda, you have inspired me by your little china plates you pack for picnics.  I told Jesse, for my birthday this year, I'd like to shop thrift stores and find mismatched 6.5" - 7" plates to use as luncheon plates.  If they are cheap, I won't feel horrible if the girls break one.  And, since they are mismatched to begin with . . .

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  Lori W. - my everyday dishes are some I bought for a dollar a piece at a warehouse.  They are a clear *larger than usual size* glass, but have a pattern etched in them.  Some are poinsettias and some are calla lilies.  No one has ever noticed that, like my white china dinnerware, they don't match!  I have the cabbage rose etched luncheon plates and no one has noticed those don't match the two patterns of dinner plates!  LOL      I had to buy clear soup bowls at Wal-Mart, because the etched floral pattern was discontinued everywhere.  Each one of my everyday clear dishes, was a $1 a piece.  So far, we've not broken one dish.  They are VERY durable!  I fist bought them because we hosted church meetings (25 people) at our house each Sunday night.  These were better than flimsy paper plates on laps.  When I wanted to replace my everyday dishes (blue trim with geese from the late 80's), I could find nothing I liked and decided to pull out the glass church dishes - NEVER expecting them to last for the past seven years!  What a surprise!

  To answer your question:  Lo and behold, the painter called today and needed to work.  We started him on Annamarie's room.  That's the room I painted 2 years ago, but it turned out a mint green color that Jesse and I were unhappy with.  This time we've chosen an almost white, pale, pale pink.  He's doing that now AND has primed over the floral wallpaper border.  We will accent her light pink walls with the cranberry red carpet and pillows, which we have already purchased for there.

  We've only purchased sample cans of paint for the front rooms and our bedroom.  I can tell already, the greens we selected for our bedroom won't be dark enough.  The darker moss green I bought for accent walls will work on the "lighter colored walls,"  but we will have to choose a darker mossy green for the dark bedroom accent walls.

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  Yes, Julia, it sure is easier to have someone else do your painting.  Up until 2 years ago, I have always done my own prep work and painting.  I'm one of those odd people blessed with being ambidextrous and having an incredibly steady hand.  I can easily paint around intricate woodwork trim, or white ceiling and colored wall, with either my left or right hand.  But, I relinquished painting (no reaching with my back issues, right now) to someone who won't suffer physically afterward.  Our painter is quick and charges a reasonable rate.  

  Julia, thank you for the compliment about my cooking abilities.  I enjoy eating, therefore . . . (LOL!!!!) 

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  Tomorrow the girls are going back to the dentist.  Luci & Rissy need two fillings, each.  And, Annamarie needs a painful tooth looked at.  She forgot to tell the dentist, last week - the whole reason we booked the dental appointment with the new dentist! 

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  Tomorrow afternoon, I'm meeting with the G.I. doctor that did my surgery 2 months ago.  I'm not getting much relief from the tightening in my esophagus or the spasms.  So, we'll see if he has anything to offer.  I may have to live with these side effects from my radiation treatments for the rest of my life.  But, it sure beats cancer . . . .

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  The girls are taking a break in the backyard from school.  It's been a rough couple of days this week.  Yesterday was so hard, I had an enormous headache afterward.  Jesse had listened to the teaching all morning (and the early part of the afternoon) and when dinner time rolled around, he told me to stay in bed on the heating pad and he'd get pizzas.  It must have really been worse than I realized for him to turn down a home cooked meal and order cheap pizzas!!!

  I'm making another new recipe tonight.  Baked Ziti  It's made with turkey Italian sausage to make it less fattening.  I don't know, though, with ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan cheese, there may be no saving on calories!

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  I had wanted to make some cookies this afternoon, but school is taking a VERY long time, again.  Education is more important than cookies for dessert, so the baking may not happen!

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  Be Blessed  ~

  • 3:51 pm
  • 3 Comments