I hope y'all forgive my postponing this till today. I wouldn't have traded yesterday with our lil' gals for anything.

That said, today we tour my dining room. It's not done yet. There are still adjustments to be made and pictures, etc. to be hung. It's probably the biggest room in my apartment so it does double duty as my home office aka where I write, pay bills and deal with all the other assorted nonsense that constitute my so-called life. It's also where I put on my Thinking Cap and hold forth on all and sundry for y'all.

Here is the doorway to the dining room. I love the effect of the lace panels on either side and this photo shows the full effect of my dining room set which I totally adore. Sometimes I ask myself why I bought it but it's great when I break down and have guests and sometimes I really do make myself an elegant meal and light the candles and pour a glass of wine. And I've promised myself that I have to both more often.



This wall is my office. I love it. You can't see my matching file cabinet but it's right next to the high shelves attached to my desk which contain reference material, all my computer programs,, and assorted other things I can't function without. On the other side of the desk is my printer and stand and more shelves where I keep my office supplies, vitamins, stationery and a cute lil' thing they call a recharging station where I can recharge my cell phone, blue tooth and my Sansa music player all in one place. Van Gogh is one of my favorite painter and the poster above my computer is his "Irises". To the right is the sketch Scarlet did of me as well a couple signs and an etched glass mirror. The lamp was a gift from my buddy/decorator Richard when I redecorated a year or so ago. He took one look at my desk and told me he had the perfect lamp for me and brought this one over. And yeah, the coffee cup is almost a permanent fixture and no, it's not my fav -- my fave carries the message: "Just state your business quietly and go away and no one will get hurt". Yeah, I'm crabby in the morning.

Here is a better view of my dining room table and y'all can see how pretty the top is. It's probably a tad impractical but I fell in love with its country French style.



Continuing around the room, here's my stereo, etc. and you can see the top of the wine rack. Yeah, it's full -- for now! LOL



Here's my china cabinet. It's wonderful for displaying my copper collection as well as my good china and crystal. Again, you can see that I opted for mini-blinds and valances (white brocade this time) to show off the wood work.



My fireplace does not work but I do like it being here. Flanking it (in addition to two closets) are silhouettes of my children when they were toddlers and what looks like a chain on the other side is a wood carving that my dad whittled when I was small --it's an interesting piece and hard to explain. On the mantle are photos of my grands, my dad and a friend's little one. The poster of the cabbage roses is by Melinda May. It's really a sort of ugly fireplace (my old apartment had glorious fireplace) and I'm trying to think of how to spruce it up more (suggestions are welcome. I've hunted high and low for the right candles for the candle screen and plan to redo the flowers in the brass pots. At Christmas it does dress up nice trimmed with garlands and stockings and my Nativity set. Still, it's something one doesn't get in modern apartments and I'm happy I have it. I do so love old buildings!



I do like this room a lot. I'd better -- I spend most of my time here. I'll like it better when I get the other pictures, etc. up and add some color!

Hope y'all enjoyed this segment and hope y'all will stop by for the next installment when we'll visit my kitchen and prolly my bath, too, on Tuesday. All are small rooms and so there's not much to see. We simply can't interrupt The Groaner of the Week! (My den isn't ready for company yet. At the rate I'm going, it prolly never will be fit for anyone to see.

Happy Blogging!!!!!!!!

Kay

Yikes!!!!! The Best Laid Plans . . .

Someone wiser than I said that life is what happens when you're busy making other plans. My post today was supposed to be the next part of the tour of my house. However, the phone rang and my niece needed help with the girls 'cause Grandma was unavoidably detained so I was on the road heading north to spend the afternoon with Sara and Brianna. Can you tell that great-auntie is smiling? Of course, I had to stay for dinner and and hang out afterward so I just got home a bit ago. Man, do little ones wear you out!! Both are really good and we had fun.

Here is me and Sara. She's starting to grow like a weed and getting past her preemie stage. I think she's gonna be redhead like her mama.



Brianna, two and a half, is fond of catching toads. Think the family has another tomboy in the in the making? I say yes judging from that grin.



sooooooooooo the grand tour of Kay's castle will continue tomorrow (Sunday). Now I gotta get to bed if I want to be at the Farmer's Market before they run outta stuff!!!!!!!!! I am tired!!!! LOL

Happy Blogging!!!!!!!!!

KAY

The Friday Groaner

Darlene of Darlene's Hodgepodge sent along a truly stellar groooaaannn for your . . . er . . . ahhh . . . pleasure -- yeah, that's it -- pleasure!!! Enjoy!!!!!!

A veterinarian was barred from performing surgery because of
his poor record. However, the veterinarian ignored the ruling and continued to do surgery. On a tip the police busted him just as he was to operate on a sick bird.

However, the case was thrown out of court.

Why did that happen, y'all ask? Because . . .

. . . it was an ill eagle surgeon seizure.

GROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks, Darlene!!!!!!

Happy Blogging!!!!!!!!!!

Kay

Come on a My House -- Part I

Welcome to my humble abode!!!! This the first installment of your guided tour of the place I call home. It's the first floor of an old house and I love the high ceilings and oak woodwork. It isn't fancy or perfect anything but it's me. A friend said, "Nothing really goes together but it does!" That works for me because I'm pretty much an eclectic kind of gal as you've prolly guessed from reading here. And it's always a work in progress. And don't forget you can embiggen the photos.

Today we're checking out my living room. My apologies because I'm never going to win prizes for my photography. Here's the entry area. You'll notice my penchant for lace curtains and off-white walls. The door to the right is my bedroom.



This sign is the sign of the week and the first thing one sees as they enter. I collect funny (to me) signs and I change it as the mood strikes me. (At Halloween it reads: The Witch is In.) And the copper statue was a recent find in a decor shop I like at 80% off -- I simply love it!



Here is the view above my entertainment center. The black and white photo is of the train station in Barcelona, Spain and is by a local artist. The big poster is a print of a painting by Schaffer/Miles. I have a thing for impressionism as you'll see.



Here's another view of my entertainment center so y'all can see the antique lyre back chair I found in my travels for bargains as well as the detail of my area rug. When I bought it 10 years ago. I didn't have a car so I toted it across town on the bus! The drivers had a l0t of fun teasing me!



Here's my sofa. I found it last year at Habitat for Humanity's ReStore here and fell in love. It's paisley and incorporates all the colors in my rug. That it was a bargain on so many levels was a bonus! I absolutely love my brass and glass coffee table!!!! Yeah, it's impractical but I'm a sucker for such elegance.



Here are the chairs I love so much. The small arm chair has special significance for me but that's another blog. The art poster is a Monet print. The window treatment is mini-blinds topped with white lace valances because I decided that I didn't want hide the oak woodwork.



This corner cabinet has been with me for over thirty-five years. It's one of the few things I have from my marriage and houses my good china. And the vase was a wonderful find at two bucks. I'm pretty pleased with my arrangement I made for it. Whaddaya think. Judy?



Just a reminder who lives here . . . I saw this one day and it screamed, "Take me! I'm yours!!!! So what's a girl to do? LOL



I hope y'all enjoyed your tour,. On Saturday (we can't skip The Friday Groaner, can we?), we'll be visiting my dining room/home office aka Kay's World central.

Happy Blogging!!!!!!!!!!!

Kay

And it's Another 'Fun' Day in Kay's World

The adventure I call life continues in my mostly immaculate apartment (my den is a job for Batman but I'm chipping away at it, too, since the Caped Crusader doesn't want to do it either.), I'm starting to think that my contention that there's no such thing as too many books is skewed thinking on my part as I try to get them organized. I love clean -- I just don't like doing it. I much prefer reading your blogs and writing here and there.

That said, "the best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley", according to my fellow Scot, Robert Burns and it seems to be a running theme in what I laughingly call Kay's World. Terror struck my heart and derailed my plans yesterday after finally getting a decent night's sleep. I checked my e-mail and I had a message ostensibly from my bank. When I opened it, I found a message with this heading: _________ Online Alert: Notification of Irregular Account Activity.‏ It puzzled me because I get daily alerts in my email and had already checked them and all seemed to be well. My heart stopped and I did as advised and clicked on the link to what I thought was my bank's website and got nervous when login didn't seem to be as it should be. Soooooooooooo I got the hell outta there and called my branch and talked to the manager/asst. v-p and tried to email her the message and wound up going over there to prove that I was me and talk some more. She called Tech Support who locked my account and advised me to run my anti-virus and Windows Defender (I also ran my anti-spyware and anti-adware programs) and it came out clean. They also asked me to forward the email to their fraud prevention department for investigation. Then I had to call them and we changed my username and password to get my account back. Sigh. I hope to hell they catch whoever is doing this and that I can sue them for big bucks.

The good news is that there was nothing wrong with my account except there wasn't enough money in it to support me in the manner to which I'd like to become accustomed which is an on-going problem unlikely to end. As I told the asst. vp, I've had my account there for eight years or so and they've been so good that I was inclined to believe the message really was from them and was informed that should my account have shown an irregularity, they would have called me -- never email -- and suspended it until they reached me. Now that's a nice thing to know. The v-p said, looking at my account, I've been an exemplary customer and thanked me for my business and apologized for the inconvenience.

At any rate, I'm okay albeit frazzled and I can get to my plans for today and the rest of the week which include getting caught up with y'all and getting some work done on my blog. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to take y'all on a tour of Kay's World, i.e., my apartment, now that it's fit for viewing by decent folk -- just don't open the closet doors!!!! LOL

And to get y'all started here's Rosie to issue the invitation!



Come on!!!!!

Happy Blogging!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kay

It's the Groaner of the Week!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's a classic oldie from deep within the archives!!!!! It's a hoot!!! Enjoy!!!

A famous Viking explorer returned home from a voyage and found his name missing from the town register. He just shrugged it off to his being gone so very long.

His wife, Mrs. Ericson, however, insisted upon complaining to the local civic official who apologized profusely saying. . .

"I must have taken Leif off my census."

Happy Blogging!!!!!!!!!

Kay

Wee Hours at Wal-Mart and Other Nonsense

It's 5:00 a.m. and I'm taking a break. No I haven't lost my mind but I've been the White Tornado the past few days and I learned long ago that I should never quit when I'm on a roll. I'm deep cleaning my place and I'm definitely on a mission. I'm even cleaning out old paperwork! There are already 3 bags full of shredding and at least one more will be forthcoming. The trash man will earn his keep this week!!! Home is beginning to look more homey. Even the den is getting organized will have new curtains. Richard is coming over later to hang pictures for me. My kitchen and bedroom are nearly done as are the living room and the bathroom, too. The latter will be sporting new towels and a new shower curtain. The dining room has been the hardest because it's also my work area but it's nearly done, too. I tend to mix the tasks in different rooms -- soaking dishes or some such while spot cleaning carpet or dustting elsewhere.

What wrought this miracle? Lots of things that have been driving me around the bend. It hit me that I needed to re-organize my life and that if I started with my apartment, maybe the other things would fall in place and, if not, at least I'll have a decent place to focus on them. I've been like a mad woman today and am determined that all will be in place by Monday.

Here are some rather cool things that have happened and I learned:

* Saturday morning I headed for the local farmer's market. I got there too late and there wasn't much left. However, I was able to register for and receive fifty dollars worth of five-dollar coupons to be used at the market. It's sponsored by the State of Ohio's Senior Nutrition Program. I can use them for produce at the market (but not Mr. Kienzle's wonderful sausage or Ms. Lily's fabulous bread) until the end of October.

* I was at Wal-Mart at 2:00 a.m buying a few groceries and getting a few other things I needed. It's pretty surreal being in that giant store with maybe a dozen other customers.

* Did you know that the breakfast menu starts at 3:00 a.m at McDonald's? I learned that, too.

* I found a wondrous product for spot cleaning my carpet. It's called Spot Shot and it works a treat as our friends across the Pond would say.

* When trying to organize my paperwork, I kept finding bits and pieces of the novel I've been writing sporadically for about ten years (i.e., since I left my husband). In reading it, I was surprised that I still like it and I'm thinking that I need to tie all the pieces parts together, put them in order and flesh it out but first I need to type all of it into my computer. Argh!!!!!!! Oh well.

* I still don't have a new doctor. I've been unable to deal with that chore as well as a lot of other issues. I saw my sweet little dermatologist last week. When she removes warts she sends tissue to the pathology lab and last month mine showed something called squamous cells -- I looked them up on the 'Net and they ain't pretty, my friends -- so I had to go back in for a biopsy. I'll have results in about a week. Pray. Doc Lisa is funny. She worries about hurting me and marvels at how I just soldier through. I keep telling her that with my medical history, a doctor cutting at a wart on my thumb ain't nothin'!

Well, it's 6:00 am and I think I'd best get a few hours sleep. I hope to start getting around again and writing more soon barring more catastrophes. I might just take y'all on a tour of my lovely clean home.

I've missed y'all greatly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Blogging!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kay

The Friday Groaner

Kent McKamy of KentsUSDrive sent along a terrific --albeit a bit risque -- (We're all grownups, right?) almost but not quite groooaaannn that should cause howls across the blogosphere!!!!!!! Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A woman comes home and tells her husband, "Remember those headaches I've been having all these years? Well, they're gone."

"No more headaches?" the husband asks, "What happened?"

His wife replies, 'Margie referred me to a hypnotist & he told me to stand in front of a mirror, stare at myself and repeat:

" I do not have a headache."
" I do not have a headache."
" I do not have a headache."

And well, it worked -- the headaches are all gone!"

"Well, that's wonderful!" exclaims the husband.

His wife then says, "You know, you haven't been exactly a ball of fire in the bedroom these last few years, why don't you go see the hypnotist and see if he can do anything for that?"

Reluctantly, the husband agrees to try it.

Following his appointment, the husband comes home, rips off his clothes, picks up his wife and carries her into the bedroom. He puts her on the bed and says, "Don't move, I'll be right back."

He goes into the bathroom and comes back a few minutes later and jumps into bed and makes passionate love to his wife like never before.

His wife says, "WOW!!!!!!!!! That was wonderful!"

The husband says, "Don't move! I'll be right back."

He goes back into the bathroom, comes back and round two was even better than the first time.

The wife sits up and her head is spinning "OH MY GOD' she proclaims."

Her husband again says, "Don't move, I'll be right back.."

With that, he goes back in the bathroom.

This time, his wife quietly follows him and there, in the bathroom, she sees him standing at the mirror and saying.

"She's not my wife."
"She's not my wife."
"She's not my wife."
"She's not my wife."


His funeral service will be held on Saturday.

GRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Blogging!!!!!!!!!

Kay

It's the Groaner of the Week!!!!!!!!!

Good Lord!!!!!!!! It's Monday already!!!!!!! The holiday just flew by me!!!!! However, I still have a truly excellent almost but not quite groan for y'all!!! I hope y'all don't mind blonde jokes -- my blonde friends tell them to me as brunette jokes. And I tell them to my niece as redhead jokes.

Two blondes were driving past a wheat field when they saw a blonde in the middle of the field rowing a canoe. The driver turned to her friend and said, “You know. it’s blondes like that that give us a bad name!”

The other blonde replies, “I know! If I knew how to swim, I’d go out there and drown her.”

Happy Blogging!!!!!!!!!!

Kay