Pumpkin Queen -Postcard Friendship Friday #329

Isn't this a lovely blast from the past?  I like this lady's dress and the vibrant fall colors in this postcard.  Those pumpkins seem to think she's pretty special, too.

I think I've posted this one before.  I decided to add it in today, because this is a childhood dream of mine.  I loved the idea of living in a pumpkin house--a little place with pretty round windows, all my very own.  As the eldest of six, space of one's own was hard to find sometimes.  Ah, but it was great fun to be a part of such a wonderful big family.

Have a great week, everyone, and Happy Postcard Friendship Friday!

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To the Best Mom -Postcard Friendship Friday #265

I have been away for the past two weeks.  Thank you so much for your patience! 

Soon it will be Mother's Day.  I have such a lovely Mom--she has been an incredible encouragement to me throughout the years.  and now she and I are widows together, of all things.  I am wondrously blessed by God to have such a vibrant, encouraging, loving Mother.

God bless all those Mothers out there who love their children with such wonderful unconditional love. 

Happy Mother's Day!!  Thank you for dropping by, and Happy Postcard Friendship Friday, too!

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Please Get Off My Stool -Postcard Friendship Friday #242

I apologize for the lateness of my post today.  I have had computer problems all morning long.  Thank goodness, I finally was able to take care of all that and finally post Postcard Friendship Friday!  Thank you for your patience.

Here is one of my favorites--she sure looks like a Kewpie Doll.  I adore Kewpie Dolls.  I was given a lovely little Kewpie doll from the distant past, likely one of the very first, as she is made of bisque with moving arms.

Have a lovely day, dear friends.  Happy Postcard Friendship Friday!

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Happy Labor Day -Postcard Friendship Friday #235

In the United States, every year just before school starts, there is a three-day weekend which is a celebration of the American labor movement.  We call it Labor Day. It is a national tribute to everyday ordinary American  workers who have contributed to  the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.  Though we have struggled these past years, in my opinion, America is still one of the greatest nations on earth. 

Here is a postcard featuring one of the greatest presidents in American history--Abraham Lincoln.  According to family legend, we are "shirt-tail" relations to this amazing man.  

Have a lovely day and Happy Postcard Friendship Friday! 

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To Our Dear Fathers -Postcard Friendship Friday #123

This year, Father's Day will be on June 15th.  I am deeply grateful to God for giving me my Father.  Dad taught us about God the Father--Daddy's gentleness, kindness, strength and unconditional love showed us God's loving face.  We were greatly blessed to have had such a good Father. I miss him, more than I can put into mere words.

I thank God for my husband, who has been, and continues to be a wonderful Father to our children.  The relationship between Dads and their children is so important.  There is much to be learned from a loving Father.  
 
As I think about it--I am incredibly thankful to Our Creator for all Dads who love and provide for  their children. 

Note:  Google seems to be having troubles the past few weeks.  I haven't been able to comment on your links off and on.  So, I'm taking a moment here to thank everyone who participated in Postcard Friendship Friday this week!  As soon as Google gets the problem fixed, I'll be commenting on your blogs!  Have a lovely weekend.

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Beautiful Friendship

I love this photo from long ago.  These girls are from the Ukraine.  I love their brightly colored clothing.  They are like beautiful butterflies to me.  I notice the chestnut color of their long braided hair and the sweet look of their faces.  I wonder if they were sisters?  Or best friends?  I think about what their lives were like, and how different their lives must have been from mine.  They are so sweet.

If anyone out there knows who these dear girls are, and the significance of their beautiful outfits, I would love to hear from you.

Have a lovely day, everyone.

Think of Me -Postcard Friendship Friday #204

I'm not sure if I have posted this wonderful Valentine before, but if I have, I'm sure you will forgive me.  I LOVE this unusual postcard featuring these adorable children.

Have a lovely day, and Happy Postcard Friendship Friday!

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Bitter Sweet Chocolate Day -Postcard Friendship Friday #202

It is a truth most everyone loves chocolate.  Chocolate has a long and colorful history.  It started out as a bitter beverage.  The word "chocolate" can be traced back to the Aztec word "xocoatl," which referred to a bitter drink brewed from cacao beans. The Latin name for the cacao tree, Theobroma cacao, means "food of the gods."  The Mayans and Aztecs believed the cacao bean had magical, divine properties.

Chocolate with sugar didn't appear until Europeans came along. Legend has it that the Aztec king Montezuma welcomed the Spanish explorer Hernando Cortes with a banquet which included a cup of chocolate.  Cortez did not appreciate the drink, calling it "a bitter drink for pigs."  However, it was discovered chocolate mixed with honey or cane sugar was delicious.

By the 17th century, chocolate was a fashionable drink throughout Europe, believed to have nutritious, medicinal and even aphrodisiac properties (it's rumored that Casanova was especially fond of the stuff).  But it remained largely a privilege of the rich until the invention of the steam engine made mass production possible in the late 1700s.

The creation of the first modern chocolate bar is credited to Joseph Fry, in 1847.   By 1868, a little company called Cadbury was marketing boxes of chocolate candies in England. Milk chocolate hit the market a few years later, pioneered by, of course, Nestle.

In America, chocolate was so valued during the Revolutionary War that it was included in soldiers' rations and used in lieu of wages.   While most of us would not take chocolate as payment for a job well done, true chocolate loves might just consider it!

May you have the joy of sampling chocolate this weekend and Happy Postcard Friendship Friday!


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Christmas Goose

Father is bringing home fresh bread, the Christmas goose and has Christmas packages tucked beneath his arm.  As you can see his young'uns are about to ambush him!  lol  The look on his face causes me to believe their Dad knows exactly what is about to happen and is readying himself to drop his burdens and taken 'em on.

I'm sure once the snowball fight is through, their Papa will put the boys to work carrying the goods home to Mother. 

Have a lovely week and Merry Christmas!

My Christmas Greeting

With all the snow falling across our nation, I thought this charming postcard would be a good fit for this lovely Sunday morning.  This is the cutest picture--the joy on those youngster's faces is contagious, as is the smile on the snowman as the girl pats his nice fat nose.

Merry Christmas dear Friends!

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year -Postcard Friendship Friday #197

 

The kitten with the pink ribbon on the left reminds me of our special friend Toez the Polydactyl Cat when she was a kitten.  I've always welcomed cats as friends.  There's something special about their independence, capricious playfulness, mischievous personality which pulls at one's heart strings.

When Toez (otherwise known as little tiny keekat) deigns to come and sit upon my lap, all on her own--it just melts my heart.

I'm hoping for SNOW tonight.  Happy Postcard Friendship Friday!

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Flight of the Yellow Birds -Postcard Friendship Friday #183

I had all kinds of ideas as to what I would be posting today.  All of those flew out the window in the wake of a lovely dream I had a few days ago.

I dreamed my sweet husband and I were at Mumsie's house.  He was fixing a flat tire.  Mom and I were sitting on in the grass nearby watching.  It is the oddest thing, but Mumsie was young again, long dark hair flowing down her back--we were laughing together like young girls.

Suddenly I saw these beautiful little yellow and orange birds in the trees overhead--they were tiny, just the size of my thumb, so sweet, a whole flock of them.   I pointed them out to Mums and we watched as they flitted to land all over the giant oak tree.

And then--these chicken-sized, bright yellow, feathery creatures joined the tiny birds. I kept saying, "Do you see what I'm seeing?" My husband was about to come to where we were sitting, but I gestured for him not to move--I was afraid they'd fly away.  So we sat there very quietly.  

To our astonishment, rather than flying away, they came down and let us pet them.  They were so soft and feathery and bright--not afraid of us one bit.  Their antics made us laugh.  And then I awoke.

It was the dearest, funniest dream I've had in a long long time

Have a lovely day and Happy Postcard Friendship Friday!

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Ride the Wind Day -Postcard Friendship Friday #182

Today is Ride the Wind Day!  No one seems to know how this holiday got started, but it is a fanciful, heavenly idea.  I once had the privilege and pleasure of taking a hot air balloon ride...I will never forget that experience.  It seemed so natural to be floating overhead--no motor, just the rush of the flame as we drifted along.

One of the funny things I read about this day is that on August 23, 1974, John Lennon, one of the Beatles reported that he saw a UFO in New York City!

When I was four years old my family and I went through the great Columbus Day Storm.  It was a cyclone which made its way up the coast from Mexico.  Though we have had some big storms since, its like has not been seen since.

As a small child, I don't remember being afraid--even as we stood in the middle of the field watching the winds flatten Grandpa's barn, whipping tons of hay into a prickly mass over our heads.  I watched the winds roll up the flat roof of our home like an old fashioned sardine can, tossing it off to the side.

I've loved the wind ever since.

Have a lovely windy day and Happy Postcard Friendship Friday!

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National Polka Day -Postcard Friendship Friday #180

 

The Polka is a dance which involves a man and a woman performing a series of triple steps to happy, lively tunes which are usually played on the accordion.

Apparently the dance has been around a long time.  Some say the Polka originated in Bohemia during the 1800s.   Others insist the dance was invented by a girl named Anna Slezak, in the year 1834.  It was around that time, the dance gained popularity in ballrooms around the world. 

Here in the States, during Oktoberfest, dancers often perform the Polka in groups wearing wonderful costumes.  From what I hear, it is GREAT exercise, too!

Have a lovely week and Happy Postcard Friendship Friday!

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Happy Flitch Day -Postcard Friendship Friday #177

 

In  England, since the year 1104, married couples who could prove they'd been faithful and loving to one another for one year, were awarded half a pig--which was known as a "flitch of bacon." 

Hence the old saying, "bring home the bacon."

This old English custom was eventually turned into a holiday called Flitch Day, which is celebrated on July 19th.  There are still flitch "trials" today in some places, but they are only held once every four years.

Happy Flitch Day!


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National Rose Month -Postcard Friendship Friday #170

June is National Rose Month.  In Oregon, Portland is known as the Rose City.  There are roses everywhere.  Portland is home to the International Rose Test Garden, which was founded in 1917, making it the oldest continuously operated public rose test garden in the U.S.  I've visited there and it is beautiful.  This week is Portland's Rose Festival Week.  It is a great time to visit!

Roses have a long tradition in the United States.  In fact, George Washington was the first rose breeder in the United States.  85 percent of all Americans say their favorite flower is the rose.  I am numbered among those.

I have my own special rose story to share.  Years ago, while searching for a new home, we stayed in my darling Grandmother's basement.  I look back and realize it was one of the happiest times of our lives--we had the privilege of living there for two whole years.  Even with all five of us squashed into 450 square feet, it was a wonderful place for children to grow and play.

I remember the day my small daughter wanted to help in the garden.  While my back was turned, she happily whacked Grandma's favorite red rose bush down to the quick.  Not knowing what else to do, I found some gauze and we bound it back together.  Every morning, we placed used coffee grounds upon its roots and hoped for the best.

Our family moved mid-summer.  I'll never forget the letter I received a few months later.  

Grammie wrote:  I wanted you to  know that the rose that dear Joybells cut back has been a blessing to  me.  A lesson.  I really thought it was a goner.  Then you bound it up, gave it special care and now it is more beautiful than ever.  It’s like life.  God knows the root is there, but sometimes He needs to prune it severely to bring forth beauty--then with loving care, He brings it to fulfillment.  All my love, I miss you, Grammie

May the fragrance of Roses fill your lives, dear Friends.

NOTE:  Recently I've had two different people put in linky links which are suspect.  I report each one and have alerted Linky to this problem.

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A Mother's Love

 

The old pictures of Mother and child are so dear and sweet.  With Mother's Day coming up Sunday, I just had to post this beauty of a postcard.

I am so grateful to my precious Mumsie.  She is one of my best friends.  I don't know what I would do without her in m life.  I am blessed to have such a wonderful Mother.  She is beautiful to my eyes, my heart and my life.

Have a lovely week and don't forget to spend time with your Mom and thank her for her love. 

Look Alike Day! -Postcard Friendship Friday #164

Today is National Look Alike Day.  When I was growing up, I always wanted a twin.  There are twins in my family--they appear every other generation.  My sister has twin girls--they are delightful young ladies.

No one seems to know how this holiday originated, but everyone seems to have great fun finding people who do have a resemblance to one another.  People dress up to look like famous folks and there are contests and parties to celebrate the holiday.

Elvis Presley is the most impersonated.  Me?  I love Siamese Cats--hence today's postcard!

Happy Postcard Friendship Friday!

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The Green Shamrock -Postcard Friendship Friday #157

This wee lovely Irish girl is obviously selling shamrock nosegays and a handful of Irish pipes!  What a sweet costume she wears, with that wonderful underskirt of shamrock beneath her vibrant green.  She is exactly as I envision an Irish girl from days of old.

Happy Postcard Friendship Friday!

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