Peonies, Thrifting and 1000

My best boyfriend brought me this peony this week. Our peonies got hit by the frost last month, so I'm not sure how many we will have. This is the first one. We also have a few yellow and purple iris by our bedroom porch. This is the first year they have bloomed after I divided and re-planted them. They are iris from the original owners and might be considered vintage. They were around the old trees and chickenhouse and had become spindly with their overdeveloped tubers. It is nice to see them flourishing. The orange poppies near them (again, vintage from original owners) are also blooming. We always look forward to their burst of swaying color.

My little peony resides in this lovely, small, cut glass crystal vase that I picked up on a rummage for a dollar or less. I love to find pretty vintage vases to use or give with flowers. This one is a favorite for its size and beauty. (It also pleases me that it was thrifted.) Teacups also make great flower pots or vases for gifts. This gives me a reasonable excuse to always be on the lookout for them!

We have been rummaging the last week or so whenever possible. I usually give the kids a dollar to rummage with and invite them to enjoy spending it. It is fun to see how they each learn to barter (or not) and make their dollar last. Usually, if we find a good book(s) or clothes, I will spring for them so it does not come out of their dollar. I try to direct their spending, but not forbid anything they want to buy with their dollar. I also like to point out to them that they do not have to spend it, they can keep it. For some this is a novel idea!

This post title alludes to 1000. I noticed my last post was number 1000! I find that amazing. I enjoy reading blogs and "follow" several. Many are written as a business as well as an outlet for creativity. Pursuing "hits" and "views" is the goal of many blogs. I have to admit that I love to look at the stats. It always amazes (and delights) me that I get 80-100 views a day on my blog, and that there are people from all over the US (Lethbridge, CA is one today) and in foreign countries as diverse and remote as Zaventem, Belgium and Nis, Serbia. (The two foreign "hits" on my board today.) If you are intereted in seeing these, you can go to the left column on the blog, scroll clear to the bottom and click on the map. That page should show you another larger map and current statistics for the blog. I find it interesting.

I started this blog in Feb. 2009 because Friend Nancy urged me to put my art and craft projects on one. I have found it to be a fun and creative outlet. I love to take photographs and have a bit of background in publishing layout from high school and college, although Blogger is kind of hard to manipulate and limits layout. (I was yearbook editor, co-editor of high school paper, all-state journalist, and took a publishing course in college.) My husband has always loved that his mother keeps a daily diary, and I have in the past saved personal letters and e-mails to keep details of our family life. This blog feeds that need too. But most of all, I love blogging for the chance to see Branson, MO on the blog views, or to get a call from my Dad (or Mom) out of the blue saying, " I just LOVE reading your blog!"

Bloggers love feedback and I am no exception. Although I do not "pursue" followers or comments, I do get a lurch of excitement whenever there is a new one of either. I want to invite you to leave a comment (one time or otherwise) if you read this blog. (Please!) It can be kind of a celebration of 1000 posts.

It is easy to do. Look at the bottom of this post (or any other of mine) and find the underlined small print that says "comments." It may say 0 or 1 or some other number before it. Click on it and a comment box will come up. (Titled "Post a Comment") Type into that box and push "publish." You may get a couple of more hoops to jump through, such as  "Comment as" (choose "anonymous" if you wish, in the drop down, but type your name into the comment box if you want me to know it was you.) Sometimes you have to type a couple of gobbledy-gook words into a text box after that to prove you are a real person and not spam. Type these as you see them, using capitals and spaces as they do, then click enter.  Just  follow instructions and it is pretty simple. Do not worry that it will sign you up for something you do not want by leaving a comment. It will not. If that is too hard, and you know me, you can just send me an e-mail comment (or Facebook message) and I will post it for you. I LOVE comments! You can also click on the "comments" to read other people's comments on a post.

If you want to follow this blog or have new posts sent to your e-mail, I just added a few new "gadgets" to the left sidebar of the blog where you can sign up for these things. There is also a spot to see the top posts people are reading (by numbers or "hits".) Check out the sidebar if you are not familiar with them. Click on a few things. You might try the search box and type in "corn" for a listing of posts with corn in them, (Dad) or "family" or"recipes" or whatever interests you. Or look in the "Labels" list and click on one to find all the posts on "photography" or "Postcards from God" or whatever looks interesting. After finding your label of choice and clicking it, read and scroll down to the bottom and click on "Older Post" and read on to the bottom again then click "Older Post" again until you get to the end of those labelled postings or get bored.  Use the "home" choice at the bottom to return to the first page of the blog.

Thanks for reading my blog . It is fun for me.