Vacation time

I'm off for a little break................................................................

Paint

When I was a young girl my parents painted my bedroom a light purple with purple lights and all...well it ended up a montage of purple......then when I was newly married I attempted to use wallpaper with color and design and it was okay but after looking at the same wall paper for 20 years it got a bit old and the rooms didn't connect is style. I came to the conclusion that all white was the solution and have stuck with at for 20 years but my daughter has been using color in her home with effect in mind.....I thought I would give it a try........

This is my furniture in my family room..so I chose the blue color as contrast color on one wall..........

I like it.......

no....I love it!

This picture was the inspiration for the next room. I had intended to first paint it the dark grey color and then do a wash over it to create the look of the water....but after painting it the dark grey I began to question my choice

I really liked the contrast as is.

Makes for a pretty classy powder room don't you think.

The best thing of all....you can drastically change a room with a gallon of paint.

Tin's

Fellow blogger It's a small town life posted an article about old tin pictures and asked if we had any in our family heirlooms......Reminded me of a very unusual picture I have of my maternal grandparents......

This is an engagement picture taken in Sweden where they immigrated from. It's some type of tin and has a hanger on the back so it can be hung on the wall.

Any one remember these? My first experience of one of these was in a airport and it instilled an instant fear in me to not go anywhere without change.

CEPTIA (Committee to end pay toilets in America) succeeded in banning the pay toilet in 1970 and as quoted by Ira Gessel
"When a man's or woman's natural body functions are restricted because he or she doesn't have a piece of change, there is no true freedom."

Pay toilets are common place in Europe and especially in Paris. Perhaps this is understandable because there are so many city visitors walking around and meets the needs of the people without forcing them to go into a restaurant and place an order so they can access a restroom.

A pay toilet in Paris

Here are a few interesting facts  about pay toilets in other countries....
In the Untied Kingdom it is technically permitted to charge for use of toilets, but not for the use of urinals...
In Mexico, the majority of pay toilets have turnstiles and an attendant at the entrance. The attendant gives out toilet paper and sometimes a paper towel. Although I have visited Mexico many times, I have not experienced this.

In Singapore, pay toilets are still common in "Hawker Centers" (like a farmers market), the use of the toilet usually costs 10¢.

In some area of Taiwan, mostly in subways, you must pay for the toilet paper, but the toilet itself is free....


So you are thinking so what how does all that affect me? Well, they are back, at  least in New York.

 In 2008 there were 20 new pay toilets installed in and around Madison Square Park. Now these aren't just any old pay toilets...they are state of the art, about the size of a newspaper stand with tempered glass doors and stainless steel. An automatic sliding door opens when a deposit of 25¢ is made. A user has a (generous) 15 minute period of privacy before the doors pop open....with a warning light and alarm going off when there are only three minutes left. In between uses is an automatic 90-second self cleaning process that had always been a mystery until a news media was given a behind the scenes peek at the process. A sweeping arm sprays disinfectant over the toilet, before it blows heat to dry it and jets propel about seven gallon of water with disinfectant on the floor, which is not dried, leaving ti wet for the next user. You will find it reassuring there are all sorts of "just in case" precautions in place. For one, there are two red emergency buttons: one small and waist-high, the other big and  toward the floor, in case someone falls. There is also a separate yellow button to reach an operator if needed. These seem to make sense to me in areas where there are masses of people coming and going. At first I thought "what about the homeless but then what do they do in general with no public ones? However.........
the news that an airline wants to reduce the number of  restrooms from two to one and it be a pay toilet is outrageous! Stephen McNamara, a Ryanair spokesman states "By charging for the toilets we're  hoping to change passenger behavior so that they use the bathroom before or after" ......Ha, how about the truth...by reducing the number of toilets on board to only one for up to 189 passengers....would allow the carrier to add a half dozen more seats!

Welcome?

Notice the pineapple hanging in the middle of the arch? This is in Providence RI and it is very common to see pineapple door knockers in New England because the pineapple was a symbol of welcome in the 1700 -1800's due to the fact  they were brought home as gifts by seafarers. This made me think of door knockers........

I have been trying to remember the last time I saw a welcoming door knocker...............


On Granny Mountain she posted  these  pictures of a her welcoming  front entrance including her rooster door bell!







and I thought about my doorbell...

It sure doesn't give you any warm and fuzzy's and to make it even worse this is the sign above the door bell......

Definitely not welcoming...........and although this is also above the door bell and says "Nature is the art of God"....

It is in Italian.





 I guess this is the most welcoming thing at my front entrance......

and you would be surprised how many people check themselves out in the mirror......some even take a picture:)

What does your front entrance say about you?

Cactus

My neighbors cactus is in bloom

Speaking of cactus can you believe this.......

A bobcat is stting on top of this saquaro cactus. Wouldn't you think he would pick a nicer spot?
Well according to a couple at a local lake that took these  pictures, he scurried up this cactus because he was being chased by a lion.

I think he is safe don't you?

Better a little pain in leu of being eaten...I win!

A sweet reminder of life

My daughter tucked this bookmark in my Mother's Day  card

Here's what it says:

If you want Rainbows you gotta have rain

In a perfect world, everything would always go right, and life would be filled with sweet warm and fuzzy feelings.

But how would we know if things were good if we had no comparison?

Without the darkness, would we appreciate the light?

Seems to me if we want rainbows we gotta have rain. The trick is to look for the good in every situation.

So go on,  find some puddles and play in the rain!

On the back it says "Let's find some puddles to play in together!"

and she writes "To my Mom: Remembering you with joy in this bookmark!"

Did I ever tell you how special she is:)

Pigeons

Pigeons are unwanted but here is a few interesting facts...

Pairs are monogamous, often breeding in consecutive seasons for as long as both birds of a pair live.

Most will attempt to raise several broods each year. Sometimes as many as four or five broods will be raised in a single year.

Nesting Habits:

The nesting habits of these birds are a bit unique. The male chooses a site in view of the female, selecting one stick and bringing it back, lays it in front of his mate.

The female who stays at the nesting site accepts the sticks the male brings to her and places them underneath her.

The nest of the these birds can be found along building ledges, rafters and beams like my neighbors pillar

I looked over and saw the two birds...

one flew over to my yard and would get something and take it back to the one sitting on the ledge. Sure enough in just one short day they had a decent size nest.

Neighbors got a big ladder and removed the nest, but next morning they were back and starting all over again.

Some people but up spikes so they can't nest.

Last night as we came home from dinner there were no spikes and no pigeons and our neighbors were out in the yard so hubby hollered at them "Did you get rid of the pigeons?"  They said they had used some kind of adhesive to deter them....I assume it was this

It is sad in a way and I have this picture of a busting at the seams pigeon flying around ready to drop a egg and no nest.... but we are convinced that this is the truth of the matter.



Where's George

On Nov. 9, 2009 I posted how I put one dollar into circulation as instructed from the "Where's George" web site.

I just received a email saying my dollar has been re-entered from Conrath, WI. It has traveled 1,378 miles in 1 yr, 170 days, 10 hours, 20 mins at an average of 2.6 miles per day. How cool is that!

Disturbing

This is what we saw from the Palestinians on 9-11 and I remember how disturbing it was to me.

This is America today and yes I understand it, but I still find it disturbing..........there is a fine line between justice and revenge........... Let us be careful to know the difference.

Adding some clarity to this post....I am not opposed to people being happy that justice has been served but I am thinking how easy it is for a group of young people riding around in their cars bought and paid for by their parents to break out in song and raise their fists in victory compared to the young Navy seal that had to shoot and kill a woman that was used as a human shield for that justice to be served. He may have a little different outlook on this victory. Freedom and Justice are hard come by and sadly they both cost lives that only a few are willing to sacrifice for.

Wildlife World Zoo

Hubby shocked me yesterday by saying he wanted to go to the Wildlife World Zoo for his birthday! That would normally be me wanting to go but go we did and it was a great day. This zoo is closer to our home and started out really small. It has grown and grown but maintains a closeness with the animals that other zoo's don't. The pictures will explain...(double click for the original size)

I have always had a way with birds and can usually get them to come close.

Don't you love the feathers on top of his head:)

Awesome!! preening his feathers

Not only did I get him to peek his head out but he also tried to say hello!

Now this is the best part!!! They have added a Baby animal nursery and what a special treat....

Two baby mountain lions..a girl and a boy

A baby lion chewing on a stick

Baby tiger

                                                             
                                                        and baby wart hogs...

They have a Jaguar cage that allows them walk over the top of you and what a picture opportunity to capture this spotted one sound asleep,  I've never seen one so close and he looked so sweet.

He came running when he thought the camera might be food....

They have added a 180,000 gal. aquarium with a restaurant where you can have dinner or lunch and enjoy the view....check out the video from out table.

What a great day......