Sunday, May 31, 2009

Out in the GARDEN Party~


Follow this MELLOW YELLOW
tiger swallowtail to the party...


she is going to love these orange roses.

The sun is shining and a cool gentle breeze
is blowing on this special day
as we celebrate Rhondi's birthday

PORCH PARTY style!

Rocks on the table?
Why not here at RockCandy.

Expecting a large crowd I spread things out a bit.

At one end of the porch help yourself to some
refreshing Garden Tea Punch

Added to the tea is orange & lemon juice,
and club soda to give it that sunshine yellow color.
The ice cubes have edible pansy petals inside.
(fill trays half with water & place the petal, freeze, then fill & freeze again.)

~~MENU~~

Cheese Tart

Endive Leaves with Artichoke Caviar

Herb Dip with Veggies

and of course some

Texas Roasted Nuts

And since this is a birthday party I have some presents.
But not sure which Rhondi would like.
Could you please help me pick one?

Keeping in step with BLUE MONDAY

GIFT #1

Most girls like to get flowers and these come
in a vintage bold blue tub.

GIFT #2

How about a kitchen redo with some powder blue accents.


GIFT #3

And really, what girl doesn't like shoes or jewerly?

To see more yellow ~ click this YELLOW button
and
To see more blue ~ click this BLUE button
and
To get back on the Porch Party fun track
just push this TRAVEL
button and you're off.

Happy Birthday to Rhondi!

~Candy~

Saturday, May 30, 2009

A Book off My Shelf~


'Once Leota's garden was a place of beauty--where flowers bloomed and hope thrived. It was her refuge from the deep wounds inflicted by a devastating war, her sanctuary where she knelt before a loving God and prayed for the children who couldn't understand her silent sacrifices.

At eighty-four, Leota is alone, her beloved garden in ruins. All her efforts to reconcile with her adult children have been fruitless. She voices her despair to a loving Father, her only friend.

And God brings a wind of change through unlikely means: one, a college student who thinks he has all the answers; the other, the granddaughter Leota never hoped to know. But can the devastation wrought by keeping painful family secrets be repaired before she runs out of time?'

Wanted to share a book I enjoyed reading
several years ago. I have read many of
her books and have liked the all.

Maybe you do or will too!

~Candy~

Grab a PINK party dress!


As I mentioned in my PINK post down below
I'm a 'fly by the seat of my pants' gal.
After stumbling into several
PINK SATURDAY posts this morning...

I had to run home and find my party dress.
Found several, so if any one else needs one,
help yourself.

Happy PINK Birthday Saturday!

Now don't forget to visit my REAL PINK post below

;-)

Friday, May 29, 2009

Red + White = PINK

I have just about decided to have my own
PINK SATURDAY STAMP...
So here I sit looking in from afar.

I am a 'fly by the seat of my pants' gal who

can't seem to get it together to join

all the others over at Beverly's.

Today I take inspiration from Rebecca of
A Gathering of Thoughts
because as she shared on my RED post yesterday,

She is a Pink girl at heart!
So come on in and enjoy...




Aren't these pillows dreamy?

They are from Pretty Shabby,

and there are more if you want to see.

~Candy~

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Red you say?

I recently came across this stamp on someone's blog.
Upon further investigation I discovered a whole
group of folks that have this thing for RED.
They have it and they show it to each other.
Red stuff!
Well what do you think I should do?
What do you think I did?

Not wanting to be left behind,
I dug around and found this vintage velvety
head thingy and...

and off I went.

I had to find my way to this place called
Poofing the Pillows.
That's where I would see all this red stuff.


First stop...knock, knock.


Please, excuse me. Didn't mean to wake you.


Buzz, Buzz went the button...


Too cold, too modern. I think I'll keep going.


After one knock the door creaked and almost fell
from the rusty hinges.


Oh, My! Not very good room service.
I will definitely keep looking.
But it is getting late and I am getting rather tired.


I just had to rest. Parked my bicycle and sat next to
these RED flowers.
Maybe I have been looking for the wrong thing all along.


I peeked inside the window and...


I knew this was it.
What I had been looking for all along.

I curled up under the soft comforter
and dreamed of all the other
RED stuff.

Hope you have sweet dreams too!

~Candy~

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

You were invited~


I dreamed last night of an evening with friends.
I served the most delicious dishes
that had us all savoring every morsel.
Gathered around the table were my new friends,
you sweet ladies that
offer support and encouragement with
funny, witty and clever comments.


One of the ladies, Spencer was her name, brought me
the most lovely hostess gift. As I untied the twine
which held a twig of forever leaves,
my eyes fell upon a bloomin' card.
Each little detail had to be examined.
Then I unfolded the most intricate
needle work with beads and golden cords.
Oh, it's a pillow cover!
This dream just kept getting better and better.

And then I awoke...

to find this at the foot of my bed.

In blogland my dreams really do come true!

Thank you Spencer~
and
Thank you all~
for bringing a smile to my heart.

And be sure to visit & thank Susan~
for hosting Tablescape Thursday.

~Happy Candy~

Stone Arches~


Now this is something one might
see here at Rock Candy Ranch

sitting on a cool morning looking out over
the hills and praising the
awesome God of creation!

Hope you live this day to its fullest.

~Candy~

just below are two other Wednesday posts

~What I wish was on my wall~

~Wordless Wednesday~

What's on my walls?
Not this but I like it. Due to a remodel
at Rock Candy, I lost some windows in my
bedroom. So when I found this in a magazine
I was on the hunt for windows.
Still hunting...

Hey, Dixie, how 'bout Wimberley
Market Days in June ?

~Candy~

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Wordless Wednesday~


O.K. Miss Dixie you said,
"Salt & Pepper."








Hope your day is seasoned just right!
oink~oink back to Dixie
~Candy~

Monday, May 25, 2009

Honoring Their Father & Grandfather

Scoutmaster (hubby) Eagle Scout (son)

...rose of memory



Saluting Mosaic Monday at the Little Red House

THANKFULLY
~Candy~

Sunday, May 24, 2009

A Warrior with Honor

Look carefully at the B-17 and note how shot up it is--one engine dead, tail, horizontal stabilizer and nose shot up. It was ready to fall out of the sky. (This painting was done by an artist from the description of both pilots many years later.) You see that there is a German ME-109 fighter flying next to it? Now read the story below.

Charlie Brown was a B-17 Flying Fortress pilot with the 379th Bomber Group at Kimbolton, England. His B-17 was called 'Ye Old Pub' and was in a terrible state, having been hit by flak and fighters. The compass was damaged and they were flying deeper over enemy territory instead of heading home.

After flying over an enemy airfield, a German pilot named Franz Steigler was ordered to take off and shoot down the B-17. When he got near, he could not believe his eyes. In his words, he 'had never seen a plane in such a bad state.' The tail and rear section was severely damaged, and the tail gunner wounded. The top gunner was all over the top of the fuselage. The nose was smashed and there were holes everywhere.

Despite having ammunition, Franz flew to the side of the B-17 and looked at Charlie Brown, the pilot. Brown was scared and struggling to control his damaged and blood-stained plane.

Aware that they had no idea where they were going, Franz waved at Charlie to turn 180 degrees. Franz escorted the guided the stricken plane to, and slightly over, the North Sea towards England. He then saluted Charlie Brown and turned away, back to Europe. When Franz landed he told the CO that the plane had been shot down over the sea, and never told the truth to anybody. Charlie Brown and the remains of his crew told all at the briefing, but were ordered never to talk about it.

More that 40 years later, Charlie wanted to find the Luftwaffe pilot who saved the crew. After years of research, Franz was found. He had never talked about the incident, not even at post-war reunions.

They met in the USA at a 379th Bomber Group reunion, together with 25 people who are alive now--all because Franz never fired his guns that day.

When asked why he didn't shoot them down, Stigler later said, "I didn't have the heart to finish those brave men. I flew beside them for a long time. They were trying desperately to get home and I was going to let them do that. I could not have shot at them. It would have been the same as shooting at a man in a parachute."



Both men died in 2008.
(click here for more of this story)

Just one of many stories of war...
many sad but also some with a happy ending.

Join me in honoring those that have given all,
to keep this great nation going.

Salute!

Selah~

"Had it not been the LORD who was on our side,"

Blessed be the LORD,
Who has not given us
to be torn by their teeth.
Our soul has escaped as a bird
out of the snare of the trapper;
the snare is broken and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name
of the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth.

Psalm 124:1,7-8

~Praise the LORD~

Friday, May 22, 2009

Dreaming in Pink~


Saturday, lovely PINK Saturday.


Rooms full of that feeling of oh my yes,
PINK!



From soft pale pink to bold bright hot pink.


Wishing all you sweeties a lovely
PINK
Saturday

~Candy~