Betty is progressing nicely! She is being moved out of ICU today and into her own room, and starting physical therapy. She’s still very weak and has a long road ahead of her, but PRAISE GOD, she’s coming right along!

Dang it, Tori! Because of you, I keep walking around my house thinking what can I paint or rearrange to make this place look more tastefully decorated. But then I lie down and it goes away…..thank goodness!

I love pictures of place I’ve been, especially if they’re photos by Ansel Adams – Yosemite, Grand Teton, etc., and pictures that remind me my family – past and present. Our family room has mostly family photos. My family on my Mom’s side is American Indian, so we have some great old photos of my great-great-great grandmother, woven baskets given to me through the years, a picture of the ladies sewing circle at the Indian Mission church on the tiny reservation, the old Mission Church. Years ago, my grandmother gave me my baby basket – the one she made for me when I was born; it is on the wall alongside my two sons baskets that other Indian ladies made when they were born.

Upstairs I have a black and white photo of a fence post. I thought it was odd until my aunt told me that it was the actual stake post for my great grandparents’ l80 acres they homesteaded in the early 1900’s.

Another photo is of a cliff – odd, again, until I asked my Dad. He took the photo during World War II when his ship was leaving the harbor in Saipan. When they were first approaching the harbor, many Japanese – whole families – were jumping to their deaths off this cliff, bodies floating in the water. My Dad said they were speechless as they watched this, but he never wanted to forget it – thus the picture he took when they left several weeks later.

It goes on and on…I like to tell the stories of the pictures. They remind me of where I came from.

YES – I’m with delivered – How’s Betty?

Now, in one bedroom I have edition collections of blue plates on every wall. I started the collections when we lived in Buffalo, NY, for a couple of years and would go over into Canada, where they were purchased. I had the collections in my dining room where we last lived. It is different…but I kinda like it. Each of the collections is a different shape, but all blue. On the bureau, I have an antique pitcher and bowl set, including other pieces, and this is in flow blue.

The other bedroom has an assortment of our granddaughter’s art works on the walls (she’s 28 now) as well as assorted framed pictures of her at different times in her life. Over the bed is a pastel of our two older children. Overtop the pastel is an arched floral arrangement.

In my lil home I just have many pics of relatives and immediate family. My home has a music theme running through it mostly of sax “stuff” and music notes. I do have a “wall bringer downer” of a foe painting of a sax with black music notes and pink backing and the gold frame brings the beautiful brass-y colored sax into play. I have statues of the sax being played ranging anywhere from “the Clinton” cat Sox to an old black-man – you feel the warmth of him wailing on from the streets of New Orleans somewhere.

I have a loft upstairs that is my office, den, “music room” and it sports my photography of musicians and singers I have been fortunate enough to meet over the many years of my concert going. That’s it. That’s me!

I like floral prints too. And some botanical prints. And if I was independently wealthy, I’d buy a half dozen Terry Redlin paintings! I love the slightly darkened country scenes with maybe a lantern light shining in the night. I think he is a master at painting light! When I look at them I get that cozy warm feeling I remember from when I was a girl and visiting on my grandparent’s farm, or going to my uncle’s gas station/general store and walking on the old oiled wood floors and picking out a Nehi orange soda from the cooler. I guess I like art that evokes happy memories from times of my life.

I like photographs too. Especially photos of my grandchildren all over the house!!! LOL They make me smile!

My biggest problem in decorating is my chronic indecision! By the time I decide to go with a particular style, it’s all over! That’s why I could never paint my brick fireplace—-that’s a very serious decision that cannot be undone easily. I admire your decorating courage, Tori! And your brick painting project turned out beautifully!

Isn’t it amusing how we all LOVE to talk about our opinions on everything and anything? We are funny folks sometimes!

Gracious, I have been all over the place with paintings. For years, I had a very large print of two Victorian children that I loved. One of my daughters-in-law wanted it so I gave it to her…only to find it over her mother’s fireplace later on. So, I guess everybody liked it.

At present I have a rather large print of two ladies, one old and one younger, sewing or quilting…which our daughter gave to us. I love it, especially because my daughter said tose ladies reminded her of us. I found that touching….never mind that I have never sewed more than a button or turned up pants in my life. On either side of this print are antique lace pieces framed to match the large print. Across the room is another print that had to be its mate for it is of gentlemen playing checkers. I have taken pretty victorian frames and exchanged relatives I don’t even know for soft pictures of flowers and hung them in the sunroom and hall.

In my bedroom over the bed are two horse prints….then on another wall are two pastels done by a friend of mine years ago…one of the Wye oak before lightning struck it and the other of an old barn. Here I made a gallery of these two pastels, plus a painmting of Hitchcock Woods and our former home, and two black and white prints of our daughter jumping with her horses and another walking with the other horses along with the hounds on a fox hunt.

I won’t go any further….but I could tell you about my famous works of art around my home. They are photos of Russ Taff with myself and other various ladies. I have had such fun with this, with Tori’s approval. Of course, when the ladies from the church come, I try to not let them come into my kitchen. (lol)

I like visiting places, and even staying in places that have paintings of interesting looking people on the walls but don’t think I could live with them full-time, I might start talking to them or something. They would also ‘make me jump’ a lot I suspect. Saying that, if I had as many ‘little’ rooms as you seem to I imagine I could expand the themes a bit. In England however, space is at a premium, and having a ‘den’ is now something I aspire too!

Our ‘art’ is mainly of places. Countryside and cities. They are nearly all places we have lived, or have at least been to, and we have bought because they capture something special of the place that makes us smile. My husband’s uncle is an artist and we have one of his watercolours of the Northumberland coastline and also an etching that he did of the Theatre Royal in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. For an engagement present, we perusaded Jon’s Dad to give us an old print of Newcastle that he picked up at an auction years ago and since then have bought different prints by the same artist at a variety of places. It took all our willpower not to steal from the holiday cottage we stayed in last year as they had one we didn’t have on the wall! As well as that we have my favourite Hong Kong paintings that we bought from a local artist during our time there, a painting of a mountain in the lake district, a sketch bought from a street artist in Prague etc. If anyone knows of any nice (not too expensive) paintings of the smokey mountains I would love something from there too.

Also … photos. I need to see family photos.

Actually in the course of writing this my dreams have expanded, forget a den, I want a LIBRARY and in that room, full of beautiful old dusty books I would put lots of paintings of people with interestng faces … and yes, I would talk to them, but who cares?