The Morning Blurb....

Good morning....well I am just now getting up and getting started. I have my coffee on and will be so glad to go in and pour that first cup. I slept REALLY well last night and am not real achy this morning~so glad for that. 

As I got out of my soft, cozy, warm bed I came to the realization that I had promised in my post late yesterday that I intended to post  something every morning. You know that I have hoped to do that several times over the past couple of years but somehow it just doesn't happen. I am facing the fact that I can be quite lazy over many things and that must change. I have developed a bad habit of using my pain and fibro flairs an excuse for not doing things. Don't get me wrong, writing this post literally HURTS. My hands are screaming as I type and my brain fog interferes with my desire to be witty with my words. I find that my best plan of action is to use the same approach I do for getting my housework done during the day~work-a-little-rest-a-little and get done what I can. God has taught me this over the past couple of years as  He has caused me to slow down. Remember, dear ones, I do not blame God for my Fibromyalgia, but I see that He is using this time and my condition to draw me closer to Him. 

Well, sweeties, my good old coffee is ready in the kitchen and I must get started on  my day. I will see those of  you who are on FB as I take my little breaks throughout the day. That is where I like to land for a bit and always love to see what everyone is sharing and posting there. Big ((HUGS)) and I hope that my fibro friends are having a low pain day, too. Maybe tomorrow I will post about something pretty here. That might be my mission today, to find something pretty for tomorrow's post. 

God Bless and Stay Cozy, 

Charlotte <3 div="">

NEW...Changes Ahead

Hello sweet friends! I cannot believe that this day has gone by so quickly! It is now 5:35 PM here, WOW! It seems like it was just a couple of hours ago that my head left my nice, soft, fluffy pillow~ahhhh. It has been a good day and I have accomplished a number of tasks on my "to-do" list. My hubby has been working on our new van as it did need a new rear windshield wiper motor and shocks to the back wheels. We had simpled whole wheat toast and turkey bacon for our breakfast this morning and some yummy pizza for our lunch. I am just getting ready to go in and put together some chicken salad from the left-over rotisserie chicken we had for our supper last night. I love chicken salad sandwiches! 

I have been thinking about this blog and the fact I am back to posting here. I want to make sure that I keep things going, SO....I am going to start putting a new little post on each morning in the tone of a "free-speak" post. You never know what it will be, but it will be straight from the heart, whatever I am thinking in nature. Watch out~lol! Especially on mornings when I am posting my pre-coffee thoughts, oh my! I just think that it will keep things interesting and more personal. I am rather excited to get things started so watch for tomorrow morning's post. 

I love each of you and love reading your blog posts on my Blogger Reading List each day. I am also planning to get back to doing better on my comments to you. Greetings to each of you that also follow me on FB and I hope that your day has been terrific! 

HUGS and Stay Cozy, 

Charlotte

Waking Up

Good morning fellow bloggers and Happy Saturday!!! I am getting ready to go in and make some coffee, but I have just been enjoying a quiet morning of  internet fun: searching for old favorite decorating web sites, checking my email, catching up on FB and so on. Quietly reflecting on the sweet and simple life we have here at our little cottage in town. I simply love mornings like this!!!

I was hoping that we might be going for a little day trip somewhere today, but that was just not in our tiny budget right now, gas prices being what they are and all. We are hoping to make a long-over-due trip to North Carolina real soon to visit my family there, but I am really just needing a little excursion somewhere local; sight seeing if you will. I tend to choose places that are a bit quaint and county for our little trips; "keep it simple sweetie" is my motto. There are several places which are my favorites for such a trip. Our beautiful mountain state has many parks and historical landmarks to visit. One family favorite is Hawks Nest State Park where you can go white water rafting; if you are brave and so inclined. I just usually enjoy the gorgeous view from the overlook to Hawks Nest Canyon and maybe a bit of hiking if the old legs are up to it. I enjoy their good restaurant, too.

Another favorite is beautiful Black Water Falls! It is a bit farther away from us, but oh-so-gorgeous!!! The path down to the falls is a good stretch for the legs; a downward decent down by way of trails and walkways. There was some recent damage caused by Superstorm Sandy, but they are working hard to get everything repaired. The falls get their name from the tannic acid from fallen hemlocks and red spruce needles which color the water amber. Rushing over huge rocks, the falls make quite a dramatic display. The temperature in this area of our state stays refreshingly cool much longer than many other areas. This morning the weather tab on the BWF web page indicated a chilly 59 degrees. The humidity level is most usually high due to the mists created by the falls. If you love a wooded wonderland you really need to make a trip here. 

There are a couple of farm museums that are fun to visit here, as well. We have made a couple of trips to the WV Farm Museum  My mom and dad used to go here a lot and they introduced us to it. There are several old buildings on the site including a school house, a blacksmith shop, a log church and a saw mill. They also have a little country kitchen that is opened only on special event dates. A little closer to us, near Huntington, WV there is the Heritage Farm Museum, but I have never been to this one. It looks wonderful and I have had some homeschool friends tell me that it is a great place to spend the day! There is a charge for their tours but they do have some super Way Back Weekends events that look really special!  

I could go on for pages about the many other places that I love to visit around good ol' WV, but my coffee is ready and the morning is passing, and the front porch is calling my name. Hope you are all having a super Saturday whatever your plans. 

God bless and Stay Cozy, 

Charlotte

Loving the Online Business Life

Good afternoon to everyone of you, dear blog friends! I am really having a sweet day here at my little cottage. I woke up this morning to discover emails from Celebrating Home telling me that customers had placed online orders! That was a GREAT start to my day, I can tell you for sure! I went to my web page and printed them off so that I could send out "Thank You" cards to my online customers. One lady had ordered a Bean Pot and so I also mailed her a bunch of Bean Pot recipes to inspire her meals. Then I helped my sweet hubby to put away some groceries, got our lunch and then went outside to rock on my front porch for a bit. So relaxing! (sigh) 

I started thinking about the online direct sales experience. Have you ever looked into the window of a store and just fell in love with the displays and the products that were inside only to find that the service was just not your cup-of-tea? Maybe you just did not hit it off with the sales staff, or the manager was cold and inattentive to your questions? Maybe the prices were too high and there was no chance of a sale or some type of special which would allow you to purchase the items you wanted for half-price or maybe even get them for FREE! This is precisely I find the direct sales approach so inviting. My online store is opened 24 hours a day, the service is quick and, should you have questions, you can send me a quick email or even call me direct (my number is on my FB page) and I will be glad to help you with your questions. I try very hard to be available to my customers. When your order is $39.00 or more, you can choose selected BONUS Buy items for a really ridiculously low price of $9.99. When your personal order or combined sales order (you and some friends decide to order together) reaches $200.00 in retail merchandise, then you can choose your choice of 20% of the total (before taxes) in FREE merchandise! WOW!!! No other brick-and-mortar retail store has that kind of program running, at least none that I know of. 

Now this is the real beauty of it all, remember the above scenario about the lovely shop with the unfriendly shop staff? Well, friends, if for some unforeseen reason you are not happy with my customer service, then you can leave my little "shop" but still have access to the same beautiful wares I offer there through thousands of other Celebrating Home designers all across the USA. Though I will do my absolute best to keep you happy and coming back to my little "shop" online. 

I am sipping a cup of blueberry tea as I type to you and thinking it is about time to go and start our supper of chicken-with-dumplings. Remember to visit my page on FB for even more fun, product reviews and recipes, too. There are always many pretty things to see there and I love when everyone comments and has fun chatting together. I hope that you all have had a beautiful day and worked in some time for just relaxing and sitting on the porch for a bit. That is my favorite time of this season. 

God bless and Stay Cozy, 

Charlotte

How Does Your Garden Grow

Oh my, sweet friends; don't think I'm running a fever or anything, but here I am writing a second post for the day! Well, you know for me it's all or nuthin'~heehee. I am either in a writing frenzy (and that hasn't happened for the longest time) or completely dry of all words. We are having one of those GORGEOUS days today; not too hot, not too chilly and my sweet hubby is out mowing the grass for the little insurance business next door. He does it for them every-other-week and it is pleasant work for him. I have been on this old computer on and off during the day and have been having fun visiting friends and family on Facebook. In between FB visits I have been doing dishes and laundry and a bit of straightening up and decided to go out on my back porch for some fresh air and sunshine~ahhhh. I took my good old camera to capture some photos of the sweet little Annabelle Hydrangea given to me by my cousin late last summer. It had died down during the winter and I was really afraid that it would not come back, but here it is~growing and thriving and BLOOMING!!! Aren't those blooms just gorgeous! I can't wait until this little plant grows into a HUGE shrub at my back steps! I am on my way to having real "grandma" flowers around my home~YAY!!! I would love to get some roses out by next summer.

I also took time to snap some pictures of our various tomato plants. They are all growing well and starting to get some pretty nice 'maters on them.

Here is a shot of the potatoes that we have planted. This is our first year for growing potatoes and I think we might want to find a bigger place for them next year. My hubby bought a bag of mixed varieties including one that is blue! We will see how they turn out. 

So glad that we have things growing around our home. I am missing the good pepper plants we had last year. They were so good and produced so many yummy peppers. We planted some seeds but they did not come up for some reason. Oh well, there is always next year. Thank you friends for letting me share a little of our life with you through this little blog. You are all so sweet to stop by and read about us. 

Hugs and Stay Cozy,   

Charlotte

Our Home; Our Haven

Good morning, dear ones! I am having one of those sweet, quiet mornings that seem to be too few and far between as of late. To top things off, rather sweetly, I am not in any great amount of pain from my fibro this morning, either~YAY! I am just thankful for this sweet time of rest and my dear little cottage home. I am glad for this place to keep clean, to enjoy my family, to prepare good meals, to decorate and express myself. It feels so good to have this place that God has given us as a temporary nest for our family here on His earth. Just wanted to share a quick post about it this morning while I am sipping on my cup of coffee during a little break. Hoping that you are all having a day that is sweetly blessed. 

Hugs to all, 

Charlotte

A WAHM Day

Hello swee friends! Today I am blissfully working from home! I haven't had a chance to do this for a while and OH, how I have missed it. I have printed off flyers from the Celebrating Home news emails and called a couple of customers. I have posted some specials on my Facebook page and my personal profile page and now I am taking time to blog a bit to you. I have been giving some thought lately to closing down my little home business as time for it has been a bit sparse, what with my mom and my mother-in-law needing us more and more and my own health issues rearing their ugly little heads. Not to mention the fact that I am just not as organized or enthusiastic as I was in past years. I really don't make huge marginal amounts of money with it, but sometimes the earnings do come in handy and I really do love the freedom of working from home. I said a HUGE prayer over it yesterday and this morning my Lord has motivated me to get busy and try to do better. My plans and goals for the next few years include finally opening a small brick-and-mortar gift and home decorating shop~that would be my dream-come-true!!! I pray that the Lord will make a way for me to do that and that my little shop will honor Him and all that He has done for my life. For now I will continue to promote my humble web page with Celebrating Home and tell you that this little company has been such a blessing to me over the past 20 years~creatively, spiritually and financially. I have met so many wonderful friends and customers through them and learned so much about decorating and providing a valuable service to others, I am just so glad that I took the leap and joined (then) Home Interiors and Gifts, Inc. back in 1993. It was truly a step in the right direction. I would invite each of you to use the link at the top of my blog and visit my personal Celebrating Home web page and check out all of the GORGEOUS home and fashion accessories they offer! Remember, you can contact me via this blog, Facebook or email if you have any questions about the products or about decorating in general anytime you wish. I am here to serve you and love doing so.Well, back to my work day. Hope that you are having a very blessed day!!!

Hugs and Stay Cozy, 

Charlotte

Singing a Song of Thanksgiving and Praise

Good afternoon, my sweet cottage blog friends!!! I am just getting home from taking my momma to her Wednesday appointment for whirlpool therapy on her legs and I wanted to take time to blog a bit. I really miss sitting down on a regular basis to type a little bit about life around my dear old cottage. I also miss taking time to sit with a cuppa tea with time to leisurely read through all of your beautiful blogs and catch up a  bit. Well, here I am now and there are some really cool things that I wanted to share, so here we  go!!!

First of all, let me say that GOD is so GOOD!!! He never ceases to amaze me with His Providence or His timing! He is Faithful to supply all our needs whether Spiritual, mental, physical or, when most needed, material! Let me give you our latest example: we were getting ready to head out the door this past Friday to a Spring Dance being hosted for our local homeschool kids at a nearby Country Club when our phone rang. On the other end was my sweet cousin, mom's niece, and she wanted to talk to my hubby "about something important". She and he talk often as my whole family just adores that man and the way he takes care of us here. Anyway, I took the phone to him and continued to groom Caleb and myself a bit for the dance. All of a sudden I hear my husband exclaim, "You're kidding me!!!!". Well, I knew it had to be something REALLY good or REALLY bad; I was hoping for GOOD~lol. They continued to talk for a few more minutes and then I heard him make arrangements for us to go down to her house on Saturday. When they got off the phone, he says to me, "you're not going to believe this!!!". "What, come on tell me", I said. Get ready folks, here it comes......She wanted to buy us a VAN!!!! Can you believe that!!! I almost fainted!!! She had seen one at a dealership right down the road from her and wanted us to come down and look at it and take it out on a test drive on Saturday to make sure we wanted it. We were just THRILLED! Needless to say, the dance was great, but it kind of took a second seat to this news!!! PRAISE GOD, it was an answer to a long-time prayer! For those of you who have read my little old blog for the last couple of years you know a bit about my poor, rusty old van from some previous posts. It does still run but is getting close to needing some major work and lovin'~lol. This new one is a 2006 Chevy Uplander that is loaded with all kinds of cool amenities. It is a one-owner vehicle clear of any bad reports or problems which had previously belonged to a local florist shop and has right around 78,650 miles on it. Our poor old 1998 Ford Windstar had racked up a neat 286,350 miles over the past 15 years. We got to drive it home on Saturday as the dealership was able to do all of the insurance and title transfers right on the spot~COOL! We just LOVE it! God's timing and Providence are just wonderful! My cousin said that this was something that He had just laid  on her heart as she knew that all of the trips mom and I had been making back and forth to her PT and doctor appointments was placing a strain on our old van. I will have some pictures of the van and the dance and a fun nature trail hike we took on Saturday morning here for you tomorrow. For now I just wanted to post this latest news and Praise God for this blessing to us. Hoping that you are all having a beautiful day!!!

God bless and Stay Cozy, 

Charlotte

The Simple Woman's Daybook~April 18, 2013

FOR TODAY: Thursday, April 18, 2013

Outside my window...

Bright and beautiful sunshine!!! The temperature is a balmy 79 degrees and it is supposed to get up in the 80s before the day is over! YAY! My sweet hubby has just gone out to mow our grass (well dandelions, clover and violets, anyway~lol). We have a very natural landscape. :-) 

I am thinking...

That it seems good to feel like writing again. I am no longer going to compare myself or my little blog to anyone else's blog, I am only going to write from the heart and enjoy sharing those things which God lays on my heart to share. I have been very guilty of feeling that mine was somewhat less than important as I know that I am often not as eloquent as others. I have long struggled with feeling inadequate and inferior all of my life...something that I have had to hand to the Lord over and over again. I am now shaking my fist in the old devil's face and telling him to get out of my way. There is too much glory to give to God to allow old Satan to get in my way by lying to me. God is always greater and He is my courage and my confidence!!! 

I am thankful...

For every good blessing that the Lord has given me! I could not list them all on this page, even if I tried. I will say an extra BIG thank-you to Him for His love, for Jesus my Savior, for my beautiful family, for this sweet home and for His Providence and care each new day!

In the kitchen...

We just finished a fine breakfast of fried eggs, bacon and toast. I am not sure what we are having for our supper this evening, yet. 

I am wearing...

New little beige and pink striped cotton Capris pants that I bought the other day and a pink cotton tee shirt.

I love Capris! They are just so comfortable as they are not too long and not too short. I most always wear some kind of tee shirts now days as anything else is just too binding with my fibro.  

I am creating...

No crafts going on right now. I am creating a warm and loving home environment for my family; that is a constant. I really don't have a lot of time or energy for crafting at this time as I am busy taking my mom to and from her weekly physical therapy appointments and doctor's appointments. She loves to go shopping and out for lunch during her outings, as well. We are out and about 2-3 days a week. At 84, she can get around better than me most of the time~lol. 

I am going...

To my mother-in-laws later on this evening and then out with mom tomorrow. 

I am wondering...

Where the time goes....I know we all say this, but it just seems that the days fly by so much faster now than when I was younger. My dad used to always tell me that they would, he was so very wise. 

I am reading...

Various poetry and devotional books, my favorite magazines and other little books that are good to grab a quick glance at when I get a minute to sit down and read a bit. This is not the season of my life for War and Peace~LOL! 

I am hoping...

That mom is soon released from her Physical Therapy. We have been going for the past three months and it is starting to wear both of us out. She has issues with ulcers and a skin condition on her legs and they have been giving her whirlpool treatments and wrapping them. She is to go and see a vein specialist and a dermatologist soon to see if there is any other course of treatment for her. Please keep her in your prayers.

I am looking forward to...

The weekend and getting our front porch cleaned off for porch-sittin' season. That is what we are planning on getting done, anyway. 

I am learning

Once again to Let Go and Let GOD! Also learning my limitations and that I cannot do it all in one day. 

Around the house...

There are clothes drying in the dryer and my hubby is running the weed eater outside.Caleb is quietly working on building something on Mine Craft. 

I am pondering...

How hard I used to work when I was younger and how much has changed over the past 10 years.

A favorite quote for today...

Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night.  

~Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke

One of my favorite things...

The beautiful bloom of the Red Bud trees on the hills around my house!

A few plans for the rest of the week:

Trips out with mom, cooking, cleaning, some much needed organizing in my office; the usual homely things that we do around our dear cottage.

Here is a little picture that I will share with you: 

My Narcissus blooming earlier this month.

Thank you for taking a minute to read my Daybook entry. If you would like to post an entry in The Simple Woman's Daybook visit the link here. I would like to take a minute to that Peggy for hosting the Daybook, she is a continuing inspiration and encouragement for me to keep on blogging. I would also like to thank all of my blog sisters and thank each of you for not giving up on me as I have gone through my recent "dry spell". You ladies are the BEST!!! 

Big Hugs and Stay Cozy, 

Charlotte 

Gearing Up To Get A NEW Start

Hello sweet friends! Did you wonder if you were ever going to hear from me again~lol?!?! I am pulling myself up by my almost worn-out bootstraps to get back into this little old blog of mine. I have realized just how much I miss posting about my life and business events around here. I also miss keeping up with all of you and what is going on in your lives. So, I will be back here at least a couple of days each week to post something of interest whether it is just my daily events or a recipe or a little poem or whatever might come to my poor feeble mind~heehee. For now I am just getting ready to climb our little cottage stairway to get some much needed shut eye. I will be back online in the morning, so hope to see you here or on FB or Twitter. 

For now I am sending you love and hugs and wishes that you have nothing but sweet dreams. 

Hugs and Stay Cozy, 

Charlotte

New Year, New Start

Hello my dear ones, hope you are all having a beautiful Saturday! I am extra elated today as I have finally resolved some really pesky issues with my good old PC :-) It has been down since before the New Year and I have been a terribly grumpy old mom because of it~lol. To make a VERY L-O-N-G story short, I had picked up a pretty nasty virus and my older son had come by and cleared everything back to ZERO, but when he tried to re-load my version of XP he ran into some problem with one of the DLL files. WELL, don't ask me how but this morning I was able to download the Service Pack 3 update and then my Internet Explorer 8 update and now all is fine~YIPPEE!!! I am so VERY happy to be back online!
I am hoping to get back to doing some serious blogging this year as I am now back at home full time and am going to get back to my path of being a full-time WAHM and decorator! I have picked up some NEW lines of merchandise to offer my clients and customers~very pretty and all resonably priced, too.
I just wanted to stop by the old CHC Blog to say, "Hello" and give you all an update.

God Bless and Stay Cozy,
Charlotte <3 data-blogger-escaped-="data-blogger-escaped-" script="script" src="http://w.sharethis.com/button/sharethis.js#publisher=c543db06-822a-4e9c-acde-6227b557f1a7&type=website&buttonText=Share%20the%20Cozy&embeds=true&post_services=email%2Cfacebook%2Ctwitter%2Cgbuzz%2Cmyspace%2Cdigg%2Csms%2Cwindows_live%2Cdelicious%2Cstumbleupon%2Creddit%2Cgoogle_bmarks%2Clinkedin%2Cbebo%2Cybuzz%2Cblogger%2Cyahoo_bmarks%2Cmixx%2Ctechnorati%2Cfriendfeed%2Cpropeller%2Cwordpress%2Cnewsvine&button=false" type="text/javascript">

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