Thursday, February 2, 2012

First Flight

Is starting a blog on Friday the 13th a good thing?  Well, my Dad was born on the 13th...June 13th, 1905.  Here's a baby picture of my father, Meyer Nicholas Noderer.  I've always felt that the number 13 was my lucky number.  Our first house number was 1313.
This is the original frame.  Notice the pretty dress he's wearing?

I started this blog 2 weeks ago, but today is February 2nd, Ground Hog's Day.  It also happens to be my Mom and Dad's Anniversary.  

 I haven't a clue what I'm doing...but it seems like something I am drawn to do.  I would love for my blog to look as nice as many I've seen, but not sure how to accomplish that.  My dream blogger/person is Susan, at Between Naps on the Porch.  What a neat name.  Her home is lovely, and every post is well thought out and interesting.  I love her decorating style, and love her table scapes.  I could never dream of having so many different dishes and pretty crystal and flatware!

This blog is dedicated to my dear Mother, who passed away in 1977, at the age of 69.  I've out-lived her by two and a half years so far.  She always used to say to me, when I had some hare-brained idea..."When pigs fly you'll do that!"  So...I have a small collection of flying pigs, and they make me think of Mom.  I seem to collect many more things than just pigs with wings.  Looking around my not so elaborate home, I see Roosters, blue and white china, lots of cobalt blue glass, Rabbits (mostly ceramic white ones), Crystal eggs, Glass bells, Ducks and Geese (I love white wooden hand-carved Swans), miscellaneous tea pots, and tea cups and saucers, and a few pieces of Pewter too.  These things are all mixed in with Ron's (hubby) Civil War collection of things.  

Not sure you could say I collect them, but I like clocks.  I have one Grandfather clock, and one Grandmother clock.  Several wall clocks (I don't know how many).  I also like wall candle sconces (Brass, Pewter or Wood), and I love candle holders of all kinds.  I like the look of hurricane globes too.

Here's an old picture of my kitchen table Rooster.  He often sits on my table on a lazy susan.  Yes, you can see I love blue and white and yes my kitchen is wall papered, and yes it is full of roosters.  I can't bring myself to remove that Waverly blue and white check.  It says country kitchen to me...but to someone else it probably just says "outdated".  I have a terrible time making decisions...but I guess no decision is a decision of sorts.


At some point, I want to paint my old 1970's brown cabinets...take out the fluorescent tube lighting in the sink area...would love to move the cabinets around and put in an island, but that might not be in the cards before I leave these earthly bounds.  Maybe one day I'll be sharing some newly painted kitchen cabinets with you!

  I seem to have a schizophrenic decorating style...loving things primitive but also the beautiful, elaborate, colonial things you see in pictures of restored southern mansions... like swagged draperies, heavy damask upholstery, beautiful table linens and antique dishes, canopy beds, sterling silver flatware and serving pieces, gorgeous old tables and antiques.  Things I certainly can't afford.  I'm torn between beautiful brass things and pictures of rich looking, well-decorated colonial mansions, but then again, I love primitive, simple looking things as well.  Handmade things, braided rugs, hand dipped candles, quilts, samplers, hutches and pie cupboards, stenciled wooden signs, and old painted furniture.


I mentioned I like samplers, but I only have 2 in the house...one I did myself back in the 60's.  It needs a decent frame...maybe posting this picture will shame me into a new frame for it!



I found a wonderful primitive site, with lots of inspiration.  It's called "A Primitive Place"   

So much inspiration in their member gallery pictures.  Each picture is a link to the member's own pages and pictures.  I got lost in them for days!


If you like primitive and colonial things, you'll love this site.


Naming This Blog

...the very first step to having a blog...so hard, but each thing I accomplish is sometimes like a seeing a pig take wing, LOL.  Of course, having children on their own now with their own wings...producing little piggies who are starting to fly too, makes me think of Pigs With Wings.  Since "When Pigs Fly" was already taken, and since my little piggies all seem to come home again at some point in their lives (grandson piggy staying here a few nights a week while he works part time at Disney World), I decided to call it "When Pigs Fly Home Again".  

I think I should follow some more blogs to see how things are done, before I share that much.  Now that I'm "elderly", I don't have as many projects or daily activities that anyone would find interesting.

So much to consider...dressing up my blog...what pictures to use...do I have a theme besides pigs with wings?  How do I put a background in?  Look at all those little icons above this compose area!   I hovered over a few...I can change my font...so I highlighted everything typed so far and changed it to Trebuchet...oh...don't think I like that...a little clipped looking...okay...highlight again..and now it's Verdana!  Gee, what else should I change...color maybe?  No...not yet.  Do I have a picture to use for a header?  No...too soon, LOL.  Do I know enough html code to pretty up my blog?  Will my little Canon Powershot A620 camera take good enough pictures?  Probably not...I want the camera Susan at Between Naps on the Porch uses...but my limited Social Security income might not agree.  I have to think long and hard about expenditures now that I'm retired.  Funny, all the years I worked, I longed to be able to shop on a week day...now that I can shop any day of the week, I'm afraid to spend the money.  Another reason to follow blogs and get ideas for dressing things up, at almost no cost...right?

Okay...enough for the first post...which I started 2 weeks ago.  My, how time flies, but not my flying pig posts! LOL