LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE

Hello dear friends!   Hope all is well in your neck of the woods.  Spring is slow to come in our little corner of the world, but ever so slowly winter is ebbing  away, and even if we don't think it's spring the birds are cheerfully proclaiming otherwise.  Is there anything more comforting than the song from a red-winged blackbird?   Something about it reminds me of strawberry fields and wild roses.  There's is no better tonic for a crazy world than to just close your eyes, turn your face to the sun and just listen to the birds.  God is in His heaven; all is right with the world. Browning knew a thing or two!

This month we traveled to North Carolina to see our new little grandson, Ezekiel.  What a beautiful baby, with his pale hazel eyes and little rosebud mouth!  Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera, so we have no visual recording of our meeting. But it's just as well as I find cameras rarely do any of us justice.  Better the moment lives on  in my mind.  It was so nice to travel to warmer clime and fun to climb up and down the mountainous byways, but at the end of the day the nicest sight was when we turned into our drive and spotted our little gray cottage. 

To say that I am not a traveler, would be an understatement.  I like to see new sights but am a firm believer that there's plenty of new experiences right in our own backyards if we care to look.  And it's a lot easier on the pocketbook!   But one nice thing about traveling is that it reaffirms that here is where I belong.  I just had the thought when I uploaded this picture of our kitchen, that this is the type of kitchen when watching those home renovation shows that the host takes one look at and says "Total gut job!".   But granite counter tops and nickle-plated hardware in this house would be as out of place as putting lipstick on a pig.  It's time like this that I wish I were a better photographer, so that I could capture the wonderful golden glow that comes from the window and just the feeling of serenity that I have we I come down the ships ladder of a stairway and enter it's cozy little space.  My wish for everyone is that they have a place that they feel at perfect peace.  I'm sure it would be the answer to all the violence and hatred that permeates this old planet. 

You can't have peace if there's a lot of chaos going on, so to help alleviate  that problem here, Ran built this little window seat for our upstairs landing.  I store my fabric in it.

 He used an old foot board  from a bed we no longer needed and that beautiful old board for the top was found in the crawl space of a Victorian house we used to own.  It's cork pine, which is now extinct.  It's amazing that the wood hadn't rotted away because it is well over a hundred years old.  That's a testimony to a nice dry house!  We bought the HL hinges at garage sale, eons ago.  Total cost for the project was about $5.    I did some re-purposing of my own and made these tote bags out of some old window valances.

My hope was, that if I had cute shopping bags, I wouldn't forget to use them.  Fat chance!   Some habits are hard to break.   But I am getting better, now they get as far as the backseat of the car.

I found the valances at the thrift store.  Aren't thrift stores wonderful?  I really don't understand why people shun them.  Of course some are better than others.  I've never found anything worthwhile in our local Goodwill and the Salvation Army  rarely has much.  The stores I like are the little ones run by dear sweet ladies for church charities.  They always have the best vintage linens and serving pieces.  The junior league  type stores yield the nicest clothes.   It's funny, but I'm a bit of a clothes snob, in spite of buying my clothes second hand.  I only buy labels from  designers like Ralph Lauren and Ellen Tracy and stores like Nordstroms and Saks Fifth Avenue.  And yes you can find those things, but it takes time and patience.  This past winter I found a brand new with tags  ($246!) on gray cashmere tunic from Lands End  for $3.  And a pretty pale teal handbag from Marshall Fields.  I had to buy that just for the label because alas, poor Marshall Fields is no longer.  Some people think eww!  clothes that others have worn, but I assume someone may have tried on the clothes at the store, so they've been worn before also,  And I've order clothes and found lipstick stains and other tell-tale signs of previous wear on them, so I don't worry about that.  Besides, you are going to wash them before you wear them. New clothes are only new once, then you wear them and they are used anyway.  I'd much rather buy a a used sweater of good quality, than buy new cheaper clothes of shoddy quality. Here's some tips for thrift store shopping:

1.  Go with a plan. Knowing what "holes" you need to fill in your closet, keeps you focused. 

2.  I've found that having a color scheme helps so that you don't end up with a bunch of mismatched items.  My basic color them is gray, cream  and oatmeal with a bit of pale teal and lavender thrown in for good measure.  Other classic color combos are navy-gray-cream,  black-white, brown-tan. If it's not in that color scheme, I don't bother looking at it.

3.  Buy classic pieces.  Edith Head said that anything extreme, eventually become ugly, and just looking at an old high school yearbook will prove that!  Some things never go out of style, like pea coats, pencil skirts, plain white blouses,  simple button down cardigans. 

4.   Know your style.   Over the years I've learned what looks good on my shape and fit's my lifestyle.  There's no purpose of me looking at floaty little skirts and little rosebud sprigged blouses, no matter how cute they are.  They just don't look right on me. 

5.  Don't shop with children and husbands that step on your heels.  Thrifting takes time. 

6.  Look for quality.  Plaids should match at the seams.  No pills on sweater.  Nice finished seams. Lining in woolen skirts, etc. Natural fabrics like linen, wool, etc. You know quality when you see it.

7.  Don't be afraid to alter a garment.  Sometimes all it takes to make dress look nice is new buttons or a skirt shortened.  Or the shoulder pads removed.

8.  Sometime all it takes to make something look nice is a good ironing job.  This goes for new clothes too.  Sometimes I think I need to do a tutorial on ironing, I think it's becoming a lost art!

9.  If something doesn't work out for you, bundle it back up and re-donate it back to charity.  Don't clutter up your closets with stuff you don't wear.  All of my clothes fit on two shelves of a linen press and a couple of dresses hanging in the closet, yet my husband calls me a clothes horse!   By buying classics in my color scheme, I have endless combinations. 

10.  As with everything, it's quality over quantity.  Some days you'll come away without finding anything.  Other days, you'll have a windfall.  It seems it's either feast or famine with thrifting.

I couldn't end without giving you one thrifty recipe.  This is our latest favorite for snack:

Buffalo Cauliflower


4 tbsp. butter or margarine
1/4 cup hot sauce
1 head of cauliflower, broken into flowerets
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter and sauce together.  Toss the cauliflower with the mixture.  Place on a large cookie sheet.  Roast at 425 degrees  for 20 minutes.  Give them a good  stir once midway through the roasting process. Cauliflower should start to darken and become soft when done.  Serve with blue cheese  or ranch dressing for dipping.  Or eat them plain.  A nice healthy alternative to french fries, especially if you use one of those heart healthy, olive oil based  margarines  instead of butter.

NO, I'M NOT BACK, BUT JUST A QUICK UPDATE

Hello dear friends!   I just wanted to update you on all that was going on in my little corner of the world.  Hope all is well with yours!


Since we last "spoke" my two adorable grandsons have been born.  First Felix in October.

And then Ezekiel in November.  They are at the the giggling stage, and it's really fun to watch them grow.

We have also weathered Hurricane Sandy  and quite a few snowstorms. And in between times Ran has built me new kitchen cabinets.   The next thing we are working on is redoing some diamond paned leaded glass windows to use in enclosing our porch.   So you see, life is busy even for two old retired folks!   Hope everyone has a nice week ahead and a joyous Easter!

TO EVERYTHING THERE IS A SEASON

backyard at Sweet Briar Cottage

                                                To everything there is a season,                                               
                                                a time for every purpose under the sun.
                                                A time to be born and a time to die;
                                                a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
                                                a time to kill and a time to heal ...
                                                a time to weep and a time to laugh;
                                                a time to mourn and a time to dance ...
                                                a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;
                                                a time to lose and a time to seek;
                                                a time to rend and a time to sew;
                                                a time to keep silent and a time to speak;
                                                a time to love and a time to hate;
                                                a time for war and a time for peace.

                                                            ~ ecclesiastes 3:1~

 

Hello dear friends!   First I'd like to thank all of you kind and gentle souls that wrote to me to inquire about my absence and left me encouraging little notes.  Words will never express how very dear those words have meant to me.  

 

We have  arrived at  a new season of life at Sweet Briar Cottage.    My darling Ran has retired and now has taken up residence.  We have managed to squeeze him in, but it has taken a lot of organizing and disencumbering to reach the point where he now has a place for his necessities and treasures.   Retirement is like all important steps in life, first you analyze it from all angles, then you pray over it, then, like all major decisions you just take a giant leap of faith and do it!   Just like deciding to marry or to have children, if you get too analytical about it, logic would say it's impossible, but in the end you must follow your heart.  

Retirement means big changes in our lives.  For one, we will be as poor as church mice. But that's fine with me, because I've always loved the challenge of making a dime stretch into a dollar.  There's always something new to learn about being thrifty.  Do you know what I did yesterday?   I made my own vinegar from the peels left over from the apples I was freezing!   Now that I have a "mother" batch, I'll never have to buy cider vinegar again, as long as there's windfall apples in the world! 

Another exciting event for us, is that our house renovation is finally finished!   Above is a picture of our little cottage.   The first I've ever shown you of it taken from the front.  I had always hated the big ugly picture window and the aluminum siding  that was scratched and really just an eyesore.    The final touch was placing the "Sweet Briar" quarterboard  over the door.  Ran and I have scrimped and saved for years to  redo this little cottage.   Even before we owned it.  We always dreamed of a little cottage on Nantucket, but of course, some dreams are out of our grasp, but now we live in a little seaside town with or gray weathered shake Cape Cod and we are overjoyed.  Lesson learned - find a way to make your dreams come true, even if it is not the conventional way.  I had to cut down all of my roses so the workers wouldn't complain, but I can't wait until the grow back and travel up and over the roof again.   I'm sure Jeff, our contractor, will have a fit, but the cottage has to live up to it's name, so he'll just have to look the other way when he drives past!   Don't you think the front yard is crying out for a white picket fence?

My dear friends, this will be my final post.  I have discovered that life with Ran leaves very little free time!  I really admire all you gals that  home school, knit beautiful things, put three meals on the table AND blog.  Maybe time management is something I need to work on!   Goodness!   By the time I make breakfast, do the dishes, get cleaned up and dressed, make the beds, gather what needs to be gathered from the gardens, and  walk to the post office, my morning is over and it's time to start in on making lunch.  How do you all do it?  Anyway, I'll still leave my blog open, so that those that wish to communicate with me can leave a note in the comment section. Or you can e-mail me.  I will still try to leave comments on your blogs as often as I can find a spare moment.  

So I leave you with my final piece(es) of wisdom.  Never borrow trouble.  Always seek joy.  Never try to keep up with the Joneses, but look for contentment in your own little world.  Be encouraging, rather than discouraging.  Remember there's no such word as "can't".  Self-sufficiency is the only true path to freedom.  Jealousy is such a useless emotion, no one get richer, thinner, or happier by envying others.  Never complain about the cards you have been dealt in life, others have it much worse.  Speaking of which, there will always be someone that is more  talented, more beautiful, richer, thinner, luckier, than you, so you best just get on with learning to be content with "you" and your lot in life before the whole shooting match is over.  But most importantly always remember that this is a day which the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it! (Psalms 118:24)

                                      LOVE, PEACE, AND HAPPINESS TO ALL!

TOMATO TIME!

Hello dear friends!   Sorry if I've been pokey about leaving comments on your blog lately.  Just been very busy, which I know is a very poor excuse.  There is always time for friends!

One of the things we've been up to is canning spaghetti sauce.  Here's my recipe: hopeandthrift.blogspot.com/2011/08/bounty-of-earth.html
This is a great recipe because you don't have to remove the skins, and since the tomatoes are on the small side this year it really is the only way I'd be able to cope with them .   Made a couple dozen pints already.  We never can get enough of this stuff!

All the large tomatoes  go toward making tomato sandwiches.   A really thrifty meal this time of the year and nothing taste better!  Here's how:

How to Make a Tomato Sandwich

Spread  good sturdy bread (we use sourdough)  with mayonnaise. As much or as little as you want, but more is always better.  BTW, there is vegan mayo out there.  Next, thinly slice an onion and place atop the bread.  Red onions are the best, but an onion is an onion.  Next place thick slices of farm fresh tomatoes over the onions and sprinkle liberally with fresh black pepper and less so with the salt.  Grill.  Note:  we've found that heating a skillet with olive oil and then placing the bread on the skillet, turning once to coat the bread, makes the nicest toasted sandwiches.  No burnt bread from uneven butter distribution.  OH!   And mozzarella cheese is always a nice addition, if you are so inclined. There you have it, nothing finer in the world!

One thing that is keeping my mind preoccupied is this.  We are finally getting our house resided.  I feel somewhat like Mr. Blandings as we make decisions about where, what and how.   Exciting though!

I found this quote the other day.

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play and pray in, where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike.
~John Muir~

Here's a little corner of beauty I found this week.  Our hydrangeas have bloomed!  It was touch and go there for a while.   All the blossoms appeared and the were bitten by the frost in that strange weather we had this spring.   I'm so happy that decided to show themselves after all!

It occurred to me that I've been neglecting the thrift part of my blog lately.  So here's my tip for this week.   The cattle growers are running out of feed and have begun to sell off their herds, so for a while there will be a glut of meat on the market, forcing the prices to go down.  Now is the time to buy and freeze or even can some.   After the initial flood of the market, prices will go back up and because you can't just get livestock overnight, you have to grow it and that takes a lot of time,  prices will be much higher in the for quite a while.  Corn will also be expensive, the farm report says it's selling for an all time high of $9 a bushel.  Corn is used in a lot of foodstuff, so groceries will be much higher.  BTW, listening to the farm report is a good way to keep abreast of the economy.  Now is the time to stock up your pantry.  A  post I wrote about stocking a basic pantry can found at the right under the label category entitled The Basic Pantry Items.  In the past I wrote more about being thrifty, but have given it up lately as I feel I'm preaching to the choir.  But if you're interested there's a lot of earlier posts that have thrifty ideas.   You can always use the search engine at the top of the page if there's something specific you are interested in.

Well, here we have arrived at the middle of the week already.  If we don't chat sooner, have a lovely weekend!

RANDOM THOUGHTS

Hello dear friends!  Hope you are enjoying the last day of July.   Above is a picture of a sunflower we grew in our cutting garden.  I love how the bee's wings match the petals exactly.  Been busy canning this week; spaghetti sauce, eggplants (I can this in tomato juice), some sweet potatoes that were harvested last year  (it's really remarkable how long they last if the are stored properly) and salsa.  Also dried some corn and peppers.  The pantry is starting to get restocked. And as Martha would say, "That's a good thing!".

Whew!  I just finished a marathon weeding session out in the garden.  While I'm out there in that heat, I like to envision my fat melting off   like a rasher of bacon on a skillet.  It really the only way I can find it bearable to be out there for hours on end.

Speaking of fat, the doctor told my mother that she needed to lose weight.  My mother is 87.   Does there ever come a time in our lives when we can stop worrying about our weight?

On the subject of weight, either baseball players must lie about their weight or baseball uniforms are very unflattering. 

Tomorrow I have to have some blood work done.  The phlebotomist always feels that she must tell me that she has difficulty finding a vein. To be honest, I'd really rather not now this. And it makes me very self conscious of my forearms. Are the veins are buried deep under layers  fat?   I'm probably the only woman that even thinks about her forearms.

Everyone says they want to lose weight for their health.  I'll admit I want to lose weight for vanity.   If  I could weigh five hundred pounds and be healthy and didn't care how I looked I would weigh five hundred pounds.  But unfortunately,  I do care about how I look and I like for my husband to find me attractive.  

Tomorrow is the first of August.  Hurray!  I'll be glad to show this summer the back of the door.  Been receiving all the fall catalogs.   Can't wait to slip on a sweater again.  If for no other reason than to wear long sleeves.  Doughy arms are not meant for silly little fluffs like cap sleeves and we won't  even bring up sleeveless tops.   I wonder why manufactures make so many summer clothes with these sleeves?  I've noticed that there aren't too many wonderful looking arms out there. 

So now you are thinking, "What was the old girl thinking when she wrote this post?".  Maybe it's the heat.  Just wanted to stop in and tell you all the little shallow thoughts that were running through my mind today!

 

THE WAYFARERS

Hello dear friends!   Here's a  picture of some of the flowers I picked by the wayside.   I love these type of bouquets so much.  Their unabashed  lovely disorder just speaks to my soul. I hope you will bear with me today, because this post will be rather disjointed, I have so many things I want to express.   I guess you could say that my thoughts are wayfaring.

First, he had some rain!  Hurray!   I wish that I could share with you the joy it brought.  It wasn't really enough to do any good, but it was so pleasant to hear the rain falling upon the roof, Jamie and I went out and stood in the middle of the yard with our faces uplifted to the heavens, just rejoicing in it.   And after the rain. it was as though the world rejoiced also.   The birds came out and started chattering excitedly and flitting back and forth.  Mr. Rabbit came out from his abode under the raspberry bushes and hopped about the yard. He was so cute, I forgave him for eating all my beans and cabbages.  I wish I could have taped it for you.  I would have entitled it Joy!

All that are fans of Tasha Tudor are familiar with this quote:


The gloom of the world is but a shadow.
Behind it, yet within our reach, is joy. Take Joy!

~ Fra Giovanni~


I always try to live each day like this.  I have to admit there are some days that it is easier said than done.  As a matter of fact, during one dark period of my life, the only good I could find in the day was that I awoke.  And on some days, I rather hoped I wouldn't.  But like the warmth returning after a too long winter, ever so slowly I was able to once again find joy  in the simple little things that make a life.

So how does one climb out from a deep dark depression to become what some may think of as a bit of a frivolous , happy-go- lucky person?   One word - faith.  Now, my faith, may not be the same as yours, you may not even worship the same God as I, but I truly believe that to live life without some sort of faith in something bigger than our own little selves must be a to live a life without hope.

Isn't religion a funny thing?   Everyone is so sure that their way is the only way?  I used to feel so inadequate, when I talked to or read blogs from Bible scholars.  Some people are just so knowledgeable and can quote scripture for hours at a time.   They always know just how to pray and can give a verse for any situation.  I could study until Kingdom come (and I may very well do) but I'll never be  one of these types.   Just never been any good at memorization.   But I get the gist of the Bible.   And that's is to love thy neighbor and follow the commandments and to not judge people to harshly.  And to be thankful for all the He has given us.

My mother is always arguing that I need to attend a church.  I do not,  by the way.   I understand the commandment to keep the Sabbath holy, but I fail to see, how attending a church that I do not feel part of, that has made no effort to make me feel a part of, makes the Sabbath holy.  She argues that it isn't supposed to be about me, but what is the purpose of a church but to bring its parishioners closer to God?  So that they can have a personal relationship with Him?  Cannot my family by ourselves, worship and praise the Lord without the aid of a minister or a church building?   I may be wrong, but this I do know, no amount of church attendance (and I attended every week, plus twice during the holy seasons for thirty years)  every brought me closer to the Lord.  But hey, if you find church a solace or a prerequisite to being allowed into Heaven, I will not argue with you.  Just being honest here about my faith and I will freely admit, I do not have the answers.

In catechism we were taught to love, honor and fear the Lord.   I always got the fear part, and even the honor part. But the love part was difficult.   I could say I loved God, but I didn't really feel it. It wasn't until I went on my own journey of discovery that I learned to think of Him as a loving parent, that really wants the best for us.  Now I would say, I have the faith of a  small child.   A child doesn't second guess it's parent, just accepts what they are given.  It's simple, there aren't a lot of rules to my faith.  I just am thankful for all that is given and TRUST. 

So each day I rejoice in the little things, like wayside flowers, and send up thanks to the Creator.  I have conversations with Him all day long.  "Just look at that beautiful  sunset, God, thank you for sending it my way!''  "Well I really messed up there didn't I?  Will You please show me how to fix it?"   Some may think that this is too simplistic and some make think it is disrepectful, but that is how I  have a personal relationship with Him.

So here I arrive at the subject of personal relationships.  Recently my son and I had a conversation about a friend of his that had committed suicide when he was in high school.   He said, "You remember her don't you?   She was always hanging out at our house, because she liked to feel part of the family."   I'm ashamed to say, that I vaguely remember the girl, there were always so many children running about our home  back then.   I wish I had known her situation, I would have given her extra attention.  We had a rather unconventional home life.  There were always gangs of kids hanging around.  I allowed them pretty much free range of the place.   The math geeks were allowed to write out a complicated math equation on the upstairs hallway wall (it had ugly wallpaper I was going to strip anyhow), the musicians  played in the garage, and it was sort of a home for the broken hearted girls that had a case of unrequited love for either one of our own boys or one of the other boys that were always there.   Many an afternoon some sweet little girl and I would sit together on the settee in my bedroom watching an old movie,  knowing that I was tending to a love lorn little soul.   My neighbor, who was a teacher, always felt it was her duty to warn me that so-and-so didn't come from the right family or that they had a substance abuse problem.  But they never had any problems while they were at our house and who knows?   Maybe just hanging about a "normal" family and eating cookies fresh from the oven was what they needed.  I never regretted that I didn't shelter my children from the unsavory facts of life; that some people have problems.  They all grew up to be wonderfully compassionate people.  It didn't keep them from accomplishing much in their young lives, from attending good universities, and none has ever gotten into trouble with drugs or alcohol, so I guess it all turned out OK.  As they say the proof is in the pudding.   I loved my little adopted wayfarers and think of them often.  I gained so much from them being in my life.  I hope they look back on those days fondly, when crazy Mrs. Z. used to let them camp out on her hard old Victorian sofa, when their parents kicked them out of the house. 

Since we are the subject of friendships, I would like to talk about blogging friendships.   I hope everyone that visits here, feels welcome.   Some of us may not have much in common, except for the fact that we both read blogs.  But if you leave a comment, I will do my best to answer it,   and if you'd like to talk about something different, don't be afraid to mention it.  If it's personal you can always send me an e-mail.   If you feel that you are out of the loop, I'm sorry.  Sometimes, it just happens that a post isn't relevant to everyone.  It's not deliberate that I'm leaving you out,.   Being an outsider all my life, the very last thing I would want to do is to make anyone feel like they are standing on the outside looking in.   Everyone is welcome to join the party here.   Just leave a comment.  If you leave comments regularly, don't be surprised to find your blog listed over in  my blog roll.   Speaking of which, I don't follow blogs because of two simple facts.  One, I don't know how, and secondly, ever since Comcast switched to Xfinity,  my e-mail is so slow, that I try to eliminate as much of it going to the mailbox as possible.   So if the number of followers is something you value, and I comment often on your blog, or you see your blog listed on my blog roll to the right, just  mentally add one more to your followers -me!  

A BOUQUET OF DILL

Hello everyone!  I'm sending you a bouquet of dill today.   There's never was a more wonderful summertime scent then dill, was there?  And a meal of freshly dug potatoes dabbed with butter and sprinkled with fresh dill is a taste of heaven.  Time to make some dill bread, the recipe is here:http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Dill-Bread.  If you want to impress your guest,bake some of this bread, roast a chicken, toss a nice salad and serve them picnic style out on a blanket spread out on the lawn.  There's nothing finer!  Who says entertaining has to be expensive or complicated?  

My dear friends, I have a prayer request.  Let us all pray for the poor farmers.  This drought is really taking a toll on them.   I just read today that 97% of the cherry crop was destroyed and also heard that the corn crop is in jeopardy.  Since corn is widely used in food, not to mention to feed livestock, we can only wonder how expensive groceries will be this fall.  A prayer for the farmer is a prayer for all.

Speaking of droughts, I've read that some people are having trouble with their tomatoes.  A lot have blossom end rot, which is caused by the lack of water, or inconsistent watering. It leaches out the calcium.  Tomatoes need  consistent watering, strangely, if you get a big rain storm it can leach out the calcium also.  I once heard that you must treat your garden like a guest and give it a nice long drink of cold water to refresh it.  That is why, this summer, I haven't accomplished much.  Too busy watering!

Now for something silly.  I wanted to cut my hair, but I have a major phobia of hairdressers.  It seems they never listen to me.  I could go in with a picture of a six foot high beehive and request it and will come out with a bowl cut.  Bowl cuts, seem to be my lot  in life.  The other problem with my hair is that it is what my hairdresser call heavy and silky, which is just an euphemism for stick straight and doesn't hold a curl.  It's a teenager's dream, they wouldn't need to use any straightening irons, that's for sure.  But on a fifty year old woman, it's not so dreamy.  I try to pin it up, but the silky part resists pins and elastics, so I always look disheveled.  So anyway, I was studying hair-dos, trying to find the perfect one for me.  First you have to determine what your face shape is, which is where the troubles begins.  The experts disagree.  On one web site, they'll show a starlet as having a round face, on another site, she's considered square and on yet another they think she has an oval face.  So if they can't figure out face shapes, how in the world can I?  Oval faces are the shape we are all supposed to strive toward.   But who determined that this was the ideal and why?   What's wrong with a sweet round face or a pretty little heart shaped one?   Why must we all strive to look alike?  What a boring world it would be.  It reminds me of the 80s when everyone was wearing shoulder pads, because we heard on Oprah that shoulder pads balance our bottom heavy figures.  We all went around looking like linebackers.   The silly things we do for fashion.  You don't see men behaving this way, by the way.  We women are so hard  on ourselves.   Remember when getting our colors done was the thing to do?   I went around wearing colors I hated because they were supposed to be flattering.  Never liked to draw attention to myself with bright colors.  Wonder if the look on my face from feeling uncomfortable in orange  and gold, made me look attractive?  Long story short, I decided not to cut my hair.  Guess if women my age don't have long hair, I'll  be considered eccentric.

You know, the word, eccentric, is a wonderful word.  I so often read on blogs, that people considered themselves outsiders and that they don't fit in.  If we would only consider ourselves eccentric and artistic instead.  It's really just a matter of attitude.  Just have the confidence to be the authentic you!  The people that love you, will still love you, and those who can't accept you as you are, are not true friends anyhow. 

Having at length accepted my place in the universe; mine and no other; I grow quiet like my hemlock tree; tranquil, like my elm.
~David Grayson~