My Garden Idea Book

I love this pretty white cottage with its picket fence and beautiful garden.





I am determined to achieve this walkway in my garden. :)



I love this garden shed.....I wonder if I could talk my husband in to building one?




Having a wonderful living area on the porch to enjoy my cottage garden.

Vintage Fringe ~♥

I love finding new stores! Vintage Fringe carries feminine fashions with a focus on eclectic, unique items with a little flair of fringe! Much of the clothing has a 'vintage look', but all merchandise is brand new. Your friends will be asking "Where did you get that?". You have to visit Vintagefringe.com Here are a few of my favorites.....

I Love Green ♥♥♥

I have collected pictures for years. So if I post a picture that is yours please know that I loved it so that is why I copied it. Let me know if it is yours so I can put that information on my blog or else if you would rather have me remove it from my blog please leave me a comment. Thank you~♥

7 Easy Ways to Lose Weight Without Starving or Breaking a Sweat

From Prevention Magazine

By Liz Vaccariello, Editor-in-Chief, Prevention

Weight loss requires two things: burning calories through exercise and cutting them through smart food choices and portion control. In theory, you could create a calorie deficit by spending hours at the gym, but that's not realistic-or much fun. And who wants to live on lettuce leaves? Instead, try these seven everyday moves to drop pounds effortlessly.

1. Fidget
James Levine, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, has spent a decade studying the role that everyday movement, or NEAT (nonexercise activity thermogenesis), plays in metabolism. His discovery: People who tap their feet, prefer standing to sitting, and generally move around a lot burn up to 350 more calories a day than those who sit still. That adds up to nearly 37 pounds a year!

2. Keep most meals under 400 calories
Study after study recommends spacing out your meals at regular intervals and keeping them all about the same size. Eating meals at regular intervals has been linked to greater calorie burning after eating, better response to insulin, and lower fasting blood cholesterol levels. When you eat regular meals throughout the day, you're less likely to become ravenous and overeat.

3. Take yourself off cruise control
Increase the intensity of your everyday tasks, from vacuuming to walking the dog, recommends Douglas Brooks, an exercise physiologist and personal trainer in Northern California. "Turn on some music, add in some vigorous bursts, and enjoy the movement," he says.

4. Drink 8 glasses of water per day
Water is not just a thirst quencher--it may speed the body's metabolism. Researchers in Germany found that drinking two 8-ounce glasses of cold water increased their subjects' metabolic rate by 30%, and the effect persisted for 90 minutes. One-third of the boost came from the body's efforts to warm the water, but the rest was due to the work the body did to absorb it. "When drinking water, no calories are ingested but calories are used, unlike when drinking sodas, where additional calories are ingested and possibly stored," explains the lead researcher, Michael Boschmann, MD, of University Medicine Berlin. Increasing water consumption to eight glasses per day may help you lose about 8 pounds in a year, he says, so try drinking a glass before meals and snacks and before consuming sweetened drinks or juices.

5. Step it up--and down
Climbing stairs is a great leg strengthener, because you're lifting your body weight against gravity. In addition to taking the stairs at every opportunity, try stepping up and down on the curb while you're waiting for the bus or filling your gas tank, says Brooks.

6. Use grocery bags as dumbbells
Letting someone else load your groceries or carry your suitcase is an opportunity missed for strengthening and calorie burning, says certified coach Beth Rothenberg, who teaches a class for fitness professionals at UCLA. "Carry your groceries, balanced with a bag in each hand, even if you have to make several trips," she says. "And pack two smaller suitcases instead of one big one, so you can carry them yourself."

7. Eat 4 g of fiber at every meal
A high-fiber diet can lower your caloric intake without making you feel deprived. In a Tufts University study, women who ate 13 g of fiber or less per day were five times as likely to be overweight as those who ate more fiber. Experts see a number of mechanisms through which fiber promotes weight loss: It may slow down eating because it requires more chewing, speed the passage of food through the digestive tract, and boost satiety hormones. To get 25 g of fiber a day, make sure you eat six meals or snacks, each of which contains about 4 g of fiber. For to-go snacks, buy fruit; it's handier than vegetables, so it's an easy way to up your fiber intake. One large apple has just as much fiber (5 g) as a cup of raw broccoli

40-Something and Coping With Stress

Is 40 the new 20? I can’t remember the first time I heard this expression, but it’s everywhere these days. Even the new ABC show “Cougar Town,” starring Courtney Cox as a very un-matronly divorcee on the prowl, promotes itself with T-shirts bearing this phrase. I admit I’m a long way from being a cougar, but as someone in her mid-40s, I’m all for the idea that 40 no longer means “over the hill.” Today’s 40 is a long way from our mothers’ version of 40, and even further from our grandmothers’ time. And much of that has to do with looking after our physical and emotional health. I want to stay as healthy as possible for as long as possible, in both body and mind. But like so many others, although I work for a health website, I don’t always do what I should to get there. In this blog, I hope to explore some of the physical and emotional issues of women in their 40s and beyond.

And one of those issues is certainly stress. I’ve got it, you’ve got it — seems like stress is as American as apple pie. Just to prove it, the American Psychological Association recently released its annual survey results on Stress in America. Both men and women surveyed said they were affected by stress, and money, work problems, and the economy were the top three sources of stress for both genders. But more women reported being stressed compared with men, and women were much more likely to have symptoms of stress like being irritable or exhausted or feeling unmotivated.

As I was reading through the survey results, one particular statistic really jumped out at me. When asked why they hadn’t made changes recommended by their health care provider that would ease stress and benefit their health — things like eating a healthier diet, exercising more, and losing weight if needed — more women than men said it was because they didn’t have enough willpower. But is that really the case? After all, if you’re worried about money, your job, or your family, and you barely have enough energy to get through the day, is it lack of willpower that makes you doze off on the couch instead of going to the gym after work, or sends you through the drive-through for fast food instead of making a healthy meal from scratch? It’s a vicious circle, but maybe our stress is keeping us from doing things that would help our stress.

What do you think? If you haven’t made lifestyle changes that you know you need to make, or that your doctor has recommended you make, is it because you don’t have willpower, or is it something else?

From Everydayhealth.com written by Amy Solomon

7 Tips for a Healthy School Year

Information provided by BCBSM.com

1) Organize the night before. A mad morning rush gives every one's day a stressful start. Skip the drama by taking a few unhurried minutes in the evening to load backpacks and lay out school clothes. Are there forms to be signed? Do snacks or lunches need packing?

2) Set a bedtime and stick to it. School children need nine to 11 hours of sleep. Kids who don't wake easily, often seem irritable or lack daytime energy need more sleep. Sleep is important for many things, from overall growth to learning and concentration at school. Help kids wind down quietly before lights-out.

3) Make breakfast. If your child hasn't eaten since dinner the night before, there's no energy to draw from - the gas tank is empty. Kids learn better with food in their stomachs. Kids who eat breakfast are leaner because they're not as likely to snack on high-calorie, low-nutrient foods later in the day.

4) Learn what's up. Ask open-ended questions, such as: "What were the best and the hardest parts about today?" or "What things stress you out?" Kids are more apt to open up about problems if you show interest.

5) Teach safety. Think through your child's day from the moment he or she leaves for school to the time he or she gets home. How can he or she stay safe - from wearing a bike helmet to avoiding strangers to keeping doors locked at home.

6) Spell out expectations. Discuss appropriate classroom behavior, a homework policy, balancing social time and schoolwork, and grade goals. Set the path for them and they'll know when they're on track.

7) Practice relaxation. It's important for everybody to have some downtime, even children. As you sign kids up for sports and other activities, ask yourself: "Whose needs are being met - mine or my child's?"

Always remember to say, "I love you" everyday ~

While flipping through a special issue of Better Homes and Gardens I found this cool website www.hotcakesdesign.com!! The website is full of necklaces, bracelets,brooches,rings, earrings and cufflinks in a variety of designs. I love the raven ring and necklace...so Halloweenish!!