I'm "showing and telling"... because it's Friday!!

I'm "showing and telling"...

I know, the picture has not been hung yet.

Since I had so much of my downstairs area stripped of its wallpaper and painted I have an

aversion to hammers and nails... actually a fear of hammering... actually a fear of marring my freshly painted walls. 'nuff said!

I found this print at a thrift store in Austin, Texas. The orginal price was $38, however, I waited until the next day and got it for $27. I am not known for my patience but it gave me a little extra time to decide if I wanted it. Obviously, I did!

The books were all written by my parents. The black book is my father's military publication.

The red book is full of interviews, done by my mother, with Italian families who came from the  old country and settled in the Brazos Bottom of Texas.

The white book is about my mother's family who came from Italy to New York and my grandparents as newly-weds to Texas. My mother also wrote this book.

The clock was a gift to my parents on one of their wedding anniversaries.

The cabinet/table has a marble top. It has

inlaid wood and is just beautiful... inherited from my husband's aunt.

The lamp... bought at a furniture store going out of business in Kingsville, Texas... got it for half-price.

I love this little spot in my home!

I am linking to

My Romantic Home

for Show and Tell Fridays.

http://romantichome.blogspot.com/

The men in my life and a beautiful sky

- The men in my life -

We have been fortunate this week to have all three of our sons together... even though it was only for a couple of hours. Left to right are:

Ryan (youngest) who works for Coldwell Banker, Lance (oldest), who is our business partner and runs our Mexico farming operation, and Daren (middle) who is the national sales representative for a pathology lab in California.

Lance and Daren are both married. Lance is the father of our two grandchildren. Daren is the owner of our two "granddogs" -- both Great Danes. Ryan is not married... yet.

That handsome guy on the far right is my husband who is a fine husband and dad!

I was sort of pouting yesterday because bad weather had kept Daren from arriving here until too late at night for us to be together.

We did have a nice breakfast and visit the next  thoughbefore Lance had to head to the airport to fly back to Mexico.

It was a fluke that Lance and Daren were both here on business so schedules were beyond their control.

Thank goodness I took a picture of this beautiful sky yesterday. I didn't realize until now that God was telling me that I needed to appreciate more the two hours the family was together. It had been almost a year and half since the last time we gathered... which was on the occasion of my father's passing.

Blessings come in hidden packages sometimes.

Thank you, God!