Five Favorites - November 12

I'm joining the Five Favorites linkup at Hallie's blog Moxie Wife today because I was recently thinking about the things I have in my house which were given to me by people who are important to me, and I realized that I have 5 favorites among them.

DINING TABLE CHAIRS

I got these from a former client and current friend, Marie. She was moving from her charming home with a beautiful rose garden to senior housing closer to downtown, and she asked me if I wanted these chairs. They are Old Hickory, and I had longed to have chairs just like these for, oh, 15 years, but I couldn't justify the cost. When we moved to Mexico I realized that the chairs would fit in perfectly down here - they look very much like the chairs made in the traditional way by rancheros here. The table was made by the Pirate; the chairs and the table look perfect together, don't you think?

CROSS MADE OF ROCKS

When I was involved in the professional world I had a lot of friends/colleagues who lived far away from me. The Pirate and I became very close friends with a couple, both financial planners, who lived at the exact opposite end of the country from us. For years while we still lived in the States we made it a point to get together (separate from any conferences that we attended) at least once a year. One of those times they took us to a lovely little village outside of Atlanta, where we found a shop with this cross for sale. It was my birthday, and my friend Elizabeth could see that I had fallen in love with it as soon as I saw it, so she got it for me. Now it hangs over our fireplace and I get to think of her every day when I see it. I miss you, EJ!

PAINTING OF DESERT

Our "home base" in the States is Mendocino. Like Todos Santos, where we live now, it is known as an "art colony" (whatever that means). We have a number of friends there who are professional artists, and of course we have collected examples of their work over the years. Rosemary is one of my oldest friends (over 40 years) and I have always loved her work. I have more of her paintings than I do of any other artist (except for my own!). This painting is by far my favorite of all the art pieces we have, and now that we live surrounded by desert, it is even more meaningful to me. I have it hanging on the wall opposite our bed and it's the first thing I see when I wake up. My heart sings just looking at those colors!

SNOWFLAKE

This snowflake was made by my daughter-in-law, Rhonda, when the whole family came to visit for Christmas 2011. She teaches art at a private school in Santa Barbara, and her creativity shows itself in everything she does. One day while they were visiting, we were all just hanging around, and she busied herself by making this huge snowflake. It's still hanging right by the front door.

EARRINGS

These earrings were given to me by my paternal grandmother, Mimmie (nee Anna Terrell). She gave me 3 pairs, one of which I gave to my college roommate when she served as my maid of honor. Another pair is stored somewhere (I hope I can eventually find them). These earrings were hers when she was young 100 years ago. She used to write to me regularly, and she always signed her letters "devotedly, Mimmie". I'm sure that she prayed regularly for me from the time I was born which is no doubt one of the primary reasons I'm a christian today. Sorry the photo is so blurry; my camera doesn't do so well with closeups.

Take a few minutes and click over to Hallie's blog to see what favorites other people have to share this week.