The Uptown Acorn: my kentucky living

Welcome to my weekly series, What Makes Me Happy! Take it away, Sheila.

Entertaining on the back porch makes me happy!

I am so flattered that Ron asked me to participate in his series, What Makes Me Happy. I am joining some great company. Thank you Ron.

My name is Sheila, and I blog at My Kentucky Living where I chat about traditional decorating, entertaining, and southern living. My husband and I downsized after leaving our farm and large home where we reared our family.

Being a woman d'une certaine age, many things that have made me happy over the years.

Some happiness is momentary while some forms of happiness are lifelong. The kind of happiness that makes one's soul "happy" for longer than fifteen minutes.

Momentary happiness for me can come from so many things!!! eating ice cream, (praline is preferable) binging on hubby's chocolate brownies, (a minute on the lips forever on my hips) snuggling with furry golden retrievers (my pup of choice), finding a new dress that makes me look extra slim and trim, (yes, yes, yes) finding a great new lipstick color, (in a pink, rose, or berry) receiving tight hugs from people I love and who love me, listening to music from the sixties, (my music) dancing with hubby to slow tunes, (from the sixties) making new friends, (I love my blog buddies) getting an unexpected kind word, (especially during a stressful time) having a clean house, (always) having dinner ready and the table set before my family gets home, (when my kids were still in the nest) viewing beautiful home interiors, touring great southern architecture, (I LOVE old houses) traveling to historic parts of the south, (Charleston is my fav city) reading great books, (Pat Conroy, I still love Beach Music) viewing original French impressionist art, (my art history favorite) thinking about my life in southern France, (what a time of my life!) thinking about my children, (they have been good kids and are beginning their own families) having pretty porches in the spring and summer makes me happy, (Southerners love their porches!) making pretty tablescapes makes me happy, entertaining makes me happy, and blogging makes me happy!

Welcome to my home where you will see that I use lots of color to make our home a happy place.

I love mixing old and new. My old wedding china with some new spotted placemats. It makes me happy to play with dishes!

Yes, color makes me happy!

Our home is traditional and colorful no matter the season.

And sunflowers,

don't they make everyone happy!

And ironstone and pottery...

yes they make me happy!

I love porching! (Yes, it is a verb.)

Sitting and entertaining on the porch makes me happy. We have a front and a back porch that are fun to decorate.

You have to have rocking chairs if you have a southern porch! Rocking and relaxing on the back porch makes me happy.

Fluffy pups make me happy! They give love and happiness that stay in your heart.

Going to the beach makes me happy! Our beach house....my happy place! (We sold it though!) But we still go to the beach as often as we can.

Porching and entertaining make me happy! I love celebrating the 4th of July.

I love to create pretty tables for entertaining. It makes me happy!

Blogging makes me happy! :-) Yes it does!

Fresh flowers make me happy! Hubby brought these tulips to me.

I collect ironstone and china. (Wedgwood and Spode) Finding special pieces makes me very happy!

These two pieces make me especially happy. The creamer belonged to hubby's grandmother when she began housekeeping. The antique ironstone pitcher reminds me of the friend who gave it to me.

Fun, fashionable clothes make me happy! I am in the process of losing some weight, and that makes me very happy!

Looking at the wider scope of happiness is different. This brings out my philosophical thoughts. So...what are the really big things that make me happy... in no particular order: Having a roof over my head makes me happy...as many do not have a place to call home. Having food for nourishment makes me happy, as many do not have enough to sustain them. Having a loving family who is there through thick and thin makes me happy, as so many are alone in this world, with no one to care or love them. I am so fortunate to still have my parents...and they are just down the road. Getting a good education! (I went to some great schools.) Some are not as fortunate. Teaching and sharing my education makes me happy. I love to teach people French even if they don't think they need to know it. (ask my former French class students. :-) Running into former high school students who tell me that they remember me and that they learned something in my class. And...that they liked having me as a teacher. I love that. It makes me think that I helped someone! :-) That my friends makes me very happy! Having a husband of almost 44 years who still adores and loves me, makes me happy. He has my high school picture in his phone as a screen saver,...not in his wallet, but in his phone. ha ha. Cute. That makes me happy. Having a daughter and a son who love their mother, and father. So many families are fractured and having troubles...and I appreciate that my kids still think that mom and dad are great people. (We probably drive them nutty on occasion, but they did that to us as babies. ha ha.) Living in a country that offers us so many freedoms...makes me happy. I have been around the world, and in and out of the USA. I usually want to get down and kiss the ground upon my return home. I love to travel, but I love to get home. Being at the beach is really my happy place. For years and years we took the kids to Hilton Head every summer...then we built a second home there. The sea air and sandy beaches seemed to always clear my head and cleanse my soul. Yes...the beach is my happy place. Being at home makes me very happy! I am a home body to some extent. True to my astrological sign, Cancer. Going out to parties sounds wonderful, but the older I get, the happier I am to stay home and be comfortable. I guess that is why I love for our home to be well decorated and comfortable. It is our nest! I love to welcome friends and family to our home...that makes me very happy! I hope you can come to visit me on the blog sometime. ☺ mykentuckylivingblog.com