True Blue

I've discovered that blue has always been a favorite color of mine. Is it one of yours? Blue applies to so many things. It can mean a color, a characteristic, or a mood. It's a word that describes many nuances of things and does it so well. Here are some "blue" idioms that will express my point.

• a bolt from the blue
• blue blood
• blue in the face
• into the wide blue yonder
• talk a blue streak
• come out of a clear blue sky

Each idiom expresses a point all its own. Each is unique, different, and yet you know exactly the thought it is trying to express.

Blue is found in the titles and lyrics of many songs as well. LeAnn Rimes found fame when she recorded her debut album, Blue, at the young age of 13. She was the youngest country music star since Tanya Tucker. Other musicians with famous lines or title using blue are "Song Sung Blue" by Neil Diamond, "Blue Hawaii" by Elvis Presley, and "Forever in Blue Jeans" by Neil Diamond. The song "Love is Blue" is one that I obtained piano sheet music to during my teen years. I am sure that I played it until I was blue in the face! And I'm also quite sure my sister and parents quickly tired of the multitude of times I played it! {If you'd like to take a minute out of your day to relax with a cup of tea, click on some of the blue links above and enjoy a little break}.

• Blue, blue, my world is blue
• Blue is my world since I'm without you
• Gray, gray, my life is gray
• Cold is my heart since you went away
• Red, red, my eyes are red
• Crying for you alone in my bed
• Green, green, my jealous heart
• I doubted you and now we're apart
• When we met
• How the bright sun shone
• Then love died
• Now the rainbow is gone
• Black, black, the nights I've known
• Longing for you, so lost and alone
• Gone, gone, the love we knew
• Blue is my world since I'm without you

Songwriters

Cour, Pierre/Popp, Andre Charles Jean

Blue is the color of a beautiful dress, like the beautiful new maxi-dress I made during my teen years, or the color of gems and stones. Blue is the color of my true love's eyes, and the color of my son's eyes as well. Blue was the color used to decorate my first home, and is the color of my wedding china. It is also the color I think of when I remember my friend, Bonnie, who had a cute blue Pinto car that she named Pony. 

Although I would tell you that pink or lavender are now my favorite color, I wonder if I am really being true to myself. As I look around, I see that there are spaces in my china closet or in my living room where I simply cannot give up things in blue! Cobalt blue Fiestaware. Pfaltzgraff blue and brown stoneware. Two sets of blue Noritake china. Blue Mason jars for use as drinking glasses. Blue stemware. And a plethora of blue teapots, teacups, and saucers.

Blue. My world IS blue! Maybe it is time to admit it!

Blue.

Joyful Yellow of Autumn

Cheerful and clear, yellow is the color of autumn. Just look around you. What do you see? Where do you see the color yellow? In the leaves or squash and fruits or possibly chrysanthemums and Black-Eyed Susan's. From nature to tabletop, the color that nature favors for this season in home and garden are color the many shades of autumn!

Even the sun is yellow, and here sunlight filters onto the glass, creating a jeweled effect that is intensified by the repetition of pattern and its golden hue.

Alma's garden beams with sunshine's rays, illustrated so beautifully by the Black-Eyed Susan's she grows in her back yard.

Hen and rooster have accents in yellow, only intensified by golden beauty of a gravy boat. What a warm and friendly table they create.

Gathering collections of items in yellow and placing them in a cozy corner of the house creates a cheerful appeal on days that are growing shorter and a little more dreary as coolness sets in.

Firewood is gathered by the truckload and is stacked and ready to split for winter's use. Wood gathering has become a family ritual over the years.

Pretty marigolds add not only cheer to the outside, but make a great addition to autumn meals. Have you tried adding marigold petals to hash browns or a leafy green salad? Yummy and so beautiful!

Bowls of golden pear tomatoes are being gathered at our house. Delicious in salad with sweet onions and fresh cilantro, they are in such abundance that they are also being dried and roasted for winter use.

October's color can be found in a campfire. It's golden glow signals just the right coals for roasting marshmallows or hot dogs --- and it's warmth keeps the toes of those whom you love nearby so nice and toasty!

Right now a golden cup of pumpkin tea and a nugget of brown sugar cube sound like the perfect way to welcome an autumn evening and the close of a lovely day. Life is full and busy right now. Autumn is the season of transition --- of season and of life. It's a time to enjoy the day that God has blessed us with, for abundance and blessings. 

I hope your A U T U M N is beautiful and abundant!

What are Your Colors?

For many years I've carried a small plastic photo sleeve in my purse.  It contains "my" colors and wallet size photos I've saved over the years to help me remember a hairstyle or color.  I know this post is really going to date me, because knowing your "colors" has gone out of fashion these days.  But in the 80's it was popular, partially due to the book "Color Me Beautiful" by Carole Jackson.  Ms. Jackson taught how to determine which season you were:  spring, summer, autumn, or winter.  Those who were summer or winter had blue undertones to their skin and could best wear cool colors.  The intensity of the cool colors they could wear would depend if they were a summer or winter. Warm colors were spring or autumn, and belonged to people who had yellow or warm undertones to their skin.  Most make-up artists disregarded the color selection approach to fashion, saying that it didn't matter what colors you wore because your make-up could be altered to create beautiful skin.  This was an argument that didn't make much sense to me because most of us don't have a make-up artist at our beck and call.  Neither do we want to have to correct our skin tones by make-up for a casual day at home or about town.  Wearing "your" colors does an amazing job of enhancing your skin tones and creating a total look that unifies how you look without depending upon foundation, blush, and added glow.  When wearing "your" colors, you'll find that people complement you over and over again for looking beautiful.  Instead of complimenting your dress or blouse, you'll find they are complimenting you because of your total look. There have been knock-off approaches to color analysis.  Some approaches to color theory divide colors into twelve seasons.  Essentially, all use the same principles of cool and warm, but may apply it in a little different manner.  Color analysis can be a helpful tool for everyone, not just adult women.  Growing daughters who are eager, but yet too young to put their fingers in the make up pot for appropriate wearing can find that wearing the the colors best suited to their skin tones can enhance their natural beauty without make up.  Teaching them proper skin care (from nutrition to moisturizing) coupled with wearing their colors can do amazing things to an early teen's self esteem.  Men can benefit from color analysis as well.  My husband had his colors analyzed in years past, and it has been very helpful when choosing the suits, shirts, and ties that look best on him.  Although many men may think it unnecessary and insignificant, I'd like to say that it costs no more to purchase a navy suit than it does a taupe one, or a gray one than a black one.  But, the color of the suit really can make a difference with the man.  Sometimes people will wear a favorite color or get stuck in a rut when it comes to colors they wear.  Fashion dictates that some years one color is "in" and the next it is "out".  It's easy to get caught up in what a designer somewhere dictates, but if you have a plan and stick to it, you'll find that dressing and coordinating your wardrobe is so much easier when you keep your colors in mind.  When color analysis first became popular, parties were held where an analyst would determine the colors of each person in attendance.  By color draping the individual could observe the transformation that took place when they were wearing the colors best for their skin tones.  I recall one co-worker who always looked stunning in black suits and dresses was horrified to discover that her only wardrobe color was totally incorrect for her.  I don't think anyone could ever change her mind, but imagine how much lovelier she could have been in colors that enhanced her skin tones rather than fighting with them.  


Have you had your colors done?  What do you think?  Are you pro or con regarding this fashion art?  My the way, my color season is "summer".  What is yours?   


     

B.L.U.E.

 

Paula always creates beautiful vignettes in her shop and I always enjoy observing the creative scenes she puts together whenever I stop by. On a recent visit, all things blue seemed to call my name. Blue plates, blue tea towels, blue vanity sets, blue picture frames, blue boxes, and more blue, blue, blue. Blue beauty all around.

All this reminds me of a song.  Do you know it?


Blue, blue, my world is blue
Blue is my world now I'm without you
Gray, gray, my life is gray
Cold is my heart since you went away


When we met how the bright sun shone
Then love died, now the rainbow is gone


Black, black, the nights I've known
Longing for you so lost and alone
Gone, gone, the love we knew
Blue is my world now I'm without you.

I hope your day is blue in all the happy ways!  Happy week-end!