Feb 7
In the bustling streets of Paris in the year 1945, a French woman named Marie embarked on a journey that would soon become a story whispered among the locals. With her trusty baguette tucked under her arm and six bottles of wine clinking in her basket, Marie set out to navigate the post-war city.
Read moreDec 19
As these precious days flow on, let’s be sure to remember why we celebrate Christmas and the true meaning.
Read moreDec 6
One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name.
Read moreDec 1
Who doesn’t love a good riddle? Share these ones with you Littles, and Bigs, for that matter!
Read moreNov 29
French actress Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) had boundless zest for her craft. In 1905, when her traveling production of “La Tosca” stopped in Rio de Janeiro, the 61-year-old ensured a memorable finale by spontaneously leaping from a parapet.
Read moreNov 9
This photo was taken in Damascus in 1899. The dwarf is Samir. He is a Christian and cannot walk. The one who carries him on his back is Muhammad. He is a Muslim and he is blind.
Read moreNov 8
Heartwarming story – “Hello darkness, my old friend…” Everybody knows the iconic Simon & Garfunkel song, but do you know the amazing story behind the first line of The Sounds of Silence?
Read moreNov 7
We saw this on social media and simply had to share! So touching and so true!
Read moreOct 5
Concepts like faith, trust, hope, confidence, love and attitude can be hard to describe to a child, and if we are honest sometimes hard to grasp ourselves. We came across six lovely illustrations of these ideas and wanted to share them with you, our chums.
Read moreAug 31
The two-seater upholstered benches we associate with cozy couples were initially crafted with another duo in mind: a woman and her dress!
Fashionable attire in 18th-century Europe had reached voluminous proportions — panniers (a type of hooped undergarment) were all the rage, creating a wide-hipped silhouette that occasionally required wearers to pass through doors sideways.
Upper-class women with funds to spare on trending styles adopted billowing silhouettes that often caused an exhausting situation: the inability to sit down comfortably (or at all). Ever astute, furniture makers of the period caught on to the need for upsized seats that would allow women with such large gowns a moment of respite during social calls.
As the 1800s rolled around, so did new dress trends.
Women began shedding heavy layers of hoops and skirts for a slimmed-down silhouette that suddenly made small settees spacious. The midsize seats could now fit a conversation companion. When sweethearts began sitting side by side, the bench seats were renamed “love seats,” indicative of how courting couples could sit together for a (relatively) private conversation in public.
The seat’s new use rocketed it to popularity, with some featuring frames that physically divided young paramours. While the small sofas no longer act as upholstered chaperones, love seats are just as popular today — but mostly because they fit well in small homes and apartments.
Here’s to love!
Jan 18
Getting ready for that special day of love next month? Here are a few William Shakespeare lines that might be of help.
Read moreOct 3
Aug 29
Ah, Mister Rogers, the wholesome father figure whom generations of kids grew to cherish thanks to his regularly shared nuggets of wisdom. He had so much good advice, in fact, that he filled an entire book with it, called “You Are Special: Words of Wisdom for All Ages From a Beloved Neighbor.”
Read moreNov 1
Dec 3
Sep 8
As she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children an untruth.
Read moreJul 28
Jul 13
“After I became president,” Nelson Mandela is quoted as saying, “I asked one day some members of my close protection team to stroll with me in the city and have lunch at one of its restaurants. We sat in one of the downtown restaurants and all of us asked for some sort of food. After a while, the waiter brought us our requests, I noticed that there was someone sitting in front of my table waiting for food. I told then one of the soldiers to go and ask that person to join us with his food and eat with us. The soldier went and asked the man so. The man brought up his food and sat by my side as I asked and began to eat. His hands were trembling constantly until everyone had finished their food and the man went.
“The soldier said to me: The man was apparently quite sick. His hands trembled as he ate!””No, not at all”, said Mandela.”This man was the guard of the prison where I was jailed. Often, after the torture I was subjected to, I used to scream and ask for a little water. The very same man used to come every time and [torture me more] instead. So I found him scared, trembling, expecting me to reciprocate now, at least in the same way, either by torturing him or imprisoning him as I am now the president of the state of South Africa.
“But this is not my character nor part of my ethics.
“The mentality of retaliation destroys states, while the mentality of tolerance builds nations.”
What brilliant words of love and forgiveness Mandela shared and how we all can learn from them.
Jul 9
In the last few weeks, it seems that words of the heart come to mind constantly. Here are some powerful thoughts which were shared by Amy Baker.
Read moreJun 26
Jun 24
This week, more than ever, we are feeling the need to spread love. This is a beautiful story we saw ….
Read moreJun 17
Jun 11
LOVE! Not always the easiest thing to demonstrate but there is a deep necessity to do one’s best!
Read moreFeb 28
Feb 14
Feb 5
We saw this great idea on social media and felt sure you would like to hear about it.
Read moreJan 27
Nov 14
Under normal circumstances, or should we say “traditional” circumstances, the man is the one to ask the lady for her hand in marriage. BUT in this case, because of who she was,
Read moreOct 7
Aug 9
No matter what your religion, gender, age, or political affiliation these are words and ideas that should resonate with all of us.
Read moreMay 6
On Saturday, Audrey, if she were still with us, would have turned 90. To mark this birthday, Liz Mitchell of Yahoo re-printed an excerpt from a letter which Audrey’s long time love, Robert Wolders wrote in 2013. Read more
Feb 14
Jan 21
Yes, today, we remember a noble gentleman – a peaceful man who made a difference. Read more
Jan 18
Dec 27
This is the time of year that some of us think about making a “new year’s resolution” and we are going to be bold and suggest one for you. Read more
Dec 25
Nov 28
Nov 16
We could not let another day go by without sending thoughts and saying prayers of support to our neighbors in both Southern and Northern California who either have been displaced, lost their homes or lost their loved ones by the recent fires which have ravaged portions of our beautiful State. Read more
Oct 16
Oct 8
Aug 27
Start your week off knowing… Read more
Jan 16
Dec 13
It seems with all of the hustle and the bustle of this time of year, things can get pretty crazy Read more
Sep 12
As you know, your Two Chums are all about more love, more joy, more abundant living! Read more
Aug 15
We were scrolling through Facebook and this wonderful piece popped up which had been reprinted by Randy, Randy Northrup. We know all of our chums will appreciate reading this. Read more
Aug 1
Jul 6
Don’t forget the most important ingredient whenever you are making something. Read more
Apr 11
Courtesy of Anna Harris
Always wanting to share the good, we are passing on a story that struck us as wonderful originally shared by Elisa Murphy of GMA. Read more
Mar 6
Yes, Lent has indeed started but we came across a wonderful list that we just HAD to share. Read more
Jan 3
No, this is not a reversal of yesterday’s Sweet Beginnings post. It is simply a bit of a play on words. Read more
Nov 10
Sep 20
Sep 9
Clemma and Sterling Elmore fell for each other practically the moment that they met, going steady soon after and marrying each other four months later. That was 57 years ago and their love is still going strong. Read more
Aug 24
Jul 12
Jun 13
Mar 31
Maya Angelou once said, “You can only become truly accomplished at something you love.” Read more
Feb 12
Jan 1
Dec 16
Clouds reflecting in Loch Alsh, seen from Eilean Donan castle, in the Scottish Highlands
With just over a week until Christmas day, we feel impelled to remind you to take a moment to …. Read more
Aug 11
In 1994, Mississippi couple Sherry and Craig Blackledge, adoptive parents to a little boy, adopted an 18-month-old girl named Brooke. It was then that Sherry decided to write a simple but sweet letter she would give to Brooke, on her wedding day. Now, more than 20 years later, right before Brooke walked down the aisle to marry boyfriend Tyler Zugg, she finally read the letter.
Aug 10
Photo from justcreative.com
We are always talking about loving and loving more….. Read more
Apr 9
Feb 13
Feb 5
A few weeks ago, we published what we thought was a great list to share with your ten year old daughter. Recently, we came upon another list of wonderful ideas that Whitney Fleming wrote to her 9 year old “at half time” – half way to her adult year of 18. Read more
Dec 24
Photo courtesy of Bohemianprints.com
Your Two Chums love the Christmas season and love the spirit for which it stands. Yes, it is a holiday commemorating the birth of Jesus and therefore stands for the Christly spirit. Read more
Jul 29
AMAZING! Read more
Jul 10
Jul 3
Yes, go stun the world! Read more
May 15
Feb 4
This is a wonderful story that we read on Momastery. We want to share it with all of you.
We say, “Well done” to this amazing teacher.
Jan 15
Oct 10
Those of you who knew my mother, Ruth, know that my pet name for her is Sugarplum – and what a Sugarplum she was and continues to be…..in my heart.
Aug 29
Words are powerful…sometimes life changing. Here are a few powerful quotes we have run across lately that we wanted to share with you, our “chums”. Read more
Jun 27
As I walked through my laundry room not long ago I saw two pairs of pink Crocs sitting by the back door. One belonged to my daughter, Amanda, and the other to her youngest daughter, Evangeline. There they were, a picture of exactly what was happening day in and day out…little feet were following in the footsteps of the bigger ones and Evangeline was actually, in so many ways, becoming a mini version of her mommy. Read more
Jun 12
Today we bring you a story that was originally a Facebook post written by the sister-in-law of one of our chums about her father-in-law who is struggling with early onset Alzheimers. Though we don’t usually use other people’s personal FB posts on Two Chums, it seemed particularly appropriate with Father’s Day just around the corner. What a beautiful message for all of us that no matter our age or physical or mental condition, while our heart still beats, we have value and worth and can make a difference in someone else’s life. Read more
Jun 3
Delighted, once again to be here with things that, once let go, make room for more good to appear. Read more
Nov 27
Most of us somewhere along the way have heard the Bible scripture from I Corinthians 13. Perhaps in church or maybe at a wedding. If you haven’t ever read it or haven’t read it recently, now would be a good time to do that. It speaks about the importance of love and that without it everything we do is really meaningless. You can click here to get a link for you to read it on line. We came across a paraphrased version of this beautiful scripture that adds a whole new perspective to all the activities that we will be engaging in during this holiday season. Read more
May 17
We have talked a lot this week about being sure to hold onto your joy throughout the weeks and months leading up to your wedding and today we are really stressing that point as, inevitably, some things will go “sideways”, as they say, and you want to be in a position, emotionally, to handle those moments well. Read more
Feb 14
The two people pictured here don’t represent, for most of us, the classic picture of love and romance. They aren’t the “beautiful people” we have come to associate with tabloid and magazine covers depicting the latest celebrity romance or breakup. They are two ordinary people who taught me an extraordinary lesson about real love. They are my maternal grandparents, John and Willie Ridgway, or Papaw and Nanner to me.
Their 66 year marriage was not what I would call an epic romance. It was a great love story. In their 66 years together they weathered the Great Depression, the tragic and sudden death of a 20 year old daughter leaving behind a 4 month old daughter of her own for them to help raise, a cross country relocation, multiple muggings after moving to California, and the other sundry challenges and hardships you might imagine that any two people who lived together for 66 years would have to encounter. Read more
Feb 1
Photo by Natalia Chydzik
It seems quite fitting to us that our first entry as we establish our home on the World Wide Web would be on the subject of hospitality. It is what we are all about. Hospitality is one of those things that you may not have a snappy definition for, yet you know it when you see it, (or feel it), and when you don’t.
On the surface entertaining and hospitality can seem very much the same, yet they are really totally different. Entertaining is focused on drawing attention to the host or hostess, and how wonderfully and beautifully she (or he) can do things. Hospitality is focused on one’s guests, and doing things beautifully in order that they will feel special.
How many times have you heard someone on television, who was cooking or decorating or making something for a party say, “Now this will really impress your guests!” Our culture is bombarded by messages that we need to do things well so others will think more highly of us.
We all hear and read tips on entertaining. The shelves in the bookstores are full of books on the subject and there are endless websites that are dedicated to helping you entertain. We are not one of them.
Two Chums is all about excellence and doing things well, and when we extend an invitation, we want our guests to see that things are beautifully done, and much time has been given to preparation, because they are special and worth our time and efforts. As you visit us each day we will be sharing with you things we’ve learned along the way in our homes with our families about love, joy and abundant living that is within everyone’s reach. We will share about the parties and celebrations we are having, about home decor projects and things we’ve learned about the art of gift giving. And of course some thoughts from our hearts.
Mother Theresa said, “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” Making others feel wanted and welcome, showing hospitality, is one of those small things we all can do with great love.
So though you may never actually visit the houses where we live, we want to invite you to visit our Two Chums home everyday. We will do our best to prepare for you because we care, and we want you to know we think you are worth our time and effort.
Welcome to Two Chums!
