The Necklace

The Necklace

 The cheerful little girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them, a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box.

"Oh mommy please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please?"

Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl's upturned face.

"A dollar ninety-five. That's almost $2.00. If you really want them, I'll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself.. Your birthday's only a week away and you might get another crisp dollar bill from Grandma."

As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her penny bank and counted out 17 pennies. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores and she went to the neighbor and asked Mrs. McJames if she could pick dandelions for ten cents. On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace.

Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She wore them everywhere, Sunday school, kindergarten, even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bubble bath. Mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green.

Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story. One night as he finished the story, he asked Jenny, "Do you love me?"

"Oh yes, daddy. You know that I love you." "Then give me your pearls."

"Oh, daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess, the white horse from my collection, the one with the pink tail.. Remember, daddy? The one you gave me. She's my very favorite."

"That's okay, Honey, daddy loves you. Good night." And he brushed her cheek with a kiss.

About a week later, after the story time, Jenny's daddy asked again, "Do you love me?"

"Daddy, you know I love you."

"Then give me your pearls."

"Oh Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my baby doll. The brand new one I got for my birthday. She is beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper."

"That's okay. Sleep well. God bless you, little one. Daddy loves you."

And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss.

A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed Indian style.
As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear rolled down her cheek.

"What is it, Jenny? What's the matter?"

Jenny didn't say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy. And when she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a little quiver, she finally said, "Here, daddy; this is for you."

With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny's daddy reached out with one hand to take the dime store necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Jenny...

He had them all the time. He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so he could give her the genuine treasure. So it is, with our Heavenly Father. He is waiting for us to give up the cheap things in our lives so that he can give us beautiful treasures.

God will never take away something without giving you something better in its place.

Guest Blogger: Easy Sofa Stain Removal Tips to Save your Investment

Guest Blogger: Easy Sofa Stain Removal Tips to Save your Investment

Posted: 17 Oct 2011 02:46 AM PDT

Guest Blog #213, Entry #707, October 17, 2011

This is essentially the nightmare scenario of the sofa world, you have just bought a new sofa and settled it into your home and somehow you have managed to get a stain on it. Fear not there a few ways in which you can rectify the issue and flop back into your sofas in the height of relaxation.

Sofa stain tips to protect your investment

Common Sofa Stain Culprits:

To be honest a stain on your new sofa is only a matter of time, so rather than worry about your sofa getting stained just make sure you are careful with the following usual suspects:
Hot drinks like coffee and tea
Ballpoint pen or biro
Food stains like troublesome Bolognese sauce
Fruit juice drinks, usually spilt by the kids in the household
Red wine

Use these tips to save your favorite sofa from stains

Image courtesy of Be Interior Decorator

There are a few actions you should take when a stain does appear on your living room sofa:

Treat the stain immediately

Don’t leave wet stains to dry and tackle them immediately with a cleaning agent or a damp cloth this will ensure that the offending stain doesn’t get time to soak into the material of your sofa and will be broken down by the cleaning agent as soon as possible.

Never scrub the stain

Scrubbing the stain will damage the fabric of your sofa so should be avoided at all costs. It is better to wipe down the stained area and remove an excess and then work in your cleaning agent.

Check supplier recommendations

Usually sofa manufacturers will supply you with detailed cleaning instructions so be sure to check them first to see if it is possible wash your sofa covers in the washing machine. If possible this will remove most stains and can be a lot easier than working out a stain by hand.

Use vinegar solutions

Vinegar solutions of three parts water to one part vinegar can be used for removing juice stains and watering the stain down will help to disperse the offending juice. When juice is involved it is important to tackle the stain as soon as possible to avoid the juice soaking into the material.

Common stains maybe easier to remove than you thought

Image courtesy of Home Design Decorating

Don’t use bleach

Never use bleach on sofa covers as most materials will discolour badly and only make the stains worse

Removing blood stains

Blood stains need to be tackled with a salt and water solution. You should dissolve small amounts of salt into large amount of water and use this to tackle the stain.

Removing an ink stain from a sofa

Ink stains can be removed with hairspray and a good amount of washing. This is due to the alcohol content in the hairspray which works to break up the stain. This process of stain removing will require a number of applications and will gradually work its magic against the stain over time rather than removing the biro in one go.
Most sofas will come with washing guideline tags which will let you know what course of action to take for tackling a stain.
W – spot clean the stain with a water solution or mild detergent
S – spot clean with solvent only in a well ventilated room
S W – spot clean with either water based or solvent cleaning agent
X – vacuum only
If you have a large of particularly stubborn stain then it can be a good idea to buy new covers to get rid of the stain or use a dry cleaning service to tackle the stain. This may seem a little drastic but sometimes it is worth spending a bit more money rather than constantly being annoyed at having a stain on your sofa.
Jonathan is a freelance writer who enjoys finding new methods for avoiding home nightmares like a stained sofa.
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Hammacher Schlemmer

Hammacher Schlemmer