The Lion Rides Tonight

In the Jungle

The LOUD LOUD Jungle

The LION rides tonight.

In the Jungle

The CRAZY KID Jungle

The Whirlwind Lion rides tonight.

READY?

Set?

GO!

(This is 15 seconds-

down our steep kinda scary drive)

Uh-Huh!

NEXT!

Silver Smells Or Is It Bells

Our oldest son is 

staying with us for a while

till MyHero gets tired of

him and me ganging up 

on him and making him the

brunt of our jokes

and it has been working

out quite nicely.

Mom, Is there anything

I can do to help you out?

Ummmm...

How do you feel about 

polishing the silver

for the Holidays?

Let me tell you...

His joy knew no bounds!

He polished and rubbed

and shined and buffed

until Gramma Clara's silver

set shone like the sun

off a bald man's head.

Look at this!

Is that gorgeous, or what?

It sits on the bombe chest

in our dining room

below the painting of

the first place MyHero

ever took me when I came

to meet his family in Wisconsin.

Sorry about the reflections

it is hard to get pictures

in this room.

Well, imagine our surprise

when the 

VERY NEXT DAY

I saw instructions on someone's blog

to clean silver.

(and PLEASE let me know if it 

was your blog-I can't remember

where I saw it)

AHHHH-One smart reader knew!
It was Ann-On Sutton Place
Thanks, Pam!!!!

This is SOOO easy

you are gonna die....well, not literally

so you can keep reading.

Take tinfoil...

Line your sink with it.

Add HOT TAP water.

Sprinkle with a few tablespoons

of salt...

and DROP your silver in.

Presto- Bango

You can see the Tarnish lift

right before your eyes.

If you have bigger pieces

you cover them loosely 

with the foil and let them

soak a bit.

(for heavy tarnish you might

have to do it a second and third

time-AND you MUST change

the tinfoil every time)

This is a only a 30 second bath 

for this piece.

Before:

 After:

My son wants to know what is

wrong with you people

that you didn't post this

"recipe" sooner.

Now.....son.....

How do feel about putting

up outside Christmas lights?

I think I'll go hide-

I hate naughty words.

Pumpkin Pie Fairy

MyHero and family all

love Pumpkin Pie.

I love it, too,

although I don't eat

it anymore...except

for the special

crustless

sugar free kind I make.

However, I especially love

my very own Mark Robert's

Pumpkin Pie Fairy.

He hangs over the stairwell

and the "hidey holes"

where the fairies hide 

little treats for the 

grandkids.

Isn't he sweet?

He is big-about 18" tall

from head to toe.

I look forward to bringing

him out of hiding every year.

Soon, he will go back to

the closet and another 

fairy will replace him!;>)

But-just for today-

I will keep him out 

and enjoy him.

Why is he still out?

 I think he's got his

NAUGHTY on and I am 

afraid he might HEX me.

I could end up in 

HIS BOX

and he could be enjoying

MY PIE!

If you click on the picture

it will take you to a gluten-free

pumpkin pie recipe.

BigBoyE And The 'Puter

We have an old computer

that is as slow as molasses

in the winter.

However,

It is great for the kids

to use to play their games

and have fun with.

My daughter and I are 

sitting on the couch.

I am drinking my coffee

and she is waking up.

We look over and 

see BigBoyE

(I am henceforth

going to refer to him as

The Whirlwind)

sitting at the computer.

Hey...BigBoyE,

What are you doing?

I'm checkKING my

email!

I about spit my coffee out!

I walk over to take

his picture

and he is embarrassed....

Go 'way, Nana! he says.

Maybe noone wrote to him?

Not sure!

Got any 3 year old

emailers at YOUR house?

Snippets Of Fall At My House

I thought before I 

started packing everything

away and bringing

out the Christmas stuff

I would show you a few

little shots of 

Fall that we have

enjoyed here.

This is the mantle in

our family room.

Love this little birdhouse...

This is the mantle in the dining room

I so love that picture.

MyHero bought it for me in 1999

for the big old house that we had

just rehabbed.

I showed you the back garden

to that house here.

I have a little vignette

set up in a tiny niche

between the hall and 

the powder room.

I painted the folk art picture

many, many years ago.

Doesn't she have a 

sweet little face?

The turkeys belonged to

Gramma Clara.

My oldest son picked

out a dozen roses for the 

dining room table.

They are much more coral

colored when you see them in

real life.

And...tell me...

did you EVER see ACORNS

this size?

Imagine the squirrel picking

those things!

Yeah...How would you like

HIM on YOUR roof?

The Pumpkin Pie Fairy

is coming up in the 

next day or so...

I'm not gonna tell you 

if he's Naughty or Nice...

you'll have to see for yourself.

Have a GREAT Saturday.

PLEASE PRAY FOR CEEKAY

I have been following 

CEEKAY

for quite a while and

she is warm and welcoming

and working hard to 

beat cancer.

Here is the sad news I

got yesterday.

I am copying this over from

Marty' blog

A Stroll Thru Life

Calling All Bloggers To Unite _ Elves for CK

The best part of blogging is the friends you make,

 and I am so fortunate that I have met some of 

the most precious friends and 

they are such a blessing to my life.   

 One of those precious friends is a 

lovely lady named Ceekay and she has 

a blog called Thinkin' of Home.  

We all call her just CK, 

so much fun and so full of life. 

 We met 3 years ago through a 

bloggers lunch and since then 

have been great friends.  

I love her cheerful nature and her zest for life.  

She has been fighting a battle with 

Ovarian Cancer for over 7 years 

and never lets that define who she is 

or what she wants to do.  

However, right now she is in the hospital

 and very ill, she is fighting hard, 

 Chemo has her in such a weakened condition

 that fighting an infection is a real battle. 

We are all hoping she will beat this thing 

and be home soon.

If you don't know her, here are a few pictures

 that show her zest for life and her loving 

and outgoing personality.

Visiting a farm

 Having a fabulous time with a fellow blogger (Mary's Meanderings).

 Loving time with another friend - Karen

Her first time at the ocean

This was taken right before she got sick at our last gals lunch.

Ok, now why I called you all together.  

One of the things on CK's Wish and 

Bucket list is to be able to take her family 

(Son, Daughter, SIL, 2 Grands 

and she and her husband) to Disneyland. 

 She mentioned this at a recent luncheon 

and this really struck the heart of 

Laura @ Decor to Adore

So, Laura has decided to donate 

all the proceeds from the Elves

 that she makes and sells in her 

Etsy shop to a fund for Ck 

so she can fulfill her dream.  

She is calling it 

ELVES FOR CEEKAY

Please go to her blog - Decor to Adore - 

and see the post she has explaining 

how you can help. 

 I would also love it if you would

 spread the word.  

I know there is nothing that 

we can't do as bloggers, 

and if we all work together, 

we can make this happen.

If you go to Marty's Blog  she has a

link on her sidebar.

Thank you so much.

Bloggers are just like family,

aren't  they?

We bless each other.

Backyard Makeover You Won't Believe

I spent two days sorting

through old pictures.

Take a seat and a cuppa

coffee cuz this is a 

LONG post!

I think most of  you know

that we have moved

14-or is it 15 times?

We have NEVER bought

a house that 

DID NOT need work.

This house was no

exception.

The inside was a 

big makeover that I will

share later.

Today I want to show you

what can be done with

a neighbor's garage that

 looks like crap

has some serious issues.

First I want to show you 

the fountain in its very

first setting.

He has been moved a total of

8 times.

I still love him even though he is

showing a bit of age...

but -hey-so am I.

Too bad I can't use 

PATCH CRETE

on myself.

Anyway,

This was in an old historical 

neighborhood where the yards

are not large but the houses are.

This was looking out the back

kitchen window at the 

crazy drinking lady that was certifiable

neighbor's garage.

Yeah- How would you like to 

look at THAT every morning?

FENCE to the rescue!

Ah....so much better

Now as you go back along that fence

which we put RIGHT ON the 

property line-CRAZY LADY'S

the neighbor's garage is built

ON the property line.

LOOK AT IT!

Uh- Not so great, huh?

So, I take cookies over and

ask, ever so sweetly,

"Can I paint the side of your garage

that is on the property line?"

What color-she wants to know.

Well, I thought we would just 

match your peeling, nasty paint

that is already on there.

Sure-she says-just don't

paint it white.
Lord forbid we cover that
beauty with white paint...
it would just look so so
sooooo awful!

Okay...and, oh- by the by-

Can I hang a few things on

that side of the garge?

Sure!

NO PROBLEM.

Thanks!  Here's a gin and tonic

and you have a good day now.

Mama'sBoy scrapes and paints

the garage and we add a

shorter picket fence 

with an arbor that 

spans the back of the yard

dividing it in two "rooms"

Now-THIS IS WHERE

it gets interesting.

WHAT did I HANG

on the side of the repainted garage?

I took two old windows,

spray painted the backs black,

an old door-spray painted the

back black and I

HUNG THEM ON THE

side of the garage.
After these pictures were
taken I painted the
shutters white.

I put another arbor over the

FAKE DOOR

and the year after this there was a

New Dawn Rose that scrambled

right up over the side of the

garage.

Pretty danged cute, huh?

I'll tell you something really funny.

Sometimes I would hear something

in the garage and kind of 

peer THROUGH the windows

(which were spray painted black

and just screwed on, mind you)

to SEE what was going on

inside.

DUH!

Yeah...and 

WHO was the crazy one in the

neighborhood?

Not Me! I'm just blond! 

So...do y'all want to see

more projects like this in the 

future cuz I found a 
ton of my DIY projects?

Sweet Cheeks Hits The BIG TIME

Yeah...Yeah...Yeah...

I KNOW!

I promised you some

of our EARLY

Thanksgiving Day pictures.

Instead I am sharing

THIS 
because I am too

excited NOT to show you.
I can't wait another minute.

Sweet Cheeks graces the 

cover of a local magazine

promoting our area....

AND there will be

billboards put up around town

with her picture on it.

Here she is!!!!

Wanna know what 
SweetCheeks said?
Sure You Do!
She looked at the cover and ...
THAT'S IT?
All thaht wurk for one picthure?

Yeah....
Wait till she grows up and gets
A REAL JOB!

Have a great Tuesday!
Our whole family will 
be smiling all day!

Click on photo for photographer credit

CharlesInCharge Eats A Turtle

This is NOT pretty.

If you came looking for pretty

you better move along.

CharlesInCharge

is ONE YEAR old.

Yep-

ONE!

AND....

He ate a turtle for his

birthday!

See!  I TOLD YOU it is not pretty.

Poor turtle.

Do you want to see him

BEFORE

CharlesInCharge

got a hold on him?

Pretty cute, huh?

His Mama Mimi baked it for him.

It was truly a turtle cake...

with layers of pecans and caramel

and chocolate inside.

CharlesInCharge was thrilled...

The turtle?

Not so much.

I think the head came off

first...

probably a good thing...

no brain-no pain, as they say.

Had he been smart he would have

crawled away whilst he still

had the chance.

Too Late, Mr.Turtle!

Awww...
Mr. Turtle is 
All Gone!
Who ate him?

I think the evidence 
speaks for itself.
Now, if you are 

VERY GOOD 

and promise not to spit

in the mashed potatoes

when no one is looking,

tomorrow I will share 

a bit of our 

EARLY THANKSGIVING

that we enjoyed 

on Sunday.

I am off for the day

to enjoy 

my family.

Not sure WHAT happened
I could NOT post this
morning!  UGH!!

God Bless Our Veterans-A Poem By Diana

God Bless Our Veterans

God bless our veterans,

Each and every one.

God bless our men and boys

That march and hold a gun.

God bless our veterans,

Our sons, our wives, our dad,

God watch over the families

Of those that feel so sad.

God protect the women,

That carry our country's fate.

Leaving  their homes and families

To protect us from other's hate.

Oh! Let us remember our troops,

And thank them heartily,

For without their sacrifice,

We would not be free.

Take a moment when you can

And bow your head and pray.

Pray for peace and pray and hope

That they all come home someday.
©Diana Kosmoski 2012

As for me and my family we
are most grateful for all
our service people.
The next time you see someone
in uniform take just a minute,
step up to them and say
Thank You!
You'll be glad you did.

I will pop by to visit you
tomorrow-I have family here
today for an early
Thanksgiving.....
Welcome to Crazy Land!

The Monkey's Tail....er....Tale

I LOVE MONKEYS

Seriously, I do!

When we go to the ZOO

 I could plop down in

front of the monkey cage

and stay there all day.

I heard THAT?

Which one of you just said

it was because I was

TOO LAZY 

to walk around the whole zoo?

Do you see the monkeys below?

One time we were at the zoo

and Lulu (age 4) SCREAMED

LOOK NANA.  THAT 

MONKEY HAS HAIR

JUST LIKE YOURS.

Gotta love a grandkid like that.

Anyway...I always wanted

a MONKEY!

I didn't get one but 

MyHero got one for 

Christmas from the 

kids.  

His name was Martin

but I put him in a dress

and changed his name to

MARTHA.

I suppose I have really

confused her/him now.

She/He loves to sit

by the fireplace

and tends to doze off.

The REAL FUN with

Martha/Martin

starts when one of our 

OWN LITTLE MONKEYS

come to visit.

You see,

Martha/Martin came with

her/his own bottle.

A banana bottle.

A banana bottle of its very own.

Wait....

Wait....

Wait.....

Well, look who is here to visit

with Martha/Martin Monkey.

It is 

CharlesInCharge.

Martha/Martin is motion activated.

He kind of scares the bejebus out of

CharlesInCharge.

And what does a little guy do when

he needs comforting?

Why he reaches for a bottle, of course!

No! Not THAT kinda bottle.

THIS kinda bottle...

What? What's that 

I hear?

I think I hear jungle drums...

nothing worse than a mad

monkey...

I am gonna go put my button

on right now!

You all have a great day.

And if you see any

flying banana bottles

you will know 

what happened.