AT THE BEACH IN THE UP OF MI

Well, if you came here

looking for me in a

bathing suit

you can leave

NOW!

Ain't gonna happen, honey!

We are here again visiting

McClain State Park

in

Houghton, MI.

This is such a beautiful place.

MyHero relaxes for a few

mintues before opening a book.

What are you taking pictures of ?

he wants to know.

Nuthin'.

You better NOT be taking pictures

of the back of my head again.

I'm not-

It's your whole upper body!

There are miles of sandy/rocky beach.

The views across to the peninsula

are incredible.

We walk a bit.

I am enjoying the breeze

and the sun

and the atmosphere.

Look at all these cute little

birds

perched on that log.

Ha!  Fooled you-

Those are KNOBS..

(which is also what my son

called uncouth people

but we won't talk about

that here).

OH MY...

More driftwood!!

AND MORE DRIFTWOOD!

OH- Can we take some home with us? 

I askever-so-sweetly.

Seriously?

Yes! Seriously!

Are you NUTS?

(Well, I have been called

that a couple of times but

not in reference to driftwood)

NO!  This is a STATE PARK!

You can't remove

ANYTHING

from a state park..

Hmmpfff..mutter...mutter...mutter..

Like they're gonna

miss one old piece of wood on

the beach.

Yeah- I get it-Y'all don't

need to send me snide remarks

about leaving it there for

everyone to enjoy!

Look here, says MyHero!

What?

Seriously...

MORE ROCKS?

he has a rock 'collection'

Well, this one has copper in it.

Yeah?

Well, when you collect enough

to melt down and make me

a copper pot

let me know.

For some reason

I always think I am way

funnier

than HE thinks I am!

Now he's gonna ignore me

for being a smart mouth.

Sigh...

Well, Thank the

good Lord that I had the

sense to bring along

my

very.best.friend.

Nothing like a cup of hot

Starbucks coffee

on the beach...

Well, except for making out

and we didn't want to make

people talk like
"didja see those old people"?

Yeah...and then there's that!

Happy weekend to all of you!

PICK YOUR FAVORITE FALL WREATH RESULTS

Good Morning!

While this was a fun 

LITTLE TWIST

on the

PICK YOUR FAVORITE GAME,

it did not give me nearly enough

ammunition to make fun of y'all.

Needless to say,

that is what is the
MOST FUN for me!

Anyway, Here were your choices!

#1 Autumn Mix
Sandi (thought the Walmart guy was a woman with low boobs),Vee (wants the plaid ribbon from #2 moved to #1-of course she does- I have dealt with her before)

Julie,, Jeanie (thought there were all a bit too much), Kim, Sheri, Nancy, Adam(thanks for playing), Nonie,  Pam S, Jan (wanted 3 of them---greedy, greedy, greedy),

Barbara, Debby Ray, LV, 

Anonymous(who are you and are you armed?), Jo,

Shelia (also wants #4) and Louise (the card lady),

#2 HARVEST WREATH

Sandra (has never hung a wreath on her door before-wants me to do a PICK YOUR TRUCK post),

Sugar, Dawn, Saimi, Betsy(Estelle), Liberty Belle, Rain, Pam (also wants #7), Penny,

Buttercup & Sue & Sue2 lol

#3 RINGTAIL WOODS

Cindy(Cloches & Lavender), Akasha, Ellie, Lisa K & Carol

#4 RUSTIC ELEGANCE

Jenn, Susie. Doris, Debbie, Jan, Kathy, 

Arlene, Laura, Jan, Ann, Mevely, Happy One, Jan(LowCarb), Liz,

Cindy(Creations), Marilyn, Melanie & Sweet Rebecca (who has returned to blogging)!

Dear Gert- a little late-but here!

#5 FALL FEATHERS

Rose, (adding some leaves for color), Liz-(it's her 'back-up'wreath in case the other one falls off her door?), Gayla, Sally, Diane & Carla from The River

#6-STRAWFLOWERS

Kim, Theresa, Denise, Phyllis, Carole, Terry

#7 ABUNDANT HARVEST

Katie, MA, Lisa, Jack&Sherry, bobbie, 

Pam(also wants #2),

Fran, Lorrie, Missy, Kris, Rick, 

Linda(Bits&Pieces), 

Jo(Brit in TN) & Jenny

IF I MISSED ANYONE- I APOLOGIZE

PLEASE LET ME KNOW!

As always-

THANKS FOR PLAYING ALONG!

This is fun for me and next time

I do a 

PICK YOUR FAVORITE

it will be for 

HALLOWEEN TABLES!

It will be SPOOKTACULAR.

However,

I will be blogging before that, too!

Have a wonderful day-

We are flooded with rain here

and lots more rain on the way.

There goes MY hair---

as if it didn't look bad enough already!

PICK YOUR FAVORITE - FALL WREATH

How about a little change up

on a favorite 'game'?

I usually do tables

but I thought it might be fun

to do something different.

You are going to have your job

cut out for you this time!

I was looking at wreaths to see

what I could do to spruce up 

the one I have for my front door.

I came across the motherlode of wreaths.

IF money were no object

which wreath would you want

hanging on your front door to 

welcome family and friends

for Thanksgiving?

Here we go!

#1

Autumn Mix

#2

Harvest Wreath

#3

Ringtail Woods

Some poor bird is missing his tail feathers.....

#4

Rustic Elegance

#5

Fall Feather

#6

Strawflower

#7

Abundant Harvest

Told you it was going to be a job to 

pick a favorite this time.

These all came from 

FRONT GATE.

If I were a "BIG BLOGGER"  I would probably

be giving one of these away.

Sorry- ain't gonna happen....

So---while you are deciding on 

your favorite wreath

I will be at where else- WALMART

checking out new hairstyles for 

MyHero.

I think this might look good...........

For SURE I am getting him that shirt!

Y'all have a nice day, ya hear?

I'll tally up the votes and tell you

which wreath gets the most votes

in a couple of days.

Happy Weekend-

Love you guys and thanks for

playing along and voting!

EVER WONDER HOW LABOR DAY BEGAN?

I wrote this a 

LONG TIME AGO

and thought you might like to read it.

Did you ever wonder why Labor Day

Was formed to give us rest?

Did you wonder how it happened

Why someone formed the quest?

The year was Eighteen Ninety-Four

When the railroad union took a stand,

They refused to switch Pullman cars,

Throughout this grand old land.

They struck for higher wages

When their income was reduced.

Their cost of goods still stayed the same,

And they couldn't be seduced.

George Pullman talked quite loftily

Something they didn't like,

It finally took  US Marshalls

To step in and end the strike.

When George Pullman later died,

His wife and children sobbed,

As they encased his coffin in concrete

So his grave would not be robbed.

After the strike was ended,

Grover Cleveland had his way.

He declared a day to honor workers,

And they called it Labor Day.

Thank you to my forefathers

Who worked the morns and nights,

To create an easier world,

To ensure I had my rights.

I am so very grateful,

That I can have my say,

I know that working is a privilege,

As is celebrating Labor Day.

©Diana Kosmoski/2011

HAPPY LABOR DAY WEEKEND EVERYONE!

AGING---READY FOR THE NURSING HOME YET?

Ever wonder what your

GRANDKIDS

will look like as

OLD PEOPLE?

I recently went to a

PLAY put on by the

SUMMER PROGRAM

(NOT DAYCARE, NANA)

that my grandson,CJK, attended

this summer.

They did a parody of

OLD PEOPLE

in a nursing home

listening to music

from their past.

(I fit right in except for the

nursing home part).

The play was so much fun.

Here is what he looks like

with gray hair and glasses.

My dad actually had a head of hair

like that only it was silvery white.

Here is a 10 second clip of his 
ONLY LINE~
He has a really deep little voice.

And...yep...Nana was there, too.

Look at his expression.

Gotta love a kid like that.

OH!  To be young again, huh?!

Have a great day!!

CANVAS ART GIVE AWAY AT HIBISCUS HOUSE

Good morning!

You know me-

I don't do promotions on my blog.

However, this is a

FREE CANVAS ART GIVEAWAY

over at 

HIBISCUS HOUSE.

If you don't know 

Dolly you are missing knowing

a wonderful Southern gal.

Pop over and sign up

ane see for yourself

what I am talking about.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT!

Have a

WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY!

RIP CURTIS CANNON-Prayer Request Follow Up

Good Morning!

I really HATE doing this

kind of post.

It is a follow up to a 

PRAYER REQUEST

by Curtis's wife, Sylvia

A Grandma's Blessing.

Curtis fought a good fight

but lost his battle

to health issues.

His healing was not to be

here on earth.

Please pray for,

or wing healing thoughts 

and good wishes,

to

Sylvia & her family

as they start to walk this

new life path.

Thank you so much for the prayers,

thoughts and love 

you have sent already.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Love to all of you-

TWO PRAYER REQUESTS FROM BLOGGERS~

I got an urgent request last night

from Sylvia.

Her blog is A Grandma's Blessings.

She would like prayers for 

her hubby, Curtis.

His health has been compromised

for a long time and 

Sylvia has dealt with it admirably.

However, yesterday he was 

admitted to the ICU

with respiratory failure.

She asked me to let everyone 

know that she won't be posting

(for a while) and to ask you to 

please pray.

Here is a picture of them in

better times.

The second prayer request is from

Debbie-Dabble

A while back I put out a prayer request

for her beloved nephew, John.

He had cancer and in the picture below

his poor body was already showing

the ravages of the disease.

His spirit was strong and 

he was a loving, giving man.

A man of medicine that helped make others well,

but for him there would be no  earthly healing.

Please pray for his sweet family,

his mom & dad, his wife,

and his beautiful children.

Pray for Debbie too.  

She will miss him terribly.

His obituary is here if you would like to read it.

As always, thanks for your prayers 

and if you don't pray.

please send well wishes 

and healing thoughts their way.

Personally, I believe we are all in this

GAME OF LIFE 

together and we need to support

and uplift each other

as much as possible.

I have been out of town and then

came back to lots of work

so I will do the 

Pick Your Favorite Results

on Friday (Lord willing and the river don't rise).....

I SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM?

You know one thing 

I love about 

summer?

Ice Cream!

Now you can go to

an ice cream shop but----

Is there anything better

than homemade

ice cream?

This tastes like a 

DREAMSCICLE!

Remember those from when

you were a kid?

Well, I made ice cream

that tasted much like that!

ORANGE CRUSH ICE CREAM

Ingredients:

6 cans of ORANGE Crush Soda

2 cans Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 cup sugar

Put 2 cans of Eagle Brand Condensed Milk 

into a big bowl.

Stir in the sugar.

Slowly pour in one can of Orange Crush to

combine the first can of soda with condensed

milk and sugar.

Continue adding 5 more cans of Orange

Crush.

Add the mix to ice cream freezer.

Crank up the ice cream maker.

Mix until the ice cream is firm.

Let sit several minutes to "ripen".

Freezes well.-Makes 3 quarts.

So- after mixing this-

I dug out the old

ice cream maker,

and cranked her up.

Here is where the 

I wanted to SCREAM

comes into play.

She made a few turns

and groaned and moaned.

We "helped" her run

until her motor quit.

Thankfully, the ice cream

was almost done.

Bye-Bye old girl!

At least we got this out

of you before you died.

I went to Sam's Club

and found a new friend.

Hello Baby!

You sure are a pretty thang!

Aroma (don't you love the name)

 ran perfectly and 

we were delighted with

this- 

OLD FASHIONED CUSTARD ICE CREAM

We really like the custard

rather than ice cream.

Ohhhh...This is sooo good!

It's too bad that 

no one in this family likes

ice cream!

THIS ONE

 would rather have

a cupcake

at the local trough buffet.

It's an old picture-

I wonder if SweetCheeks remembers

that day like I do.

Bittersweet-to see them grow up.

isn't it?

Anyway-moving along-

If you don't have an

ice cream maker, or have

never made your own ice cream,

you are missing one of

life's special little joys.

Yes. You. Are.

Have a wonderful weekend.

I will be back with a

PICK YOUR FAVORITE

the first of the week!

Pinky Promise!