THE WINNING ROOM from Pick Your Favorite

Well, folks~

You know the little survey I offered here?

Anxious to see the results?

I know I was.

I won't make you wait another minute.

HERE is the WINNER!
(click images for source)

Can you BELIEVE it?

Yep~  It won!
It won a contest all of its own.

It didn't get a SINGLE VOTE!

Nary a one!

HERE is the room that came in FIRST.

I'm not surprised BUT---

THIS ROOM only had ONE LESS VOTE!
Lots of traditionalists in Blogland!

The others all had relatively 
the same number of votes

with these two rooms tied for votes.

This was great fun for me.

What really surprised me is  
I kind of knew what 

your vote was going to be 
when I saw your name.

Isn't it funny how well we get to know each other

through the fingers of Blogland?

Thanks so much for playing along
and a VERY SPECIAL Thank You
to Martina @ Northern Nesting
for voting for SIX rooms!
Next time, Martina, just tell me
which ones you DON'T like, m'kay?

I am off to a seminar today 

and will be gone through Sunday.

If I can post I will-if not I will see you Monday.

This being gone is getting kind of old, isn't it?

After this weekend I should be good until

Thanksgiving.

pffffffftttt...as if I CAN be good!

Have a great Friday!

My Two Youngest Boys Grins And Giggles

I HAVE to show you this.

This is my youngest son,

Mama's Boy,

with his son, CJK.

I am so glad we got this picture.

This is how CJK looks

EVERY SINGLE TIME 

that he sees me!

What you don't see is that his

arms start waving and his 

legs start kicking.

Still giggling,

 he reaches towards me with

both arms outstretched to give me

a big hug.

Hmmmm...

Wish SOMEONE ELSE

MyHero was this happy to see me 

every day.

No names  MyHero mentioned, of course.

Do YOU have someone in YOUR life

that is this happy to see YOU

everyday of life- be it person or pet?

I'll tally up the votes on your favorite room

from yesterday's post and give you the

winner tomorrow.

I hope you have a Grin-Filled Day!

My Reading Room-You'll LOVE It!

Do you love to read?

I do!

Do you want to know WHERE I read?

click on image for source

Sadly, this is NOT where I read.
No, I read in a much more private place.
A place where NO ONE can just barge in and
start talking.

Every day when I go get a 
STARBUCKS coffee, 
I pull off into the parking lot of the abandoned 
Cub Foods store.
I pull the book out of the side panel 
of my car door and 
I READ!

IF I read at home I have 100 distractions.
Things that CALL MY NAME and wait
for me to take care of them.
But HERE there is NO TASK that calls me.

It is so quiet that I can sit and read in peace.
for a few minutes or more.

Oh!  I  do have a reading companion.
Isn't he cute?
He waits and hopes 
I will throw him something to eat.

I won't feed him because I don't want 
MY READING ROOM
to look like this!

 click image for source

Care to join me?
Bring a book and
I'll buy you a coffee.
Of course, we probably won't read
because we will be too busy talking.
Leave your book at home. m'kay?

I'M BACK With Easy Peasy Oven BBQ Ribs

I'M BACK

Thought you were rid of me, did you?

Nah!  Not a chance!

Anyway,

I like easy rib-filling recipes

this time of year.

It can't get much easier than this.

Looky here~

Here's my simple recipe.

Mix together:

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon garlic POWDER

1 tsp. hickory smoke salt*

*I don't always use the salt because

some in this family don't like it.

Rub 4 pounds cut up ribs with

above mixture.

Layer in heavy oven proof

roasting dish.

I put tinfoil between the layers

of ribs.

Bake at 300 degrees for 2-3 hours

(until meat is tender)

Just before serving:

Cover with about 2 cups BBQ sauce.

I use Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce

Place under broiler for 2-3 minutes

until browned and bubbly.

Serve with garlic mashed potatoes,

green beans and 

baking powder biscuits

or cornbread.

Rib sticking good-

I promise.

I'm HAPPY.

Guess who's NOT happy?

Happy Eating-

Don't make a hog of yourself!

Bear with me a day or two as I get
around and catch up on your blogs.

Please Wish A Happy Birthday To Our Mindy Rose (Mimi)

Even though I am not

blogging this week I can't

miss posting my sweet

Mimi's birthday post.

She was born 10/12/77.

We weren't much at picture taking back then.

We had a Polaroid camera~

everyone did and

we were no exception.

It took quick pictures

but they were BAD.

And film was expensive

and we were oh-so-poor

when you were tiny.

Your sister, TPot, thought you

were her own personal pet.

And you were so good-natured

that you let her feed you

whenever she felt like it.

You were her best audience..

Always a step behind her

because you were only

a year younger.

If she sat in the leaves

you sat in the leaves~

You loved your birthday parties

at Happy Joe's Pizza Place

and rode the carousel whether

it was turning or not.

You would stay on

until we pried your fingers

from the horse.

And Oh! How you loved

being a bride.

I lost count of how many Halloweens

that you dressed as a bride.

YOU were ALWAYS a bride

and your brother was ALWAYS

a rabbit.

And, then, one day I turned around

and you were a young woman.

A young woman 

with a passion for singing

and a passion for the Lord.

You made a missions trip to China..

and saw a different side of life..

You came home

older and wiser.

You were beautiful dressed for

 your high school prom

where you wore a dress

that looked a lot like

a bridal gown.

It gave us a hint

of how beautiful you would be

as a real bride someday.

And your hair...Oh! Your hair..

Complete strangers would come up to

you and ask you where you got

your perm..

Your answer was always the same.

~From God~

And, finally, you didn't need to

dress as a bride for Halloween anymore.

No indeedy!

You would dress as a bride 

for your wedding

which was held outdoors.

and your Dad performed

the ceremony.

It was a dream wedding.

And about three years later

along came this little

dream boat.

And when Big BoyE was 2-1/2 

his brother, Charles-In-Charge

 joined him

And pretty soon

you will have one more beautiful baby.

Internet image

Next year's birthday will find you

a Mom to three!

Happy, Happy Birthday

to

A wonderful wife,

A wonderful mother,

but most especially,

A wonderful daughter.

We love you so-

I will be back the first of the

week-Thanks for your patience-

I promise to catch up as soon as I can!

The Cousins Are Coming The Cousins Are Coming And I Am Going......

My cousins from Pennsylvania,

my home state,

are coming to visit.

We have not spent any real time together

in over FORTY years!

So, while they are here I will be taking

A BLOGGING BREAK

for the week.

 I put this on

the chalkboard in my kitchen.

The chalkboard

 is an old window with two panes.

Yes- You are right-

My printing is not all that great-

Nothing like the professional chalkboards

you see out there.

But...

I love it anyway!

Bottom:

Top:

I can't wait for

My Cousins to get here

and meet my family.

Let's hope they don't go home

early after meeting 

this crazy crew.

SEE YOU SOON!

A Short Sunday Post

As you know last week we went

to the 

Meuer Farm Pumpkin Patch.

Here are a few snaps of  

The Hay Ride,

Petting Zoo

and games.

A few more quick blurry photos 

taken in the corn pit.

We  only had one small mishap.

We seem to have misplaced the bottom half of the baby.

Poor little fella!

I got home at 1:30 am from the seminar

so I will be a little slow getting

around today-bear with me!

SweetCheeks Puts Pumpkins Around The Playhouse

Is this cute, or what?

It was a late afternoon on a beautiful Fall day.

SweetCheeks went out with her little rake

and weeded in front of the fence and raked.

Then she took the grape vine left over

from her wreath project 

and strung it along the fence.

SweetCheeks!

Where are you going with 

Nana's old wagon?

Around front to get some of 

YOUR pumpkins, Nana!

I see you found some!

Now what are you doing?

The pumpkins were dirty, Nana.

I'm washing them.

And now that they're clean 

she takes them along the side of the house

towards the bay.

She walks into the sunlight as only a child can

pulling her load lightly behind her.

SweetCheeks finds just the right spot

for her first pumpkin.

Then finds a home for the other two.

Then she stand back and admires her handiwork.

And, as evening sets in it is time for her to go home.

After she goes 

I look out and find a lump in my throat.

Here are the little wagon wheel marks 

she has left behind.

 I know that one day soon  she won't be pulling

that little red wagon across our lawn.

She will be off on her next big life adventure

and Nana's house 

will have lost a bit of its magic appeal.

But just for today she was mine!

I am leaving mid-morning and will be
at a seminar until late evening.
Bear with me-I will catch up as I can.