WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER and SOMERSET MAGAZINE!

Thanks to all of you that 

signed up for the giveaway of

SOMERSET MAGAZINE.

My sweet friend, KRIS, @

Junk Chic Cottage

has a wonderful feature article about her

home, herself and her blog

in this issue.

Lulu wanted to do the drawing

this time.
She arm-wrestled 
SweetCheeks for the honor.

Here you are!

No cheating with this kid!

She can read! 

lol
I tried to get her to put
ORANGE RUBBER BANDS
on her teeth to match the background
but she is stubborn about things like that.

Anyway

Congrats to 
Mary-MyDogsMyGardenandMary

If you don't know Mary you are 
missing someone special.
She is just the neatest gal-
I won't tell you how old she is but
she still does everything for herself-
housework, gardening,
and is the most positive, upbeat gal,
despite the heat this summer and some
health issues.
So-if you have a sec wish her
Congratulations on winning.

Mary,
I need your address and-

It will be in the mail shortly-
from Kris-

AND

because I said 

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER

I am sending a gift certificate

for a family dinner meal

at

YEP!

KFC

Kentucky Fried Chicken.

That is the SweetCheeks 

NEW FAVORITE PLACE 

to eat!

Personally, I think 

The Colonel

needs an iron supplement.

He's looking a little wan to me!

She recommends the

EXTRA-CRISPY CHICKEN,

MASHED POTATOES WITH GRAVY

AND THEIR COOKIES.

lol

She said YOU can eat HER biscuit.

Still can't believe the kid is related to me and

doesn't LIKE biscuits!

There is something seriously wrong 

with that child!

Thanks to everyone that signed up
for the drawing.
I wish I could send each and every one of you
a copy!
I just love ALL of you!!!

Does BUXOM BERTHA SCARE You?

This is a

VERY SHORT 

post today.

I am off to open up at the 

VA this morning at

6:00 AM.

But. I did want to show you 

my little 

SCAREWOMAN!

I put this together using 

2 Dollar Store mops and

an old mop that I don't use anymore.

I used a wig form for the head

and purchased her lovely

OUTFIT

from Goodwill.

Without further ado-

Here she is--

BUXOM BERTHA!

Look at that 

SASSY GIRL-

Pulling her skirt up in the air!

MyHero says-

Oh!  She looks like YOU!

Whereupon, he hustled right over to 

hustle her have his picture taken with her.

I don't like it that I can't see his hands....

just sayin'....

Tonight I have three little girls here 

and the 

SweetCheeks will pick a name for 

Somerset Magazine.

You STILL have time to sign up today!

Hurry, Hurry, Hurry!

Click HERE

I'll be back later-

after I am through

pushing the ol' boys around

at the VA!

LOVE MY JOB!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIMI!!!

Mindy Rose!

My wild Irish Rose.

Oh!  How my dad would 

have loved you.

You look so much like

his side of the family.

You were born 10/12/77

just a few minutes after midnight.

You dad kept urging me to 

HURRY UP AND HAVE THE BABY

so that you could be born on

your Uncle Paul's birthday.

I was NOT good at being

told what to do then.

I'm still not very good at it-shhhh.

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.

Sometimes she fed you 

Hershey's cocoa right out of the can.

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 when

you were in high school-

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.

Your Dad performed

the ceremony and.

it was a dream wedding

to a man that loves you.

Three years later you had BigBoyE

And when Big BoyE was 2-1/2 

his brother, Charles-In-Charge

joined him.

And -then you were blessed with

our sweet little

Baby Bright Eyes.

Now you have moved 

to another state-but close

enough where we can get

there in a day's travel.

Happy, Happy Birthday

Mindy Rose!

I won't be celebrating with you this year,

as you know,

but I will be there in spirit.

I will celebrate with you just a 

few days late this year.

Love you to the moon and back!

SEE you soon!;>)

PLEASE PRAY FOR TOM AND GERT (and Rusty, too)

I have been following Gert since I started blogging.

Her blog is:

Gert, Tom & Rusty, too.

I have no idea how we found each other-

but we did.

My very first prayer request was for her.

She was quite ill.

She has MS and has pain.

Sometimes the pain in her hips is horrible

but she never complains.

Today, however,

it is her hubby that needs prayers.

Her husband Tom is in the hospital.

They have been unable to get his heart medications

regulated and it has caused them both 

a lot of anxiety and unrest.

Gert is trying to bolster Tom's spirits 

while dealing with her own health issues.

Isn't she just the sweetest looking lady?

Here she is all gussied up for her

Red Hat meeting.

I stole this and the other picture off her blog.

So, please, please take just a moment to 

send up a prayer 

-or best wishes if you are not a pray-er-

for both of them.

Gert asked that you pray for strength for Tom

and that she can stay strong and support him.

She also has one little extra request...

IF you believe you can pray for animals

(and I have to say-I do)

please pray for their little Rusty.

He is beside himself 

with everything that is gong on.

Doesn't this picture break your heart?

You know he is watching 

for his Dad to come home.

I thank you and I know that Gert thanks you, too.

Let's pray them both well!

Please leave them a little comment to let them

know that you are thinking about them.

AND

You still have time to sign up for my giveaway.

Looks like Tuesday is the drawing day

if I can get the SweetCheeks here to do it.

Sign up by clicking  HERE!

Thank you!

Hope everyone has a wonderful, blessed Sunday!

FINISH IT UP- FIVE ON FRIDAY----IT'S ALL BABY BRIGHT EYES TODAY!

You know what I got done yesterday?

Nothing-

Absolutely Nothing!

I take that back-

I did get something done.

I had two sick little girls here

for the day which means I 

didn't go far from the family room

and I loved and took care of them.

However,

while they were watching movies,

I did sort through some pictures 

on my computer.

I found several that show

THE MANY FACES OF

BABY BRIGHT EYES

Ever wonder what your 

grandchildren will grow up

to do someday?

I DO!

Maybe we can figure out what 

Baby Bright Eyes

will do someday

 by studying these pictures.

Hmmm...Do I see a librarian in our future--

or a professor?

She's got a good start on her reading!

OR..

Maybe she will be a zoologist?

Or-ride an elephant in the circus with one of those 

spangly outfits on?

As you can see -she is mulling that over!

We already know she is a

DADDY'S GIRL

But-being a daddy's girl is not a profession-

Is it?

Well, then,

maybe she will be a closet organizer.

She was emptying the closet 

in her brothers' bedroom

while Mom was cleaning in there-

making beds and straightening.

Surprise!

Gotta love a helper like that!

However,

NONE of those quite seem to fit her.

Nope!

I am pretty sure she is slated to be a 

MOVIE STAR!

Or maybe she will be a 

WANNA BE MOVIE STAR

kind of like this guy

spotted in WALMART---where else?

See?

And to think-

YOU thought Elvis was dead!

He's not DEAD-

He's been hiding out in Walmart!

You all have a good Friday.

If I don't get my 

FALL DECORATING

done today I will get on my broom

and fly off.

So---I MAY or MAY NOT

be here tomorrow with some

FALL FUN

for you!

WHAT IS---WHAT WAS---WHAT'S COMING!

Short & Sweet Today...

kinda like me--

OH WAIT-

I am neither 

SHORT nor SWEET

I must be confusing myself with someone else.

Anyway-

I have to be at my son's house at 6am

to get his little guy off for his little school.

So-here it is-

What is...what was...what's coming!

WHAT IS!

THE SKY IS ON FIRE!

Here is what we saw the other night.

Wisconsin has some of the most beautiful sunsets

I have ever seen.

This is totally untouched.

Taken directly from my iPhone.

Still bonfires to burn this fall.

We won't mention the idiot's name 

who burned my little table.

You can see it sparkling merrily 

as the fire kisses its legs.

WHAT WAS

Flowers in my yard---gone!

The Outside Tub

Closed for Bathing Business

The babies that hold up traffic on a 

MAIN ROAD for 20 minutes at at time..

Grown and headed South!

WHAT'S COMING!

Don't despair 

Good things are a'coming!

Maybe tomorrow if I can get 

my butt myself in gear

I will have some fall to share with you.

So..

wish me luck getting CJK off to school.

He is good at "sick" 

if he thinks he can spend the day 

at Nana's house.

He has, at three years old, 

learned that you can't

FAKE A FEVER!

So now he gets a stomach ache.

Try to nail that one down!

However, I can tell when he really IS sick!

He gets red cheeks and grabs his monkey

and looks pathetic.

Okay, peeps!

That's all I got for the day.

Well, except for one more thing.

You remember about the 

LABELING?

That people that LABEL should 

KNOW HOW TO READ AND SPELL.

Yeah...

Well, guess what I am NOT having for breakfast this morning!

Glad they didn't use a U instead of an A!

They mighta had a run on those babies!

DO YOU LOVE SILVER LIKE I LOVE SILVER?

I was lucky enough to be entrusted

to care for the silver that belonged

to one side of my husband's family.

I had two sick little girls here yesterday

watching movies which left me

free to do something-

but not so much that I would be

out of sight.

So.....

being the dutiful little wife I am

only my true friends know what a joke THAT is

I decided to polish the pieces that had been

sadly neglected since late spring.

Now, I know a lot of you like tarnished silver

but I feel guilty if I let this get tarnished.

Here she is-

BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL!

Notice how wonky the top of the candle holder is?

That is from years and years and years of

REAL USE.

Real silver is actually pretty malleable-

not hard at all.

Don't ya love it?

The tops do snap down tight and 

I should have done that for

the pictures..

but - I keep them slightly ajar 

so they don't get yucky inside.  

I am always afraid that I will seal some moisture in.

The coffee & tea service sits on the 

bombe chest in my dining room.

The drawers store linens and stuff.

The picture above the chest was a landmark in

Green Bay, WI.

Kaap's Restaurant was famous for its

ice cream treats and chocolates.

It is the first place my husband ever took me when

I came to visit his family before we got married.

Sadly, so sadly, progress has destroyed that street

and all the wonderful shops and stores that were there.

So---the silver looked like this when I started...

Pretty sad and kind of embarrassing!

 I used my special secret tools for cleaning...

Maas (and the other if I run out) 

and old diapers to polish with.

If you use these make sure the diapers are clean---just sayin'......

I won't bother to tell you I could only find two RIGHT HAND GLOVES.

Did you ever try to use a rubber glove 

wearing it on the wrong hand?

Can't turn these inside out because they are lined...lol

Yeah- You look  as stupid as you feel doing that.

Well, maybe YOU don't - but I do!

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER use TARNEX

on good silver...

I won't even go into all the reasons why...just DON'T!

A few more pics to show you how I worked my fingers to the bone...

Oh---and this is MY SECRET!

See the candlestick below?

It is sitting on one of  Grandmother Clara's coasters.

TA-DA!!!

I am so flipping clever that I can't even believe it myself sometimes.

Look!  It is...

A hiding place for a few nails and screws 

cuz you just 

never know when you are gonna have to nail something to the wall.

I have SECRET TOOLS, too.

They look like a shoe (hammer) 

and a butter knife (screwdriver)

Please keep these secrets to yourself.

MyHero gets all worked up 

when I use stuff like that

for little household jobs.

He is SUCH a spoil sport.

I love these special things.

It is my husband's 

sterling silver Christening cup and 

my youngest son's Christening cup.

Both are engraved with their names and birth dates.

The little fork and spoon were used by all the kids.

SweetCheeks did NOT want to give it up.

I think she used it until she was almost five.

Well, that was my big adventure yesterday.

I am off to make myself a cuppa coffee...

Which reminds me-

I came across the most 

delightful poem the other day.

It just speaks to my heart and I am sure it will

TOUCH SOME OF YOUR HEARTS, TOO!

J.Dewitt

Y'all  have a nice day now, ya hear?

oh..and if you didn't sign up 

for my give away yesterday for

Somerset Life

you can still do that by clicking here