MY FRIEND, NIKKICRUMPET

May I introduce you to my very good

RATE MY SPACE

friend....

NIKKICRUMPET from
BLAH BLAH BLAH BLOG

You are going to so enjoy her new blog....she has a sense of humor to envy

and is a TOP NOTCH decorator.

Her home is right out of a magazine !!

NIKKI loves her 2 dogs and I am sure the feeling is mutual.

They seem to love the pretty pool as much as NIKKI does.

This is a photo of Nikki's fabulous kitchen

and

THE STAR IS CRUMPET, her beautiful side-kick

*********************

This kitchen reminds me of one funny story about our old RMS days....

Someone (who??) decided to post some of their collection of ROOSTERS...

Well, after that first posting, a LOT of other people started posting their roosters too.

OH, MY...what a parade....

Well, NIKKI didn't own a rooster.....at all....not even ONE.

BUT

she DID want to join in the fun so ......

she went to her freezer, pulled out a frozen

PACKAGE OF CUT UP CHICKEN

and

DANGED IF SHE DIDN'T POST IT

for all the world to see.

I'm telling you, I laughed so HARD for sooooo LONG,

I p'd my pants 40 times.

OH....we did get such a kick out of that....

and nobody in the world but my friend,

NIKKI

would have had the nerve to do it !

THANKS, NIKKI, FOR SOME GREAT TIMES

AND

WELCOME

TO BLOGLAND

love, bj

Go over and welcome NIKKI and you will be so glad you did...

SOME OF MY FAVORITE THINGS ~ ~

This is just a mish-mash of some of my favorite things....

I am sure some of you have seen these before as some are re-posts...

Nothing any sweeter than BABIES

Guess I love this BRICK from LITTLE ROCK
because my brother lives there....


I do love COCA COLA

and.....

MEAT LOAF

made by my mom's recipe



My dad's bell that sit on his cafe counter for YEARS



THE MAN IN BLACK


MONKEY BREAD

THIS BEAUTIFUL QUILT MADE BY MAMA

A granddaughter painted this piece of tin

and

I LOVE IT

My cute, handpainted mailbox

The metal star I hung on my porch YEARS before the

BIG STAR CRAZE

Not an expensive, little lamp but one of my favorites...

and, OF COURSE,

ALL my MACKENZIE-CHILDS pieces

*************************************

I hope you will show some of YOUR favorite things, too

love, bj

KATHY'S HEART

KATHLEEN GRACE

of

KATHY'S COTTAGE

sent this precious gift to me while I was still in the hospital.

I can't express how YOUR heart, Kathy, touched MY heart....

The packaging in itself was an absolute

WORK OF ART

Those beautiful, little, handpainted flowers on the box are wonderful.

I am going to have them framed...they are just precious.

Just look at this lovely red checked heart....

also, I included some of the cards my blogging friends were kind enuf to send me.

THANK YOU ALL !

DO YOU SEE THE
"KEY TO MY HEART"
on this precious creation ?

I have several of KATHY'S hearts now and just love every one of them.

I will be purchasing more from her in the near future.

Please go over and take a look at her sweet blog and her ETSY shop....

soooo many pretties....

********************************

BY THE WAY....

The meaning of the name "KATHLEEN" is PURE...

The meaning of the name "GRACE" is GRACE OF GOD

PURE GRACE OF GOD....

how wonderful to have a name with this meaning !

THANK YOU, KATHY GRACE

love, bj

Condolences go out to our lovely KARI AND KIJSA on the loss of their beloved dad,

DR. MARK PRESLEY.

Our love and prayers to all the family.

MOONLIGHT AND MAGNOLIAS

I want to share with you my favorite...VERY FAVORITE

PORCH or VERANDA

of all times !

I've not ever seen anything as lovely as this...

and PLEASE

go over to

RATE MY SPACE,

type in

moonlightandmagnolias

and get prepared for such a WONDERFUL treat of the most breathtaking rooms.

SUSAN has so much talent and it is just PURE PLEASURE to see her work.

Can you even imagine sitting down, enjoying a delicious fare

in this FABULOUS sitting?



I can't even make my pitcher of tea THIS pretty !
Please note the fabulous wicker porch swing...
and
don't you just love how she covered all the chains in the pretty white sleeves ?


That wicker swing with the covered chains is so luscious !!
I just can't get over it !!! sigh*

love it, love it, love it

I adore her whimsy here....

I'm telling you...this just makes me suck in my breath,
it's so pretty.


How perfect is this for this PERFECT PORCH

*************************************************


There's many more photos of this and other lovely spots around her home on

RATE MY SPACE

Plus, just reading her descriptions on ea. page is so much fun.

She has a "way with words", too, and makes it all sound so pretty.

As you can tell, I am so an avid fan of
MOONLIGHT AND MAGNOLIAS

Go over and say hi and give her a pat on the back for a

JOB WELL DONE.....

oh, and would you tell her bj said "HEY" ?

lOVE,
bj

A NEW, PRETTY AWARD

Many thanks to MS. DAISY over at ONE DAISY CHAIN for this beautiful BRILLANTE WEBLOG AWARD....

I think it is so pretty and I do appreciate the thought.

ALSO, thanks to KJ over at EYE-DYLLIC for presenting me with the same award.

and

MY thanks to the lovely HOLLY aka RUTH over at WHISPERING OAKS COTTAGE

for honoring me with the same, lovely award.

I feel overwhelmed that all 3 ladies even thought of me and to give me this honor is awesome!!

Please visit these ladies as they have fabulous blogs !!

THANK YOU, LADIES.....

I AM HONORED

I would like anyone that doesn't have this award to feel free to take it....

It will look fabulous on your blog sidebar.

You ALL have BRILLANTE blogs !!

******************************

Have a wonderful, blessed week-end,

bj

SUMMER HOOLA SWIM PARTY

A PAR---TEE

2 little GORGEOUS granddaughters

having a HOOLA summer pool party

with friends..

They all wore grass skirts over their suits and every single one looked just precious.

Can ANYONE have more fun than a bunch of GIRLS...no matter the age !?!

There was plenty of PIZZA.......

but for the Hawaiian flavor,

of course there had to be

FRUIT-K-BOBS

AH, HA....the forming of a

CONGO LINE

"Wait for me".......

And, here they go....music blaring, girls kickin'.....

what a GREAT party for some

GREAT GIRLS.....
**********************************************

Love, bj

LOOK WHAT I DID....

A friend brought some PECANS over from his last years crop and I

HAD

to make a PECAN PIE

(my very favorite of all)

I am so proud that I FELT like being in the kitchen long enuf

to make a pie...

That's a GOOD thing

I took so many pictures of it because....

1. Proud of my accomplishment today...

AND

2. I think PECAN PIES are just plain pretty...
******************

HOW I WISH YOU COULD ALL COME BY FOR A COLD DRINK

and

A PIECE OF HOMEMADE PIE

(Now I am waiting for my sweet son-in-law to bring some APRICOTS off his trees...

Do we all ever love homemade

APRICOT FRIED PIES

I am pretty sure those are what the angels in Heaven eat !

love, bj

I THINK HE/SHE IS A DESIGNER.....

EVER so often, when I DREAM so much about something......

LIKE this room that has been my ALL-TIME, VERY FAVORITE ROOM....EVER,

I just have to REVISIT and start DAY DREAMING, all over again.....

**********

do you remember this room i have blogged about several times because i love it best in the whole wide world and want to re-do my living room someday to look

JUST LIKE THIS ?

I am just so, SO in love with every bit of it.

I dearly love STUFF and LOTS of it .....

WELL.....

I have some new photos to add...
different spots in this fabulous, colorful, "make ya wanna sing" room

Oh, how I love the use of painted chairs with this natural, antique table

the use of different fabrics,

textures, colors....

This is the kind of room that would make me want to stay home
ALL THE TIME
and just walk around, admiring the beauty, charm, character, personality that just flat
RADIATES
from it


I would love to have this much
EYE CANDY
in my very own living room and I am determined to
TRY for it...
(I have some RED slipcovers coming from Pottery Barn for those BLUE chairs that have been driving me nuts....well...let me rephrase that...

I have a COLOR SWATCH for the slipcovers coming..

GOTTA MAKE SURE I GET THE RIGHT COLOR OF RED !!
I am THINKING of having the ottoman that matches the chairs done in a
BLACK AND WHITE POLKA DOT)

Of course, I am on a strict budget and I can see this designer
has used expensive items along with his talents.
Part of the fun of re-doing a room is to try to
"go for the look"
with less expensive objects....

I LOVE DOING THAT !

It is all so gorgeous to my eyes
and......

I WANT ONE JUST LIKE IT !!
someday.....*sigh

*************
You can see more of his beautiful rooms over at

RATE MY SPACE
and his/her name is

kennect

(if you go over, please leave a comment and tell him /her
"bj said hello"

Blessings today,

bj

COFFEE...UMMMMM

Sweet TINA over at CHERRY HILL COTTAGE just did a post on her vintage coffee pot and I really enjoyed reading it. It reminded me of MY old coffee pot and wanted to share with you.

Take the time to go visit at TINA'S and see all of her BEAUTIFUL wedding preparations for the upcoming wedding of her beautiful daughter.....

Please tell her HELLO for me.....

*******************************************************

My poor, PITIFUL, OLD coffee-maker is what I use EVERY morning to make my coffee....

It is ugly and doesn't even make

GOOD COFFEE....

But, this beautiful little VINTAGE, CORNING WARE percolator , with the precious blue flowers, makes the
VERY BEST COFFEE IN THE WORLD...

Now, why would I use an ugly electric coffee maker when I have this cute little number
to make coffee in ?????

It's just that you have to....

"watch" it...

time it...

stay with it...


BUT................
then you can enjoy a REALLY great cup of coffee.

I use it on days that I want to "go back in time" a little...
days when I want to fix a batch of CHICKEN AND DUMPLIN'S like my mother used to make....
COMFORT FOODS...
(and OLD FASHIONED COFFEE...SHE used one of these coffee pots for years)



GEVALIA coffee is my preference...
even over STARBUCKS.

But, FOLGERS sure does have some delicious, specialty coffees now that I enjoy a lot.

Even tho I have this beautiful, vintage, BLUE WINDMILL coffee canister,

I find myself using todays VACUUM SEALED canister to keep the coffee fresher...


Oh, and I do love FRESH GROUND coffee the very best of all....


HOWEVER, even tho I HAVE used this vintage, precious COFFEE GRINDER,
(back on one of those
"get back to the old ways" days,)

I use an ELECTRIC grinder most days !!



It must be a

SIGN OF THE TIMES.....

Happy Day, bj

I want to thank you all again for your sweet, loyal and continued prayers for me.

I know I would never have been able to regain my strength so fast without all the prayers. They are the very best gift you could possibly give to me and

I THANK YOU.