A favorite place...

Just east of Carthage, Missouri on

Old Route 66, 

you will find the

Circle E

Country Store.

It is worth the drive east from our house in the country just to smell their freshly baked bread, get freshly sliced cheese and German deli meats.

I can't tell you much about the store as it only opened a couple of years ago and I discovered it completely by accident. They don't advertise.

 The store is owned and operated by the Mennonites. As you walk into the front door you can see Mr. behind the cash register, the younger generation behind the meat and cheese counters, and the younger women in the back baking those wonderful fresh loaves of baked bread, cinnamon rolls, sticky buns, pies, cakes, cookies, candies and more.

They have a truly unique selection of goods that you will not find anywhere else in our area including outdoor furniture, and pickled vegetables from Pennsylvania. They also carry

NO preservatives added baking goods, candy, and cooking supplies. 

And my favorite, their spices. They have several aisles of dehydrated spices with no preservatives added. They have a large assortment of dehydrated foods as well. I just can't make the drive and leave without my favorite, the pineapple chunks.

I can always find fresh garden produce on the table in the front of the store, usually 9 months of the year, for the midwest, that is unusual. They are picked fresh daily from their garden and I must say that their thumbs are much greener than mine. They do quite a business, so everything in the store is fresh and rotated often.

Just another of my favorite places...

Just a few...

I do not find myself attaching to things around my house,

all of my things can come and go,

nothing much becomes a favorite. 

 I have heard this question asked many times:

"If you had a fire and had to grab something quickly on your way out the door,

what would you grab?". Of course the answer would be family photos,

but other than those treasures, there isn't much I could do without or replace.

Being raised in the Quaker faith,

we were taught that

"things" really had no value.

I just wanted to share a few things that I do love,

and would replace should I ever have to leave them behind.

 My Peggy Cappy Yoga video. 

This video is relaxing and stretches each and every joint/muscle in your entire body.

It makes me feel so good!

 My Diamond oil from Redken.

 It keeps me from having "BIG" hair

and also makes a "new do" last for several days.

 My knife rack. I am a big fan of function, then style. In my house, if that item earns a place, it first has to function. This knife rack and the scraper on the right were purchased at a restaurant supply store and are in use several times a day.

My Gateway laptop computer. With my husbands business, we have to be mobile, it travels well and has many miles on it.  It has played karaoke, videos, and provided hours/days/weeks/years of research and emails.

It has helped me more than words can say.

It is very reliable, portable, and durable.

My hanging pot rack. It is so handy

 Everything is within reach, no drawers to pull open,

and it always stays organized.

Just had to share....

thank you for stopping by...

What are your everyday favorites?

Getting ready for Halloweanie time!

Yes, it is

"Halloweanie time"

at our house and the decorating has just begun! 

The pirate must dance again this year to
our funny song - "Monster Mash"!

The boxes have been brought down from the attic, unpacked, and cleaned. Today will be spent placing all those hilarious fall goodies around the house. The lights will be hung and ready to be turned on very soon. 

This fall holiday is one for fun at our house.

We can be anyone or anything we want to be (as long as it is funny)!

We can eat candy, play dress up, trick our neighbors, 

go on a hayride (maybe twice or three times?)

cook hot dogs over a bonfire, make smores,

and sing karaoke!

WELCOME TO THE END OF SUMMER!

Life with...

I was born with a medical condition and had to spend most of my life going in and out of hospitals, doctors offices and labs. I really haven't known any other kind of life. I had to be able to tell someone where something was, when something was due, and how to get things done when I was absent. I ran a tight schedule and an organized home, because at times I was dependent on others to help me.

A trip to the grocery store had to be planned in advance, a route had to be selected, and a diet had to be followed. I became obsessed with planning, organizing and following the rules. I simply had to do, what I had to do.

No one could ever tell me why.

It came from nowhere 

and just seemed to choose me.

No family history, no exposure to caustic chemicals or foreign diseases. This disease just chose me. I have to admit at times, it made me feel special. 

Fifteen surgeries later, my body allowed me to relax. All those rules were able to be bent, but not broken. I could fluctuate from time to time and not be penalized by my own body. I had to adjust to a new body image, accept the changes, and learn to live differently. 

 My father said to me 

“You can still do what you always did,

you just have to find a new way to do it”. 

I can look back at my life and feel  blessed. This disease was a challenge... and a blessing. I was strong at times, weak at other times. I leaned on those who loved me, those who helped me. Now isn't that a blessing? To be loved? To be cared about? To be cared for?

I AM special.  I AM a survivor.  I AM loved.

Weekend at the Lake!

 We got to spend our weekend

at the Lake House! 

 We started each morning with biscuits and gravy,

lots of hugs and kisses from our favorite grand dog,

short walks, wet feet, bbq and enjoying that lake view! 

The view is beautiful in the mornings

with a cool breeze and lots of shade.  

 The Lake House sits on the side of an Ozark Mountain

and the views are breath taking no matter what time of day. 

The men in our family built this wrap-around deck this past summer and have plans to close it in this fall with a retaining wall. The work has already begun.

Our kids have blessed us so many times...

words just cannot describe the love of a family...

and a special place to share our lives...

and a special dog to stay with gramma and papa!

She loves riding in her car seat!

I woke up a week ago with Vertigo and my world 

has not stopped spinning since. My Doctor says people just get it, 

and you have to ride it out, take your car sick medicine

and wait for it to go away. My life had to adjust...

So gramma and grand dog are spending time together, 

doing a little here and there, and just sitting down a lot!

She always has hugs and kisses for me!

I apologize for the clarity of these cell phone photos, I plan to replace them with better photos after I stop spinning!

I like color!

Yes, my “casa” is colorful. 

A flower arrangement hanging on my wall in Entryway.
I like to get your attention when you come in the front door!

 From the walls to the accessories, lots of color. I love to look at decorating magazines, decorating blogs, and my favorite Pinterest and Houzz.com. I spend hours dreaming.

But lately, they seem so boring. 

 WHITE seems to be everyone's favorite color! Really?

My fudge/caramel painted bedroom walls, no white!
The poster above the bed was a special gift from myhubs.
. It is an antique poster that I had framed.

White walls, with white furniture and white accessories?

I like white... I don't love white.

Cat treats and flowers on a plant stand by our patio door, again... no white!
Okay, some cream... the cat and I like it.

Enough with the white. 

I am letting my subscription to “Traditional Home” 

expire because of the color white.  Boring... 

 I am removing a few of my favorite blogs, 

as they too are so full of white. Boring...

This is an arrangement on my bedroom dresser, again  no white!
All garage sale bargains, except for the card, a treasure from Myhubs.

Color... any color... is my favorite color today!

Ozarks Treasure...

We had a few days to play...

Mother Nature was wanting to rain, and rain, and rain. 

So we waited for a break, then on Monday, we headed for that place... 

deep in the heart of the Ozarks in Branson, Missouri.

That place called Silver Dollar City. 

We wait in lines to get in, wait in lines to park, wait in lines to eat, and wait in lines to ride the many fun rides, throughout the park.

We love to walk.

I love me some Ozark Mountains, black dirt, hills and flowers. I love moss covered roofs, stone paths and split rail fences.  

We enjoy a nice walk along the grounds looking at the many buildings, flowers, streams, and more. 
I get so inspired to go home and work in my flower beds!! 

Back when we lived in Springfield, Missouri we would drive the 45 minutes south, just to eat a skillet meal.

A meal in a dish, filled with green beans, yellow beans, carrots, potatoes and ham. 

It is expensive though. This meal for two cost $23.75

(with our season pass discounts).

Yes, we headed for that place... 

the place myhubs

likes to refer to as:

“Steal Your

Dollar City”.

and we will do it again, and again.

Brothers....

My brother Roy is hilarious. He can make me laugh so hard, I can't stop. He is now my only brother.

Cancer took our oldest brother away from us just over a year ago. Rod was the quiet one. He had a mechanical mind. He could take anything apart and then fix it and put it back together. If something didn't work, made a funny sound, he was the one that could fix it.

One day the four wheeler wouldn't start. Roy and I worked on it for an hour, gas was leaking out, the battery was dieing from us trying and trying to get it started. So we finally called our oldest brother Rod.

My Brother Rod and Duker Dog!

Rod was so sick from cancer, but he came despite the pain, the exhaustion, the weakness that cancer had done to him. He just sat there as Roy and I explained how we had arrived at the diagnosis of a comatose four wheeler.

 He listened as we explained all of it's problems, and how we had exhausted all means of fixing it. Then he said “Get me a hammer”. He took that hammer and banged it on the side of the carburetor and said “Float's stuck”. And it was fixed. 6 words, a hammer, and a smack and the problem was solved. Rod was like that.

My Brother Roy
pretending to be serious!

Roy is the funny one. This morning I took him for a colonoscopy. All the way over to our local hospital, he described the horrible details of swallowing a gallon of that awful “go-lightly” that apparently should be called “go heavy and often”. I laughed... 

Then he had the procedure and the after affects of anesthesia.  He had a dream... He was a passenger in a plane, the pilots were his favorite talk show hosts. They were flying to Las Vegas (from Missouri) and needed Twinkies. So they landed the plane on a dirt road in Wisconsin and drove it around until they found a convenience store. They bought Twinkies. Then they got back on the plane and it wouldn't start. The passenger next to him said “Get a hammer, float's stuck”.

Today had a happy ending, no cancer... 

and Brother Roy is still making me laugh...

and Brother Rod is fixing planes in heaven...