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Friday, February 17, 2012

THE VERSATILE BLOGGER AWARD


  The Rules:
 1. Add the award to your blog. 
2. Thank the blogger who gave it to you.
3. Mention seven random things about yourself. (see below)
4. List the rules
.5.Award to 15 bloggers
6. Inform each of those 15 bloggers by leaving a comment on their blog. 

The lovely April of April's Homemaking has honored me with The Versatile Blogger award.  Thanks April!   


So here's seven random things about me:  


1.  I'm the youngest of four girls.  Being surrounded by all that femininity made me a rather prissy little girl and my nickname growing up was Lady Jane.  My mother claims I'm the only child she ever saw that could play all day making mud pies and not get dirty.


2.  I have a slight German accent that I wasn't aware of until I left home and everybody  (and I mean everybody) asked me what country I was from.

3.  I'm a crazy cat lady and I feed all the neighborhood strays.  Last year we  fed about two dozen, but this year thankfully we only have about six.  Here's a picture of Mama Cat  (yeah I name them too).  Cute huh?  


Lest you worry about them in our cold winters, the neighbor keeps his garage open for them and I built shelters for them.  They are the most spoiled strays anywhere.  Just recently I ran out of the expensive brand of food I was feeding them and bought some unbranded kind from the local grocers.  They won't eat it!   I'd love to catch them and adopt them, unfortunately they are just too skittish and fast to catch.  They seem pretty happy being wild.


4.  The hardest thing I ever did in life is care for my father as he died.  


5.  I don't like chocolate, bacon, ice cream and cheese (unless it's in a casserole or on something Mexican).  Should be easy to stay on a diet right?  Unfortunately I love potato chips and spice cake with a thick layer of buttercream frosting.  I also don't like coffee unless it has a lot of cream and sugar, but I love the smell.  And I don't like tea either, but I love to make it properly and serve it to others.


6.  I grew up in a port town that was home to The Great Lakes Fleet.  When I was a baby one of the ships sank (the Carl D. Bradley).  My uncle Elmer Fleming was one of the only two survivors.  He was offered the job of captain on another ship (the Cedarville) but turned it down.  It sank too.  As a result many of my friends were fatherless.  And those who did have fathers, sailed and were gone for long periods of time.  So my perception of  fathers and families is perhaps a little different than most  Shows like Father Knows Best and Leave it to Beaver seemed very foreign to me growing up.


7.  Many of you have read my post about having the German measles when I was fifteen.  The rest of the story is that I came as close to death as anyone can get without actually dieing.  The doctors couldn't find my pulse for fifteen minutes and when they took my red blood count they couldn't find any red blood cells.  In other words there was an infection through my entire body and I was in a coma for several days.  Sometime during that period, I had a near death experience.  I can tell  you death is nothing to fear if you believe in Our Savior.  As a result I don't really fear anything.  Which may come across as being frivolous to some.  I just don't take this life too seriously.  


Now comes the hard part; selecting others to award.  Since I only have a few followers and some of them have private blogs and others have mentioned that they don't care to participate in these sort of things,  and several others that seem to busy at the moment, I'm going to break the rules and just give it to five.


Matty at Lazy Bee Farm, who has been my blogging pal and confidant for several years.


Sandy at And He Shall Direct My Paths, who has been a source of inspiration for several years also.


Andrea at Buttercups and Bees who remind me of the gals I knew back home.


Delisa at Dances with Yarn, a real southern lady that always has the most beautiful pictures and wonderful stories. 


And last but not least, Rainey, at Flower Lady's Musings whose beautiful gardens are always a joy to behold.

PS:  We are finally getting our winter. Look at the beauty I awoke to this morning!



20 comments:

  1. Thank you jane, that is so sweet! Wow...you had an interesting childhood! I had German measles too...not as bad as you though...it is probably a miracle you survived...(Thanks to God...He must've wanted you to marry and raise boys!!) I had every childhood illness that they now vaccinate for, and also scarlet fever. I can constantly remember having hallucinations from high fevers! That was a hard time to grow up, wasn't it. (and I had 3 sisters ..and 2 brothers..maybe this is all why I remind you of a friend!) love,andrea

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  2. Oh....I don't think any of us lived like those t.v. shows...which I have been seeing on t.v. lately..the reruns on antenna t.v. here! But I always wished I did...and shows like Hazel...I always wished I had a maid...and now I AM the maid :) My life in the country was more like the old bill cosby comedy skits, which were on records...love,andrea

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    1. Hi Andrea! I only had those measles. My mother tried to expose me to the chicken pox and mumps so that I'd have them and get over them while I was young, as it gets more complicated as you grow up. Just never happened. I could play all day with my friends and not get sick.

      You remind of those gals because many were good faithful Catholics from the same sort of ethnic background as you. Small town girls. Nice sensible down-to-Earth, practical, hard working girls.

      I love Hazel! Last winter I watched all the episodes on You Tube. It was funny to read the comments. Some of the younger commenter thought she was a terrible maid because she was always butting her nose into other peoples business! They just didn't get poor Hazel!

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  3. Jane, how wonderful that you have shared a bit more of yourself :) I am the middle sister of four siblings with two sisters in the top and bottom...all that femininity, yes, I know all about becoming a bit prissy (this truly brought a smile! )

    Thank you for sharing my friend,
    m.

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    1. There's nothing like growing up among a bunch of girls, Maria! Never had that awkward stage where I had to learn to do things like walk in heels or how to apply make-up that many of my tomboy friends had. Just breathed in all that knowledge from my surroundings!

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  4. I loved #7, that is so reassuring and I think it would be great to hear you expound on that topic. I really need to take life less seriously-- I'm trying. And spice cake with buttercream frosting? I'm going to go grab a mix (yep!) out of the freezer and bake it tomorrow. I have some buttercream frosting!

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    1. Well Joy, I didn't have that going toward the Light experience many had, but I was immensely at peace. More peaceful than even the best nights sleep. It's difficult to explain as even then our minds are working and we are conscious of how the pillow feels under our heads, the temperature of the room, etc. And try as you might, you can't imagine those things away. I guess it is that peace that surpasses all understanding! The other sensation was a golden warmth. Like sitting in the sun on a winter's day, only magnified a million times over. A warmth you could feel in your soul. It felt like love. A very, very great love. Anyway, having that experience has made me fearless of what might come. What is the worst that can happen? I might die and live eternally feeling that warmth and love? Not to sad of a prospect! That is why the Benediction "The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace" (Numbers 6:26) is so special to me. I believe I have truly experienced it!

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  5. Loved learning all of your interesting facts, living in a port town sounds like an interesting way to grow up, the stuff of wonderful children's story books. I was the oldest daughter of three sisters, it can be fun having a bunch of sisters. Very interesting reading number seven, I love your attitude about fear! Your snowy day looks wonderful, I love that white blanket over everything, so pretty, we haven't had much winter at all here, as it nears March I think winter might just pass us by, but we have had a few late February storms, so you never know. Have a nice snowy weekend. :)

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    1. Living in a port town sounds wonderfully romantic, but in truth you always live with a little fear that your loved ones might not return. So many didn't. Well, we're back to spring today!

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  6. Very interesting! And spice cake with buttercream? Sounds so good with a cup of tea! Yum!

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    1. I'm afraid I've tempted several people with that description, Jane! None for me though, I lost seven pounds this month and I'm determined to lose ten.

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  7. Imagine my disappointment when I learned that we have nothing in common (food wise anyway)! :)

    If only I could not like the things on your list I WOULD be thin. Because I CAN do without potato chips, spice cake AND butter cream frosting. Of course on the cat front... we are soul sisters!

    Oh, and congrats on the award. It was a wise woman who sent it to you.

    Blessings, Debbie

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    1. Thank you Debbie! Glad to hear that at least we have the cat thing in common!

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  8. Hi Jane! Thank you so much for the blogger award! That is so sweet of you and I appreciate your kind words very much. Look at your winter wonderland picture! How beautiful. I was just lamenting today how unusually warm the weather is here and how strange it was to see the wildflowers starting to bloom in February. I'm so glad you had such a beautiful snow day! Thanks again my friend for the award it means a lot to me, have a fun monday afternoon! Delisa :)

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  9. That was so fun and interesting reading more about you! What stories you have - thanks for sharing them with us :)
    -Jaime

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    1. Well now, Jaime, do you think I'm cook-coo for CoCo Puffs? There's a fine line between crazy and interesting! Ah well, life is fun whatever side of the line I fall upon! Thank you for the kind comment.

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  10. I'm a bit late on the scene, but did enjoy learning more about you.

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