We Have a Winner of the Roses are Red Contest

Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
I have so much fun
With my giveaways too.

I used a Random Number generator online to pick the winner of my Roses are Red Giveaway. I wish I could send you all a prize because you make my contests such fun, but alas, I'm not Bill Gates. I do appreciate you throwing your names in my drawing hat when I do have a giveaway. And I'll be having another one here on my blog in a week or so. Plus, come June I'll have a giveaway to celebrate my new book, The Innocent, releasing July 1. I'll have to come up with something neat for that. Maybe some Shaker prize since I go back to my Shaker village of Harmony Hill for this story. If only brooms weren't so big, I could give one of them for a prize. The winner could make a "clean sweep." But I'd best think smaller packages to mail. 

Oh, I guess you want to know who won. :) Pam W. is my 1st place winner. She won the necklace and one of my books. Then just because, I decided to pick a 2nd place winner. That's Cheryl H. She gets her pick of one of my books. I've sent the two winners e-mails. If I don't hear back from them by Sunday, I'll pick new winners.

Both Pam and Cheryl joined in my poetry fun with their entries. You didn't have to send a poem to enter but many of you did. So glad you had fun with the poems. 


Here's Pam's poem.
Roses are Red. 
Violets are Blue. 
My grandchildren love to read 
And I do Too! 

Isn't it great having grandchildren who love books? I'm so glad my own grandchildren love stories and books. 


Cheryl's poetry entry:
Roses are red. 
Violets are blue. 

It’d be so cool

to win a book by YOU!

And so she did. 

Thanks again to all of you who entered. A special thanks to those of you who joined in the poetry fun too. It was so sweet of some of you to make liking my books part of your poem. 

Did you ever write those Roses are Red kind of verses in those little autograph books when you were a kid? I did. The one I usually wrote in other people's books was "Yours till Ivory soap sinks." That tickled me for some reason.

Some Things Learned in Life

SOME THINGS LEARNED IN LIFE

...that one of the most fun things you can do is take a walk with a grandkid and a dog.
...that the best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person.

...that just one person saying "You've made my day" makes our day!

...that having a child fall asleep in your arms is one of the most peaceful feelings in the world.

...that being kind is more important than being right.

...that you should never say NO to a gift from a child.

...that sometimes all a person needs is a hand to hold and a heart to understand.

...that it's those small daily happenings, that make life spectacular.

...that even the Lord didn't do it all in one day. So what makes me think I can?

...that when you harbor bitterness, happiness will dock elsewhere.

...that a smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.

...that love, not time, heals all wounds.

I found those in a pamphlet that has ideas for church bulletin fillers and I put them in our church bulletin a couple of weeks ago. All but that first one. That's new, one I added as something I've learned on my own but I think most grandparents will agree with me. There's just something about seeing the world fresh through the eyes of a young child. 


What are some that you would add? Things you've learned over the years? How about that life is short and that you really should "stop to smell the roses" along your journey?  
Or that the weatherman is wrong as often as he is right. 
Or that a merry heart really does work good like a medicine just like it says in Proverbs.

Now it's your turn. What are some things you've learned in life?

Celebration Prizes and More Flower Stories

Do you like entering contests? Have you ever won anything? I'm imagining a lot of you shaking your heads. That's why I have that "never win" drawing in my Celebration Contests. Somebody who says they never win has to be a winner. This time it was Brandy from TX. I'm hoping she doesn't have neighbors who don't like wind chimes. Texas probably has plenty of wind to make those chimes sing. She picked my book Scent of Lilacs. The first place winner was Dorothy from FL. She got her roses today and says she's enjoying them so much that she is carrying them from room to room so she can see them wherever she has to be in the house, doing chores or relaxing and reading. Soon she'll get to relax with my book, Small Town Girl. Pam from KS picked Words Spoken True and instead of one of the grab bag books, she gets Small Town Girl. The grab bag books are Laura Frantz's The Colonel's Lady and The Trouble with Cowboys by Denise Hunter. Then I sent Theresa from IA Scent of Lilacs, just because. It's my party and I'll give away an extra book if I want to. :) (Do you remember that song from back when? It's my party and I'll cry if I want to. Well, it's my party and I'll smile if I want to and I want to.)
 
How about another couple of flower stories? I still have a few I think you will enjoy. Lisa actually left this as a comment here, but I loved the story and wanted to be sure you all got to read it.  

"My favorite flower story was told to me by my grandfather. Every time he visited his dad's grave he would take one single rose. He once told me his reason for this. He said when he was a little boy and he had worked out in the fields all day with his dad that at the end of the day his dad gave him a rose picked from the rosebush in the yard. My great grandpa told my pa, 'This is for a hard day's work, son. I'm proud of you.' My grandpa never forgot that and it meant so much to him, he just wanted to always return the favor."  

But you know sometimes we miss the boat on sending flowers. We might only send them when something bad has happened or we're in trouble. At least that's been Anna's experience. She's got some good thoughts here. Maybe we need to think about those ordinary days when we can brighten a life with flowers.


"Unfortunately, now when I receive flowers (I can think of four times in the last nine years of marriage), they have been 'I'm sorry' tulips, 'I blamed you for something I did' roses, or 'oops, I forgot to pick up our daughter from school' mixed spring flower blends. Receiving flowers just for the sake of receiving flowers sounds so wonderful. No drama attached or hurt feelings or kids with angry faces. Simply a day-brightening collection of some of God's beauty."

So guys and gals, take note. Sometimes a person needs a flower just because even when it's not a birthday or an apology. And sometimes a bouquet can be a lovely way to say thank you. Mildred tells a story about when she was a teacher and a student wanted to say thank you in a special way. 

  "As a teacher, one often receives a 'thank you' gift or note at the end of the school year. One that I especially remember was a bouquet of hand-picked flowers, including some dandelions, with a note attached that said, 'I did a good deed in your honor, I picked up all the trash on our street.' Many other gifts have been forgotten but this one stays with me and I have been retired several years.

( We had talked about not cluttering up the environment with our trash.)"

What a great memory, Mildred. Thanks for sharing it with us. And thank all of you again for your wonderful stories. I hope you've enjoyed the ones I was able to share forward as much as I did. A new contest will be coming your way in September.  

 Thanks for reading!

Roses - the Language of Love and Thanks

"The rose speaks of love silently, in a language known only to the heart."

Roses, those most romantic of flowers!
And so, of course, many of the flower stories you shared with me feature roses. 

My husband is a very romantic guy and hardly ever forgets Valentine's Day or our anniversary. One year he sent me a dozen perfect red roses for Valentine's Day. Those roses were beautiful, but then the bill came. Wow! Those roses were not only beautiful, they were EXPENSIVE! I think the price must have sky-rocketed for Valentine's Day that year. Either that or they had a rose shortage. I decided roses were more fun without a price tag attached. :) Actually now I've gotten a few of those sort of rose bouquets from a friend who drives a flower truck. When they can't sell all their roses by a certain time, they throw them in a dumpster. He's saved a few dozen now and again to share with his friends. But I do remember those beautiful roses from years ago - and their price tag! LOL

Brandy tells us about a young boy who knew the power of a single rose when it came to romance while he was still in middle school. Here's her story.

"When I was in middle school we had a band competition out of town. Afterwards I was supposed to have a movie date with a boy. He left on the early bus home. Ours got delayed by about three hours. We finally arrived at the movies and he was still standing outside with a rose!! So sweet I will never forget that."

 
And roses delivered at work can make a girl happy too. Ellen is still smiling when she remembers a delivery of roses to her place of work even though it happened a long time ago.

"My husband was in the National Guard Army Reserve when we met. We dated a few months when he had to go to 'summer camp.' On the day he left, I received a dozen red roses at work! What a surprise and boy, were the other gals jealous. (smug smile here)  That was almost 50 years ago."

I can almost see that smug smile of yours, Ellen!

Cindy says roses can be a pretty good reason to get reacquainted with an old friend from high school. 

"My husband surprised me with my first dozen yellow roses (my favorite) on Valentine's Day when we first got together. That's a story that would make a great novel. We knew each other in high school and 32 years later, neither of us had married and he came looking for me. I still lived in California in a big city and he moved back to marry me in a small town in Indiana. So now I'm a Small Town Girl. Every Valentine's Day he still sends me yellow roses. We've been married 12 years now."

When Cindy gave me permission to use her story, she shared more.

"Actually, we never dated in high school, I had a crush on him but he was all into his basketball. Our best friend started a Bible study that we both attended as we were both new Christians at the time. There is so much to the story...it was definitely a God thing happening in His timing. We have truly been blessed."

 
But roses aren't always for romance. Sometimes they are just to say thank you. Robin shared this story.

"I was very touched and surprised once when I was working at the bank. I was working at the downtown branch, so we had several customers that received various forms of Social Security checks. SS check day was usually very busy & sometimes quite hectic. Well, this particular day was worse than usual until one of my sweet 'little old man' customers walked up to my desk with a single rose in his hand and said he thought I needed a smile. I almost cried, it was so sweet!! Thanks for stirring up this memory for me Ann!"

And one last "thank you" story. It's no wonder Linda remembered it. A great story.

"I rarely get flowers expected or otherwise. I did one time many years ago get a beautiful bouquet that was totally unexpected. I had taken care of a young man in the hospital who had survived an attempted suicide. He had had several surgeries and I had cared for him through the entire hospitalization. When he left, he had two dozen perfect red roses sent to me as a thank you. We stayed friends for a long while but finally he moved and we lost contact."

Hope you are enjoying the flower stories. If you haven't shared your flower story yet or entered my Small Town Girl Celebration Giveaway, you still have time. Leave a comment here or send me a message to me. annhgabhart(at)yahoo(dot)com. 

I've also got a new giveaway going at Goodreads. You might win a copy of Angel Sister there. And to keep the celebration going, I'm doing a Facebook Contest on my Facebook page. (Still getting the bugs worked out of the link on that one.) But when we get it up and running, if you pre-order Small Town Girl, you might have a chance to win a $50 gift certificate. 

Whew! How am I going to keep up with all these contests and get that new book finished? I know. You are all going to send me great positive thoughts and prayers. I thank you for that. :)