White Iris, Pool Noodles & Chicken Wings

The temperature here is still slowly dropping and we are still forecast to have a freeze before next week is done. I was bringing a few groceries into and taking some trash out this morning when I saw something I did not expect on January 2. Along the North edge of my front yard I planted some white bearded irises I had brought along in my move. There sat, as big and beautiful as she wanted to be was a single perfect white iris flower. She has a bud beside her that may or may not blossom before the cold hits.

My house has had in the past some foundation shifting. Therefore my floors aren't perfectly level and there are gaps along the doors. During the seasonal change twixt Summer & Fall I fetched home several pool noodles thinking I could sooner or later come up w/ a use for them. My house has 2 "front" doors but I actually only use one. The other has the worst gaps of any in the entire structure. I already had a bunch of 1/2" PVC pipe laying around waiting to be used and I got a grand idea. I crammed the PVC down the hole of the pool noodle to keep it rigid, cut it to fit the door frame and shoved it into place. Viola! A door seal that will stop all but hurricane force winds for next to nothing.

Checking the sales paper last night I saw pork ribs and chicken wings on sale. I opted for the wings (or "wangs" as we call em here). After tending to my normal everyday chores I cut the wings into their natural 3 pieces. The tips I put into a bag and tossed into the freezer to make chicken stock out of. The 2 meatier sections went into a zipper bag to which I then added enough ginger ale to get em all good and marinated. Meanwhile I started a fire in "Black Beauty", my smoker and mixed my chicken spice mix. It is too simple and too damned good. I get 1 each  container of store brand garlic salt and lemon pepper and mix them together in a Mason jar. Once the coals had cooked and the wood was smoking all that was needed was to rub the wings and put the heat to the meat!
I use whatever wood is available for my smoking so long as it's hardwood and not any type of evergreen. As of today I have mesquite, oak, hickory, plum, peach and apple. There is no certain percentage of woods, no method to my madness. I just use whatever I have and it all turns out good.