It's That Time of Year!

Yep, with Thanksgiving rapidly approaching, that means Christmas is right around the corner! That also means that we are inundated with catalogs and email blasts. 

I never mind getting the Fortnum and Mason emails. They are always so colorful and fun. I just wish I could be in London to take advantage of purchasing a few of these darling ornaments. They are so cute--miniatures of their actual tea room china and goodies.

The teapot and cups in their signature aqua--so pretty.

There's this signature tea tin. Just so darn cute. I have a couple of these in my cabinet with their signature teas.

This clock is on top of the building. It's beautiful and ornate, but I do not recall that it is aqua. It blended in with the old architecture of the historic building.

This cute teapot is the exact shape of the one I bought when I was there a couple years ago. Mine has the Fortnum and Mason logo on it. In fact, I have a teapot ornament similar to this--that Stephanie surprised me with on that trip.

Who could resist this tiny tiered tray of cakes and sweets? They are just as pretty as the real ones in the tearoom. 

Then there's this:

I would love to have this little red Christmas tea tin. So adorable! 

In fact, I would love to have ALL of these ornaments. I would put them on my kitchen window sill and enjoy them all year round! Unfortunately that shipping from England just makes it to expensive to splurge!

Just another reason--or 10 as to why I need to get back to London! Hopefully in 2022.

Some Things for Sunday

I thought these were particularly relevant right now.

Some Things for Sunday

1. This is my favorite picture of Stephanie from our trip to France.

This was taken at the Ambois Chateau in the Loire Valley.

2. This is just one of the magnificent flowers in Monet's garden.

It looks like some sort of sunflower. I would love to have this in my garden. The blooms are about 4 inches wide. So striking. 

3. After our walk through Monet's garden, we walked on down the lane, through Giverny to his grave site.

It seems appropriate that it would be full of flowers.

When we visited the grave site, we discovered this. It is a memorial for some British men from the RAF whose plane went down in Giverny. I love discovering things like this. Very special.

4. I thought this wall was so pretty and unusual.

What a great way to use up a lot of random tile and brick.

5. Scrabble in France.

I love Scrabble. I have no idea what any of these words mean. But I'm pretty sure that 12 letter word wouldn't fly in a real game. Well, unless it's a compound word--then I guess it would be possible.

I hope you are not tired of hearing about our France trip because I still have a few things I want to report. Later...

Some Things for Sunday

While we were at the beach, Butch decided to place a cache in a pet cemetery. Years ago, he took all of us (the grands were little then) to this same place to find a cache. It was eerie and creepy then. He noticed that it was no longer an active cache. The owner neglected it, so it was archived. Butch wanted to place another in it's place. 

This animal skull (don't know which animal) seems like the perfect thing! He said I had given it to him many years ago. I have no recollection of that.

When we were packing the car with the things we were taking to the beach, I saw it in a box. My first thought was, "Oh no! I hope he doesn't think we're adding that to the decor!" I mean, come on. The beach place is a happy, colorful, dreamy type of place. I don't think we need an animal skull to turn it in to a nightmare type of place! Still, I didn't say anything. I think at one point I finally asked him what he was doing with that. 

That's when he reminded me that it was a cache. When you turn it over, there is the film canister with the log inside. Look at those teeth! Actually, I think it's a pretty cool cache---and absolutely perfect for a pet cemetery! This is the perfect kind of thing to attract little kids to caching!

One last thing about the beach. The sunrises and sunsets are amazing!

Totally worth getting up for---or in this case, leaving for home at the crack of dawn!!

Big family dinner planned for tonight. We spent the weekend at Sandy's and got home this morning. Morgan had requested the dinner as Victoria and Elizabeth are in town--even though we just saw them in Atlanta! 

Morgan called me on Thursday afternoon to "check up on me." I questioned her about that. No one needs to remind me of anything---usually. I told her that I had already made the spaghetti sauce earlier that day. I made a huge pot---the only way we Italians make sauce! I brought a couple containers to Sandy. As for us, there will be eleven here. We're having spaghetti (and zucchini noodles for those of us not eating pasta), meat sauce, salsiccia (I always have to look up how it's spelled--Italian sausage that we'll cook on the grill), a big salad, garlic cheese bread---AND some pasta with homemade Alfredo sauce--for one picky person who doesn't like red sauce! What??? I honestly didn't think there was anyone who didn't like spaghetti with meat sauce!! Oh well. 

Some Crazy Things for Sunday

Here are a few things that I just had to comment on:

Awhile back while geo-caching, we came across this. I had never seen anything like it. It was right on the sidewalk. It's stuff to fix your bike and blow up your tires. What??? News to me!

I can't even recall what awards show this was last week. But come on Justin. What's with that "hairdo?" Doesn't it seem a little politically incorrect? Not to mention "stupid." Really, what's up with that and who told him it looked good?

While in South Dakota, we went to the famous Wall Drug. The place itself was humongous and a total tourist trap. It wasn't that great, but then I did see this. Do you remember what movie from the 80's it's from? Hint: it's the opposite of little!

We had these excellent bloody Mary's at a Cajun restaurant in Rapid City, SD. I got the one with the shrimp--it had olives too. I always say, "Bloody Mary's are the drinks that act like a meal!" So true.

And finally this. My friends and I were just talking about an email that one of them had gotten in the business world that referred to this. You might have to make it bigger to see what it says. I've underlined the part to pay attention to. This was part of the paperwork I had to fill out for a physical therapy session. I've never seen anything like this before. It seemed like a question off of a grammar test. I had flashbacks, broke out in a cold sweat and left it blank! Crazy--if you ask me!

Something for Sunday

As you read this, we are still on our trip to South Dakota with friends. We are having so much fun! Here are a few pictures:

The Badlands are so beautiful! I had no idea. 

Between the sky and the mountains and the grass, it made for gorgeous pictures. We loved it so much, we are going back on Monday to hike a trail. We think that will be a great way to end the trip--at the most beautiful spot.

We went to two other states besides South Dakota--geo-caching and sightseeing. Here are Bruce, Butch and Hugh.

This is the Devil's Tower. We hiked all the way around it--about a mile and a half.

Deadwood was very touristy. The guys had a beer at Saloon #10 where Wild Bill Hickok was killed while holding the "deadman's hand" named after him--aces and eights. Pam and I took the tour--that no one else wanted to do. It was so interesting. Probably the most important thing I learned was that I totally confused Wild Bill with Wyatt Earp. As we were hearing the story, I kept thinking, "this isn't right!" And then it hit me---wrong person! Sometimes I worry about me! In this picture, it's Karolyn, Pam and me.

After the beers, we drove up to Mt. Mariah where Wild Bill and Calamity Jane are buried.

And here you have Mount Rushmore! The fog never cleared, but we went ahead and did the museum and short film. So when we finally came back on Saturday, we saw this:

We did the presidents walk for another mile and a half. We have done quite a bit of hiking! I'll have to let you know how many miles by the end of the week.

This was after lunch at the Firehouse Brewing Company. 

We've been having the best time. We hit it hard all day. We get back to the hotel and have about an hour to shower and get ready for dinner. Then we meet for happy hour--we found the perfect spot in the hotel. After dinner, we're all ready to just call it a day and relax. Then we start all over again the next day! I'll share a little more on Travel Tuesday!

Something For Sunday

On Mother's Day, Stephanie and Nicky gave me a gift card to Dillard's. Since I posted the pics about all the clothes I'd discarded, they thought I might need something new. 

I went to the mall for the first time in--probably--a couple years. I hadn't been since long before the pandemic. I think this new Dillards has been open for at least 2 or 3 years! I needed a swimsuit cover-up, so thought that would be a perfect thing to shop for. I took this selfie and sent it to Stephanie and Nicky. Then I waited for the store to open. I'm an early bird. I waited about 10 minutes and thought, "Hmm, I wonder why they haven't opened. They always opened at 10 a.m. That's when I walked up to the window and saw this:

Are you kidding me! I guess I'm not used to Covid hours. I do know that most businesses are having a real hard time getting employees to come back. And, it has nothing to do with Covid! That's all I'm going to say about that!

Anyway, so now my Dillard's plan was dashed. I headed on down the mall to the next store I'd planned to go to. That's when I noticed this:

I love Auntie Ann's! I can't have them right now, but one of these days! This is a whole new wing of the mall that I had never been in before. Then there was this:

It's killing me! I do love sweets---anything with cinnamon, sugar and frosting is right up my alley!

I continued on to Soma--I needed a couple of brassieres. Now I don't really call them that, but thought it sounded nicer than "over the shoulder boulder holders!" Anyway, that store doesn't open until 11 either. I went on to Macy's which WAS open. I checked their swim suit department, but didn't find anything. I ended up leaving and arriving 30 minutes early for my lunch date. I sat in mycar and read for a bit. I am never bored. Plus, with the Kindle app on my phone, I always have my book with me.

Okay, that's if for today. I hope you are having a great weekend! I know I am!

Some Things for Saturday

We had no idea that New Mexico and Arizona were so windy! I thought Chicago was the "Windy City" and I totally agree with that. But NM and AZ are definitely close seconds.

Several firsts for me!!

First time hiking to the top of a volcano. It was kind of hard for me. I had to stop and rest several times. Then somebody said something about the altitude. Yeah, no wonder I was breathing so hard!

Standing on the corner....just one more cool thing along Route 66.

The Petrified Forest.

My first time (and probably last time) hiking in a desert! I'm just glad it was such nice, moderate weather. I cannot imagine doing this in the summer. I was sweating a lot and it was cool! It was a lot of fun and I'm happy to be able to say I hiked in a desert!!

The painted desert was really neat too. We didn't hike here, just drove the national park road with stops along the way. It's so unusual---the colors changed along the way. 

The whole trip has been really fun. I'm happy to have logged so many firsts. At 69, that's hard to do!!