This is me..

All about me

1. What was the last thing you put in your mouth? My morning pills. For thyroid and my stomach  (yep, that’s what you do when you get old..lol

2. Do you sleep naked? No

3. Worst physical pain you have ever had? Having a baby

4. Favorite place you have ever visited? Provence France

5. How late did you stay up last night? 11:00

6. If you could move somewhere else, where would you move? Southern Pennsylvania 

7. Which of your Facebook friends lives closest to you? Joan

8. When was the last time you cried? When my best friend died

9. Who took your profile pic? Me

10. Two of your favorite movies! Sixth Sense and The English Patient

11. What's your favorite season? Fall

13. If you could talk to ANYONE right now, who would it be? My best friend who passes

14. Are you a good influence? Of course

15. Does pineapple belong on pizza? No

16. You have the remote, what show would you have it on? A Million Little Things

17. Two people who you think will play along? My sisters

18. First concert you ever attended? Four Seasons

19. Favorite food? Ice cream

20. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? Secretary or teacher

Will you share some of your answers?

Charcuterie

Have you ever done a charcuterie tray? I love everything about a tray full of cheese, fruit, nuts and meat.

It is easy to put together. All you need is a little of this and that. You can choose interesting cheeses..

from Baked in the South

Then add fruit...strawberries, grapes, kiwi, pineapple, etc.

 

Meat can be added too, there are no rules and it always looks great.

On Hello Lovely sudio

I made up one once for my Giggle Girls. It’s fun to look at and fun to eat. Try it sometime.

Women in Sunlight

“Of the great experiences of my life there are many, but nothing exceeds the plain happiness of a fall night at home....”.  From the very first pages that I turned I knew that I would love this book.

My sister Linda recommended it to me after she listened to the audiobook version. It is about three women...one an artist (me), one a chef (Linda) and one a gardener (Diane) who travel to stay at a villa in Tuscany. And it is written by the author of Under a Tuscan Sun, another of my favorites. Here is a brief summary...

If you met these characters at a dinner party, you would find them charming, if oblivious to their pampered existence. There is never, ever a moment’s hesitation over money. They furnish their rental villa with linens, fruit trees, antique garden tools and anything else they desire. One woman spends 1,000 euros on art and poetry books.

Author Frances Mayes (Will Garin-Banner Media Group)

And although these three women are expats, there is not a moment of that unifying frustration that all real expats endure: the broken dryer, the dishonest merchant or the terror of getting lost in a place where you do not speak the language. Somehow, Camille, Susan and Julia sail through as if they’ve never once had a hair-coloring disaster or eaten bad street food. Granted, the women are victims of a burglary, but their burglars leave them with a litter of adorable kittens.

Such are the trials in “Women in Sunlight.” Everything is delicious, colorful and charming. All the lanes are lined with cypress trees, all the women are fashionable, and everyone is always stopping for a quick espresso at a cute cafe. When Julia decides to jump off a high cliff, she lands safely in the water. When Susan learns Italian, she is fluent in no time. When Camille returns to her love of art, she is heralded as a new star. 

Later, one of them exclaims, “Home. We are at home! We didn’t know we could, would accomplish that.”

IncrediBooth

Eating lunch at the Weathervane where I had a delicious spinach salad with candied pecans, ricotta salada, brioche croutons, pear and basil balsamic vinaigrette. I also had a grilled cheese with smoked Gouda, house made Boursin, and white cheddar on sourdough bread. You can’t get anything like that in my hometown. 

Photo booth

I love playing with the photo booth app. 

Home safe and sound

Aren’t these just adorable? Diane collects Charming Tales and these little mice eating candy corn are about the cutest things I’ve ever seen. I am back home after a long and tiring trip. I travel straight through with only one stop for potty time and a drink and make it in six hours. After unloading the car and taking a quick shower I put everything away. I will show you my purchases tomorrow. Now I am ready to cuddle up on my chair and finish my book (reading A Perfect Wife). My sweet husband had a beautiful bouquet of roses waiting for me. He is so good not to object to my going away for a week but I know he is really glad to have me home. He even bought a roasting chicken so I wouldn’t have to cook tonight. So thoughtful. Our trip from Raleigh to Fredericksburg yesterday was miserable because of the constant rain but Linda drove for which I was very grateful. At her house last night we caught up on How to get away with Murder, drank tea, and ate scrambled eggs for dinner. We always have such fun so it was sad to say goodbye.

Diane and Jeff with Coco and Zoe.

More and more sister fun

Our fun has included artisan chocolates from The Chocolate Cafe....

Shopping in downtown Raleigh at Cameron village today at Pier One.

The Christmas decorations in the stores were out in full force. 

Cameron Villiage was celebrating seventy years and all around were pianos donate by local merchants and today they had professional piano players entertaining.

We had lunch at the Villiage Deli where we ate outside in the nice weather with Becky and Chris who met us there. We first went to an estate sale which turned out to be a bust...not a lot of things at huge prices. 

And of course we had room for a custard at Gooseberries.  

I got the girls these towels. 

More sister fun

We are clowning around as we get ready for another trip out to pursue the stores.  Today linda has some Kohl’s cash to spend then we met Diane’s daughter Becky and her friend Anna for lunch at the farmer’s market. 

This market was filled with all kinds of vegetables and fruits along with shrubs and plants. 

And all kinds of apples. 

Tonight Becky and Anna came over. Anna had bought a Ponderosa lemon tree with huge lemons which they are going to use to make mojitos for our Mexican dinner tonight. 

Yes, this is a real lemon.  

Sister Fun

I am all about sister fun and this week I escaped from Bradford to Fredericksburg and now to Raleigh to visit my sister Diane’s new home. They relocated in May so this is the first time I’ve been here. After a four hour ride Linda and I arrived here in the early afternoon. Already we have hit two thrift shops. No surprise there. 

Fall

Fall can be so beautiful....

Or not....

In progress

Getting the walls up today ...

The garage is looking better and better. Chris will be coming on Saturday to help put things back in.  

Work in progress

           No, this isn’t a pile of rocks...it’s our garage floor. For a while it has needed replaced and this month we decided it was time. First we had to remove everything from the garage and carry it outside. That was quite a job as Don is a handyman and had so many different tools and our garage looked like a hardware store. It was a good time to do a good cleaning out so we got rid of so much. Then last Monday they began. 

It was quite a job and on Friday they finally poured the concrete. 

They are still working in the garage today. Besdes putting in a new floor they had to pull in a far wall that had moved a little. It really looks good so far and we are hoping that this week we can get plywood on the walls and put everything back inside. 

Random Sunday thoughts

Women’s Literary Club

October is here and that means that the Women’s Literary Club begins its new season. The first luncheon meeting is always held at our local country club, The Pennhills Club which is a substantial stone building with old charm. 

The program was Bootleggers and we learned all about Bradford’s colorful history during Prohibition. There were many rival gangs and famous gangsters in the town at that time with a lot of violence. Some of the girls dressed as flappers to fit the theme.

The menu is determined by one of our members who has been in charge of this luncheon for decades. I had the pork and everything was delicious. 

This is one of my favorite meetings of the year and I am looking forward to a great season. 

Just a little fun

The photo booth

 At  The wedding Chris and Wendy had a photo booth. It was a real hit. Everyone enjoyed putting on the costumes available and having their picture taken as their favor. They also did another really cute thing. They had Pictionary cards available and ask people to write sentiments on the back of the card. They also had a nice portrait of them and people could  write on the large mat.  But the real hit of the reception was an ice cream truck from Penn state creamery. Everyone loved getting either a dish or cone.