Tulip Time Dishes

This is mostly a picture story, a  dish story, and a friendship story.
Some weeks ago now, Kimberly at Camp and Cottage Living, mentioned some dishes that she had found. If you'd like to read the back story, you'll find it *here.*  As a result of that post, I now have some beautiful gifts from Kim. I had offered to pay for the dishes and Kimberly told me that I must receive them so as not to steal her joy. 

The box contained dishes, linen, a towel for draining dishes, a field and forest cupcake party pack (which will be getting good use shortly), two "green" bags for groceries, and a sweet thank you card. Who should be thanking whom around here?

 ~Tulip Time~Johnson Bros~

 ~charming Dutch Scene~

 ~scene on linen napkins~

Kim wondered what I might do with the chipped pieces...have no fear, I always have a plan! I simply extended the line. (I used a cropped photo of the dishes in my header.)

This card tickled me because I think of those who periodically tell me that they must clean their screens of coffee spurts. ☺
Thank you, Kimberly! You're a Dear Heart.
Now, please visit Kim to see how she has updated the kitchen in her new home. It's adorable and you'll find it on her post titled My Budget Kitchen Reveal...

Cake

October used to be an intense birthday month. Now it's a month filled with memories and two birthdays. My daughter's is this week so plans are coming together. The last time I made plans and shared them here, I decided upon a five-senses birthday—a gift for each one. So that year, my daughter received a cd, some perfume, some candy, a fleece throw, and a book. The particulars escape me now, but it is a good thing to do when needing direction.  *** This year, we're celebrating with a lasagna supper and, of course, cake. Laurel tells me that this year should be a homemade year so she'll probably get a couple of pot holders and a scarf or something. It'll be the thought that counts. < insert a wry, very wry, grin. > *** There's a Cake Mix Doctor recipe that I fall back on because the family loves it so. For those who might not know, the *Cake Mix Doctor* has recipes that include a cake mix. Easy-Peasy. However, when I was visiting there yesterday, I  learned that cake mixes, along with so many other products, have shrunk. They've gone from 18.5 ounces to 16 point something, and my newest boxes are all the way down to 15.25 ounces. Now if that doesn't mess with the recipe!  The Cake Mix Doctor recommends adding the difference in flour. If you visit the site, you'll see a tab for videos at the top. I learned such good tips for watching  a 90-second video that it was well worth my time: Chocolate Cake Video *** This is one of my favorite cake mix doctor recipes: Almond Cream Cheese Pound Cake. Laurel, however, will be getting a chocolate cake. *** I'm popping in a mosaic of my grandson playing soccer. My youngest grandson plays on the same team; however, he was not feeling well Sunday. There's another Sunday afternoon game coming along and I hope that I'll be able to get both boys in action.

What a fun time we had! These children have come a long way in a year.

***

Now I'm off to run errands — a mix-up with car insurance and a visit to Joann's. It's a beautiful day and I will enjoy the drive.  *** Have a great Tuesday!

Mums

 A chrysanthemum by any other name would be a lot easier to spell. 

~ Robert Savage

Only two of these are mine, but that doesn't stop me from taking photos of mums wherever I find them. They are so gorgeous this year!
Linking to *Mary's Mosaic Monday at Little Red House.*

Still

Wishing you a beautiful week with precious moments of absolute stillness where knowing Who God is takes center stage.
As always, comments are closed on Sunday.

Fryeburg Fair 2013

"Go to the fair, Templeton. You will find that the conditions at a fair will surpass your wildest dreams. Buckets with sour mash sticking to them, tin cans containing particles of tuna fish, greasy paper bags stuffed with rotten..."

"That's enough!" cried Templeton. "Don't tell me anymore. I'm going."

~John sidles up to the first of many food stands~

When they pulled into the Fair Grounds, they could hear music and see the Ferris wheel turning in the sky. They could smell the dust of the race track where the sprinkling cart had moistened it; and they could smell the hamburgers frying and see balloons aloft.

"...These autumn days will shorten and grow cold. The leaves will shake loose from the trees and fall. Christmas will come, then the snows of winter... All these sights and sounds and smells will be yours to enjoy, Wilbur — this lovely world, these precious days..."

~watching the oxen being escorted to the pulling ring~

(The little girl says, "Holy Smokies, those things are huge!")

Hope that you enjoyed a taste of the fair! Hope that I've shown you something new. There's always something new at the fair. Thanks for stopping by and do have the most precious of days.

*All quotes taken from Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. (Edited to Add: Did you know that the book's fair is based upon the Fryeburg Fair? It is. When I was a girl attending the fair, I may have seen Mr. White hanging out in the animal barns as he loved to do. I like that thought.)

Chickies

~Chickies~
It has been a busy week in my corner. Yesterday, we went to the Fryeburg Fair. Two hundred photos later, and I am still getting the best of the best ready for tomorrow's post. Right. You're in for it. Hope to see you then!
For today, though, I thought I'd bring this week full circle. 
Joining Kati for Photo Friday. 
P.S. Oops...Kati cancelled October's Photo Friday and will pick up again November 1.

Pumpkin Somethin

That's right. It's a Pumpkin Somethin' and you can find the recipe *here.* I highly recommend that you do.
Have a great day!
☺
P.S. Was it too obvious that I'm practicing for Donna's next Personal Photo Challenge? ;> I have sizzlin bacon, a bruised apple, and a pan of orange apple crisp somethin in my collection so far. I need practice!

Halcyon Days

Not from successful love alone, Nor wealth, nor honor'd middle age, nor victories of politics or war; But as life wanes, and all the turbulent passions calm, As gorgeous, vapory, silent hues cover the evening sky, As softness, fulness, rest, suffuse the frame, like fresher, balmier air,  As the days take on a mellower light, and the apple at last hangs really finish'd and indolent-ripe on the tree, Then for the teeming quietest, happiest days of all! The brooding and blissful halcyon days!
~Walt Whitman

All over Blogdom there are wonderful posts being created for a 31-day series. Many of them involve decorating ideas, which are delightful and I enjoy them.

Two are going to involve some thought-provoking posts. I know this because they already have. You will find them at Creekside Cottage and Thinking About Home. 

A lovely day to you...

Killer Chickens

I try to hide them, but I have issues. Have you noticed? Yes, and quite a number of them, too. Like most of my fears, I can trace this one to childhood. 
Back in the day, at Easter time, a girl would often find herself the proud owner of a flock of pastel chickies. Perhaps you did, too.
And so the girl set out to mother her little flock tending to them most lovingly and making sure that every need of their cheeping little beings was fulfilled. They soon came to recognize her and would fly to the corner of the box whenever she came near. And she thought: They are soooo  koochy-woochy, wooby-dooby cute. 
One day, however, Mother and Father came once again to their senses and realized that they now had a herd of prepubescent chickens living in their kitchen. They decided to hand them off to the neighbors who actually had a chicken coop.
This was a perfectly delightful arrangement as now the little girl could visit and feed her flock. Imagine her surprise when one horrific afternoon she let herself into the coop only to find herself surrounded by a group of highly agitated hens. They had no patience for her wooby-dooby anymore and pecked at her legs so fiercely that the sounds of her screaming rattled around the valley three times. 
Fast forward to Sunday afternoon when John and I were happily driving like the old folks we are through the countryside looking for autumn.
 We saw a beautiful scene where there was an empty drive handy so that we could park and be out of the way. Out of the car I popped and was preparing to take my first photo when out of the barn came the herd. 

They ran so fast that they looked as if they were on horseback...I do believe I heard one of them say, "Get her, Gertrude!"

Ackkkk... I couldn't get back to the car fast enough. I fell in panting and slammed the door shut.

Goodbye, Ladies, hope that your real dinner arrives soon.

This was the view I was going for...

Just learned that I can do this in my Photoscape program. I do wish that it would stop flattening the top, bottom, and sides, though; otherwise, it's a great effect.
A delightful autumn day to you. Don't let the killer chickens get ya!

Foliage Report

Since I so often mention how rotten the weather is, I think it is time for me to say that the weather has been glorious — glorious! It makes me feel like singing. 

We decided to take a Sunday afternoon drive around the block. I took a lot of photos. While editing them, I realized that they'd be pretty much the same old, same old, well except for the attack of the killer chickens. So I tossed the photos into a collage for future Note Card Party retrieval or header consideration. 

~Typical Scene These Days~

The Farm Stand was having a closing sale. The white mum was less than half price. Can't beat that! Ice cream was, too, so John upgraded to a banana-less banana split. More on that later.

This is called the Hannibal Hamlin home. Mr. Hamlin was Abraham Lincoln's first vice-president. (*I've talked about it before.*) It has beautiful views of the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

Oh I see that this might be where the seed was planted to have a white mum! And I thought it was my idea.

A glimpse of their view. The home is privately owned.

And there's John enjoying that not quite a banana split. He says that he used to ride a dump rake in his childhood haying days back on the farm.

Back to our humble abode with no mountain views, but plenty of autumn all the same. We are wrapped up in autumn these days.

Autumn Up!

~Twine pumpkin as seen *here.*~ 

What's not to love about bittersweet, jack be little pumpkins or a pumpkin of another sort?
Joining Mary at *Little Red House* for Mosaic Monday.
Closing comments so that you may scoot and enjoy your Sunday. 
As always, thank you so much for stopping by!

A Letter

Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;) And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia: Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father...

Many blessings to you this week as you open The Word. It's better than anything you could receive in the mailbox. 

Disguises and Close-ups

Flowers often look fine in close-ups. Take the humble kalanchoe that actually has far more presence/oomph in a close-up.

Usually, I am trying to disguise the less than pleasant around here. However, I've never minded showing the view out this window, though I most certainly have avoided the close-up in the opposite direction.

This was taken after the siding was finished, but before the window fix. (I'm not sure that I should say "siding" anymore. I was visiting a blog recently where the blogger described all siding as "ugh." ♪We are old; we are poor; we don't want to paint anymore♪)

A lonely lily... Yesterday afternoon, I played carpenter's helper and spent a lot of time trotting back and forth. 

Have you ever helped your husband with a project? Seems mine had a few minor complaints and wished to tell me about them. Seems he thought I should be able to figure out exactly what he wanted and when. Finally, I told him that I was busy with many things besides being his helper. I was taking photos, looking for squirrels, wondering where all the acorns went, checking the light, shooing turkey vultures off. Right. I had a lot to do!

In the end, he finished it up. And now I've only thought of one more thing to add to our list. We really need to get that mold off our shingles! 

Thanks, John! It looks great! You worked hard and have paid a price in aches and pains. I can probably handle that roof if you show me how. ;>

No need for clever disguises...well, I am NOT showing you that garden!

How about a close-up of a geranium? 
Enjoy this final weekend of September! Where did it go?

Wisdom

What the world could really use are some humble men who solve problems rather than egotistical men who cause problems. ~Donna

I don't have a Twitter account, but I'd like to think that, if I did, I'd sound a little like Donna. She has posted her Twitter account in her sidebar as so many bloggers have. If you're a bit of a snoop, like me, you can check it out *here.* Not sure what is going on with my browser (Google Chrome) or with Blogger this morning, but something. I'll try to be brief.

John (also known as a humble man trying to fix a problem) is working on insulating the bay window and replacing the basement window below, which had a baseball sail through it a few years ago. (Not my darlings; some neighborhood teens.) Then we'll get started on the garage. I'd show you that horror show, but we're nowhere near Halloween. I must not only protect the innocent, I must not embarrass myself. 
And my job, of course, is to document the fading blooms of summer...

A fine day to you and a happy weekend!

A Cruz

I don't have much energy for blogging today. C-SPAN 2 has been on through the night and until noon today. Thank you, C-SPAN! 

If Ted Cruz was willing to speak up on behalf of his constituents and the *nearly 75%* of all Americans who now realize that 0bamacare has no hope of working and will, in fact, destroy us — is in fact, now destroying us — if he was willing to do that, then the least I could do is stand with him in my simple way. 

We had spent the day yesterday calling our various Senators and Representatives. We've written letters, added our names to polls, done all that we know how to do. It won't change the fact that four out of seven adults in our immediate family are without work. I only hope that I am not bearing witness to the bitter end of this great country. 

My new way of handing political commentary is to close comments and tell you to send me an email if you'd like to chat.

 I'll get back to you after my nap. ☺

My Fairy Blog Mother

 
As you can see, I had a Fairy Blog Mother busily working away since I was last here. She has done such a lot of tidying up and getting things back to working order. Her name is Linda and she blogs at *Life and Linda.* It's a beautiful blog as you might imagine. I have seen a number of blogs around Blogdom of late that she has worked with and was most impressed, yet it was visiting her own blog that cinched it for me. If you ever need help, tell her I sent you!
So autumn has arrived while I was fussing over less lovely things... 

~farmstand on Sunday afternoon last~

 ~china cabinet top decor built around *Catherine Holman* print~

My grandmother's tea pot with the sweet little house. (I broke the lid while visiting her one day.)  A beautiful day to you...thank you for putting up with me!

The Basement is A Mess

You can check it out for yourself on your way by. Just keep scrolling down, down, down. (I'm talking about the mess in the blog basement.) I've actually been making some improvements and I hope, over time, to get it whittled down to something manageable. Just as in real basements, sheds, garages, attics, trunks, and closets, there's everything from soup to nuts! Have you ever added the labels gadget? 

So if I'm missing for a few days, it's because I'm in the basement, garage, attic or somewhere.

Everything is in autumn mode around here. The flowers have had to be covered against frost and freeze warnings several times. It's only a matter of time before they look so tired anyway that I'll just let them go. In the meantime, I'm doing puttery autumnal things around the house...an acorn here, a bouquet there, repotting a cactus here, binning an old poinsettia there. How about you?


Thank you for another fun Note Card Party! You're the best group of gals that ever was! And I just know that you'll be using those cameras from now to the next party October 16 and posting some. How did the new rule work for you? I didn't take any new photos, but I used photos that I had not used before. 

Oh one last thing! So many mentioned what a fun idea it is to exchange a tea cup or coffee mug. Stephanie's at it again and you can find out more by clicking on the button in my sidebar. I signed up for the mug exchange this time. Perhaps you'd enjoy participating, too. I'm sure that Stephanie would say, "The more the merrier!"