A Quiz for You!

What do all these things have in common?
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They are about to be gone! Fall is here and the leaves are turning colors and falling off the trees. The tomato plants are ripening their fruit and will soon complete their season. The bell peppers are some of the last on the plants. And the golf balls will be put away until next spring.

It all makes me want to start a fire and settle in for the winter! What about you?

More Good Stuff.....

I thought this white dish was pretty with the flowers in the vase! I can either hang it on the wall or use a plate stand. 79 cents




I liked this plate because of the color. I plan to hang it in the hall bath upstairs. $1.99




Another white plate with flowers. I might use with other similar dishes. 59 cents




I love this little white pedestal dish. I have some blue and white bunnies on it right now. I can decorate it with ribbon weaving it in and out of the cut outs on the edge. $2.99




I love this white divided dish. The design is pretty and the rim is dotted. It will go with everything! $2.99




This little dish has lily of the valley on it along with gold. I thought it was a pretty and unique dish. 99 cents




This is a hammered aluminum tray. It is small and has pomegranates on it! $1.99




Aren't these wine baskets cute? I love the berries around the top. $1.99 each


That's all for me now. Talk to you later......Tootles!

Goodwill Goodies

I promised pictures of some of my Goodwill finds and so I pulled out the old camera and had a very unprofessional photo shoot around the house. Most of my things are still sitting in a cabinet waiting for a good cold day to start decorating the house. So if some of the items look ridiculous where they are sitting, well there is a reason that. 'Cause that is not where they belong! Here we go!



The back of this trivit is marked Williamsburg and Queen Ann Cyper. I bought it for $1.99. Pretty good deal since I checked the internet and the cost is $45.00. I am excited to get this because I always wanted to get one when we were in Williamsburg. I have it on my bookshelves in the den.



Don't you just love the little birdies! They are painted creamy white and it looks like the paint is peeling off in places which makes it look "vintage" and remind us of all our little feathered friends outside! They were 99 cents each. And it doesn't cost anything to feed them!



This pewter bowl looks great in the kitchen with my stainless steel appliances. It cost $2.99.



This is just a pretty white plate with raised fruit. I think it will look pretty with hanging onthe wall or sitting in a plate holder. The price was 99 cents.



I love this ceramic tray! It is colorful and I think I will probably display it as much as use it. $2.99



A small plate that is a sweet saying about friends and family.....it made me miss mine! 59 cents.


That is all for now.....I will do the rest of my loot tonight. Hope you enjoyed it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIANNE!!!!!

Today my baby is 20! 20!!!!!! It really does not seem possible that it has been 20 years since our world of little boy blue suddenly added PINK! I can't tell you the surprise and excitement we felt when we found out you were a girl. And I must say you were 100% girl. The minute a baby doll found its way to your hands, you held it with love and "la la'ed" it to sleep. You completed our family in a wonderful way!

Happy Birthday Ju Ju! We love you!

How do you like my bell peppers that I am growing? Do they look like the ones you buy at the grocery store? Do you think I am living on a toxic waste dump?

Oh, and Happy Halloween a little early!

Yesterday, I was reading some of my favorite blogs. Over at Metalia's blog, she wrote about teenage crushes on celebrities. She asked her readers to comment on who was their teenage crush. Drum roll please.........







Thats right! Bobby Sherman was the man! It was kind of funny thinking about it. I would read Teen Beat and all the other teen magazines so I could learn "everything" about him. Yvonne, of Uniquely Me, said her crush was Donny Osmond. Donny was a close second, but Bobby was my man. I am not sure how old I was during this time. I must have been like 12 or 13. I saw a "Where They Are Now" program on TV a while back. Bobby is now a paramedic. And he doesn't look as good as Donny Osmond does now.

Did you have a celebrity crush?

I decided I needed to post on my blog so I wouldn't lose all my loyal readers who are left. I must warn you that I will probably be posting more as the holidays approach since there will be more activity in my little part of the world. I know, I know. You are probably thinking I am just teasing you with the promise of lots of new posting, but think back to last year when I started this fabulously entertaining well written thing called a blog. Plus, it will be getting COLD soon and there will be nothing else to do but blog. Okay? Isn't that what you really wanted to hear?

Frannycakes was a busy bee this weekend. Since the temperatures are dropping around here, I have been in a cooking mood. So Saturday afternoon, Tricky and I went to town to pick up some supplies. We got a new fall flag for the side porch. You know us, always festive. He got a new belt and windshield wipers for his truck. No....not from the same store.....Pep Boys does not sell belts for pants silly..... Then we went to my favorite overpriced grocery store. I love that place but feel guilty shopping there unless I happen to get some of their buy one get one free deals so I feel like I am coming out even with the cheaper grocery stores. Anyway....I just had a few things since I was just freezing a few dishes. Tricky decided to stay in the truck and listen to the football games while I ran in and 30 minutes later he came in looking for me and wondering what was taking me so long. He helped me by pushing the cart and in the process becoming separated and so I was wandering around with and arm full of groceries looking for him on one side of the store while he was on the other side looking for me. We finally checked out and headed home. I immediately started making chili to freeze. Then I started the soup that we all loved from last winter. The name of the recipe is "Vermont Ski Lodge Soup" and it is delish. It makes enough to serve 20 so I was able to freeze a bunch of individual serving bags so as to not waste even a little bit. Tricky had a bowl and gave it his sign of approval. Good enough for me! Sunday, I started a pot of red chicken stew. Yum Yum Yum. The family had a bowl for dinner and I froze the rest (which was a lot!) in, you guessed it, individual serving sized bags. I will probably make another pot of Red Chicken Stew to freeze so we will have some extra just in case. Just in case of what, you ask? Just in case one of you come up to see me.......

Julianne went hiking this past weekend with the son of someone that works with Tricky. (I decided to call him Tricky today!) He is a senior at the University of Maine. She had a great time and was exhausted when she got home.

Did I mention that it was 44 degrees outside when I got up this morning? I have on my white zip up sweatshirt jacket over my sexy flannel pjs. Virginia? Are you reading? I am copying you. Virginia has the most....um....how can I describe this.....HIDEOUS while pull over white (questionable) sweatshirt that obviously gives her comfort. And we all know that when you can get comfort from something, you need to hang on to it. Well, in most cases we should hang on to it but in Virginia's white sweatshirt I am not sure. After a few more washings, it may not be an issue as there is quite a bit of fraying. Maybe Santa Claus will come through for her this year. You hear that Virginia? You better watch out, you better not pout, you better not cry, I'm telling you why........YOU NEED A NEW SWEATSHIRT!!!!!! You are welcome!

Dick, I mean Tricky, has an important meeting this weekend up at a lake here in the great state of Maine. I felt sorry for him while he was loading his truck with fishing rods and reels and fishing "stuff". Julianne and I are bacheloretting it and it will be a toss up who has a more relaxing time!

I guess I need to go and be productive. Okay.....I just need to go.

Oh! Most of you who read this are parents and you know how it is every now and then that you feel like you succeeded in trying to raise your kids right? Well, today when I checked out "A Jackson Thing" I had that feeling. Go on over......And if you don't think that the words "Dingle" and "Berry" aren't funny, then I need to have a talk with your parents!

Tootles!

Greetings from Maine......And how was your weekend? We had a good one even though it seemed to fly by. Friday night, we went to the restaurant at the country club and had dinner with a couple from our neighborhood. Kelly and Paul and their daughter Carly joined us. Kelly and Paul owned the house that burned. I wrote about that a few months ago. They have been living in the house that Dick's company owns. They are rebuilding on the same site and the new house is beautiful. It is about 5 weeks till move in and they can't wait.

Saturday, Dick and Julianne mowed the yard. I was given a day off from the yard duties. Of course I had to wash clothes, but that seems to be a daily thing. Then Dick and I drove over to Boothbay Harbor. Another beautiful place in Maine! We decided that we want to go back for a weekend.

Todays temperature only got to 58 degrees. I love it. We got lots of rain also and we desparately needed it. Tomorrows temperature is supposed to be about the same. I also see alot more leaves changing colors. Looks like Fall is knocking at the door and turning the knob!

So what's up with you? Let me know!

I will talk to you later....Tootles!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALLIE!!!!!!

More Blog Recommendations

I am just a wealth of information. Just ask me. If you have not gone to "A Jackson Thing" then you must right this minute. Jamie is hilarious.

I have also added a new favorite. "Southern Hospitality" is written by Rhoda and she lives in Birmingham, having moved there from Atlanta. I love her decorating style and would love for her to come and decorate my house. I think all you girls out there will enjoy it. Be sure and go back through her archives to see all the pictures of her house. And she likes yard sales. Many of the things she decorates with comes from them. Take a look....you won't be sorry. I am hooked!

Another blog I recommend is Muffin53. She calls herself "Empress Bee of the High Seas" because she LOVES going on cruises! She is funny and sweet. And she has an important message for all her readers. She went for her yearly mammogram. It happened to be only 11 months, and they had planned a cruise and wouldn't be there at the 12 month mark. Insurance only covers a mammogram every 12 months. Instead of postponing it, they decided to go ahead and do it and pay themselves. Well folks, she found out she had breast cancer. It was caught in the early stages. It had not spread and she will only require a weeks worth of treatments. Let's all learn a lesson from this. Go have your mammogram. Do it every year. Do not postpone it. I had been delaying mine and the day she posted the results, I called and had it done two days later. Go check out her blog, Muffin53.

Linley also has a blog which I have talked about many times. Under Frannycakes Recommended Blogs it is listed as "A New Year". Don't be alarmed when you get there and it has a different name. She has retitled it "A Lady Downtown" because, you know, she is a lady and she does live downtown! She has posted pictures from their last trip up here.

Yvonne is my blog friend from the Chicago area. She is a proud momma and wife and talks about her life. I know I have told you about her blog before, but just in case you haven't visited lately, go! Her blog is "Uniquely Me" and is also linked at the right.

I have many blogs I read every day, so if you are interest, I can recommend others! I guess that is about all for now...........

Tootles!

Don't Be Jealous!

Don't be jealous......at 11:32 on Thursday morning the temperature is 59 degrees.

Recommended Reading

Jamie, our oldest and also a newlywed, has started a new blog. You can link to it by clicking on "A Jackson Thing" on the right side of my blog. It is listed under
"Recommended by Frannycakes". He just posted a hilarious story about something his Daddy taught him. You won't be sorry!

FIGHT!!!!!

Those of you who know me know that I love to go to Goodwill and the Salvation Army. I hate to ride past one because I just "know" that there is a treasure in there waiting for me to buy. I have gotten some great things at these places. Lately, I have been looking for several things. After finding a couple of Southern Living year end cookbooks, I decided to start checking the book section to see if I could find others. Almost every time I go, I find another one. I have got to make a list of the years that I have so that I don't repeat. But that has not happened so far. Most of the time, I pay $2.99 for them. A couple of times the price was $1.99. I am also collecting silverplated knives, forks, spoons and serving pieces. It doesn't matter if they match or not. I have an idea for a way to use them, but my lips are sealed for now. Even if I don't use them, I usually pay less than 30 cents per piece. Friday I stopped by for just a minute and evidently a whole house load of things had been donated. Some very old stuff. I got some small sized books that were old.....the 1930's and they are red, blue and green. Perfect to decorate with! I also found two beautiful aluminum pieces. One piece is a two tiered round tray with a nice design. The other was a cute tray. But......back to the story!

Yesterday, I decided to ride over to Augusta. I went to the Goodwill first. Lots of other people had the same idea that I had. When I walked into the building, I immediately heard two women screaming obscenities at each other. Evidently, someone who must have found some really great things and was in a hurry to get out of there before someone stole them from her "cut" in line. Now I have been in that store before and the checkout line is all mixed together because there are not individual checkout lanes like at Walmart or the grocery store. So, it is possible that she did not "cut" in line. Fortunately for me, no one asked my opinion, so I kept it to myself. I was, however, wondering if I should just back out and forget about the Goodwill. It used to be that you would just get screaming and a "cat fight." But today, they may have a gun. But fear not, I went directly to the back of the store to the books and to look for my treasure!

But I didn't tell you about all this so you would know my hangouts up here in Maine. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO..........It brought back to me an experience that I had many years ago at the Salvation Army in Georgetown with my friend Elaine. Elaine is not quite as big a fan of the 'Army as I am, but she went with me to find the.....you know.....treasure. After a while of looking, looking, looking, I found two oak barstools that had backs and swiveled. I had found my treasure! We had a bar in the kitchen and we needed them desperately. Maybe not desperately, but we needed them. So, we take them to the front of the store. I told the lady there that I wanted the stools, we both commented on how they looked new and what a good deal they were. About this time, a lady walks up and says that she had looked at them at the back of the store and SHE wanted them. Well. I thought Elaine and I were going to have to fight her. (Elaine wanted to fight her but I held her back!) The clerk told her that we had brought them up to the front and said that we had wanted them and that she had said nothing about them. Neither of us like confrontation, so I paid as fast as I could and got the hell out of there! Over the years, this story gets juicier and juicier. Chris asked me one day did I "fight" a woman in the Salvation Army once. I am not sure the "children" have ever even heard the real story before today. So there you have it.............It wasn't me, your mother, that wanted to fight, it was Ms. Elaine. You know....she is like that.....Just so you know......

I might take some pictures of my "treasures" and post them later. Don't be jealous. I might take you to the Goodwill one day and find you a treasure. But don't expect me to fight or cut in line for you to get it!

Tootles!

It is Working!

Thankfully, Blogger is fixed. I shall continue with my entertaining and insightful stories......

This afternoon, Dick, Julianne and I went to Kennebunkport to have dinner with Janie, Doug and Doug's mother, Mary. Kennebunkport is an absolutely beautiful town. It was filled with shoppers and tourists this afternoon. We got there in time to be able to do a little bit of shopping before we met them for dinner. The shops were all so cute. I might want to go back there when I can do some leisurely shopping. We went on to the restaurant and met them there. They were having a nice weekend enjoying the town. The meal was very good and we had a great time just sitting there talking. We had a great time and was sorry to have to leave. We got home around 11. Dick has already gone to bed. I am watching Doc Hollywood and blogging all at the same time. I am talented like that, you know?

It is hard to believe that Labor Day is just around the corner. Summer is just about gone here. I keep seeing red leaves on the ground. I have been seeing some yellow in the trees too. Pretty soon it will look like a beautiful watercolor of reds, yellows and oranges.

That's all for now......Tootles!

I am so agravated! Blogger is not cooperating with me today. I have the most amazing picture to post and it will got post it on the blog! I will keep trying!

Franny Stonehenge

The temperature in my part of the world is 64 degrees. It feels fabulous. Don't hate me for it.

Absolutely nothing is going on here. I am feeling like a nap would be good. Obviously the feeling is in the air. Weezie is snoring away in her bed. Life is good.

Chris is back in school. He has bought books twice now and if he calls again I will have to find a job. Julianne is going to get her books this afternoon. I guess I need to get the classified section out of the newspaper. Are these young'uns ever going to get out of college?

I have heard from Jamie that the wedding pictures are outstanding! They received a cd with the pictures (1,000 !) on it. The photographer said it will be online any day now. Jamie will contact me with the log in information and I will send it to who ever might need it. It will be hard to pick what I want. I will want them all!

That's about all my news. I will talk to you later....Tootles!

Chris and Linley left this morning. Early. Very Early. We got up at 3, left at 4 and got there at 5. They took off at 6. It has been a long day! I stopped at the Wally World on the way home and picked up some necessary things and probably some unnecessary things! I picked up the house when I got home and then mowed the grass. On the way back into the house, I realized we had tracked alot of grass in so I decided to vacuum. After a quick shower, I decided to "rest my eyes" for a couple of minutes. An hour later I woke up and have felt like I am in a coma since. I am going to bed when I finish this post.

It is chilly here tonight. I feel like I need a blanket to warm my legs and feet. I have closed all the windows but I am still cold. Hopefully we won't warm back up to the 90's any more.

I guess that is all of my news. I will talk to you tomorrow....Tootles!

Chris and Linley's vacation time is winding down. They fly out at 6 tomorrow morning. Chris is going to try and get in one last fly fishing adventure today. He is bugging me to get up out of my warm (more on that later) recliner with my coffee and warm laptop on my lap. He wants to go pick up Weezie from the borders. Why is Weezie at the "Spa" you ask? Because we went to Bar Harbor this weekend.

We left early Saturday morning and headed for Bar Harbor. The temperature was only supposed to get up to 69 there over the weekend. It was also raining like crazy. But that did not discourage us. We stopped at Dunkin Donuts on the way to get coffee and donuts and continued on our way.

We were starving when we got there, as it seems we always are everywhere we ever go. Since it was pouring rain, we decided to try what was closest to where we were able to find a place to park. That restaurant would be the Parkside Restaurant. As some of you who read this blog already know, when I find a restaurant I like, I tell you to go there.....or a store I like, I tell you to shop there. Well, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, ever go eat at Parkside Restaurant. I have never been treated so bad. During the lunch hours, they seat you in the front under awnings outside. Since it was raining, they had the plastic sides rolled down to protect you from the rain. They seated us and everything was going well. However, we were seated by a downspout that was pouring water and it was splashing water on our feet. Half of us were wearing sandals. I had gone to the restroom and had just stepped out when I saw Dick standing there. He had asked our waitress if we could move to another table. (And there were other tables available.) The waitress turned to her boss who was standing by me and Dick and told her in a clearly disgusted voice and the Boss in an even more disgusted voice said, "Well where do they want to move?" I could not believe they were talking like this with us just standing there by them. So the boss goes with the waitress and fixes another table for us. The whole time they acted just totally put out. Finally, our waitress comes and takes our drink order. In a few minutes, they seat another group right beside us. Then they take their drink order. Then they bring their drink order. We have yet to get our drink order. Finally, we get it. The other table has now ordered. The waitress takes our order. The other table gets their food and orders dessert. We get our food. The other table finishes and leaves. We are eating. Julianne ordered a sandwich but didn't want any dressing on it. Yep, you guessed it........mayo on it. We were afraid to send it back for fear of.....well, I am sure your imagination can figure out what we were afraid of. She was starving, so she ate around it. During the time we were there, we witnessed the waitress rolling her eyes at other diners requests and just rude treatment by the whole staff. As we were leaving, the waitress was clearly aggravated with something and Chris asked her if she was having a bad day. She made some comment about it being the end of season, UGH! Well, if end of season, beginning of season, middle of season, paying customers make her and the whole staff so rude to their customers, then I will do what I can to make sure they don't have to worry about customers coming there. I am going to all the restaurant review sites and giving my review. I know some of you are wondering why we just didn't leave. Well, it happened so fast and took us all by such surprise that they were actually acting so ugly, plus the fact that it was really pouring, that we just went ahead and ordered. In hindsight, we should have left.

By the time we left the horrible PARKSIDE RESTAURANT the rain had stopped and the sun was peaking from behind the clouds. It turned out to be a beautiful day. We decided to go to Acadia while it was nice and clear so we walked back to the truck. Dick was already there waiting for us while we were walking down the block. Right in front of Dick, a tour bus plowed into the side of Dick's truck. Can you believe it? Poor Dick, he has had such back luck with his truck being hit with it just sitting there. The back panel is scraped up. I "hope" that the tour bus driver would have stopped to leave a note if Dick had not been there, but there was some doubt in our minds whether he would have or not. Anyway, Dick will get on this first thing this morning.

Cadillac Mountain views were awesome. It is just an amazing view. And it was COLD!!!!! The wind was blowing like crazy. There was a quick walk on the mountain then back in the car for some heat. We decided to to check in at the hotel. We stayed at the Acadia Inn. It is the sister site to Bar Harbor Inn. The room was nice. We all decided to lay down for a nap. And a nap we took. Dick surprised us with reservations at Jordan Pond for dinner. The popovers were a hit. And everyone agreed that it was one of the best dinners they have had. One of the desserts was a popover cut in half, vanilla or blueberry ice cream put in the middle and blueberry sauce poured over it! If you ever go to Bar Harbor, you must eat there. Last year when the Benson's and McFaddin's visited us, we ate there and it was a big hit also!

Dick and I insisted the children take us back to the hotel and they continued on back downtown. They got back around 11 and we all slept like babies. We got up, had breakfast downstairs and left. We drove around the park and saw all the sites. We then headed back home. It was a nice weekend.

So I guess I need to go get my clothes on and go pick the Weez up. It is kind of chilly this morning. I have my sexy flannel pj pants on and a warm up jacket on. Yeh, that kind of chilly.

I will talk to you later.......Remember, stay away from Parkside Restaurant. But go to Jordan Pond!

Tootles!

She's Back!!!!!!!!!!!!

Frannycakes apologizes for any withdrawal symptoms you may have experienced. I have been guilty of blogger block. Hopefully I have pulled out of this condition and will be a faithful poster from this point on......

I would like to do a quick shout out to my friends and family who have emailed and called and voiced their concern.....Mom and Dad (Hey Daddy!!!), John and Elaine (no more harassment, please) and Virginia (nice song you left on the answering machine!) and anyone else who I might have left out. It is nice to know that I was missed.

For those of you who might not be aware of this.......Chris and Linley have been here for a week now and will leave next Tuesday. We have been having a good time. Julianne's friend Angie is here from North Carolina. She is in 7th heaven right now.

Dick took Chris fly fishing last week and had some experienced fly fishermen give him some lessons. Well, he was hooked. After the lesson and catching some fish, they high tailed it to LL Bean and Chris purchased a fly rod. He got up early this morning and went fishing. It is a little chilly out this morning and I am sure the water is COLD. It probably won't even matter to him.

Yesterday, Dick took all the "children" to Mt. Washington. Afterwards they went to North Conway, NH for lunch. I stayed home because I will never ever go to Mt. Washington again. I mowed the grass, washed clothes and did a little cooking for the hungry masses.

Today I am taking the "children" to Freeport so they can do some shopping. I need to pick up a couple of shirts and pants for Dick. They are great for work and wrinkle resistant and I am all for wrinkle resistant! There are outlets in Freeport also so I know the girls will have a good time.

We have a bird feeder out in the back yard. We have a lot of small birds that visit for meal time. We also have 5 chipmunks that live under our back porch. They are so cute. They are tiny.....about a quarter the size of a squirrel and are light brown with a stripe on their backs. They love the bird seed and will eat and eat and you can see their cheeks getting bigger and bigger. They drive Weezie crazy. She can't get under the porch so they know they are safe there. She will just stand there and stare. They do their little squeal sound and she goes looking!

Julianne starts back to school after labor day. Chris and Linley start back on the 22nd. The weather seems to be cooling off and while I was mowing the grass yesterday, I saw a lot red and yellow leaves on the ground. Could it be fall is knocking on the door? I hope so. I had being hot. My internal furnace is stuck on high and so if it is hot outside, Frannycakes is not a happy girl. Come to think of it......Let it snow!

I have some pictures I took Tuesday night at our Lobster Boil. Plus I have some more wedding pictures to post. Thank you Mom and Dad. I will try to post them later today.

Jamie and Lesley are busy. Lesley has started back to school and Jamie is working so they are both pretty busy. This week would be perfect if they could be here with us.

That all I have to report for now......I will talk to you later....Tootles!