I was watching Mellistin YouTube videos about fall this afternoon, and I thought about all of the things I love about it. So here are my 5 favorite things.
1. My birthday, it’s in November, but as soon as crisp weather arrives, I know that it’s coming soon. Why at this age I still get excited about my birthday, I’ll never know, but it’s the one day that I get my favorite meal, and it usually isn’t something my family likes, but it’s something I always look forward to.
2. This is something I never get to experience anymore, but I love, love, LOVE the smell of burning leaves. But because of burn ordinances, burning leaves just don’t happen.
3. Boots and wraps, love both of these, it’s so nice to cover up this old body after the summer months, and there is nothing better than a great pair of boots, I’ve always been a boot girl, mostly Uggs these days, but they work for me.
4. Chili, Vegetable Soup, Apple Pie and Beef Stew, not necessarily in that order.
5. Wiener roasts, s’mores and hayrides. We went on a hayride last weekend, and had s’mores, so all that’s left is the wiener roast and I’ll be a happy girl.
These are my favorites, I bet you are thinking about yours now, too
My Old Kentucky Dinner Train, oh this is perfection, a 37 mile train ride through Kentucky complete with fine dining.
I would book in a heartbeat, but not this year, too much going on in my world to make it happen. But next year? Sign me up, this on the top of my bucket list.
I just couldn’t resist posting this. It’s apple time ladies, and it doesn’t get better than this...
Ingredients
1
cup chopped pecans
1/2
cup packed brown sugar
1/3
cup butter, melted
1
box Pillsbury™ refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box
4
medium Granny Smith apples (about 1 3/4 lb), peeled, cut into 1-inch chunks
2
large Jonagold apples (about 1 1/4 lb), peeled, cut into 1-inch chunks
1/4
cup granulated sugar
2
tablespoons all-purpose flour
1
teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2
teaspoon ground nutmeg
Directions
Heat oven to 375°F. In medium bowl, mix pecans, brown sugar and butter. Spread in bottom of 9-inch glass pie plate. Place 1 pie crust over pecan mixture, allowing excess crust to hang over sides. In large bowl, toss apples, granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Spoon apple mixture onto crust, packing tightly and mounding in center. Unroll second pie crust over filling; press edges together, fold under and crimp. Cut slits in several places
Place pie on cookie sheet on lower oven rack. Bake 50 minutes. If necessary, cover crust edge with strips of foil to prevent excessive browning; bake 10 to 15 minutes longer or until juices are bubbly and crust is golden brown. Cool on cooling rack 10 minutes. Invert pie plate onto heatproof serving plate. Remove pie plate; replace any pecans in pie plate onto top of pie. Cool completely.
My buddy, V sent me this picture last night. It was too good not to share.
Isn’t this everything that’s just perfect for fall? I’m always ready for the season changes, apples and pears, jeans and sweaters and boots and crisp fall air.
I am totally in awe of Melissa55 on YouTube. This woman is sixty-one years old, has never had botox, lifts, fillers, nothing! I’ve talked about her before but if you haven’t watched her, I think you will enjoy her.
She is just amazing, how does she look like this at her age???
As for Vitamin C Serum, I use it, but I buy directly from Timeless Cosmetics, very, reasonable, but I don’t have issues with gluten so I don’t have to spend as much money as she does.
Just thought you might all enjoy watching her this morning, all of her videos are so good, but then I’m a huge fan of charming southern women, and Melissa is the cream of the crop.
Abby’s summer visit was last week. She’s almost seven now, and it’s all about silly faces, giggling and nicknames.
P-Pa is now “Peeps"
Grammie is now “Grams"
Maggie is now “Mags"
And finally, Boo-Boo Kitty is now “Boobs"
We had a great visit, she built a horse at Build-a-Bear, we went to see The Secret Life of Pets, which was a huge hit, we went to restaurants, she played in my office and was on the computer Googling everything she could find out about horses. She now drives the golf cart by herself, with Peeps behind her, those little legs are so long she can work the gas and of course that was an absolute thrill for her to be able to do it.
She’s also brutally honest, here is a snippet of one of our conversations:
Abby: Grammie, you look really pretty today Me: (warm fuzzy feeling) Thanks, Abby Abby: Ya know all those wrinkles around your eyes? Me: (warm fuzzy feeling quickly evaporating) Oh-oh, here it comes... Abby: When you smile your wrinkles are really, really deep and they kinda turn up and it looks like you have extensions on your eyelashes Me: Uhhh.... Abby: You really should look in a mirror Grammie, you have lines all over your face, not just around your eyes
I just cracked up when she said this, there is no filter at this age and it’s so refreshing.
Visits are too short, families live too far apart, but we appreciate every single moment we have with our grandkids. They are all amazing little souls and the joy of our lives...
A little nostalgia this morning for a favorite summertime treat. I always ate frozen Snicker Bars as a kid, probably because there was no air conditioning and the chocolate would melt. I remember them being so hard, you practically broke off your teeth when you bit into them. I also loved frozen Baby Ruth’s and my all time fave, Zero Candy Bars.
Update to 2016 and my old(er) age, when I avoid sugar 80-90% of the time. Frozen candy bars have been on my mind lately, so I went to CVS yesterday, bought Mini Sugar Free York Peppermint Patties, came home, stuck them in the freezer, and oh, my...
These are just as good as if not better than the frozen candy bars of my childhood. Something about the frozen mint, it just does it.
So, bring out the kid in you, pick up your favorite candy bar of choice, freeze it and dig in. It’s a cheap thrill. ~ Jan
I have such a nice family and we had a long overdue family picture taken Mother’s Day. Our favorite photographer, Adam Brennan, took great photos of the kids and grandkids. I’m a firm believer that nobody over fifty should have their picture taken, we are always our worst critics, but Little Miss Merry Sunshine should reboot and just be glad that hubby and I are still kicking!
And now it’s July 4th weekend, the days fly by, my sweet little grandkids are growing so fast, family is coming home today and life is good. Have you had a family picture taken lately? Carpe Diem, one of my favorite sayings.
And by the way, another favorite Judy Dench got her first tattoo at age 81. Yep, she put “Carpe Diem” on her wrist.
I personally would have chosen a better font and maybe a better tattoo artist, this looks pretty blurry to me. But kudos to this lady for doing it her way. I’m not a fan of tattoo’s, except for that Tweety Bird I always wanted on my butt in my younger years, thank goodness I didn’t do that! At this age poor Tweety would probably be hard to even recognize.
Enjoy your holiday ladies, wherever it takes you, and Carpe Diem, seize the day! ~ Jan
The woman looks amazing. Still fresh and natural, she just doesn’t seem to age, and she doesn’t look like she’s gained a pound since high school. Wow...
I’ve been a low carber for a few years now. I’ve floated in and out of it this past year, but find that when I live in the moment, eat pasta, pizza, sugar, of course it’s wonderful, but then I have to take Nexium because I get heartburn at night, I feel sluggish, I gain weight, my face gets totally blown up, so then I revert to low carb again. Do I lose weight on low carb, not really. I lose maybe ten pounds and then I stall out, it’s age, metabolism, inactivity, it all works against me, but the payoff is I feel better when I eat this way.
And then last year Atkins rolled out their 40 carb program, I haven’t tried it, I’ve always stayed between 20-25 carbs, but this looks very doable, so maybe I’ll see how my body responds. It makes more sense, more vegetables, a bit more fruit, all things good.
This morning I was reading in People Magazine about how that self absorbed Kim Kardashian has lost 60 lbs. eating Atkin’s 40, and while I can’t handle the woman, I did think her food journal was interesting, I’ll link to it, some of you might enjoy the menus.
A little food for thought about a new approach to Atkins, not as restrictive, it might appeal to you...
I was browsing fashions of the 60’s and found this very same McCall’s pattern that mother used to make me a tent dress with a front pleat. She made it for my senior after prom and used rust and white hopsacking polka dot fabric.
We’ve had so much rain in May that everything has filled in nicely. The hostas in the background are huge this year and hubby installed underground irrigation for me, so hopefully it will keep things looking good when the dog days of summer arrive. I have so much shade on the patio these days that I can’t grow herbs, so I just tucked them in among the flowers, along with a cherry tomato plant in the concrete pot.
I bought a new rocker from Grandin Road for the area by the front door. I love to sit in the morning and watch the horses in the field in front of us, and I’ve had a iron bistro table and chairs sitting there for the past few years. There is nothing more uncomfortable than those darn hard chairs. This is comfy and It reminds me of a bentwood rocker I had in the 70’s.
Just a peek at what things are looking like this month in Heavensville. The back patio is thriving, too. I’ll post patio pictures soon.
I remember as a child, mother would take me to her friends houses in the summer to look at their flowers. Fast forward to 2016 and we just post pictures on the Internet.
It’s a gorgeous day here, low humidity, temps in the high 70’s, oh if all summer could only be like this. It’s always fun to see other peoples gardens, just thought you might enjoy this… ~ Jan
I’m a huge fan of nude lips with just a little bit of color, and I’m a peach, not a pink girl. I love strong colors on everybody else, but on me they just look harsh, and everytime I apply a strong color, I immediately wipe it off and apply a nude tone, those deep shades just don’t work with my complexion.
The Mature Ladies of YouTube are loving Tom Ford’s Spanish Pink lipstick this season, but ouch, it’s pricey, $52 at Nordies… It’s such a great color, a peachy, slightly pink natural lipstick, everything I love except for the price. So I was on the hunt for a drugstore dupe and I found it! Rimmels Notting Hill Nude! And it’s under $10. Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!!!!!!
It doesn’t have the fancy packaging, or the embossing that Spanish Pink has, but it’s a great dupe and the color is dead on. I ordered it online, and I love it.
I also bought Revlon’s Apricot Fantasy #120, which is a pearlized lipstck, it’s similar as well, but a bit lighter and it’s so pretty, the apricot is softer than most peach lipsticks, it’s a winner for me as well.
And, I was watching LisaLisaD1 review lipliners on YouTube, she is really liking Revlon’s ColorStay Nude Liner - and since I’m a big fan of the ColorStay line so I bought it as well. Another winner! It’s dark enough that you get a nice outline, but it doesn’t say, “oh, you lined your lips."
So that’s it from Heavensville this Memorial Day weekend, just sharin’ the good stuff.
I grew up on Good Seasons Italian Dressing. It was mother’s favorite, so we had it weekly. Finely chopped lettuce, diced celery, onion and tomatoes, all tossed with Good Seasons Original Italian Dressing.
Fast forward to now, we have a favorite Italian restaurant, Angelo’s, we go there often and they immediately bring you their house salad, black olives, lettuce, onions and tomatoes, tossed with Italian dressing. Oh, and a basket of warm garlic knot rolls, can’t forget those! Anyway, I love their salad, and my buddy V and I decided that it tasted like Good Seasons.
A few weeks ago when we were there, I asked them if I could buy a bottle of the dressing, and they poured a wine bottle full of it and gave it to me, which was very nice. Then the server proceeds to tell me that it’s just Good Seasons Italian Dressing!
I knew it, V and I were right! No wonder it tasted so good! And now that it’s salad season, some of you might like to revisit this great dressing as well. Sure you could add some fresh herbs to it, chives, parsley, oregano, but I think it’s perfect just the way it is. They have several varieties now, but I like the original Italian.
Fresh made salad dressing is always better than bottled I think, so pick up a cruet kit when you’re at the grocery, give it a try, I think you will enjoy it, too.
No more gaping blouses, collars that stay down, temporary hemming your pants, all using this water soluble glue stick - isn’t this a great idea? I saw this on People Magazine this morning, and found this video on QVC.
This product is not available right now on QVC, but you can get it from Joyus.
Two sticks are $22, it doesn’t break the bank, and no more gaping blouses. Whoohoo, works for me.
Yes, I really did buy this wreath for my front door, but wait, wait, let me explain. LC is a go with the flow guy, he’s always in a good mood, very agreeable, up for anything, except when it comes to gardening. Poor guy, he just detests it, but I love it, and 99% of it I can’t do, so he does it for me. And his normally sunny disposition turns a bit south, because yours truly wants things moved yearly, and it’s always a huge ordeal. It’s never just a couple of things that I want planted or moved, it’s always this big production and he does not enjoy the process.
And when I saw this wreath it was so funny, I just cracked up, luckily he saw the humor in it as well and it now resides on our front door. But it could be misinterpreted if people come to the door that aren’t familiar with his intense dislike of gardening, they might think that he’s just a grumpy old man, period. But do I care what other people think? At this age? Not really.
You have to admit, it made you smile, women get this, they really do.
Oh Lexi, what a joy you are. This post is full of Grammie brags, but our Lexi is just such a special little girl.
She’s the happiest little child you will ever meet. She has the sunniest disposition, full of giggles and smiles and seldom cries. I always say about Lexi what Minnie Pearl always said about herself, “I’m just so proud to be here."
She’s such a precocious little girl. She talks non-stop, we’ve been able to carry on a conversation with her for a few months now. She talks to me on the phone, she FaceTimes me and says “Hiya Grammie” and it just melt my heart., She sings the ABC song, knows all her colors, can count to fifteen, and knows all the shapes, told you this was a Grammie brag. Her mama works with her all the time, and at this age they soak it up like a sponge.
She’s an animal lover, too. She just loves every animal she sees. She and her Cocker Spaniel, Izzie are besties, she scoops up cups of dog food from the pantry and transfers it to the dog bowl several times daily, to the delight of Izzie and the frustration of her parents. It’s just the way she rolls. Izzie loves Lexi, and is always by her side, sitting at her high chair at mealtime of course, just waiting for the bites of food to come her way. No Dust Buster needed in their household, Izzie licks up every morsel that falls. She’s a little worker bee, too. She’s Mama's helper in the kitchen, and loves to transfer all the bottled water from it’s packaging to the refrigerator and she sits on the center island and helps Daddy make cookies. She likes to help unload the dishwasher, she’s an organized little girl, lines all of her toys in rows and separates them into piles, it will be so much fun to watch her as she grows older to see if these traits stay with her.
Their family just got back from a trip to Florida. Disney was a huge hit, this child is a Mickey groupie, and loves nothing better than dancing to the Hot Dog, Hot Dog, Hot Diggity Dog Song.
She loves her Daddy and he is just crazy about her. They have date nights, just the two of them every month when Mama has hair appointments, he’s done this since she was a month old. He takes her out to dinner, and then to the park when the weather permits. She goes down the big kid slide now, how can this be possible? She loves water, and swimming pools and of course the ocean. She’s just has the best time, regardless of what she is doing. But oh, she’s growing up way too quickly. If we could only freeze time...
We traveled to Nashville last weekend to celebrated her birthday, she loved every minute of it, especially the Mickey balloons and her little eyes lit up as she dug into her Mickey cupcake with gusto. She says “Yummmmmm” when she likes something and this child definitely has a sweet tooth.
Happy Birthday sweet little Granddaughter, you are just an absolute delight!
This is Daddy as a young man with his sister. Today he would have been 102 years old. What a fine man he was, he was the best father a girl could ever have. I miss him...
What goes around comes around, culottes were popular when I was a teenager. They were cute then, mine were shorter and I loved the look. People Magazine says culottes are “in" for spring. But this is one look yours truly won’t be rockin’.
Just not feelin’ the love ladies, baggy, saggy, no thanks, I’ll stick to my fat girl skinny capris. Women really buy into that term “skinny.” It’s the greatest marketing ploy of the decade. Everybody says they’re wearing their “skinny” jeans, even when they wear a plus size.
Now don’t go freaking out on me, somehow the thought of shaving your eyebrows is a scary thought. Okay, so I don’t shave my eyebrows, I now shave under my eyebrows, and the first time I did it I was a little apprehensive, but it’s not a big deal and wow, it’s so much easier than plucking, which we’ve all been doing our entire life or going to a salon and coughing up the bucks for a wax. I have used hot wax at home, I don’t really suggest this is you are slightly ditzy like yours truly, who one time had the wax drip on my eyelashes. Oh, that was a fun look until they grew back out. Who doesn’t like to go around with a chunk of missing eyebrows, not something I would suggest you do...
So, it’s another YouTube tip. Quit rolling your eyes, I know you are, thinking, “here she goes again!” These are such great ideas, and I always share the good stuff. So order these little beauties from Amazon, only $4.39 Prime and in two days, you can have awesome results with just a few strokes of this little shaver. I put a dab of foam on my eyelids, pull them taut, and carefully shave at a slight angle in an upward motion. No pain, none, nada, no teary eyes either. Wipe off the foam, gel, lotion, whatever you use, but please use something to make your skin more pliable and TADA, you have perfectly smooth underbrows. I just touch up a bit directly under my brows with tweezers and I’m good for a few days.
Here’s Tammy’s original video, she shaves the peach fuzz off her entire face, oh the joys of post-menopausal women. I don’t have to do that, but some of you might want to give it a go.
And I’m not finished yet, I have lots more ideas for you, I’ll be back in another post with more. Oh, quit rolling your eyes. Stop it right now! You know I always give you great tips :-)
The Amazon link is below, now hop over there and order these pronto, these are cheaper than a trip to Starbucks! They have other brands in your local drugstore, but according to Tammy, these are the best and this lady knows her stuff.
And here is Crazy Miss Tammy and her defuzzing video.
I’m thinking I need a sign-off tag for these posts. Tammy’s is “Be happy, be healthy, be beautiful, but most of all be lovable" Mary Ellen’s is “It’s all good, it is ALL good” So what could mine be, hmmmmm, how about “Old age is kicking us all in the ass, don’t go down without a fight.” Uh, maybe I better work on that a bit. Have a good day and give this a try, it’s a pinkie swear good tip. ~ Jan
I gush about the grandkids, post strange, rambling erratic thoughts, embarrass my family and friends and often I sit in the sunshine, drink diet sweet tea and try my best to live in the moment every . single . day . Did I leave anything out? Hey, I'm old(er) now and wiser too. Now if I could just remember what I'm talking about and whom I'm talking to...
Jan's Daily Dish is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com
