Yummy in My Tummy

If you are anywhere near Grand Rivers, KY--run, do not walk, to the nearest phone and make reservations for lunch or dinner at Patti's 1880 Settlement!  This place is only about an hour and a half from us, but I've never been until last night.  Oh. My. Word!  Absolutely beautiful decorations.  Wonderful staff.  And the food?  The best!  Not to mention there are lots of little shops and stores for you to wander through to walk off the delicious meal you just consumed.

First, they bring you Flower Pot bread. Baked right in the pot--fresh, soft, and wonderful!  And don't get me started on the strawberry butter!

Then the entrees!  Their specialty is a 2 inch pork chop.  Darrell got this and gave me a bite.  Melt in your mouth.  I don't know how they get something so thick to be so tender!  He also got steak fries, which looked like a baked potato that had been quartered lengthwise.

I ordered the Aloha Chicken Salad.  Grilled chicken breast, pineapple, fruit in season.  And like they say presentation is everything.  Even the plate was appealing!  (The one I had was different than this picture.)

Even though we were stuffed, we couldn't resist dessert.  I had coconut cake--3 layers of sweet, moist deliciousness.  Darrell ordered Sawdust Pie--which was so good, I almost stole it from him.  This picture doesn't look anything like what they brought out.  The ice cream and real whipped cream were piled on so high, you could hardly see the pie underneath!

I'm telling ya--if you're near enough and haven't been yet--GO!!  And if you want company, I volunteer!!

Blank

That's the state of my mind as I try to think of something to blog about.  It's funny, because sometimes I lay awake at night composing posts.  It just never seems to translate to the blog.  My ideas never seem quite as comical in the bright light of day as they do in the middle of the night. 

It has finally stopped raining in Tennessee!  Last weekend was the first in about 2 months that it didn't rain.  This has been the wettest month ever recorded here and we've still got a week to go. We've had flooding and hail.  Just a weird month all the way around weatherwise.

I was able to get some impatiens and vinca in the ground.  I love easy maintenance flowers and these two are some of the best.  No deadheading--they take care of themselves.

The stuff we shipped from Nove, Italy arrived!  Only one piece was broken and we were able to glue it back together.  My favorite piece is this one--except the artist misspelled Clayton and Shana's names.  Other than that, it's perfect.

I found a great chair for my bedroom at a local used hotel furniture sale.  Only $25!  After a minimum of cleaning, it was good to go.  It has a matching ottoman, but I don't have room for it.

Do you dream?  Boy, I do!  And I have weird dreams.  The other night I had a doozy.  I've mentioned before my hot flashes at night.  Seems I spend most of the night either throwing the covers off or pulling them back on.  I must be getting used to it, though, because I rarely wake up to do it anymore.  I guess I had thrown the covers off without realizing it.  I dreamed I was shoveling snow and when I woke up, I was freezing.  My subconscious was really trying to tell me something!

My two oldest grandchildren are spending the summer with their father in Washington state.  They'll be there till it's time for school to start again.  That means it'll probably be October before I get to see them again.  We had them for spring break, so that means six months between visits.  Hurts my heart.  We'll have Alexander for a week in June.  And thankfully Lauren and her family will be here in July and August.  We can talk to them on skype so it doesn't seem so long since we saw them.  I think if I could have any wish, it would be for my children and grandchildren to live closer.

Facebook has helped us reconnect with some friends we had in Italy back in the late 70s.  On May 15th, their 19 year old son overdosed.  He was on life support for a week, then passed away last Saturday.  The funeral is tomorrow.  Having lost a daughter, we really feel their pain.  I hate for anyone to have to go through losing a child.  It's not the natural order of things and is by far the hardest experience I've had in my life. 

Saturday Shout Outs

Calm Down, for Christ's Sake -- an excellent post on rethinking one's attitude

The Day I Didn't Brush My Daughter's Hair -- food for thought on starting one's day

What to Do With the STUFF -- because so many of you ask me the same question

Like Little Children -- Sherrie always has an interesting perspective

The Ultimate DIY -- may you be inspired -- read this one if you don't read any others!

Truth Works! -- words we should all live by

Thrifting Tips From a Pro -- good information to store away

Just More Proof

That I've lost my mind.


Last Wednesday I washed the sheets on my bed.  When I went to put them back on, I was missing a pillowcase.  I searched and searched. In the hamper.  In the washer.  In the dryer.  Behind the dryer.  Under the bed.  Behind the bed.  I don't live at Southfork (are you old enough to get that reference?), so how could I lose a pillowcase between my bedroom and the laundry room?

This Wednesday, again I changed the sheets.  Went to put them back on the bed.  What do you think I found when I started to put a fresh pillowcase on -- that didn't match, by the way (I'm just saying--for those of you who know how OCD I am about certain things)?  The missing pillowcase.  I had never taken it off the pillow to begin with.  You'd think I would have noticed last week when I put the clean one on.  No, that would require half a brain--which it seems I don't have.


Ahhh, well.

Random Dozen

 It's Wednesday and you know what that means--Random Dozen with 2nd Cup of Coffee.  Are you linking up?  And why not?

1. What is one really fast, know-by-heart "go-to" meal to fix in a pinch?  soft chicken tacos

2. What is one item you won't leave home without. (Purse and license do not count.)  sunglasses

3. Where is one place you never tire of visiting?   Lowe's ;-)

4. Share one factoid of your family's history.  My maternal grandfather was literally given to strangers when he was an infant.  He was the youngest of several children and his mother couldn't care for him.  We've never been able to determine if he was legally adopted or not.

5. Complete this sentence: "Once upon a time I ...."  considered bodybuilding as a "career".  You'd never know it to look at me now!

6. If you could win a one year's supply of anything, what would it be?  money!

7. "One quirky thing you may not know about me is ...."  I sometimes forget to swallow when I drink.  I'll hold the water in my mouth for several minutes before realizing it.

8. You have one dollar in your pocket. What will you buy?  Diet Mt Dew of course!

9. "One thing that always makes me laugh is ...."  pictures of the cutest kids in the world (aka my grandkids)

10. What is one thing you could do today to help yourself reach a personal goal?  get off the computer!

11. What is one thing you could do today to bless someone else?  Get off the computer!  Seriously, I'm going to donate some clothes to the flood victims in our area.

12. What is one thing you're looking forward to soon?  Several consecutive days of sunshine after the wettest month ever recorded in Nashville.

A Little Southern Etiquette

 
Southern women know everybody's first name: 

Honey, Darlin', and Shugah

Southern women know the movies that speak to their hearts:

Fried Green Tomatoes

Driving Miss Daisy

Steel Magnolias

Gone With the Wind

Southerners know their religions:

Baptist

Methodist

Football

Southern women know their cities dripping with Southern charm:

Chawl'stn

S'vanah

Foat Wuth

N'awlins

Addlanna

Southern girls know the three deadly sins:

Having bad hair and nails

Having bad manners

Cooking bad food

Only a southerner knows the difference between a hissie fit and a conniption fit.
And that you don't HAVE them, you PITCH them.

Only a Southerner can show or point out to you the general direction of "yonder".

Only a Southerner knows exactly how long "directly" is.  As in: "Going to town, be back directly".

A Southerner knows that "fixin" can be used as a noun, a verb, or an adverb.

In the South, y'all is singular, all y'all is plural.

Even Southern babies know that "gimme some sugar" is not a request for the white, granular sweet substance that sits in a pretty little bowl in the middle of the table.

For those who are not from the South, but have lived here for a long time, all y'all need a sign to hang on y'all's front porch that reads "I ain't from the South, but I got here as fast as I could".

And to those of you who are still having a hard time understanding all this Southern stuff....bless your hearts, I hear they are fixin' to have classes on Southernness as a second language!

Taken from Cheatham Now newspaper

Saturday Shout Outs

Why The Kids Really Need a Little Red Hen Mama

Something Extraordinary 

For Married Women Only

The House That Built Me

Just a Little Rant

Letting Go of Closet Misfits

Love Books?

Sherrie at Good News! is having an awesome giveaway for one of her books.  I won a copy last time she did this and just want you to know how much I love this book.  It is very well written and easy to read.  And would make a great gift.  All you have to do is click on that link and leave Sherrie a comment.  Easy peasy!

The Funnest Things

One of my favorite bloggy friends Sweet Tea asked me what was the funnest thing on my trip.  I couldn't think of just one thing, so I'll share a couple of highlights.

After just a day or two I was a little homesick.  This helped me cope a bit.  Though it wasn't quite as familiar inside as I'm used to.  The first picture is in Bern, Switzerland.  The others are in Italy.  I was surprised at how many McDonald's we saw.  They were everywhere!  Rome, Siena, Florence, Venice.  Amazing.

Fresh pastries--at McDonald's!

This was on our way back to Switzerland.  We stopped for milk shakes & a potty break!

I told him you're supposed to throw a coin in the Trevi Fountain--not me!

Being silly in Pompeii

These stones indicate this as a two-way street

Would you like fries with that?

A 'fast food' place in Pompeii

You Twilight fans recognize this building?  It worked out that our halfway point on the trip north was Montipulciano--where New Moon was filmed.  This is the infamous square.  I have a picture of Darrell and me in front of the red door, but it won't cooperate.

We actually stayed in the hotel where the cast stayed while filming!  This is our room.  This was by far the best hotel we stayed in.  Very old and quaint.  Wish I could have brought the furniture home with me!  Our friends had the room "Edward" was in.  Sorry for the poor pics--it was dark and we had to use the flash.

And what's a trip to Italy without a couple of hours at the laundromat?  The two machines closest are dryers--the others are washers.  Detergent, bleach, fabric softener are included and added automatically.  Good thing--doing three loads cost us almost $40!

My favorite day was when we went back to Vicenza--where we spent our first three years of marriage.  This is the apartment building we lived in.  Bottom left.  It's not government housing anymore and didn't look this nice when we were there.  It was fun to see it again though.

To answer Sweet Tea's comment:  it was pretty chilly in Switzerland, but beautiful in Italy.  It drizzled on us in Pompeii and was a little cool, but other than that, we had glorious sunny weather every day.

Drum Roll Please....

At long last, the post you've been waiting for...No?  Well, humor me anyway.  Most of you know, Darrell and I recently returned from what I'm calling our second honeymoon.  We traveled to Switzerland and Italy for two whole weeks.  I don't think we've ever been away that long in all our years of marriage.  We managed to take almost 1400 pictures, but I won't post them all here.  (I heard that sign of relief!)  But I will share a few.  Hope you enjoy.

 We landed in Zurich and drove to Bern.  This is a view from a bridge in Bern.

Our first night--Zollikofen, Switzerland

Don't ya love the twin beds?  Mattresses on slats--like bunk beds.  This is pretty much the whole room.

 

Swiss Temple -- Zollikofen

Darrell and I were sealed here in 1977

Driving thru Switzerland to Italy

Leaning Tower of Pisa

I'm a chicken when it comes to heights, so I didn't go up, but everyone else did.  Darrell took this pic from the top.  Can you spot me?

Enlarge this one to see where it is.  You Twilight fans might recognize the name.

Florence

Enough for now.  I'll share more tomorrow.