Well it is getting close to Christmas and it is almost Black Friday, so I decided to check out Lenox to see if there is anything to add to my Lenox Holiday China Collection.
I guess I must have bought it all (except the reallllllyyyyy expensive pieces) as they was NOTHING on sale that I did not already had. I really must do an inventory of what I have so I can figure out if I am missing anything. I did find a couple of nice to have items that I went ahead and bought for Christmas
I got this little bowl that has a tree that your perch on the edge. It is too small for anything much, but may be good for a dip or some candies. I got the tree and the snowman bowls.
I also got the annual snowman figurine. I really liked this one. The snowman with cocoa and cookies is very cute. I read online that they have been doing these snowman for 12 years. It is the first time I have noticed. I do have some other lenox figurines.
Most of my figurines are stored away in boxes. I wish to display them but have way too much clutter in my house. Maybe after I sell off some crap I will have more room. I have the snowman below. I also have one where all the snowman are having thanksgiving or some sort of party. I also have the monthly snowmen, each in a monthly theme I could only find a picture of the snowman, but you get the idea. These snowmen are made from Lynn Bywaters and are just adorable. They stopped making them in 2019. I prefer these textured type of snowmen versus the smooth china ones they do now. But that is why this are called collectables.
I finished my Dad’s memory book in time for all of us to go to Colorado and have a nice little memorial service.
I enjoyed spending time with my family and seeing my cousin Scott. It was a shame to not see cousin Sandy and Scott’s wife Sunita. Sunita had a emergency with a friend and Sandy did not want to come out because the Delta variant was running high in Colorado. I have no idea when I will be in Colorado again so I may not have a chance to see her again. Afterall I am old! LOL.
I ended up mailing a book to Sandy and also sending a book to Toni (Paulines daughter) for taking care of our Dad’s estate.
So there is only one more item on the list and it was a Watch Party with the girls for a Halloween Movie. Well we ran into a snag, the watch party requires you use a computer and not a phone or laptop.
One of the girls, Kelli did not have a desktop computer. So we are going to wait until we get her rehired at work.
But hard to believe I finished everything on the list! Yahoo! Until next year.
Food seems to show up on my bucket list quite often. I usually try to add a new recipe every year. Some stick around in future years. Others seem to just fade away in memories.
I decided to try a caramel apple from Aldi. Yup, another Aldi find.
I am not a huge fan of caramel apples. Not sure why, it has apples that I love and caramel that I love, you would think the two would be a marriage made in heaven. It was ok, but at least I gave it a try. Funny because I like apples dipped in caramel. Maybe it was the kind of apple they used.
The 2nd items was fried apple poppers. I bought a can of fried apples from Aldi and decided I would use these instead. Although the recipe was easy to do from scratch.
There were two breakfast related items on the bucket list.
The first one was the Pumpkin Spice Breakfast rolls which I bought at Aldi. Got to love Aldi. Easy peasy, pop in the over and then you have breakfast.
A little yummy roll on an Autumn morning with a cup of hot coffee is the perfect way to start the day.
The 2nd Breakfast item was a bit more of a challenge. I bought one of those cute Dash waffle makers from Target. One side was a waffle imprint and the other side was a pumpkin.
I bought some pumpkin spice mix from Wal-mart and spent a good hour or two cranking out pumpkin spice waffles.
With the extra left over pancakes, I decided to freeze them so I will have toaster waffles next week.
As the weather cools, and the leaves blow – Autumn demands hot drinks.
I have a new obsession with Aldi. One of their strengths is the new releases of fun coffee.
For Autumn I got four different kinds. I love they have themed coffee and it is actually very good.
I even bought thier ghost mug. It is kinda small so I think it will work better as a holder for drink stirrers versus actual coffee.
Also on my bucket list was getting a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte.
I am glad they have a drive thru down the street from me. I miss the Kentucky Fried Chicken, but they did not do very well. I have never known a chicken place to run out of chicken before. Very poorly runned Franchise.
But lets just admire the beautiful latte below.
The other Aldi autumn coffee I purchased is more of a general autumn theme. Caramel (which is always good) and Apple Crisp which sounds very Setpember/October fall leaves type.
Since I work from home now, I tend to drink a fair amount of coffee. These coffees from Aldi are less than $4 and are very good.
And finally my favorite drink from Starbucks…. The Caramel Apple Cider drink. It is so warm and comforting.
Nothing gets me in the mood for autumn more than a great autumn themed book.
Since I joined the Goodreads yearly reading challenge I found I had fallen behind on my reading. Fortunately with the desire to read autumn books I have caught up.
I picked this book up at Wal-Mart as the yellow/orange trees and the word Autumn jumped out. I have never read any books by Kelly Irvin and have not read any books with Amish characters.
I actually enjoyed the book and would not mind reading some of the other books in the series.
From the back cover: The mother of ten and a widow of seven years, Mary Katherine is a bundle of energy, always willing to step in and help her friends around her Amish community. Now that her last child is married, she pours her abundant creative spirit into writing stories, even as she speaks aloud to her late husband every day. Her dream is to open a bookstore with an English friend, but the church elders want this wayward widow to work in an Amish-owned store instead. When her old school friend, Ezekiel, offers her a position as a cook in the restaurant he opened after his wife died, she knows she should accept. But does she really want to spend her time working over a hot stove?
When a mysterious English stranger breaks into her house to make himself a sandwich one autumn night, Mary Katherine doesn’t call the sheriff. She turns to Ezekiel. They both see that Burke is need of more than a meal, and Ezekiel offers him the job at the restaurant.
As they set out to care for their new friend, Mary Katherine and Ezekiel find themselves often working together. Mary Katherine is drawn to Ezekiel, but she remembers the terrible risk of giving her heart to someone. Can two people in the autumns of their lives and so well-versed in the pain of loss put the past behind them and trust in the hope that comes with each new season?
The 2nd book I read was an audio book. Being part of the Autumnboro series I feel that it had enough “autumn” to meet my criteria.
Synopsis of book:
Powerball winner Josie Morgan has learned the hard way that dating, in her financial situation, will only lead to heartbreak. She’s been perfectly happy living the single life and running the Pumpkin Everything country store. Too bad her mother can’t seem to take the hint. Unwilling to face another lineup of suitors and gold-diggers at this year’s Thanksgiving dinner, Josie opts to stay behind in Autumnboro to host a free meal for anybody without a place to go.
When Josie’s family turns up in Autumnboro, faking a relationship with funeral planner Riley Parker seems like the only way to make it through the holiday. Like every other man on Earth, Riley’s only interested in her money. So what if she has a teeny, tiny crush? If he agrees to help her out, she’ll gladly write him a check.
But as Thanksgiving draws closer, turkey and stuffing aren’t the only things heating up, and maybe money isn’t the only thing on Riley’s mind. Josie’s already hit the lottery once, dare she hope for anything more?
This was a cute book and I enjoyed listening to the story. Some books are hard for me to listen to so fortunately the narrator was a good.
I consider watching the new Autumn movies a sort of practice to get ready for the marathon of Christmas movies.
I have a few favorite all time Hallmark Autumn movies, but lets focus on the new releases this year.
Follow Me to Daisy Hills Premieres Saturday, September 19 9pm/8c When Jo realizes that her family’s general store in Daisy Hills is losing money, her father Duke calls in a favor to help. Duke’s help is Jo’s ex-boyfriend, Blake, former Daisy Hills native. Stars Cindy Busby and Marshall Williams.
This was not quite my favorite this year, but was cute.
Falling for Look Lodge Premieres Saturday, September 26 9pm/8c Lily dreams of being a hotel event coordinator and is thrilled when she’s given the chance to do so by helping Noah, a hotel guest, finish planning his sister Justine’s wedding at a remote lodge. Stars Clark Backo and Jonathan Keltz.
I thought this was cute and like the chemistry of these two actors.
Country at Heart Premieres Saturday, October 3 9pm/8c A struggling country singer meets a Nashville songwriter in need of inspiration. Teaming up to write a song, their work gets complicated but results in both a hit song…and true love. Stars Jessy Schram and Niall Matter and Lucas Bryant.
I like Jessy Schram, especially some of her older movie. This was cute but not my favorite.
My Best Friend’s Bouquet Premieres Saturday, October 10 9pm/8c Josie Hughes is a hopeless romantic who believes in the kind of romance in black-and-white movies where the leading lady finds her one true love and gets swept off her feet. She also believes the wedding bouquet always finds its way to the right person when tossed by the bride, as proven time and again at weddings dating back to her childhood. But single Josie ends up with the bouquet at her friend Emma’s wedding instead of their not-single friend Athena and fears she’s wrecked her chances of getting engaged. But when Josie begins dating eligible bachelor Will after meeting at the reception – much to the dismay of her long-time friend Alex, who has secretly held a torch for her since college – she decides the bouquet is responsible for the budding romance and begins to think that Will is “the one.” As Josie clings to the notion that the bouquet is always right, she’s missing the real-world signs that her perfect match is someone else who’s been right in front of her all along. Starring Chaley Rose and Nathan Witte.
This was my favorite of all the new releases.
Sweet Autumn Premieres Saturday, October 17 9pm/8c Maggie, a successful entrepreneur, returns home for a will reading and discovers she’s inherited half of her aunt’s famed maple candy business. What she doesn’t understand is why Aunt Dee’s maple supplier, Dex, inherited the other half. Her return also coincides with the town’s Sweet Autumn Fest, and through a series of letters Aunt Dee left, Maggie and Dex search for the reason behind her aunt’s final wishes. As she and Dex grow closer, Maggie must decide if the life she built is the one she wants. Starring Nikki DeLoach and Andrew Walker.
This was cute too. I always like a little conflict before they all fall in love. LOL
The other 8 films on the Hallmark Checklist is as follows:
All of My Heart – The Wedding – did not watch Autumn Dreams – watched Falling for Vermont – did not watch Falling for You – did not watch Harvest Love – watched Love, Fall and Order – watched October Kiss – Watched (One of my all time favorites) A Harvest Wedding – Watched
Sadly I did not meet my goal of watching of the previous 8 movies, but I have seen them all. So I think that counts!
If 2020 was not weird enough, it actually had a Harvest and a Blue Moon all in one month.
A Harvest Moon relates to the timing of the autumnal equinox(September 22, 2020), with the full Moon that occurs nearest to the equinox being the one to take on the name “Harvest Moon.”
It is also called a Harvest Moon as for several evenings, the moonrise comes soon after sunset. This results in an abundance of bright moonlight early in the evening, which was a traditional aide to farmers and crews harvesting their summer-grown crops.
This year the Harvest Moon happened on October 1st.
The Blue Moon is two full moons in a calendar month. It does not happen very often, hence the term, “Once in a blue moon”.
The blue moon happened this year on October 31st – Halloween.
Speaking of Halloween, this was a historic weird year. Normally I get around 60 to 100 kids. I was worried about this year as it fell on a Saturday. Halloweens on the weekend usually brings in more children. However this year with Covid I was not sure what I would get. Santa Clarita was one of the few places were Halloween door to door trick or treating was not cancelled. I bought about 350 peices of candy and ended up only having 8 kids. EIGHT! Ugh. What am I going to do with all this candy.
Back to the moon, I did go outside and looked at the moon and tried to take a photo. Lets just say the photo did not come out so good. But I think everyone has seen a full moon, so I will let it go.
