A Nip in the Air

 Ahhhh, finally!

You know what I do in the fall. I start cleaning out. Bella is always in the thick of it, of course. Ever trying to get to the top of everything, literally! Can you say "sock drawer?" Boom done. With a couple of other drawers thrown in (or out, actually!) for good measure. 

But who wants to stay indoors and clean when it's so beautiful out? Not me. Frankie and I had to see what the trees were doing on the Trace. Natchez Trace bridge. 

Frankie was a happy dog. We pulled over, found a path and took it as far as it would go.

  On our way home, I had to do a drive-by click. Isn't this a gorgeous property? Taylor Swift's? lol

I found all kinds of goodies and brought them home to play with.

                                           

And play I did, adding to my little vignette for the fall. 
Yay!

Labels: Autumn, Dogs, Franklin TN

Senior Prom

Bling.

Many, many thanks to Steve at Garden Delights who is always spot on when it comes to any type of floral arrangements I have ordered through them. You think the hub would want to walk down the isle again? I would so have Steve do ALL of the flowers!!! I am crazy in love with this little arrangement!

Labels:  Flowers, Franklin TN, Kid

Chile Tonight and Hot Tamale

Another wonderful cooking class at the Viking Cooking School in Franklin. Tonight we made beef tamales and other goodies.

 Preparing the tamales to be steamed.

Spicy Lime Pepitas, pumpkin seeds. Yum.

Black bean, tomato and avocado salsa. 

And Mexican rice. Bonus was sangria, which they made us wait for. No drinking and cooking! Wha? No fair. Seems the rules have changed.

PEACE

What do you really want? Seriously.

Oh, there are so many goodies to be found in Franklin--written up in the New York Times Magazine as the Malibu of Tennessee. Who woulda thunk it?

In my day, I would have liked the top right outfit. Way back when.

Now, I'm more into the home decor.

Never could have pulled this one off, but I love the name!

I do, however, have my eye on the bench at Christin's, in the left-hand corner. Just what I need. More stuff to move once we retire. Yes, we are thinking about a move out West, eventually.

No man-cave here. Sprucing up the office? I kinda like the sweetness of it. Lotus flowers? I can definitely feel that.

What do I really want, for everyone? Truthfully?

Peace. Of course. Inside and out, for us all.

It truly would be a little extra, wouldn't it.

xo
ro

November 1

I almost wrote October. The year is passing by so quickly! I can hardly believe it.

We had a little bit of an overcast day. Friday night, it literally poured down rain. I am enjoying the changing of the leaves. They are pretty darn close to all dropping off the trees.

I went downtown to our little stationery print shop to change some things on my mom's memorial card and was stopped right in my tracks by tents. Yes. It was the Autumn fair which closes down all the main streets. Joy. Any other time, I would have enjoyed falling upon it. lol But I didn't have to park at the house and walk, thankfully! I was pretty lucky.

After finishing my visit, I had to take a walk into one of my favorite stores in town. I can't remember the last time I was actually down town! Guess I've been busy with more important things.

While I can't think of the name of my favorite store, you can see it is just chock full of eye candy.

Quite overpriced mostly, of course, but still fun to walk through or hit after the holidays. Wink wink. I looked at this vintage starfish print, over $800! Uh. I don't think so. Maybe Keith and Nicole can afford that price, but not me! (Oh btw, saw Keith Urban playing on the side of the road on Friday! The kid and I were driving to the store and there were all these police cars. We thought there was an accident. Nope, a small stage was set up at the new Verizon store and there was a small crowd converging. There was Keith, just playing his heart out. Gotta love Nashville!)

I came home and finished my spooky Halloween charm bracelet I had done a swap that Saucy put together. How fun is this?

The hub and kid did their thang.

And quite a thang it was.

And then, mwahahaha, the sun began to set and the Mad Max brigade began. The kid said, which totally cracked me up, "When I was young, we had to walk door to door!" The thing here, which I have never witnessed anywhere else I have lived, is getting a caravan of electric carts taking the kids around. They are always decked out which I enjoy watching. The little old-fashioned hearse parked by the house and turned the smoke machine on and blasted heavy metal music. I loved it!

Our heart-shamed full moon. Hoooooowl.

Lots of action in the streets.

Goodies from the scary old man.

And I think that scary old man liked my big ol' lips.

Hope everyone enjoyed and survived their ghoulish Halloween!

xo
ro

PS Must remember to turn back the clocks!

Middle Tennessee

I woke up this morning and went to the local farmer's market. I was in need of some fresh milk, apple cider and apples; and that is just what I found and brought home. This is the best milk ever. You can't get any fresher unless you sit under the cow. My brother and I will be visiting the Hatcher Family farm once he arrives down here. I can't wait to begin stocking up on everything for Thanksgiving!

It was a little nippy this morning, absolutely perfect! There weren't a lot of people out which kinda surprised me.

Heading back home, I pass one of my all-time favorite properties. Isn't it lovely?

After arriving home, the hub and kid were just waking up. By this time, I was ready to go for a drive and head towards the Loveless Cafe via the Natchez Trace Parkway.

This stretch totally reminds me of the Shenandoah Valley and the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. Sniffle.

We are a little past peak with the turning leaves, but watching them all swirling around as the wind blew was a whole other wonderful experience.

We made it to the Loveless Cafe, our first time; and there was an hour and half wait!! Geesh! Of course, we didn't wait.

But I did enjoy looking around.

And I did take lots of pictures for Val. There was a lot to see around the property.

There are all kinds of shops and stuff to look through while you're waiting that hour+!

We then popped back in the car and headed towards town.

Ended up at Le Peep which we remember from years ago in Arlington, VA. It was a delicious breakfast even though it was after 1 p.m. by the time we ate!

Next door was a boot place and the hub and I found these wonderful Ariat shoes that were half price! (His are quite different, mind you.) Daig, a good pair of shoes for less than $50. That's my idea of a great find! I got my fat foot into an 8 1/2 and I was good to go. (I normally wear a 9.) Love them! They give me just a little height which is always greatly appreciated here.

Now the sun is setting and I'm sitting and sipping some of my Pu'er tea. I'm trying to drink it several times a week if only for the medicinal purposes. Can't hurt!

Today was so much fun. I can't remember when we, as a family, hopped in the car and went for a little drive. It' so pretty here, any time of year. How's your weekend going?

PS The hub and I had a date at one of our favorite little restaurants "Saffire" last night. Loved it! Even had a cosmopolitan! Now, you KNOW I'm beginning to feel like myself!