Autumn in the Air

It has been delightfully cool here in the early morning and evening. My star and night blooming jasmine (thank you Jill) are both in bloom and are saturating our yard with sweetness both day and night.

We got so many errands run yesterday: exchanged my new snowman for one whose snow globe lit up properly (and E bought me a second one!), hit Fresh Market for shatakii mushrooms (I love that place and could spend hours roaming the aisles), picked up some lovely bottles (3 each from Pier One) for Gerri-anne and Barb, went to two banks, and hit another grocery store on the way home hunting for sun dried tomato and basil pita chips for our company on Sat. to go with a white bean dip E is making.

My cold is progressing "nicely". I awoke this morning with my voice sounding like Brenda Vacarro (remember her? she has that sultry, smokers' voice)and my head feeling like it is wrapped in cotton...oh, and did I mention the runny nose? lol This too shall pass. According to Linda (Hilltop Memories) this usually takes about two weeks to run its course. I'll be fit by Creep Over!

Got great news the other day. There are only two of my Haunted House kits left for sale at KnK. If you are not a member, you can order one by contacting Gerri-anne, owner, at admin@knkclub.com.

The two layouts are ones I did yesterday. I was sorting papers and came upon some Spring Fling ones by Pink Paislee. I like the cute owl and had fun with that one. The "Our Table" not so much. The table is E and my special table at Little Winery of the Hills in St. Charles and I did want to scrap it. Well, it is done! Moving through these pictures from our vacation pretty steadily for me!

Off to the hot tub to steam my head. Love to all

Achoooooooooooooooo(cough, hack , sniffle)

While my honey,E,is a generous and sharing man, I wish he had kept his cold to himself. I could have used a little less sharing where that was concerned. I roughly figure I am on day 3 of the 7 days it takes a cold to run its course. I did little but sleep and read and sleep some more yesterday...oh, yes, and take otc drugs that seem to be alleviating the headache and stuffed head.

I have an article to write and just got my November kit from KnK and all I want to do is soak in the hot tub for my achy bones and sleep. As Scarlett O'Hara once said, "Tomorrow is another day" or was that Rhett? and do I really care?

This layout was done with a picture taken at Little Winery in Old Town St. Charles our second day in town. Steve, E and I had a leisurely lunch and killed a couple of wonderful bottles of wine. That was long ago and far away when I could breathe! lol

(used Bisous.Biz papers, Doodlebug, some rub ons and GG chipboard letters)

Later gators!

An aMAZEing time was had by all

Every year, the Kristen and Chris invite us to go to the Long and Scott Farms for a corn maze and farmers market. This year, I said yes. E had all his football games lined up for the day and still was not feeling tip top, so he stayed home. Their friend, Lisa, the kids and I took off around 11. The farm is past Orlando but we laughed and talked our way up there and it seemed to take no time at all. We roamed the maze for over two hours, circling, finding some of the clues, getting a few answers here and there and often doubling back on ourselves. There was a nice breeze most of the time so the time passed pleasurably with Chris as our worthy guide.

The farmers market was filled with lovely tomatoes, gords and, of course tons and tons of pumpkins. I showed great restraint and only picked up four ears of sweet corn for supper tonight.

We stopped for supper on the way back home at Cracker Barrel and I got the cutest little snowman for my collection. Unfortunately, the snow globe he is carrying does not light up properly so I will exchange him some time this week at a CB not too far from here.

I also finished a layout yesterday and will put it up either later today or tomorrow am.

I now have E's cold/sore throat/etc. It was inevitable but sure don't feel tip top. Unlike Mr. Stubborn, if this gets any worse, I will go to the doctor. His 'toughing it out' has resulted in minimum sleep for me for the past three nights. I didn't want to wake him to move so I "toughed it out"...guess I must be Mrs. Stubborn, huh?

Have a good one!

Gypsy Rose Paperie for Friday

Every Friday, I post what I have done with the free download image from the week. I got home Wed. from our vacation and had to have this done by Thurs. evening for my turn to post. There are three other amazing artists who post their interpretation of the weekly download and I am Gypsy Gal Friday.

I had an idea that had been waiting for the right image and it came via Nikki Rose, the owner, this week. I like to give home made gifts for various holidays but I don't sew. This limits what I can make. Not this time...

For directions go to www.gypsyrosepaperie.com and click on blog to see how to make one of these no sew sachets or small gift bags.

and post a note to me...I get lonely!

Have a good one!

Home Sweet Home

We had a lovely crisp and cool last morning at Nick and Kay's. There was a mist just above the surface of the lake and the fall colors were really coming out on the leaves. I will certainly have lots of all pictures to scrap that will keep me busy for quite some time.

Kay and E got some great pics of us kayaking. This is one Kay took. These Hobie Cat Mirages are amazing...foot or paddle and you can even get sails for them. We went on line and found a place not too far away that carries these. Saving my pennies now! Need to make a Kayak Jar for sure.

Our trip home was uneventful. I dozed and finished a book I started on the trip up. The kids picked us up and we were in bed by 8:30pm. Wild and crazy, aren't we. POor E has either a cold or a sinus infection and keeps waking himself (and me)up off and on through out the night.

I have my Friday project for Gypsy Rose Paperie to work on today and need to keep the laundry moving and the unpacking. That is the down side of a wonderful trip...and I am hoping our box filled with goodies from our trip arrives today.
Can't wait to get my automated witch up!

Have a great one.

Heading home soon

We leave for the airport a bit after noon today. We are pretty much packed so have the morning yet to enjoy. Kay and I have a kayaking date right after breakfast. This morning the lake looks like a sheet of glass, it is so smooth and calm.

I am leaving you with a few more photos from our adventure yesterday. See you tomorrow back in Paradise!

Have a great day!

Just another day in God's Country!

Yesterday was chill out day. The guys fished and Kay and I just hung out. We did make a run into town for some snacks and the steaks for tonight and then I hit the hammock that had been calling to me and napped! Kay's sister and her husband stopped by to say hello and a neighbor came calling as well. Our dear friends, Chuck and Linda came by for supper and brought us two wonderful bottles of Missouri wines that just fit in with the other six into our suitcase.

This morning we awoke to rain and mist but went full guns ahead with our plans to visit Rocheport (1825) and Les Bourgeois winery. What a wonderful place. The town is cute and snuggled along the Katy Trail and the Missouri River and the winery is perched atop the bluffs. We had a wonderful lunch and gave in to the call once again. This time we had the winery ship a port and a Norton to the house. We roamed through Columbia (all together now: "MIZ ZOU")and hit an antique store or two before heading home. The steaks are on the grill, the wine chilling and the debate on our viewing agenda!

Just as we pulled into Lake Sherwood we came upon our second viewing of deer. I was able to catch a couple of shots which I'll put up early tomorrow morning. Our plane doesn't leave until 3ish so Kay and I have a kayaking date tomorrow a.m. I love the Hobie with the pedals...E and I will be checking these out for sure!

Love to all

Kayaking and cooking out

Yesterday was a lazy hazy crazy last days of summer kind of day. None of got to bed before midnight and we all decided to take it easy. The guys fished and Kay and I headed out in her Hobie kayaks. She has foot pedals in her kayaks and I had never used those. We were out for almost two hours!

This house of Nick and Kay's is so lovely. We use to come out here when they had just the lot (which they owned for eons before Nick retired and they built this house). We had a shed for changing clothes and the dock for swimming. We'd be out here for every 4th of July, etc. and lots of times inbetween.

We cruised around the lake and visited with some neighbors who came over for a pot luck supper around 5pm. Kay and I had appletinis before supper and these wonderful
Angel Tops for our dessert with chicken on the grill and salad in between.

The sun is just coming up over the lake and it is too pretty to be on a computer. I am taking my java and heading out to the deck. Have a good one!

The Wineries

We hit the road to the wineries around 11 yesterday morning and met up with our friend, Bridget and her sister, Julie, at Sugar Creek. This has long been a favorite winery of ours. We brought food and bought wine and listened to the music. Most of the wineries have live entertainment on weekends during the peak season and Sugar Creek filled up fast! Our next stop was a new winery called Chandler's. It sits atop an bluff overlooking a lake and old farm house. We stopped only long enough for pictures as there was standing room only.

Our third winery was Blumhoff, another of our loves. We bought a few bottles to take home with us and had a sandwich while we were there. The weather was delightful, crisp and not too cool. The rolling hills are just starting to color up.

We left Blumhoff and joined Nick and Kay (our host and hostess for the remainder of our visit)at a party in one of the coves of the lake where they live. Then we returned to their house and settled in for a great evening with our pals.

We are just hanging around their house today with a little kayaking planned and a boat ride later this afternoon. Today is the official kick back day so I 'll grab one of the my books, park myself on their deck and chill.

Love to all

Lovely Day

Well, I got pretty close to my required dose of Old Town. The guys were really patient about letting me shop, shop, shop. We had lunch at Little Winery of St. Charles on Main St. and split three appetizers and a lovely bottle of wine...one of our favorites, a vignole. I roamed in and out of two many fun shops to name but two are always a MUST: Rock Paper Scissors has to be one of my all time favorite stops. The owner is great and she stocks stamps and amazing specitaly papers. I bought ribbons and paper mache objects and fun little books to assemble along with some papers, of course.

And the next required stop was the Flower Peddler. I don't think E and I have ever left this place empty handed. And yesterday was just another one of those visits to the shop. Everywhere you look, there are take-me-home goodies from ceramics to flower arrangements to endless wonders. We ended up with a couple of little new oranments for Lucille, my retro Christmas tree and a hanging witch that kicks her feet, gives off the witch laugh and swings back and forth with lit eyes at the touch. Steve kindly offered to ship things back for us...bless his heart!

We ended up at Tony's, a new place that opened up at one end of Main. We sat out on the top deck and a few at a time, many of our old crowd from our high school showed up. It was such fun getting to see them all again. It had been almost two years since we last made it 'home'.

Today we are off to the wineries and a few from last night are to join us on our rounds. We'll end up at Nick and Kay's place out at Lake Sherwood where we will be staying for the rest of our visit. It looks like Monday or Tuesday we'll be heading to Rocheport for the day. I've never been to this river town and the view from the winery there is suppose to be breathtaking.

These are just a few pictures from yesterday...I took almost 60 just of Main and all the fun places there.

I'm being called for breakfast. Gotta run...love to all.

It does come around

Today has been one of meeting old friends in unexpected places. Gene, Steve and I had our lunch at the Little Winery in Old Town St. Charles. I saw a profile and looked twice...it was our oh so good neighbor from Autumn Lakes where I live for 14years. I bought the condo for the kids and I after my divorce was finally (only took 2.5 years)final. It was Tim and Judy who lived next door for eons..and were wonderful neighbors. How amazing that Judy would pick that one day to take off from work and that she and Tim would pick that place to have lunch.

Then, it only got better as we meet up with friends. One of my favorite cheerleaders showed up and brought her baby girl...too much fun. I have a pic I'll post of her mom , her and the baby!

So, I am standing on the deck just watching the night and enjoying a glass of vino when a nice young man taps me on the shoulder...I turn and he says Mrs. Fehrman (my old name...and I replied, I'm Julie Eickmeier now. And he says, you taught at Hazelwwood Central, right? Yes. and he said, (and this makes all the years I taught and all the incredible unteachable students I did have worth the effort), you were my favorite teacher and I want my wife to meet you.

Now, I had this young man when he was a sophomore in high school in 1986...and he remembered me...of all the teachers he had...he remembered me. Now this is not the first time this has happened...it has happened many time before but this time I asked why. Dan, why do you remember me...why was I your favorite...and he said
You made it important that I know what you knew and how much I could know if I would listen...

everything I ever did, everything I ever taught...was worth it TONIGHT. And God Bless you Dan!

Lovin' the Fall

Our plane was ten minutes early on Wed. when we arrived and Steve was right there with hugs! We headed out towards Lake St. Louis, stopping for some toasted ravioli (a distinctly St. Louis treat) and some thin crust pizza on the way. We got up early Thurs. morning and took a wonderful 3 mile walk around Steve's area. While the leaves are just starting to turn, there is color enough for me to get some shots.

We visited with Gene's mom and took her out for her 91st. birthday at Cracker Barrel, one of her favorite places. She and I each got a salad and the sweet waitresses sang to her. It was good to see her and she looks well.

Our next stop was to visit with my poor dad who is back in the hospital with pneumonia as a result of his chemo. He looks thin and tired but his spirits are high and he has a positive attitude. He has decided to continue the chemo but the dr. is spacing it out a bit more with lesser doses. We will try to connect back to both of our parents later in the week.

We joined Steve who was our guide to small, quaint and sometimes downright odd pubs in the Warrenton/Lake St. Louis area. We made new friends in a few of them...lol. While we were trying to decide where to go for supper, we called Kelly and Jill and, despite no answer on their phones, we stopped by their house anyway. Kelly was home and we went to a place in his town, Troy, called Mustang Sally's. I had one of the best pork tenderloin sandwiches I've had in a long time. Jill and her sister had been working the Homecoming Parade at the high school where Jill is an assistant Principal but we were able to visit with them for a bit too.

Right across the street from Mustang Sally's was the cutest little scrapbook store. I sent the boys ahead to the restaurant and looked around. The owner's mother who was tending the store was a sweetheart and we chatted a bit. The owner, Becky Beisner, has done a great job arranging her store. It is warm and inviting and the displays are well done. A bit of a bus man's holiday here.

I am hoping to hit Red Lead Paper in Kirkwood/DesPares before I head home. It was voted the Best of St. Louis earlier this year for Scrapbook, paper and art supply! That one is a MUST see.

Today, after a walk, we're heading to Old Town St. Charles for me to fill my soul. We always get specialty coffees at Figuaro's and I have to get my Flower Peddler fix! I'll park the boys at the winery or one of the many bars and then shop my way through the many little shops. I never tire of Old Town. We have friends from school meeting us around 4 for drinks and then on to dinner. DeeDee arrives sometime from AZ where she has been attending and presenting at a big meeting for her company. I've missed her!

Will try to post more tomorrow but we are heading out to the wineries around 11. Love to all!

Lunch for Breakfast

We got most of our chores done early so decided to ride into town for breakfast at our favorite place, Toula's. It is right across from the old train station that is now a museum and directly on the Trail. We looked at the new menu and asked could we order lunch instead of breakfast. And, when the answer was that all menu items are available at all times, I got an Italian Stallion with a basil pesto mayo and E got the Monte Cristo. Both were packed with flavor!

We are seeing new and different flowers along the trail almost every day that we ride now. The park we ride through smelled deeply of pine and someone was mowing grass. Love those aromas.

Finishing up a few last minute things before we leave for the airport later this afternoon. Rob will be house and cat sitting and we are hoping if we leave it clean, we'll find it clean. He did very well the last time he sat for us!

Love to all, will try to post from St. Louis as often as I can. Tomorrow is the day we plan to visit with E's mom and my dad but who knows how the day will go or if I'll get internet. Watch this space! lol