My friend has this display of pumpkin Halloween decor at her garage sale. She even has little bitty pumpkins to use as bowl fillers. I have my eye on the big one for my porch, but I keep reminding myself that I am supposed to be clearing things out at this sale – not bringing more home…we shall just have to wait and see how well my resistance holds up.

In today’s local newspaper there is an article about local businesses with pumpkin flavors on the menu. They made pumpkin donuts and Snap-O-Lantern ice cream (pumpkin with ginger snap cookies) sound SO good! You can read the article here: Where to go to get your fill of fall’s signature pumpkin flavor.

Jessica at Little Indiana does a great job of showing off small towns in Indiana. Her story about a produce shop in Madison Indiana caught my eye with her colorful photo of the store front. I am adding A. Dattilo Fruit Company to my list of future travel destinations. You can find the company online, but Jessica’s article makes me want to visit the colorful shop and experience it first hand. How about you?

I am not a regular Starbucks customer, but I plan to give their Frappuccino half price special a try. The sale is 3 to 5 p.m. each day May 4-13, 2012. According to their store locator – there are seven locations within easy driving distance of my home.

My family likes icy coffee drinks and we had some on our recent trip to Texas.  I am always in “save” mode and so it didn’t surprise anyone that my first taste of a McDonald’s Carmel Frappe was purchased with a buy one get one free coupon. That set the stage for me to become curious when I heard about this Starbucks promotion from Money Saving Mom. I wonder how the two drinks will compare?

I know the Starbucks deal is designed in part to bring people like me in the door…and it is working. I am even sharing the news because I thought you might want to go, too. I may even enter one of their daily contests by sending a photo on Twitter.  Check out the contest on their Frappuccino Coffee Drink site under the Community tab. It looks like fun. (Especially since I just recently started taking photos with my phone.)

My dilemma will be choosing a flavor. Any suggestions?

This is NOT on my diet, but how can I resist this chocolate savings? Coupon link found on Bargain Briana’s site.

I have tried several flavors of Magnum in the past and loved every single one!

Time to keep on voting for the Duane Purvis Burger.

We have a local sandwich in the news because of a contest and a special ingredient – peanut butter. My husband and I sampled the sandwich, as our way of joining in on the hype, and loved it. Follow the link to read a bit more. Please join the fun and vote for our local burger!

Thank you for spreading the news, Blog Lafayette.

Smashed Peas and Carrots: Crockpot Hot Chocolate-RECIPE.

This is at the top of my list of recipes to try this winter. If you like chocolate you will want to try it, too. I love the idea of having hot cocoa ready to drink when coming in from the cold! Thank you, Smashed Peas and Carrots

One of the best things about our recent vacation trip to Germany was spending our grandson’s 5th birthday with him. We missed birthdays 1 through 4, so this celebration was extra special.

It was cute that he picked a grown up restaurant for his birthday dinner. There were no games or dancing bears or prizes, just tables, chairs, menus, and a salad bar. Parker made up his mind weeks in advance. He wanted to go to Big Emma’s and eat Schnitzel. (He ate an impossible amount and then ate more. He definitely enjoyed their food!)

They brought a HUGE mixing size bowl of ice cream to the table to help us celebrate. Parker soon had a slight brain freeze and the shivers, then began hamming it up for us. It was SO much fun!

My husband took this photograph at the Feast of the Hunter’s Moon.  Many of the handmade crafts and homemade cooking at the gathering made me think of my childhood, but none of them touched my heart as much as this bread dough.  I remember my mother making homemade rolls. Sometimes she let me brush sweetened milk on top of the hot bread when she took it out of the oven.  I also remember my grandmother rolling out pie dough, then helping me make “rolly doughs” with the leftover dough scraps that she trimmed from her hand fluted pie shells.

Most of my time at the feast was thought provoking in a nostalgic sort of way.  Even the smell of rabbit stew and cobs of corn grilled over open fires made me daydream of years long gone.  It was encouraging to be reminded of simpler more difficult times.  Of course, in those childhood memories I was NOT the one doing the work.

I enjoyed the day. It was also nice to come home to modern conveniences.  Unlike the women of the past that had no easier way to make bread, I can take a trip down memory lane and then put my feet up while the dough boy does the work.

I was so impressed with the delivery of chocolate to my doorstep yesterday!

My son and daughter-in-law sent me two very thoughtful Mother’s Day gifts this week.  The first to arrive was an antique book that was obviously chosen with care and shipped from their home in Germany. (More about the book later this month.) The other gift was delivered to my doorstep via UPS.  The box, with its bold lettering “KEEP CONTENTS COOL” and a return address that read: 1 Fine Chocolate Place, begged to be opened immediately.

How did I ever manage to overlook Lindt chocolate until now? They make wonderful candy and wrap it up so nicely it is almost a shame to unwrap – almost.

They made an impression on me with their attention to detail.  The lovely box of candy was wrapped in a thermal bubble-wrap bag with ice packs and appropriate packing material to keep the contents from moving around in transit.

My family made me feel special when they took the time to send a nice gift.  Lindt made me feel that I was worth the trouble to make sure the candy arrived safely. As a mother I took note of the fact that my son and his wife got the good service that they paid for. 

The company included little inserts telling me about their products. I am sure their marketing department worked hard on those ads, but I haven’t read any of them yet.  It was the shipping department that recruited a new customer this time.

I do not always get a chance to go to the Covered Bridge Festival, but this October I was able to go twice!  Once to Mansfield and then to Bridgeton, Indiana.  Part of the attraction, on the first trip, was yard sales and barn sales along the way. We took more photos the second day when we spent more time at the actual festival.

Scott and I had a great time with friends, Carol and Yvonne.  We all ate too much, bought interesting items, did a lot of window shopping, and made plans to go again next year.  I am adding captions to the photographs to give you a mini tour of our day.

Bridgeton Covered Bridge, over a waterfall

food stop, Walleye Fish

Grist Mill store front

Bridgeton Country StoreI loved the fact that some of the town people raise chickens!

Bridgeton 1878 House

Collums General Store - full of treasures!!

wood carver's wares

I came home with a new found love of pumpkin ice cream and Amish hot pretzels as well as a renewed appreciation for indoor plumbing.  Notice there are NO photographs of porta-potties One stop that got the females in our group excited was this scrapbook supply booth in the general store. I plan to write more about the store, based out of Muncie Indiana, at a later date.

a wonderful assortment of scrapbook supplies