*fat free dressing

Excuse me?!

FAT-FREE Dressing? I thought the name of these garments was hilarious. I had to share. There were girdle type garments as well with the FAT FREE label, under tops and legging thingys - so you can be, well, FAT FREE.  If the price tag hadn't been so hefty I might have tried them for myself.
(photo taken at JC Penny's in the ladies undergarments department)

*november giveaway - enter today!

I have been working my fingers to the bones. Now it is time to take a little break, only for a short while though, because Kelly (the lovely lady who headed up the Fall Festival) just invited me to join the Christmas Bazaar the first week in December!   I have a little surplus left over from the festival so I am hosting a giveaway to the readers of Lame In Both Feet.  I am gifting one of you lovely readers with a set of "pot grabbers" and one of my machine woven baskets.  (click on any pics below to enlarge for more details)

To make it fun for other readers.. Leave a comment that tells of a favorite family tradition that you practice with your family each Christmas Season and I will enter your name in the drawing!

If you would like two entries, follow my blog by clicking on the "follow" icon on the right side bar and you will be entered TWICE! I will close the giveaway on December 1. Please check back to see if you are the winner so I can get these out to you in a timely manner! 

*first annual gillis hill farm fall festival

Gillis Hill Farm Fall Festival was great!  Unfortunately, I didn't get to see much other than my booth (selling my handcrafts) from early morning until three o'clock when I went over to buy a container of homemade pumpkin ice cream - which was delicious.   The weather forecast was dry, warm and clear day. Hmmm. I am never trusting that weather man again.  When I woke up at six a.m. it was raining and somewhere in the low sixties, which I love - truly my favorite kind of weather.   I did leave the house with a pair of shorts on, and a long sleeve shirt.  For most of the day I was comfortable but about two o'clock it began to toast up  a bit.   It really turned out to be a beautiful day for all the patrons who participated in the farm festivities.  Many took the farm tour, which I have taken countless times before because I have a son who would take the tour every time we go by there if I would just give in.

I loved being there on the farm on this day.

Families were out.  Strollers were being pushed with their little ones in tow.  Children walked by the craft booths with delicious popcorn making its way into their mouths and every once in a while a piece would join the other pieces on the ground. Boots were a regular piece of attire on this day.  Hats too. Many walked by licking the spoon from their ice cream cup they had purchased from the Gillis Hill Ice Cream Shoppe.   I can almost guarantee you, that the chickens that normally wander around the farm had a hayday eating all the morsels that everyone dropped along the way.  Many also sat in the open air and listened to the live band play.  Interesting people of all walks and ages came through the antiques and crafts vendor area - people watching can be fun.   Many families I know came by, some of which I hadn't seen in a while, that was nice.  I finally met someone who I have heard much about from two different friends. I want to be her friend.

Get your calendar, go ahead.  Mark the month of October 2010 with Gillis Hill Farm Fall Festival  (Fayetteville NC)- it is a great family outing.  I do not know the Gillis family personally, but do know folks who do, as well I have had enough interactions with them to know a few things about who they are and their character.  You are supporting a great family and getting a wholesome family outing.  Oh.. while you are at it.. mark your calendar for the month of March - ICE CREAM SHOPPE Opens!  The farm offers home made ice cream from March through the end of October.  Many different tasty ice cream flavors are offered throughout the season as well as baked delights.

*a battle within

Strange feelings today.  Literally a battle within.

*spirit of loveliness

October.  Two Momma's. Two birthdays.  Two recipes. Two cakes. One success.  As you have read in this past month.. we have celebrated several birthdays.  My birth mother just a few weeks ago and the most recent, my adopted mother here in NC. She folded me into her 'family' a while ago.  Today we celebrated her birthday. Her 70th birthday celebration!  I gladly, agreed to baking her birthday cake.   I committed to making a carrot cake for the BIG day.    I did make the cake. What is it..the pressure.. of making a cake worthy enough for her? Funny, huh? The cake flopped, fell, sunk... cracked.  I smeared the cream cheese and pecan icing mixture on it and plopped it on a plate for the family to eat. It was very tasty but a visual nightmare.  The clock was barking out the time to me at the hour of the cake failure: 10PM the night before the party.  I had to resign myself to simply going out to find a cake the day of the party.

The following morning when I went to take Henry out to school I stopped by Sweet Boutique in Fayetteville to hopefully find THE cake.  Long story short.. I did find a beautiful cake. Vanilla Bean Cake with Chocolate Ganache in between each layer with butter cream icing.  Yes it was delicious.  I must say, it was a much more appropriate cake for the occasion than the meager simple carrot cake I had initially planned to bring.  While none of the ladies attending the celebration would have turned up their nose to my homemade carrot cake, I am so glad it did not work out.  Seventy years old, seventy healthy years,  seventy beautifully, lived years deserves some thing a little more special. I am glad it turned out the way it did.

 Happy Birthday Wendie!

" Every life carries an atmosphere and this atmosphere blesses or blights. Our personal atmosphere arises from the condition of our hearts, not our personal surroundings.  Lord, allow my life to have a positive influence on others."    - Wendie B-----

*National Blog Posting Month (Nablopomo)

I just learned of this 'challenge', National Blog Posting Month (affectionately know as NaBloPoMo).  I say, challenge, because I am not sure if I can post something every day in the month of November, but I love blogging and I am up for the challenge.  I do sometimes have a lot to say. It have been busier in the last few months than I really care to be.  Currently, I have a ton of things in my head I could write about that have gone on in just the past few weeks.  Have you had that kind of October too? 

   Are you a fellow blogger?  Will  you take the challenge? From my reading, when the promotion of blog posting month started they assigned November as the official blog posting month.  Now, some years later, you select your month and commit to the 30/30 post during that month.   Many bloggers who have participated in the past are sticking to what feels natural and selecting November as their "30 days post in 30 days"; while others select the month they choose as their Nablopomo.