LAMBCHOP SPECIAL AT THE WALMART........

Anybody that is a reader of this blog knows that we are one wacky family.....and we always have strange things happening to us....

I never embellish....or add anything extra to make these stories more interesting...

They usually just include me and the Boss......you add to the mix the daughter and our hi-jinx get kicked up a notch....

Well..... daughter is in town with Miss "B" so it's no surprise that last evening events put us into a whole new category..........

Father and daughter decided to take in a late flick after Miss "B" went to bed...leaving Grandma home to babysit.....They are big movie fans.....me not so much...All was going well...... baby was sleeping peacefully so around midnight I went to bed......

Daughter wakes me up from a dead sleep around 2:00 a.m. to tell me this was found in the SSR outside of the open all night Walmart up in Woodstock

SEE PICTURE BELOW........

THIS IS NOT A STUFFED ANIMAL.....Yes......you're looking at a real live baby lamb.....

sitting comfortably in the front seat of the Boss' beloved Chevy SSR convertible pick up...

He left the top down.

He and daughter went inside the Walmart to return a Redbox and decided at 1:00a.m. to roam the vast aisles of the superstore that sells everything....

Upon returning to the truck husband loaded up the stuff in the back then headed towards his door when he stopped and said to daughter......

"Don't get into the car, there is a creature in the front seat"........

Now those of you who are reading this can certainly say....."These people are nuts".....that's perfectly okay because when daughter woke me up to tell me this the first thing out of my mouth was.....

"Am I hallucinating?"

Yes, someone for whatever reason dumped a brand new baby lamb into the truck.....

Can you say....."This could only happen in Georgia".......

Police were called......

Lamb was taken away.....and thank goodness I wasn't there because it would now be residing at our house as a pet for the Boo Dog......

After all he is a Sheep Herding dog....

To read an extremely funny complete version of this escapade go visit the daughters blog for the blow by blow minute by minute account....

Daughter's Blog

FRIDAY NIGHT TRADITIONS...............

When you were a kid did your family have any type of weekly ritual......Like Pizza every Friday night or Sunday dinner at the relatives?

In our house Siggy would take us on Friday nights to Snuffy's Steak House in Scotch Plains

New Jersey......

More then just a steak joint this place had character or should I say "A Character"...... the best waiter ever....... his name was Frank......We always sat in Franks' section.....in a booth right across from the bar.....

As a little kid and I remember going there as long as I could remember......I loved to see the "House Monkey" at the bar.......They had a stuffed chimp dressed up in clothes and he was attached to what they call today a "zip line".......Infact the monkey's name was

ZIPPY......They would.......all through dinner....slide Zippy from one side of the bar to the other and I thought this was the greatest thing in the world.....What did I know I was a kid.....But I guess this is why as an adult I have a love for the Hollywood chimps that they dress up and put roller skates on.....I love those damn monkeys......

And Frank.....well, he was a hoot....I always remember him being like 70......from when I was little to when I became an adult Frank always stayed the same age.....OLD....

With a big white handlebar mustache......when he died he was probably put in the waiter hall of fame.....he was that good....Everyone wanted a table in Frank's area.....

When we got married and had daughter we too kept up the Friday night tradition.....When she was just a toddler we went one night with my in-laws....that would be The Big Boss.....who's a combination of Ernest Borgnine and Don Rickles..... and my mother-in-law who was the twin to Hyacinth on Keeping up Appearances.....
I sat next to daughter my mother-in-law across from us......Frank ofcourse was our waiter....then I see things disappearing off the table.......rolls....bread.....sugar packets....Couldn't figure out where they were going until I looked down into daughter's lap.....
She was stock piling the table freebies like the people in Boca Raton do at the
"All you can Eat" early bird special places.....
Where did she learn this......I have to admit from my mother.....Yes, Millie had a habit of putting stuff in a napkin and quietly putting it in her purse.....
She picked up this habit in Florida and daughter was just following what she saw Grandma do.....
Needless to say my mother-in-law was humiliated......
And needless to say we never went out to dinner with them ever again...
Hey kids will be kids............
and I'd like to report that she never did that again.....

Lemonade on the Deck.........

It's that time of the week again for Tablescape Thursday.....hosted by everyone's favorite designer of the best set tables in the South...Lovely Susan at

http://www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

Stop over at Susan's blog to see tons of other great tablescapes....the list gets longer every week...This week I thought I would take it outside to the deck.....inspired by these pretty flowers and a set of wonderful new place mats that neighbor Necie gifted me........a few good finds from none other then Goodwill and it's a table set for sitting out and enjoying the sun....
Our deck is surrounded by trees....they are everywhere....It's like sitting up in a tree house...
when the builder positioned the houses in the cul de sac he turned them in such a way that from the deck you can't see the house on either side of you.....a very nice feature....
What spells summer more then iced cold lemonade....
add some cookies and a little fruit and you have a nice afternoon treat...

Make sure the glasses hold alot of the cold stuff.....these glasses are the pub glasses from

Pottery Barn....

I got so excited when I got these placemats I knew at first sight that they would match these plates perfectly....

what a pretty color pink.....don't you think?

I got these plates at Goodwill.....Not as good as some of the other ladies that find incredible bargains I had to pay $12.00 for the 4 little dessert plates....

Not to be cheap but I thought that was a bit steep for the G.W.

It seems all the different Goodwill's do their own pricing.....it appears this certain location thinks it's Saks Fifth Ave.....

But they were too cute to pass up....

These colors are just great.....this is my favorite one..

And they are by April Cornell....so I guess I did get a bargain....

Gotta have the cookies...and these are the best....If you have ever flown on Delta Airlines and have been offered those great Biscoff cookies.....these are them....they are tasty cinnamon things and whenever I fly you always hear the people around you saying....

"Can I have two packs of cookies".......they are that good....

Always tempted to order a box from their 800 number on the package....even though they were a bit expensive...... I did one better then that.......

Is there anything that the Walmart doesn't carry......I discovered these while wandering around the cookie aisle and I got very excited......and even better they only cost $2.00 for a big package....

Thanks for stopping by and having some lemonade on my deck.....and you can have two packs of cookies to take home....

SWEET MISS SALLY.................

I have a running joke with Greg our wonderful mailman about all the packages that the Boss has delivered all during the week....Every time Greg brings a package to the front door he says the same thing....

"When are you going to get package"

"John get everything".....

Well Greg has been on vacation in his home country of Viet Nam for the past few weeks and we have a substitute mail lady.....

The other day I went out to get the mail......we have rural delivery down at the street....and there was balanced on top of our curved mailbox...ready to hit the pavement....this big box you see below......

Lucky that someone didn't drive past and scoop it up I brought it into the house and promptly handed it over to the husband.....

To my surprise and delight the package was for me.....

and who was if from....none other then Everyone's Favorite Sally of

http://www.sallyssalmagundi.blogspot.com/
What a wonderful surprise........... not just one gift but three!!
And for no reason other then Sally is one terrific lady......
A reader of my wacky blog since the very beginning I can always depend on seeing her comments as soon as I post a new story.....
She always have such wonderful things to say about our Miss B and she pays attention to all the little bits and bobs in my posts.....
You'll see what I mean in a minute....

The Boss was highly impressed to see that our Sally is a published author....How cool is that...She sent me these wonderful books on quilting....one for me and one for daughter after reading about us going to the Hoboken quilting class....
what an accomplishment to have written not one but two books.....
And for all that have seen her blog you know the quilts she makes are true works of art...

Then I opened this little gem.....Sally noticed in an old post my collection of green pitchers on my kitchen window.....
Her note said this one belonged with it's brother's and sister's......
She did one better then that....

He's back home with "Big Daddy"......
this pattern happens to be my favorite pitcher in my collection.....one thing...
Mine is new....a reproduction of the original.....
Sally's is the real thing!!
Thank you so much my friend for making my day....
When I received a few weeks ago beautiful flowers sent by Miss Susie Q of Rabbit Run Cottage.....the husband swore I was having an online thing with a 70 year old lonely man.....
When this package came I think he finally realizes that there are some really special people out there.......called Lady Bloggers!!
How lucky am I to know you all......

FIREWORKS....AND A VERY LONG MARRIAGE.... A Re-Post

I FIRST POSTED THIS THREE YEARS AGO AND IT PROVED TO BE THE SINGLE MOST POPULAR POST I HAVE EVER DONE......IT NOW WOULD HAVE BEEN 76 YEARS OF MARRIAGE AND IF YOU MISSED IT THE FIRST TIME I HOPE YOU ENJOYING READING ABOUT MY CRAZY PARENTS...
73 Years ago on the 4th. of July Millie and Siggy tied the knot.....That would be the Folks and as Millie would always love to say....

"We got married on the 4th of July and there have been fireworks ever since"

Ofcourse she didn't mean that in a good way....

But you would never know that by these pictures.....

I think you will agree that they were quite the handsome couple back in 1936.....

They were known around town as the George Burns and Gracie Allen of Rahway.....

My father said very little and smoked a big cigar....

My mother.....well, was Gracie Allen's twin sister....

All my high school friends even called her Gracie...

She more often then not said and did things that just made you say...."What?"

And he was her straight man...

Every time she would see this picture she would comment that the flowers she was carrying looked like the bush was pulled right out of the ground......

Did she save that beautiful dress.......just incase maybe she had a daughter.....ofcourse not...

She cut it up and made a Christening dress for her niece....

There were years of complaints that Grammy gave her only $2.00 for wedding shoes and she could barely walk in them because they hurt so bad......

Oh....Wonderful wedding memories.....

And people wonder where I get my complaining "skills" from!!

Millie also complained that they never went anywhere.....Every time I turned around they were dressed up and ready to go partying with friends and neighbors....

Here they are in the 1950's getting ready to go to a dinner dance as a benefit for the hospital where our next door neighbor was a physician.....This was a yearly big event.....

They took trips all the time even though Siggy had a modest income....he made the most of it and we always had a nice new car...preferably a Chevy Impala.....burgundy please.....
We went on lots of trips as kids but once I became a teen and could stay home by myself they kicked up the traveling into high gear...... Thanks Guys.....

They went on more cruises then the cast of The Love Boat!!
Here they are dis-embarking from their favorite ship the Homeric....
Dad loved Robert Mitchum movies and this picture of him always reminded me of Mitchums character in "Cape Fear".... I think it's the hat.
The couple in front were their travel companions and the parents of my sister-in-law Carol.
Isn't it great when the in-laws get along so well that they can vacation together....
Mom and Dad must have gone on over a dozen cruises over the years....
But to hear Millie talk they never left Rahway....

Let's discuss the trips to Hawaii.....Lost count on that front.....
Here they are back in 1983 on a layover at San Francisco airport.....
See that gold sweater on the Siggy....It was more like a body tattoo...
Maybe it was his lucky flying sweater but he wore it every time they took a trip...
Then ofcourse let's not forget "Vegas".....

Millie got into a shouting match with Jerry Vale at Caesar's Palace and while going up the escalator at Las Vegas airport she spotted Rodney Dangerfield coming down the other side..

Having no shame she managed to yell over at him that she too "Got no Respect"
Another trip to the Big Island......or where ever the hell "Diamond Head" is....
They talked about those trips for years and how you could see the mountain from their hotel room....
and no matter where they traveled my mother would always and I mean always run into someone she knew.....
In the lobby of the hotel in Hawaii she saw a friend of mine who was there on his honeymoon...
she even saw someone in Spain that she knew.....
And let's discuss Spain......
They vacationed there at a condo for a month.....which was really cool....and then one day in the mail I get a postcard that simply said....

"Today we took the Bus to Africa".......

I still shake my head just thinking about that one.......I told you she was just like Gracie Allen...

Another cruise.....a dashing looking couple....
My mother was like me.....or I guess I'm just like her....She would talk to just about anybody that looked at her crooked so she was in all her glory for seven days on the high seas with nothing but strangers to meet...

Here they are on their 50th...
just taking it easy in Fort Lauderdale...

And here is the last picture I have of them together.....It was my nephews wedding and Dad passed away just four months later.....This was the last time I saw him..I have to say my biggest regret in my. life was at this wedding. The band played "Daddy's Little Girl" while the bride danced with her father. Siggy wanted me to get up and dance and I thought it was inappropriate at the time since it was the "brides dance" I said no and then later found out he paid the band $10.00 to play it for me....That still haunts me since I never saw him again.......But I have to say that he had a ball dancing with all the other ladies including daughter who was 17 at the time....She adored him.

Oh...I didn't mention...they were terrific dancers...On Saturday nights the stereo would get turned up and the rugs rolled back and the dancing began....

I owe my love of Big Band music to my father....

One of my favorite pictures....we call this
"Weekend at Bernies".....

Siggy passed away in 1994........ his ashes were scattered over Barnaget Bay on Long Beach Island.....Millie died in 2002 and her ashes were also scattered off the lighthouse.....I like to think that Dad had atleast 8 years of peace and quite.......

Happy Anniversary Millie and Sig and I'm sure they are back together bickering everyday and loving every minute of it!
And Please.....No comments like.....
"The Nut doesn't fall far from the tree"................

A PATRIOTIC TABLE......SET INSIDE A PATRIOTIC HOME.

It's the week of the 4th. of July and let the flags fly......

Another addition to the wonderful Tablescape Thursday hosted by Susan of

http://www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

Stop by Susan's blog for all the links to all the great tablescapes offered up.....Is anyone out there going to do a table this week other then in Red...White....and Blue....

I bet not!!I happen to love the American Flag and it flys proudly inside and out all year long....

We'll start the tour at my front door before going inside to see the table....

an old flea market window painted very basically into a flag hangs next to our front door...


The wreath has hung between my front porch windows for years....hence that faded stars and stripes bow....look close a little bird lives in that nest right up front....

I couldn't decide this week to use a quilt or place mats on the table I went with the mats...

what's more American then my Hero.....

Miss Liberty....

For a touch of Whimsy....

Bugs Bunny in all his patriotic glory.....

One of my favorite cartoon characters because he's a real troublemaker......

Add a little touch of class....

this beautiful pitcher that daughter bought me one Christmas.....

From Tiffany and Co.

Large dinner plate with blue stars from "Fishs Eddy" N.Y.C.

They specialize in diner china and are featured in this months Country Living magazine.

dessert plates with 4 different flag designs......Target.

a different flag......red napkins were a gift from neighbor Necie that also came with place mats..

Flag design number 3......

And my favorite!!

I found these wonderful coffee mugs at a gift shop that was going out of business...I paid just a few dollars a piece for them and they are from

Waechtersbach of Germany.....

And to quote Vince from the Sham-Wow commercials

"You know those Germans make good stuff".......

and another thing...... where was he when Billy Mays died?

A shot from above......

Yes....her touch does light up....

another view of the Tiffany pitcher....

Thanks Daughter!!
She always gets me the best stuff....

and where else but Blogland can you mix up china from Tiffany's and these beautiful blue stemmed glasses.......$1.00 each from the Dollar Tree.......

These glasses are going to become as infamous at the Target bird salt and peppers....

Elsewhere around the house....flags in Milkglass and one of my favorite nutcrackers...

up the staircase.......

A bit creepy but she hangs around in our bedroom....

This fabulous Jasper Johns poster hangs in the living room and is from the Metropolitan Museum of Art....it's huge.

Gotta have an Uncle Sam....

Another version of Miss Liberty

Even my switch plate covers are flags......a bit much do you think?

You know I just had to have a flag quilt....

I was going to use this as my tablecloth but I thought it might be overkill with the dishes

Hope you enjoyed all my red white and blue and that you all have a great 4th..

I stay clear of being political on this blog but I was watching the news as I was writing this tonight and heard that with the new energy bill that is expected to pass in the Senate will raise every one's electric bills between $1,000.00 and $1,500.00 a year.....

That's an extra $100.00 a month or more.....!!!!!

I just got my power bill and was so excited that it was only $165.00.

Then I realized that we had been in Jersey for over two weeks so the bill was for less then two weeks of service.....we always shut off everything and unplug everything when we are gone....

I find this to be insane....what are your thoughts??

I think if it keeps up I'll have to change from the

Red....White....and Blue

to the

Red...Green and White!!
we are Italian after all.....but I have heard that they are no better then what our country is becoming.....But they have great food!!

And stop back for the 4th. to see a very special tribute to a very special couple who called the 4th. of July their wedding anniversary....

The "Folks"......... who would have been married 73 years this Saturday....