Fall Hodgepodge

As you know, I've taken a little break from blogging, but I didn't want the month to end without a catch-up post.   

My son, Steve, turned 56 on Monday, so we celebrated with him in Marine City - a quaint little city on the St. Clair River about 43 miles north of where we live.  

We ate at the Riviera Restaurant. Their Monday night special is an all you can eat Perch dinner, so we all ordered the same thing.  The Perch was lightly breaded and SO good.  With a start off of five pieces there was no need to ask for seconds, and to discourage seconds, they don't allow doggy-bags.

Boston Cream Pie has always been Steve's favorite dessert for his birthday, so I bought one and took it to the restaurant.

While we were eating we saw two big freighters sailing down the St. Clair river.  I took a pic of both but will only post one.

Fall officially began September 22nd, but I've been slow to decorate my house for the season.  I hung a fall wreath on the front door [purchased last fall], put a wicker cornucopia on the dining room table [that I made eons ago] and bought a new fall garland at Michael's to hang from my kitchen window.  So far, that's it!  Do you decorate for fall?

With Halloween tomorrow, and a work day at The Whitney, I went online to shop for a sweater suitable to wear.  I found one at Target for only $30 and purchased it.

I'm still trying to shed some pounds, and have crossed the 20 lb. weight loss threshold, but am still not where I want to be yet.  I found a great Pumpkin recipe online that satisfies dessert cravings, but doesn't sabotage weight loss.  It has no sugar - just 2 Tbsp. honey or pure maple syrup [both are good] and 1 cup low fat cottage cheese [which I puree so there's no visible cottage cheese curds].  It also contains two eggs, vanilla and pumpkin pie spice along with 1 cup pumpkin puree.  I always associate pumpkin with fall, so this recipe is perfect, healthy and  tastes really good.   I just made some today.

Yesterday I drove down to my old childhood stomping grounds, and had lunch with a few high school girlfriends [only four were able to make it yesterday].  We had a nice time getting caught up on each other's news.  I ordered Applebee's Oriental Chicken Salad and it was my meal for the day.  Yummy!

On my way home, I couldn't resist stopping to take a picture of a beautiful Maple tree on my street.  It's leaves had turned a beautiful red.  Michigan's color change will supposedly be over Nov. 3rd and then we'll be looking at barren trees for several months.

Our church had their annual Harvest Festival on Oct. 11th.  I had to work but my hubby went. I asked him to take pictures but he was so busy he didn't get a chance.  It's always a big event with hayrides, a petting zoo, chili cookoff contest and trunk or treat.  It was well attended and a good time was had by all.  Below are the only two pics I have to share.

I saw the cute fabric pumpkin [below] on Facebook and couldn't resist sharing it here.  

I'll wrap up this fall post with pictures of my sweet granddaughter, Izzy.  She turned 20 the end of September and got a car for her birthday present from her parents.  She lives off campus at MSU this year so now she won't have to take the bus or ride her bike anymore.  

What's new with you this fall?  I hope you're enjoying this season when our thoughts turn to  gratefulness.