Tupperware Rocks!!

I guess we all have some of "Mom's Tupperware"....my mom can probably chime in and tell us all what vintage this bowl is - maybe even whose party it came from many, many, many eons ago. Anyhooo, I ended up with it (also many years ago). I recall having this bowl at New Hill, so I took possession at least 25 years ago. A little of the "lip" had separated a few years ago, but it was still quite usable. It's just the perfect size for lots of things, so it got plenty of use. But, all good things must come to an end....

We all know that Tupperware has a lifetime warranty - I just called up the 1-800 number I found on Google. After about 3 minutes on the phone, all I had to do was give them a mold number from the bottom of the bowl, my name and address, and $5 for shipping. I thought that was fair for replacing my beloved bowl with absolutely no proof that I even owned the bowl! And here it is - pretty yellow bowl and new-style lid. Perfect!

Busy, busy!!

I know, I know....I'm ignoring you!  Nah, not really.  Just busy, busy trying to get ready for the wedding!

But I had to stop for a minute and post a quick "end of the season" veggie photo.  My buddy Ben gave me bags of okra and tomatoes....too much okra for one pan!!

Dinner:

Maybe some fried green tomatoes tomorrow nite!

Early Morning Ballooning!

Always cool to see Dick and his balloon driving in to work! Even cooler when he can get the wind currents to allow him to actually land at the airport instead of a field somewhere!

Lawn Visitor

It's no wonder I have trouble keeping plants in my yard!!! Early in the morning....

Bridal Shower!

The wedding is getting close! Miranda's bridal shower was this weekend. Sharon & Buddy came up from Greenville, and Eddie & Trudi came down from Hendersonville to join in the festivities. Since we had such a big crowd, Diane drove us all over in her mini-van. Thanks, Diane! (some of these photos have already been up on Facebook, sorry if it's a repeat for you....)

One of Miranda's childhood friend's mother hosted the shower.

She did a fabulous job with all the little "feminine" treats!

We snacked a while....

Miranda was very active in the Girl Scouts - she was presented with a sash like she wore in Girl Scouts - except this one said "Bride"!

Those that were Scouts in the group gave each other these little gifts (I think called "SWAPS") - Miranda's is a little bride made out of a wooden ice-cream spoon.

I snapped this photo of Sue, Miranda's mom, and myself.

Trudi gave Miranda a little sweet negligee .....

She got lots of great items.

A hit of the party was also my sister's gift - a hand-knit beaded shawl.  

Isn't she going to be a beautiful bride??

Everyone had to inspect the handi-work of the shawl!

Meanwhile -  Miranda was busy opening lots more gifts. 

Look close at this one.....she's having to cut this ribbon!  Yay!!  According to the tradition, I'm going to have 3 grand-babies because she cut 3 ribbons!!!

A great shower - these are two of her lovely bridesmaids.  Can't wait for the wedding!

Taiwan Trip Day 12 - Back to the USA!

All good things must come to an end, as the saying goes! Off to the airport bright and early....waiting for our "short" flight to Tokyo....

And then.... one of the most wonderful things that can happen at an airport.....happened.

The Delta service desk was asking for volunteers to be "bumped" from our long Tokyo-Detroit flight. Incentive was $600 per ticket....hmmmm.....

 Strangely, they were able to book us on a different flight that actually gets us home 20 minutes sooner than our original flights.....wow...

and it gets better....they eventually find us seats in the business class section!!!

This is a super-big deal for the long flight! The Delta 747's have all been retrofit in the past few months to their new "Lay Flat" setup.

Here's what our little "cabins" looked like - the seats are electric and they really do stretch all the way flat so you can sleep!

You know me - I get a big kick out of this sort of thing!  Here are some of the items we were served in the course of the flight - (I'm watching a Robin Williams comedy routine on my entertainment screen....)

Snack -

Then an appetizer -

Then dinner (Wanda Sykes was on by then....)

Sometime many hours later they brought breakfast -

And that's all folks!  Stamped in-and-out on my passport....home now and ready for some more jet-lag!

Taiwan Trip Day 11

Our last touring day!  We have to finish up and be ready to leave in the morning for the long trip back home....original plans were to take the "bullet train" to the south to a national park we had read about.   We tried to buy tickets but they were sold out.  But, lots to see, so we decided to take a bus to a town on the east coast - Jinshan.  Scene outside the bus terminal....

Onboard for the 1 hour ride "over the mountains"....

Neat to pass by a little  "steaming"  valley.  I assume there is a hot spring there.

An uneventful ride on some pretty curvy roads!  The town itself is a bit different than Taipei!  No high-rises here.

We wandered thru the town - aiming towards the ocean!  A pretty archway entrance to a temple.

We headed east and figured we'd eventually find the sea....

Just had to take a photo of this aloe plant on the side of the road.. Reminded me of the "Feed Me" plant from the play "Little Shop of Horrors" !!!

Cool display on the side of a little building.

Cool bridge approaching the sea.

 View from the top of the bridge.  Looking out towards the East China Sea!

So, we were hungry by now - but this was definitely not a tourist town.  So we decided to brave a restaurant near the bridge.

This is the faded  menu in the window....no English spoken here!

And lunch is very fresh....

I pointed to a few things in the ice-filled cooler....

My peel-and-eat shrimp came out first....

Duane's fish were fabulous!  Absolutely fresh - the stuff that looks like salt was just barely salty...still not sure what it was but it was really good too.  Duane told me that the most nutritious part was the eyeball, so I had to eat that, of course.  It didn't really taste like anything - but I hope I got plenty of vitamins!

We read about a park that was up the hill - but had a really hard time finding the entrance.  We walked right thru the houses, but finally found the pathway.

Razor sharp plants!

Views from the park - not a soul on a beautiful beach.  Definitely a fishing village, not a tourist place!

A better view of the East China Sea.

A happy Buddha! (The umbrella is to keep out of the sun, not rain!)

This is an evacuation tunnel - the opening was just a big black hole - I stuck my arm in and shot this with the camera...not a "buggy" as I would have figured.  According to a map we found, this tunnel goes all the way back down the mountain to seal level (we had climbed almost 1000 feet up the hill at this point.)

Street scene in Jinshan.

 

So, we boarded a return bus - I slept a good part of the way back!

A little time was left before sunset, so we wandered around back in Taipei a little while....

Found another street market - ducks ready to eat!!

And happened by a little "live" play of some nature in a park. These ladies were singing or chanting...and it was not really pleasant to my western ears!   Back to the hotel to pack up for our busy travel day tomorrow...a wonderful visit!