Our cypress has been changing over the last couple of weeks.  It started out yellow, then orange, then darker orange, etc.  It may be naked by this weekend.  This tree changes fast.  The others seem to be a little slower when they are going from yellow to red. 

Rick's aunt requested this trifle for Thanksgiving.  It's fun to make and usually all I have left is a dirty bowl.

Its just a bunch of assorted berries, vanilla pudding, cool whip, and Sara Lee pound cake.  The secret ingredient that kicks it up a notch is the berry wine reduction.  Pick your favorite berry (blueberry in my case), cook some with a sweet white wine and sugar.  Taste to get the sweetness you want.  Cook til it starts to thicken.  Layer it in just like the other ingredients. Yummy!

And we always have to bring Rick's canned green beans.  We didn't have any canned potatoes left so we had to buy some.  You just cook them separately with some bacon/ham.  When they are done mix them with the green beans.  You would never know that they did not cook together.

 Everyone seemed to enjoy the day.  We had 4 family dinner invitations but could only go to one because everyone does it on Thursday.  When we were younger my mom always had hers on Saturday.  That way we could go to other family dinners on Thursday. 

I'm really struggling to get into the Christmas spirit this year.  You can never get everyone together in one place at one time.  This one wants this and that one wants that.  So you end up trying to make everyone happy.  Then you stop and think, what about me?  Do others go through this every year?  Coward that I am, I just shut up and do what's expected.  Unfortunately, I'm really starting to hate this time of year.



 

After an hour of picking up pecans, we have another bucket almost full.  Daisy is where she always is.  Close to Rick.  Thank goodness she isn't human, I might be in trouble.



 

She is such a beautiful dog.  Look at how her coat shines.  Her fur feels like velvet.

I found these fake poinsettias for $3 a bunch.  Since we have so much going on I am not getting any decorations down from the attic.  So, my challenge is to take these two clusters of flowers and make a couple of decorations for the house. 

Ta - dah! A new wreath for the front door.

 

And a little decoration for the dining room.  All for $6 and a little time.  Love my glue gun.

 

Now back to crocheting.  So much to do and so little time.



 



 

 Rick and I have been off this week and have been very busy. We both agree we don't feel like we

have gotten much done. But some projects are rolling along and a couple are complete.

My oranges are finally starting to turn.  Maybe I'll get one.

We have several spaghetti squash.  They are still real green.  This one is the biggest.

 

Rick has replaced his boat transom.  It had rotted thru so that is one of the completed projects.

Jack has started something new.  When we get ready to go to the property the dogs go nuts when we get their leashes.  Jack has started jumping on the back of the recliner waiting for Rick to put his leash on.  Another bad thing we have to break him from doing before he falls and hurts himself. 

Until next time.  I try to pray each day but feel we should do special thanks/prayers around the holiday.  Don't forget to say your thanks.

 

 

 

Okay, I am venting so you are welcome to run the other way.  A relative posted on FB her irritation at Walmart employees about having to work a holiday when the military has no choices.  I truly respect our military, police, fireman, etc.  But I do expect the ones going into those positions to have some idea of what they are getting into.  I know they don't have a full picture, but they do know there is a danger to these jobs.  These jobs are also 24/7 so they can't just shut down and go home for Christmas.  Duh??
I support the Walmart employees about not honoring the Thanksgiving opening time of 8 pm for several reasons. 
The Walmart chain is not going to close the doors because of not making money before 4 or 6 am Friday.  They are choosing to beat the other stores on Thanksgiving evening.  BTW did anyone see the art one of the Walton heirs had collected??  Yeah, the doors won't close.  If you have to stand in line for hours and fight shoppers to get a certain TV for a $100.00 less, do you really need that TV?  Just asking.  When you hear the horror stories about these black friday stories it just makes you wonder why?
Hey Walmart, why not just make Thanksgiving an ordinary day?  If you had hired these people telling them there were no holidays, you would not have a problem.  Oh, wait, we have to do a special early evening opening to make us stand out. Sounds like we had rules and now they are changing the rules for the almighty dollar.
I'm not smart enough to know whether to be anti/pro union.  I do know this much........Hostess people, you had jobs and some benefits.  Shame on you for wasting both in this economy.  I am so pissed that I am now supporting your butts because you had to make a stand. 
I would love to know the difference in salaries, job responsibilities, and benefits between the Walmart and Hostess employees.
Okay I am done.  Back to normal later this week.
Sorry, one more thing.  Please support retailers who tried to be normal about black friday.  I hear JC Penney is one of them.  I haven't had time to research more.

 

 

We enjoy our weekends so much.  They fly by but we just try to grasp on to them and hang on for a few minutes.  I'm sewing and crocheting hot and heavy but can't show you because they are gifts.

 

I purchased a roaster.  Never had one but trying to think ahead.  We have plans but prefer to keep them to ourselves.  The plans involve not living in a normal situation so I'm trying to think ahead.  Rick saw the roaster and immediately had a dozen plans  We may be fighting over it.

I made hummingbird cake for the first time.  We ate one and his mechanics ate the other one.  I guess it is a hit since their is nothing left.

Here are my homemade bones.  I just get irritated about all those ingredients in foods that I don't know what they are.  So I decided to try to make my own.  We'll see the vet next week and I will confirm with her that these are okay.  My research says they are but always CYA (cover your ass).

 

We love pinto beans and eat them frequently.  Hubby usually cooks them.  But......Hubby's mom used to make a soup with pinto beans.  We lost her in the early 90's and I don't remember the exact soup.  so I am trying to create my own.  This one ended up being really good.  I started with pinto beans and bacon.  I boiled the hell out of them.  Then I put in barley with onions and garlic. At some point I added hamburger meat.   Later I added carrots.  At the end I added celery.  When hubby got home he seasoned it for me.  FYI - Please remember I am the one who has radiated tasted buds.  They don't work like normal people.

I saw this on Pinterest and here's my plants.  I'll let you know how well this works

 

Last but not least we have more pecans.  We keep shelling and freezing.  I honestly don't know how many quart bags are in the freezer.

Thank you for visiting.

 

 

 

 



The weekend was busy but very fulfilling. 

 

 

Daisy and Jack are becoming buddies. Daisy, like Ruby, wasn't socialized as a pup and doesn't know how to play. Ruby has become extremely playful since Jack came to live with us. Daisy is now starting to be more involved with Jack. She's only had eyes for Rick all this time but is finally starting to chill a bit. 

 

 

It's like she knows she could hurt him so she rolls around on her back and lets him attack her.  She is about 70 pounds to Jack's 20. At home you can't do anything without Jack wanting to be the center of attention.  We get to dad's on the weekend and he ignores us most of the time.

 

 

I saw these at Goodwill and had to buy them.  Someone had a full set of these when I was a child.  I was fascinated by them.  While I would not spend the money for them now I will pick them up second hand and enjoy them. 

 

 

This 10' calphalon skillet was there too.  It looked brand new. 

 

I guess I should get back to crocheting.  Trying to get projects finished before Christmas.  I never finish all of them but I do try.  Rick is cooking pork butt tonight.  He cut off some for pork soup.  Some fatty bits for a Mexican dish.  The rest went into the oven to roast.  He and his guys will have tacos for lunch tomorrow or the next day. 

 

 

 

 



This is the afghan I'm trying to complete.  I'm really bad about starting lots of things and not finishing them.  This is one of many.

Next is a baby afghan.  I have a coworker expecting his first.  I now have 3 baby afghans completed so I am ready for his.  They will know the sex at the end of the month.  I know it's cool that you can decorate the baby's room and buy the right clothes because you know what you are expecting.  I didn't have that option with my first child.  My girl.  The second was a high risk pregnancy so I got all the special tests others didn't.  The second was a boy.  I'm still torn on the knowing or just waiting and seeing.

 

This is the latest baby afghan.  I really like it.

See the beautiful stitches?  It's easy and fun.  I love this pattern.  Thank you to whomever created this pattern.

My two piddling oranges are still on the tree.  I would really love to eat them but worry that the squirrels will end up enjoying them. 

Rick has spaghetti squash growing like crazy.  Maybe they will get ripe before the first frost.

Last I will give you the crown prince Jack.  "It's all about me.  Get It!  Me Me Me.  Hey, aren't I  handsome?"  Yeah, but you are rotten. 

 



I'm still in love with these bowls.  We've only had them a couple of weeks but I think Rick has eaten out of them at least 4 nights a week. They just make me smile. K?

Jack got a bath and is not happy.  He's okay during the bath but after he becomes a little devil.

"I not happy and will bite bite bite when free."

Drying him off involves lots of teeth and sometimes blood is drawn.  He is horrible.

Hope you had a good Monday.  We did.  Went to work, came home, and ate leftovers.  Our family is healthy and well. We hope yours are too.

We are enjoying the unexpected yellow squash.  First up is the squash casserole.  It called for a small can of green chili's.  Instead I diced one of Rick's jalapenos as small as I could and added it.

 

Next up is the squash dressing which consists of only 6 ingredients and is surprisingly good.  Seriously, I love good turkey or chicken cornbread dressing.  This squash dressing is quite a nice dish for spur of the moment.  The taste is not layered like traditional dressing but for a side dish on a week night I was very surprised by how awesome it was.



Last but not least is hubby's favorite apple cake from granny smith apples.  It seems silly but hubby and I never developed a taste for fruit.  So we are trying to change that.  When we grew up, you didn't eat fruit unless you were "well to do".  Or you lived on a farm with fruit trees.  It was expensive and poor people could not afford it.  I remember my mom's fruit salad at Christmas.  It was a big deal to her and I did not understand until I became an adult. 

It had oranges and apples with evaporated milk and sugar with pecans.  It was a pain in the butt to make but she was so happy with it.  As a child I didn't realize it cost more money than the main dish. 

This is a string blanket finished.  It's a Christmas present so that's it, other than I really like it.  Hope the recipient does too. 

In theory this one was beautiful and the pattern easy.  Yet, as I started putting it together I really did not like it and thought the design was a big waste of material.  Please understand that unlike "quilters" my skills and budget are limited.  Maybe if I was more talented I wouldn't care about the amount of materials.  Anyhow, it became a doll blanket because I could not make myself waste any more material on it.

Here's my stack of blanket tops.  As Christmas approaches I am sewing as fast as I can so the ones I love have a small fabric hug at the end of the day.  I know it's silly, and they probably don't care, but it makes me feel good.  Every time they wrap up, they are getting a hug from me.

 

Time to sign off.  Take care.