Were You Thankful?

Because it seems that so much of Thanksgiving has been lost to Christmas "Season" as time moves on. Not just the Black Friday crap that I have always found disgusting, but all of it. It feels that Thanksgiving itself has been lost.

I spent the day in the kitchen for just the two of us. Well, to be honest I spent a couple days in the kitchen. The cranberry relish and a couple of other items such as stuffing were started on Wednesday in preparation for Thursday.

And then there were the dinners prior to Thanksgiving. Such as the Mahi Mahi burgers with a butternut squash sauté and fresh basil and pickled beats. Told you Stephanie, I would appreciate your pickled beats. Just saying, in case you have left over. As for Mahi Mahi burgers, I finally caved and went to the new Trader Joes they opened here in Grand Rapids after I got my car from the body shop this last week. I can say, I will probably go back, just for their very nice produce. And hey, we'll throw it on my "thankful for" list. Because that was a pretty good dinner.

And my favorite way to consume brussel sprouts. Bubble and Squeak! Just ask the guy, bacon grease makes even brussel sprouts edible. I don't need to go that far as I actually like them, but hey, add bacon grease to the list to, because pigs are magic.

And there was also a pie, that I almost forgot about. Don't ask, I thought I'd have time to sit down and spin for a bit. I know, so silly. I forgot to take a picture of the turkey and stuffing because I was to busy stiffing it in my face, and mashed potatoes, well, they just aren't exciting enough to take pictures of. Sorry.

But I did make another batch of cinnamon rolls the weekend before... As usual, they were delicious. Nope, can't send you any, for they are gone. They are a particular favorite of The Guys.

So, let's get back to my Thanksgiving gripe. Not that Christmas isn't wonderful; in its way, but can we not let Christmas stay in it's own little block? Like let's say December. Outside of that month, I really am not interested in hearing anything about it. That's not really true, I would be if it was about the true message of Christmas, but it's not. Let's be honest, Verizon sums up the shear mass consumerism that has eaten up the holidays with their "Thanksgetting" ad campaign. Because that's where we are guys. We wonder whats wrong with our country? It's not Donald Trump, it's that we have a whole section of our country that buy into his rhetoric, and it's the same mindset that looks at these ad campaigns and isn't disgusted by it, but rather excited and waiting in lines on the eve of what should be time spent with those we love to get the best deal on a new television.

All in all, I guess I'm worried. I look around me and I see problem after problem and I'm not seeing a way to fix them. And I'm really not seeing any candidate that I think is truly in touch with the fact we have some real troubles rising up, because they're all more interested in the power struggle and the slogans, and the big money they get to play in while the rest of us see less and less of that money. They don't want to listen to the average citizen, yet they interrupt my time with commercials on the television, on the radio, on the sides of public transit, and then they have a machine or some brainwashed disciple call me at my home because political parties and their affiliates don't have to adhere to the no-call list. Tell you what, the first candidate that backs getting that changed and actually follows through with that campaign promise will  get my vote for re-ellection. Until then, leave me the hell alone on my time unless I tune-in to one of your shams of debates.

Whew, got that off my chest. Okay, enough political talk. As you can see, I'm not going to say who I think will be the best candidate, but you can probably tell who I wouldn't back...

I don't think either of these girls is who I hit. We think these are our twins from last year and we still see them around regularly.

So, I need to wrap this up and get dinner going for tonight. I don't have much else to say so it's going to be mostly pictures. Lot's of pictures. I was playing with the cameras and realized I hadn't posted some shots I got quite some time ago. So, you'll see some green grass and fall colors again, before you'll see snow as I'm going to post them in the order I took them. Oh wait, you'll see green grass again because guess what, what little snow we got last week, is gone. Yay for what they call winter in Michigan.

So, these are the neighbors sheep just to the west of us. I have a funny story about that little white fence you see them in there. A week or so after I got these pictures, I noticed that one of the sheep was stuck in that fence and the rest of them had gotten out. I noticed it was wound pretty tight and I was worried it was in danger of strangulation so I went out the back gate to see if I could get it out before walking over to let them know their sheep were out. The stuck ewe got upset as I got closer (don't worry, I didn't let the boys come out with me), and started to toss about. I stepped on the fence near her head to hold her down, then reached down to grnabthe fence around her head. Surprise! It's an electric fence. I got a good little jolt as my feet were stuck in tennis shoes that were soaked by the morning dew. I did the little dance and hop and when my hands released I had a good laugh. More than anything I was just glad that I hadn't wet myself. As I was walking to the sheep it had dawned on me that being a bit chilly, and now with cold wet feet, I kind of had to pee. So, I gave up on the solo rescue, peed in the trees on the back of the lot quick and walked over to the neighbors to let him know that his sheep were out and one was stuck. In the end, the ewe was fine and they were all rounded up.

Maples! This was as good as our fall color got in our yard.

The snow colder weather has increased our bird feeders traffic. Many of my bird shots aren't great but I like the action in them.

Like this one with the purple finch coming in for a landing and the wing missing a body.

And Sullivan and Tucker still love the snow.

The girls, not so much.

This one would love to go out to the bird feeder for a snack. Can you tell?

And these old bones are appreciating all the heated beds we have around.

Couch buddies!

This is for youJan. I know how much you love your chickadees.

Did you know,

That the best water is sucked out from between cat's toes? Who knew? And no, she doesn't clean up that mess she makes, but then neither do her brothers.

Sunrise last Wednesday as I was heading out for the morning walk with the boys.

Morning traffic?

Most of our snow was gone by Thanksgiving.

Morning Sunshine! Wait, aren't you supposed to be waking us up?

Wednesdays sunset as we're were planting our trees that finally came. You know, the ones The Guy ordered in April? Yeah, those. Fingers crossed they take.

Nothing is as blue as crisp winter morning sky.

I have been trying for over a year to get a snap of one of these guys. This is the best so far. Pileated Woodpecker anyone?

I love listening to them laugh in the woods, and their flight is somewhat humorous to watch too.

Yep, it was chilly, can you tell?

Even now you can find green if you look for it. Left over leaves, and moss that greens up overtime moisture hits the ground, regardless of the temperatures.

And I find the trees beautiful regardless of their foliage or absence of it, especially with morning or evening sun on them.

Play???

Not shroom season, so the fungi are a bit sad and droopy here.

Last summers nest.

I take a lot of pictures of things on the ground as I spend a lot of time looking at my feet so I don't trip up.

When I first saw this, I thought to myself, "Look, the tree wet itself!" And had a little giggle about it. Then I thought I'd share but the dark stain isn't as visible here under the fork in the tree as it was in person. I'm assuming that there was snow in the crook there that melted and stained the bark until it dries out.

When we get home the boys always have to sleep off their fun. And a cat nap requires a cat, right?

I like this one in black and white too, though it looks a bit forlorn.

This is another one that I've been trying to get some shots of. Today I got a bit of luck, but I'll keep trying. Jay's I right up there on my list of favorite birds with ravens. Let's face it, I like the corvids.

This was actually a separate bird than the first.

Heading out today to go on a walk with the boys.

We tried a new part of the North Country Trail out of Yankee Springs.

Newer fallen log.

Older almost gone fallen log.

I noticed something in the upper right corner in this shot after I took it.

Another nest from last summer.

We got to the first of the lakes which is a couple miles in before turning around.

Somebody's stash!

I always love seeing the spiral of a trees wood when the logs have decayed enough for the bark to peal away.

See? Oh, and Emmitt's feet. They always mess up the pictures...

Can't you tell? Actually, I think this is my favorite shot of the day.

And we found this as we were walking out, which I find odd that we didn't see it on the way in. Wonder if it fell from a tree where it was eaten. Great Horned Owls like snake, and it;s head was removed which is an owl habit.

An old stump I thought looked neat. Okay Betsy, the next few are for you, there all about the fungi and lichens.

I also really like this shot too.

And all those borns, so I found you all a splash of color.

Because these guys get tired of posing.

Sleep it off E-Man, just not on my pillows you hairy beast.

Okay, some knitting really quick. Made myself a pair of hand warmers, and this week I fixed the goofy thumb issue. so they're about perfect now.

And threw myself on some brainless knitting yesterday. These are bot out of yarns I spun. Yay!

I think that's about all I can fit into one post. I need to get moving on dinner, suns going down and the tummy is grumbling. See you all next month.

You Know What That's Like...

You know that feeling. You were just pointing out what seemed like simple facts, then as if there's an echo it returns to your ears. And then that "oh $H!&" feeling takes a hold. This last weekend at the knitting retreat, surrounded by a bunch of gay guys, I gave up trying to keep such phrasings from coming out and just ran with it.

And how was the retreat you may ask? Wonderful. I got one knitting goal done, and three singles for the newest yarn that is currently hanging to dry after it's bath downstairs. I was able to ply it up yesterday morning.

This morning however, I couldn't force myself back to my knitting goals. It's been too long since I spun anything and the wheel won't give it's hold on me up yet. So I started working on a little braid of merino, alpaca, nylon, and silk mix just for fun. I'm thinking I'll have a nice little hank of sock yarn soon. I did continue workingman that little bit of scarf you see there next to my three bobbins. Someday it will be an actual scarf!

This little guy was on the from t porch steps when I got home one day. Very pretty.

So, I told you it's been a crazy month here. I quit the pharmacy. It just became too much in a couple different ways and the most healthy thing to do was to see what my options were. Right now I'm at the yarn store only, and I'm loving it. I've actually had 2 days off in a row! Wow.

Then a couple weeks ago on my way home from the morning dog walk I hit a deer. I know, it still makes me a bit sick thinking about it. Luckily I, nor the boys were hurt. The deer that I thought was done for actually ended up getting back up and hopping away into the woods with it's tail up and flashing white, though she was only on three legs. I'm still hoping that fourth leg was okay in the end. As you can see from the picture, the car isn't to badly damaged. I dropped it off yesterday to get repaired. Fingers crossed that whatever is wrong with the battery will be found out and fixed too.

And before that, while the guy was out for a dog walk they ran into a skunk. Yep, they were skunked. Tucker got it the worse. He actually had the thick gunk in his fur and of course being the fluffiest of the dogs, he stunk for weeks. Well, not stunk. He just had a bit of odor le'weasel on his head and face, especially if he got wet. There wasn't a lot we could do as it was on the skin around his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. It just had to break down and dissipate with time.

Because of that he wasn't able to go into the store with me at all for a few weeks. Sullivan being a shy boy goes, but normally only on short days as he just doesn't take to all the activity. See that mope!?!

Our fall colors weren't very spectacular this year. I even tried running down to Saugatuck since I hadn't been there yet and to see what the colors were like closer to the lake. They weren't that great there either. The trees went in stages this year. The reds were early and were off the trees by the time yellows and golds turned. The oaks stayed green even then and now are just drab brown and most everything is down off the trees. I noticed how bare the trees were when I was on my way home from the retreat this last Sunday.

But we did get to walk on the water and have a nice jaunt around the town. Saugatuck is a very pretty little community and as it seems most pretty little coastal town are, is home to many artists.

All Hallows Eve is pretty quiet out here in the country so I spent the evening at work with a little party of knitters. Much chat, food, wine, and fun was had by all.

I miss the Trick or Treaters, but not enough to want to live in a big city. Maybe enough to live in one of the small towns but I like where we're at.

Though living out here and being on our own well we also discovered a draw back. Last year the water heater was replaced and suddenly in October our hot water started to smell vaguely of sulphur. Then not so vaguely. Then it got to the point where you nor the dished felt clean after a scrubbing and the house was starting smell of it. When my friend Matthew asked if he could crash here before the retreat I realized I really wanted to get this fixed.

I know, that sounds expensive, but after just a bit of re-plumbing to allow us access to the hot water heaters tank, it was quite easy. Jut one bottle of hydrogen peroxide and some time. No more stink of sulphur until next time.

Like I said, we've been a bit busy. But I've been enjoying the time home. The time with the boys, and the guy. The time to just be a bit.

And obviously blogging hasn't been high on that list. But I'm still trying to keep it up guys. Thanks for the reminder emails, and the wondering where I've been. It's all encouragement to get on the computer and get something written.

We can all use encouragement, no? These pictures are encouraging me to get up off the bum and walk the boys while The Guy finishes up the new hen house for the winter. Gotta keep those girls warm so they keep laying us eggs!

One of the other things that has kept me from blogging has been negativity. Mine in particular. What causes it? Mainly,w watching the frigg'n news. I know, why do I do that to myself? It's not so much the local news, it's the national news.

Everyday the sheer amount of stupidity, finger pointing, lack of accepting responsibility for our actions, and complete lack of respect or even caring about ones neighbors and worse, ourselves gets me down. Leaves me feeling like trying to write a light and funny blog post is the last thing I want to do. But perhaps, I should. It might make me feel better.

Maybe that needs to be a challenge to myself as we head into the winter months as it seems when we're huddled against the cold, it's even harder to find laughter and light.

I'll see what I can do on that note. But for now, I need to wrap this post up and really, get the kids out.

See, they're begging to go. Maybe I'll take the little one too? She's been spay this last month and could probably use the outing as much as the boys.

To bad she doesn't enjoy as much as I'd hoped for. But oh, she still loves to try to run out the back door when her boys go out without her.

Speaking of the boys, this one doesn't appear to be too upset about being caught on the pillows, does he?

Of course, this bed belongs to this one, and he knows it.

What, you don't want me sleeping on the blanket? Allergies smallergies.

Ahhhhhh.

All these pictures of leaves, leaves, leaves. So heres a video too. I tried playing with he slo-mo action on my phone. It took way more time than it probably should have for me to pull it together. Some people are so not tech savvy.

Oh, and I finally wrapped up that little shawl lI was making out of my handspan yarn! Ooooh, pretty.

Of course I had run into a little problem on one of the eyelet rows and decided that I just wasn't that worried about it. I had thought I had possibly dropped a stitch and searched and searched and then just decided I must have missed a yarn over and in the grand scheme of things, that isn't something I'm going got lose sleep over. When I took it into to show off at the halloween party, Lisa had it in her hand for 30 seconds flat and said, "Oh no Q, You dropped a stitch!" Go figure. I was lucky as I had blocked it somewhat aggressively and it didn't ladder down and now it's been caught and taken care of, so yay!



Oh, and when trying to find that new Adele video everyone's been crying about, I found this version, and can you say "Wow?" What a voice this little girl has. Maybe I need to just spend more time on youtube with awesome singers and watching Ellen clips to feel positive enough for blog clips that add to the smiles across the internet, no?

Oh, and I found this guy while cleaning windows. He made me feel happy. But then, I like nifty not bitey bugs. They rank right up there with frogs and snakes. The spiders I cleaned out of the house seem to be laying low. I just had to take care of it when I could find 4 on the ceiling of the bedroom. It was time for a clean sweep. Literally.

 So, time to leave you, and it's only fittingI leave you with one last leaf. Look, that was two posts for November, and if you scoff at that, it was two more than there were in October.

I Guess October Was a Bust

Oh did I miss to blog for the entire month of October? Seriously? And I have already run out of time today to do what I wanted.

But I wanted to pop on in and let everyone know that we're okay. Good even. It was just a busy month and I have stories to tell but it's going to have to wait until after the retreat this weekend. But we're all alive and well, even if just slow to move some days...

Talk to you all later.

So completely lazy of me

This blog post anyway. Well not really because I am not doing a real blog post because I have some socks to get done knitting dang it! But I though complete and utter radio silence was very unfair of me.

So I give you a beautiful picture from APOD of last weeks eclipse, and a video. A video that made me laugh so hard. It's kind of gross, and a very cruel trick to play on your friends, but this is one of those pranks that I think is actually very clever. I get kind of irritated when you see pranks that are meant to hurt someone. I always think, "And this is who you call your friends?" when I see them. But this one, is just funny and though a bit gross for the person who is being pranked, no one is hurt in any way. Just a bit disgusted and pissed until they find out what it all really is.

Now excuse me, I have to go knit. Oh, and don't watch any of the recommended videos it try's two send you to. They really will be gross. Just stop here where it's still mostly funny.