Rain ended here yesterday, due to have warm sunny weather the next few days, then cold and snow by the end of the weekend. The rain is welcome and needed, but if it's going to be wet and muddy, I'd just as soon it was snow.

I'm here. It's a "Helper Day." She helped me bring a few Christmas decorations up from the basement; we set up the outside lighted snowmen, and now she's busy doing various other "too heavy for me" chores.

The temps are hanging around freezing. If it would go above 50 or down to 10 degrees or lower, my joints would not be screaming in pain. Mid 20s to mid 40s is the absolute worse temps for me.

I may cook a pumpkin pie tomorrow, and I'm going to make my Mom's Cranberry Fluff. That will make my house smell "Thankful."

I also made Thanksgiving Dinner in advance. Thanksgiving Dinner reservations! I told Wes I did not want to go through three days of traditional meal prep for just us two. I would be Thankful for a day off.

We'll be eating at a restaurant in MN that is serving an all you can eat dinner, but it's not a buffet. There will be "tableside service" and the menu sounded wonderful. It will be a first for us.

Today was a windy day, but not as cold or windy as yesterday.

My tea today was my usual Trader Joe's English Breakfast, with cream and a shortbread cookie.

I buy a large tine of Walker's at Costco that is only available now for the holidays.

Caroline, I like the idea of table side service. Makes it a bit more special than the usual buffet. I have stopped doing Easter, and we go out for that, but I still do Thanksgiving and Christmas.

One of my favorite Thanksgiving's was going to Pittsburgh to be with my daughter. She had to work part of the day, we had reservations and went out to dinner.

I will be cooking for Thanksgiving. Just 6 of us, but I will be catering to some diet restrictions!

Sometimes I find the whole thing overwhelming. I have pared down to what is easiest. Appetizers will be cheese and crackers, store bought humus and veggies.

Tomorrow I will be baking my pumpkin pies and doing the prep work.

my sister invited me to go to Ft McDowell and dinner with them but I don't want to go. I plan to make me dinner here. i'll go to the store later today and then make up my mashed potatoes and green beans and on Thurs I'll put a chicken breast into the one pot cooker with some home made dressing. i'll heat up the taters/beans to go with them.

i'll give dog a good sized bite of chicken and a green bean or 2!

I'll be traveling about 20 miles to eat with friends. The weather forecast sounds OK. Last year it was rain/sleet/rain. I didn't want that again! My job is to show up but I'm going to take a couple of Mrs. Smith's pies.

I am with you on the snow verses rain stringweaver. Raining here today. Was supposed to be snow. Now maybe snow after 11AM. I am not holding my breath. It is going to do what it is going to do.

Caroline your dinner out sounds wonderful.

Also Caroline it is interesting you mention the temperature affecting your arthritis. I always thought it was the damp but I am agreeing it appears to be the temperature more than the damp or maybe the damp goes along with the temps. Mine has also been screaming at me.

Steph I am also going it alone. No idea what I will fix other than I want to do some deviled eggs. I love them and they are on my diet. I did not buy anything special. I might have a small pork roast in the freezer I will look when I go out to the garage this morning. Would be nice to cook it then have it for a few days to eat on.

Sorry I missed yesterday. GADS I was on the road for two days doing business and getting more fencing materials. Yes I am done with the fencing but now have this on hand just in case the weather gives me a break. I would like to enclose my flower beds in front of the house then let the loose cows run they will be bothering other neighbors and not me. I also wanted all the fencing bought so I can cross that amount of $$$ off my budget. So that has been done. All materials to work with are here.

When I got home yesterday late, almost 4PM I had two long phone calls, more business, then out to do the final leaf raking in the driveway. Snow was threatened for today, which is not happening yet, and I did not want those slimy leaves under the snow in the drive. I raked until almost 7PM.

Needless to say I was give out by the time I got done with all of that.

You were raking in the dark! 6 more weeks and it will start going the other way.

shades - now I know why I've been so tired... you've been working hard!

that pork roast sounds like a good deal. or cook up a chicken breast or 2.

either would be good with deviled eggs!

I'll do the same here - eat my TG cooking thru-out the whole weekend!

Yes Imhappy I was working in the dark. The garage light helped some but then I moved too far away from it to do any good so I turned it off. The tree still had some leaves left up in it but I will leave those lay. It will hide the places I missed.

I did finish the last bit of fencing in front today. It turned out different than first planned but will work well and no more worries about loose cows. I still have to change the wire over in the dog yard on three panels but for sure this will wait until spring. Predicted snow from Friday on for a week. The snow line is getting lower and lower each night so it is pretty close to here now. It was actually a beautiful day after the rain stopped this morning.

Yes I am looking forward to the pork roast. I am not at all a fan of chicken breasts. I like legs and thighs though. With the skin. I even thought to buy turkey legs only but they are so expensive now. I would rather eat steak. LOL

Now I am done out side I will go back to sewing some more curtains. I like the curtains thrown wide open when the sun is out but when it is cold and dreary out side I like the cozy feel of the curtains.

Tomorrow will be a inside busy day for me. I plan on doing the laundry and scrubbing the floors. General house cleaning. It needs it badly after all the time I spent outside building fence. The roast will not take long and I did not get the eggs done yet. Still might get it done tonight. If not oh well.

I have tea most every afternoon, today was no exception. So much running back and forth to Post Office, to lawyer or insurance company, today picking up my sick computer (yay, I'm online again!), doing a bit of shopping, all in all made four trips into town and back. ugh. Stopping to take a break between 1:30p- 2:30p and to put the kettle on is my way of calming down. I had Harney's Cranberry Autumn today. And I made it a little stronger with two heaping teaspoonfuls and it tasted good. A cup of tea and a crossword puzzle - settles my mind down.

Everyone have a great Thanksgiving in your very own way!

Once in awhile I am finding an advantage to living alone. I ordered new strings for my fiddle. I have not played it in over three years and really not much in the last 15 years. Well tonight I got excited about it and dug through old strings to put a set together. New strings will not arrive until next week.Tuned it up and played for an hour or so. I have forgotten a lot but I believe it will come back to me as soon as I continue to play. And no one to say STOP!!! Hahaha Except my nasty Abby Kitty walked over and bit me on the foot lightly. I think SHE wanted me to stop but I ignored her.

Eggs are made and delicious. I also washed and hung 2 loads of laundry. One more to do tomorrow morning. Clock is wound. I forgot about it and suddenly realized no ding no tick tock. Good night.

I'm glad you got your fiddle out. the fiddle is one of my favorite instruments used in country music. the steel guitar is right there with it. in the 90s I went to a local club almost every week to hear the fiddle player. He was there maybe a yr or so and then he left - to go play with the big guns for a star. He was so good.

Once in awhile I am finding an advantage to living alone.

I've lived alone so long, I don't think I could live with someone. I have a close friend from the 70s that I've thought about maybe in the future moving in here with me. that is if when her mom passes and she no longer has a place there to live. if the house is sold to split between her and her siblings. I'd rather have her here than homeless or going from 1 relative's house to another. She doesn't want to move back to our home state because it's too cold there. I don't blame her for that! She got very sick yrs back and was disabled. I'd have to buck up regarding my 'aloneness' in her case. I'm hoping she'll come out here sometime after the 1st of the yr for a few wks and visit me. I think she's too weak yet to travel much.

I'm with you Steph. I know I couldn't handle someone else here. I don't want to consult anyone else when there's a decision to be made no matter how trivial it is.

Stayed up too late last night and just on my first cup of coffee. but I do have another load of laundry in the machine and kitties fed and Dawg out to do his morning thing and back in right away. It is cold out there.

I am also thinking I could not live with another person again. It is so much easier to not have to worry about meals for some one else and all the added laundry and the decision making. Well i did call friend yesterday, Ray Joe's brother from another mother friend, for questions on a SUV. I pretty much had my mind made up and was just running it by him to confirm if my reasoning sounded logical to him. He said yes it really did.

One of these days I feel the need to go through the kitchen cabinets and get rid of a big part of the cooking stuff. I need to keep a little bit on hand . Not the amount I have now to have the ability to put on big dinner parties just for the two of us like I used to do when Joe was still here. If company comes I will figure it out then. I do not need the room in the cabinets so this is not a priority project.

Burrrr the lawns are white with frost. I am going to enjoy the day inside and get going on some more sewing.

Happy Thanksgiving day Every one.

Had a wonderful time at my friend's house today. Her son's new girlfriend did the same job at a horse facility in Wisconsin that I did in Iowa so we sat in a corner and ignored everyone else. Went to see her horses, too.

Had a skunk in the trap at chore time. Skunk man will be here tomorrow to dispatch it. I'll do possums and coons but not skunks.

Good to hear you had a good time visiting with some one with mutual interests.

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i am over got to the nativity and probably will not do so tonight. It requires a trip to the loft and I am over it for now.

Floors are done and all laundry put away. I discovered last night the good use of the extra clothes rod in the closet for hanging more things on hangers to dry. Then just move them to the dry side when done. simple. Need an Easy button. Not having a dryer is getting easier each load of wash as I find the need to be inventive. I am on the verge of selling the dryer. I just want to be totally sure before I let it go. Gee neighbor is having twins maybe she could use two dryers. I would give it to her.

It is time I just sit back and relax for the evening. I am tired. Feeling good about all I accomplished today. Almost happy I am not in that turkey coma that tends to happen. The pork roast will have to be cooked for another day. It did not thaw enough. When I realized it was not going to happen I put the half frozen roast in the fridge and it will keep in there a couple days until the Meatza is finished.

Hello, everybody! Looks like it's been a busy week for you all. My friend came in from California on Monday evening and I just took her to the airport this morning. We had a great visit. We've known each other since 7th grade. We have started this nice tradition of her coming to visit for a week at Thanksgiving. She still has a brother here and some years he has joined us for dinner on Thanksgiving. We spent the week going to the casino, playing cards in the evening. I made a delicious apple pie on Wednesday. We made turkey, mash potatoes, dressing and roasted brussels sprouts for Thursday. We had leftovers yesterday. And I still have plenty left over from that. Oh and fresh cranberries that were so good. It was fun having her here but I am so use to being alone that it feels good to have the place to myself again. Nice to have company to run around with. We did well enough at the casino that we played on their money! We both like to people watch and that is a good place to do it. We talked with some nice people there. We saw a couple of people win big money. It was fairly crowded since it is a holiday weekend.

The dogs were happy to have company. Extra kisses and petting. The weather was gloomy but dry and not too, too cold. I've been putting some peanuts in the shell out at the bird feeder and it's great fun to see the birds come and enjoy them. The neighborhood was fairly quiet. Lots of traveling over the holiday. I'm happy I won't have to cook for a good long while. I hope your holiday went as planned and that you had a lot to be thankful for. I know I do. :)

Good to hear you had a good time with your friend Murraysmom. Traditions with old friends are great to keep going when you can. I finishes off my non turkey meal this morning. Was so good. Sad to see it gone and I might just have to make more. Soon.

Today has been a crazy day and I am already on my second pot of tea. Working in the yard putting things away for winter. More things in better placement. After changing bedroom curtains that now open up the whole window I did not like my storage views out the bedroom so moved things around and now it looks nice while in storage. Silly things and I can be so anal. I swept off the back patio of leaves too. Still no snow. Added one more fence post to the fence I had forgotten about and two gate clamps and cleaned the garage and the car, covered Joe's snowmobile. Lots of goofy stuff scattered inside and outside. Feeling really good to get it all done. Total case of butt firsts that worked for me this time. I do need to sweep off the front porch from the last leaf fall. Tomorrow is soon enough it is dark and cold out there. Not to mention I am tired. This week just flew by.

Boy, you got a lot done. It feels good, doesn't it? I had good intentions, but I was tired from getting up so early to take my friend to the airport and I just sat down for a minute and before you know it, the day is done. Tomorrow is another day. We are due for a little stretch of 50's and 60's days. I'm looking forward to that.

Yes tomorrow is another day. I started into the base gun cabinet where things I know nothing about were stored. Saving a few things and the rest passing onto Joe's best friend. Then got to looking at Buck knives on the internet. Joe had a few of them. PHEW they are super sharp. I still need to clean up the mess I made on the living room floor. I am glad to have this project done too. This was a hard one.

Hugs to you, Shades. I can't imagine what this is like for you.

Thanks Murraysmom. I am doing ok. Sorted through the cabinet and it is done for now until Ray takes his things opening up a big hole in the cabinet. Then I will fill it up with??? I am sure I will find some thing.

Another really busy day today. Still no snow but I might not be saying that by morning. I did bring the snow shovels up to the front porch from the garage. I kept working in the yard and cleaned the front porch up really well and washed all animal bedding and sewed warming pads for the feral kitties. Not quite dry but will be before I go to bed and I will put them out. I sewed those space blankets inside pads and they are supposed to reflect the heat back to the kitties. I did a quick one last night and she loved it so wanted to do more for the other two porch kitties. Also vacuumed the house and porch and then had to clean vacuum with the compressor. The porch might not get cleaned like this again until spring so I tried to do a really good job of it.

Then cleaning more of the new carport patio up. It got to be a dumping ground for odd fence things when I was re-doing. Moved the little foot boards out and put them around kitty kennel in back dog yard where I robbed the taller head boards from. Looks much better in both places. Also raked the dog yard of the fallen leaves creating some mulch for the plants at the edge of the kitty kennel And less muddy paws for pup.

Guess it all does not seem like much but I have been really working at all of it all day.

Sounds like a lot to me. I wish I could get focused and get going. I think I am just getting back into the swing of things since my friend was here. It's easy to avoid the work when there is lots of play available. :)