Thanksgving

On Thanksgiving and on everyday, I give thanks for my family and friends.
For my husband who has been the greatest gift of my life.
For my daughter who is loved more than she will ever know.
For each day, sick, well or indifferent, each day is a gift and I treasure them
To all my bloggy friends in this country and around the world I wish a Happy Thanksgiving.

Finally Looking LIke Fall

It's November 25, Fall started 2 months ago, we're a little over 3 weeks away from winter, but that's ok.  It's finally starting to look like Fall here.  The leaves are changing color and falling, the yard is covered in pine straw and holly bushes have berries.  The temperature has been up and down, up to 80º one day and down to 26º, but that's typical for fall here.
Rain started on Sunday, first real rain we've had since October.  Got 2 inches out of that, then rain yesterday and more rain today, more than 3 inches altogether.  Glad we have flood insurance.
Hope everyone has a warm and tasty Thanksgiving.

That Was The Week That Was

When last we met I was waiting for weird weather: tornadoes in the afternoon followed by a freeze that night.  Well we had rain, but no lightning and no tornadoes, followed by a pretty hard freeze, it went down to 26º here which will frost you right and proper.
Then it was thaw out and go grocery shopping one of my least favorite things in the world to do.  I need drone delivery.
Then we discovered our heater wasn't working properly and we called our Redneck maintenance man who said to turn it off and he'd be there in the morning.  Thank goodness for our gas fireplaces.
He was here bright and early, way too early and went to work.  He found one problem, got a new part and it still wouldn't work.  Turned out the darn thing was running on emergency heat, which will burn your dollars like kindling, and the thermostat had to be reset.
Last night we went out dancing for the first time in so long I forgot how to get my dancing boots on.  Being on the lookout for Swamp Heifers ( go read Pearl, Why You Little ... for an explantation of this name) we headed out to a local restaurant/bar/dance hall and had a great night dancing to the music of some old friends.  We did see one Swamp Heifer who managed to fall on the floor while dancing, but we were able to avoid her.  Would have been nice if her partner had helped her up.
Fast week, now I need to get ready for Thanksgiving.

Strange, Strange Weather

We're under 2 very different weather warnings today.  We're under a tornado watch this afternoon.  It's quite warm here, should hit about 78ª this afternoon, about the time a rather large cold front that has brought snow to the midwest gets here.  And we all know what happens when warm air meets cold air, wind and tornadoes.  Hope the front gets here before it gets any warmer.
Then tonight, thanks to the cold front, we're under a freeze warning.  Last night our lows was in the 60's, tonight it's supposed to be around 25ª.
We need a little moderation here.

We're just below Savannah on the coast

Autocorrect

The now cleared patio

All right autocorrect, enough, stop it.  I didn't write, "Yikes, Mac found a copperfield on the patio"; he didn't find David Copperfield sunbathing on the brick patio, NO!  He found a copperhead snake.  A poisonous viper that he safely removed to the empty lot next door.
Then the next day he found another one, about  3 feet down from where he had found the first one.
Copperheads like to lay in woody areas, damp areas, compost piles, sawdust and piles of leaves.  And that's exactly where Mac found the two of them.
Over the last couple of months leaves had gathered up next to the wooden fence at the back of the patio.   Now that it's cooler Mac wanted to clear the area and boy did he.  Be assured that leaves will no longer gather in this area.

Copperheads are  vipers and though not extremely poisonous they are quick to bite.

From the internet:

Bite

Unlike most venomous snakes, copperheads give no warning signs and strike almost immediately if they feel threatened. Copperheads have the dubious distinction of having bitten the most people in the United States, but fortunately, their venom is not very potent. Children, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems may have strong reactions to the venom, however, and anyone who is bitten by a copperhead should seek medical attention.

So autocorrect, when I say Copperhead, don't correct me, I'm pretty sure David Copperfield won't bite me  and I worry that this guy might!

Savannah

Savannah is such a pretty city though we tend to take it for granted and have not visited as often as we should.  We only live about 15 miles from it and yet it's been forever since we've been downtown.  So on Tuesday we spent the afternoon there, Mac got his piano, I got my hamburger and we both enjoyed a beautiful November day.
We walked along River Street, saw a huge, and I do mean huge, container ship, a pirate ship (El Galeon de Andalucia) that's here for 10 days as part of it's sail down the east coast from Maryland to Florida , the World War II Memorial and actually found the spot where General Oglethorpe first came ashore when he came to found the colony of Georgia in 1733.
Great weather for November, in the mid 70's and lovely blue skies.  Behind the container ship you can catch a glimpse of Hutchinson Island that sets in the middle of the Savannah River.  It has the Savannah Island Trade and Convention Center and the Westin Savannah Harbor Resort.  In the new year Georgia's legislature is going to consider allowing gambling there, that would be interesting and good for tourism, but this is such a conservative state I doubt if it will happen.

Huge container ship

Pirate ship

World War II Memorial

Where General Oglethorpe landed

The Urge For a Big Honking Hamburger

The original reason we were heading into Savannah Tuesday was not to buy a piano, but rather because I've had the urge for a big honking hamburger.  Not a Xerox thick

McDonald's burger, not a greasy 5 Guys burger (complete with information on the steer's homelife), not a $15 cheese, bacon, pepper, guacamole gourmet burger.  No I wanted a big, thick burger with onions, lettuce, tomato and mustard on a good bun.
So we were heading to The Olympia Cafe on River Street because not only do they have great Greek food (calamari so tender it melts in your mouth), but they do a killer hamburger for $5.00.  And watching them cook was like a scene from Saturday Night Live (think the Olympia Restaurant skit with  John Belusi), you know, " Cheese burger, cheese burger, no chips, Pepsi, no Coke."
And it was great!  Had a Greek salad with it and if we'd have remembered how big their salads were we'd have shared one.
Next we need to hit the Middle Eastern cafe and Carleones.  Ah, Savannah, you do have good food.

In Which I Blame the Parisienne Farmgirl

It is, it's all her fault.  A few days ago on Facebook she posted pictures of what people had been doing with old pianos.  One of the pictures was of an old piano that had been made into a bar.

A converted piano

Mac fell in love with it.  He immediately remembered that Jere's, a huge antique store in downtown Savannah, had quite a few old pianos.  We'd planned on going into Savannah for Veteran's Day anyway, so noon yesterday found us parked in front of Jere's.  They know us well there, Jere has relieved us of more than a few dollars through the years, so they promptly told us to not worry about there being no parking spaces available, to just park in their loading zone because we'd probably be buying something.
And they were right.  Jerre made us a deal on an old piano that we couldn't refuse.  He's holding on to it till we can arrange for someone to pick it up for us.

Here's Jere"s

Here's the piano we bought

Mac is looking forward to making it into a bar.  I told you he could do anything.
But as I said at the beginning, I blame Angela over at Parisienne Farmgirl for this.

Veteran's Day

A happy Veteran's Day to my veteran retired M.Sgt. Mac Gutierrez and to all veterans everywhere.  I remember it well when you got your draft notice, it was the height of the Vietnam War and I was scared to death you'd be sent there.  

We were married on a Friday night in front of our family and friends.  Three days later you went to take your Army physical and a short 2 months later you were called to active duty.  I acted brave, but inside I was so scared, couldn't imagine my life without you.  

You went through basic and then they you sent to Georgia for further training, I followed you there and lived in the worst old trailer, thrilled to be with you.

As it turned out you didn't have to serve in Vietnam, you were sent to Korea instead.

After that you asked me if I'd like to go to Europe, that if you reenlisted we could go to Germany.  And that's what you did.  I followed you for 21 years, from California to Georgia, California to Germany, Germany to Texas, Texas back to Germany, Germany to Colorado, Colorado back to Germany, Germany to Georgia, Georgia to Turkey, Turkey back to Georgia.  What an incredible 21 years.

I was always so proud of you, still am, my Mac who could do anything.  Enjoy your day.

Berlin Wall

I meant to write about this yesterday, but got distracted.  I remember seeing the Berlin Wall before it came down.  In the mid 1970's we were living in Darmstadt, Germany where Mac was stationed in the Army.  Having visited many parts of Germany we decided it was time to see Berlin.  Because of the type of secret clearance Mac had the only way we were allowed to travel to Berlin, which sat in East Germany, was fly or take the troop train.  Not having a lot of money we opted for the troop  train.
It was an overnight trip and when we reached the East German border our passports were collected, armed East German troops boarded our train and patrolled the corridors for the remainder of the trip.  It made me very nervous.
The next morning we were in Berlin, quickly settled into our hotel and headed out to explore.  Berlin was, and I guess still is, a beautiful city.  We wanted to see the Brandenburg Gate that was the control point between East and West Berlin, but we kept walking into the wall, it took forever to find the Gate.  The whole time we were walking I kept thinking about what it must be like to live in a country where they build a wall to keep you in, unnerving and sad.
In fact that was my strongest memory of Berlin, sad.
The Wall stood from 1961 till 1989, an attempt by the Russians to take the city over, or as they said the necessity to protect their people from fascist influence.    Prior to that,  in 1948,  they had cut off all access to Berlin by road or rail and only the American airlift kept Berlin alive. A good book about this period of history is Leon Uris' Aramegddon .
So in 1989 when we watched the Wall come down it was amazing and a tribute to those who believe we should live free.

Childhood Memories

Several Bloggers today wrote about books they'd read in childhood that had started them on the road to being lifelong readers.
I can't remember not reading, I definitely read my older sister's books when she started school before me, she probably had a hand in teaching me to read. But I wasn't as young as our daughter who taught herself to read when she was about 3.
Whenever we moved, and we moved a lot when I was a kid, the first thing I did at the new house was go and get a library card.

The first book I really remember reading and rereading was Heidi by Johanna Spyri, my aunt gave me this book for Christmas, I think it was the first book I'd ever been given.  I also loved Little Women and the 4 that came after it.  I
wanted my sisters and me to be like the sisters in the book, but sadly we weren't nearly as nice.
Then I started reading animal books and of course fell in love with Black Beauty.  I so wanted a horse like that, but didn't get a horse till I was grown and it definitely wasn't a big black stallion.

Next I discovered Alfred Peyson Terhune's Lad, A Dog and read all of his animal books.
My love of mysteries was probably spurred by the Trixie Beldon girl detective series.
 My friend and I liked this series so much we decided to become detectives and we spent part of one summer following people in our neighborhood to see what they were up to. Thank goodness it was a safer time back then.
And my love of fantasy probably began with The Wizard of Oz, I read the whole series, I believe there are 14 books in the series.  My favorite was Ozma of Oz.
Right now I have Oz Reimagined on my Kindle so it still fascinates me.
What books from your childhood still hold good memories?

Is It Really Saturday?

Last thing I remember is going to vote.  Well we've turned the country over to the Republicans, can they make an even bigger mess?  We shall see.

My allergies are going strong and just wipe me out.  In addition to itchy, dry eyes, I have itchies everywhere, no energy and the inability to focus.  So I've just sort of floated around this week.

The cat was out yesterday, under supervision, and still managed to take off.  We looked everywhere for her and Mac finally found her in the far corner of our yard where a beaver has been taking down trees again.  With her stripes she blends in well.

So today I told her she couldn't go out unless she had her harness and leash on, that tends to slow her down a bit, and she pouted like a 2 year old, knocking things down, meowing at us, whining, being a real pain in the patooie until Mac took her out.  She didn't want her harness,  but she got it anyway.

I've been doing nothing but watching silly videos on YouTube.  I'll leave you with one.

Election Day

My civic duty is done, I've voted.  I split my vote all over the place.  If you, your calls or your ad campaign has annoyed me be assured that I voted for your opponent.  If both you and your opponent annoyed me I voted Libertarian.  If you wanted to raise taxes I voted against it, if you wanted to exempt someone or something from taxes I voted against it, I figure we're all in this together.
Do I consider what the candidates stand for?  Of course I do, but then I remember that as a politician they lie, they only tell us what they think we want to hear.  So splitting my vote is my answer.  Plus I don't particularly want the Republicans taking control of  Congress.  Not because I'm a Democrat, been there done that, but because I don't want any party to dominate it.  We're probably better off when nothing gets done.
And remember, next time don't annoy me and you might just get my vote.

It's Monday

Yes, it's Monday, have I be doing anything fun. No!!! I've been crawling around on the floor putting a shine on the wood floors.  They look great, me, not so good.  So it's time for something completely different.
I'm heading upstairs, which I cleaned the heck out of over the weekend because we haven't been up there in months, way too hot up there in the summer.  But now it's warm and cozy.  I have a puzzle I've been working on FOREVER, a Christmas project laying next to the puzzle, some Christmas fabrics I need to sort out, and Lord help me, I'm going to wrap some Christmas presents so I can sort out what I've bought already and so I don't have a mass of them to do at Christmas time.
Tomorrow is election day.  I've tried to ignore it, didn't think I'd even vote, but several candidates have annoyed me enough that I find that I must go and vote against them
Enjoy your week.

Old Lady Rant Time

Rant #1:  I'm sick of political ads on tv, they have a very adverse effect on me.  If you run negative ads it will turn me against you.
Actually if I see a political ad I mute it or turn the channel.  If I want to know about a candidate I look him/her up online and research their  history and agenda.  AND DON'T CALL ME it just makes me mad.

Next rant:  Charity.  I give to the charities of my choice on a regular basis.  I know who I want to support and how much I want to send.  One charity got dropped from my list because they started calling me up and  trying to shame me into giving more.  Now I give them nothing and they are a worthwhile charity, but I don't like their methods of soliciting donations.



Enough ranting, have a nice weekend.