Student of the week

 

Great niece Ruby Anna is a real gem of a young lady.

2021 Thanksgiving Day

  As I'm sitting here on this Thanksgiving Day there is much to be grateful for. I am snuggled into my house on a brisk November day with fireplace, a cup of hot tea, a book to read and a sleeping cat (in her bed just beyond the top of my tea mug). The sun is shining and the bird feeders are busy. I couldn't ask for more.

 I'll start my turkey breast at about 4 o'clock and I'm looking forward to a delicious meal for supper after a relaxing day of reading and watching football.

 Later on today the hunters will likely be headed back to their cabins to continue the annual deer hunt adventure. I'm hoping for a safe rest of the hunt for all of the Johansen hunters.

Here is a vintage photo from The Sandcastle.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

BTW

My dinner was tasty.

Like a scarf, but a cat

 The transformation of Barley into a cat that loves to be held is remarkable.  Her sister Hops was a lap cat, spending hours holding me down. Now, Barley doesn't have that competition,  but she thinks she should lay across my neck & shoulder. So odd and rather inconvenient.  Hard to drink tea with this full sized cat draped across my neck.  I have tried to convince her to lay on my lap, she is not interested.

But, so it goes.

***

My latest yummy creation in the airfryer is mushrooms stuffed with a bit of habanero cheese.

***

Six years ago today brother Gus passed. His legend lives on, especially during the hunting season.  We miss him everyday. 

Tripod cat

 Barley is so patient every morning as I'm eating my cereal.  She is waiting for me to finish and leave a little milk in the bowl for her. 

She makes me laugh.

Rough start, better ending

I woke up this morning to the sound of someone knocking on the front door. 

It was just a little bit after 8 a.m. I wasn't expecting anyone but when I looked at the camera feed I saw it was the Culligan man. 

So I started my day by hustling out of bed, throwing on some things so I could answer the door before he drove off, and letting him in to change the water filter. 

Normally they call me the day before, but that didn't happen this week. 

While he was doing his work, I went in and put on my clothes.  I could tell he was taking longer than usual when he asked me where the main water shut-off was. I knew that was not a good question to be asked. 

What was happening was that when he turn the water back on there was no water pressure but we could hear water gushing under the house. 

I sent him on his way and started calling plumbers. 

If you read this blog you know that this is not something new. 

I assumed that another fitting had blown.

The first plumber that I called told me that they were booked solid until November 29th. She recommended that I call someone else but did offer that if I was not successful in finding someone else, I could call back after 4 and pay their after-hours emergency rate.

She gave me the name of another plumber and when I called I left a message. I was not hopeful. But within 15 minutes or so I had a call back and within an hour the plumber was here.

The young man was from Rice Lake and had attended school for plumbing at WITC (newly renamed to Northwood Technical College), our local Technical College.  This young man was acquainted with my type of problem and quickly diagnosed the location of the leak.  Griffin is a charming fellow, friendly & efficient. He is my new favorite person/plumber!  In about an hour my problem was repaired & he was on his way. 

Stressful start to my day.   

It was 30°F & very windy.  I'm sure it was not pleasant in the crawl space.

One more fitting replaced. I keep hoping that we have done them all,  but only time will tell. 

The Culligan man was worried he had caused the problem,  but I think just the shutting off of the water & then turning it on again was enough to blow out what was remaining of the corroded fitting.  I'm lucky it happened the way it did. I might have been gone for the day with water flooding the crawl space.  I called the Culligan office and asked that a message be given to the driver,  it was his first time here, and a rough start to his day.

🚿🪠🚿

I found a good spot for my wildlife seed block. 

I put it on the bird feeder platform just outside my bedroom window so I'll be able to see who comes and goes. 

It's the perfect solution for that feeder because once there is snow on the ground I do not trudge around through the snow to refill that feeder. 

I'm guessing the seed block will last most of the winter. 

It will be fun to see who finds it first.

 Barley might like sitting on the windowsill to watch the action. 

The day is ending better than it started. 

Later I'll be watching live stream basketball, 

Charli's Varsity team begins their season tonight.

 I had hoped to go to the game,  but that did not work out this day. 

It's nice to the have the water back in the pipes where it belongs.

Critter block

 My friend Mary told me about a food block for birds and other wild life that is available at the local Farm & Fleet supply store.  I had the car in for tire rotation on Tuesday and did a little shopping while I waited.  Now,  to figure out the best place to perch it for critter access & my viewing.

Pretty quiet around here for a couple of days.  Hoping to get out to basketball this week. 

Here's an artsy-fartsy photo of Stella from volleyball and a few action shots from the last game I went to in September. 

Brothers Jude & Jens watching with their pal Wyatt.

Basketball starts soon, I'm hoping to get into the gym pretty often. 

Barley got a present

My friend Bruce came over today so that we could continue to set up his new cell phone.

 He brought me a painting that I have always admired at his home, and he gifted it to me today.

 And, Barley got a wonderful present of the Brown paper wrapper

 This watercolor was done by a local artist and I have always admired her work and this little Fox in particular.

 Bruce had it framed in a beautiful mat and really interesting wood frame. 

It looks good on my bedroom wall.

 We have a Winter storm warning for tonight. I think they are predicting 2 or 3" of snow snow. If it comes, it will be the 1st of the season.

 I am ready.

 

Female Pileated Woodpecker, shopping

Today I took a series of 10 shots of a female Pileated Woodpecker 

(the males have a red streak along the edge of their beak).  

This one was browsing for a snack, she started on a dead branch, 

Someone has started drilling a hole in this dead branch,
it will be fun to watch the progress.

then moved to the big red seed feeder 

 and then the little green mesh ball. 

She's a big girl, pecking for seeds seems silly when there are about 4 suet blocks hanging on the tree a few feet away.  

I'm guessing she will be back for the suet and a more substantial meal.

 

Spelling Bee

Caution, bragging ahead.

I like to play the NYT Spelling Bee game each day.  

Rarely do I do well. 

The goal is to make a many words as possible using the middle letter.

Today

Yesterday

Last week

 And on another topic, I've been asked to 'pronounce' at this year's Spelling Bee in February.  Hopefully Covid settles down, I missed it last year.

Buddy

Look who it is...

Buddy hung around the porch for quite awhile tonight. 

Today I had cortisone injected into my left knee.  I was pleased with the visit with my orthopedic surgeon.  I'm very grateful to be in his care.  I like his bedside manner and he's a straight shooter.

Another warm day for November.

 

Food prep Saturday

 I have been hungry for white bean & ham soup. Maybe it's the fall weather.  I made a big batch today in the Instantpot.  I used a ham steak & trimmed off all the fat.  I love carrots in this soup, but I do not like carrots that have been frozen,  so I'm going to have to add those later.  The soup has an unplanned ingredient.  I had put a can of pumpkin on the counter planning to use that in the next recipe, but once I started opening cans, I just added the pumpkin to the soup.  It's fine,  adds some nutrients & fiber and silkiness, and not much flavor. 

The pumpkin was supposed to be in my turkey meatballs.  But my meatballs are fine without.  I have 40 meatballs in the freezer and I will have 12 servings of soup stored as well, once it cools.

I ran across this photo of great niece Charli. It's one of my all time favorites.  There are a few photos I have taken that are special, this is one. 

Charlotte -2009

Life is good.

Dad 1922-2014

 It has been 7 years since I have seen this smile.  

Dad died early in the very early morning of 11/2/2014 at Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.  My nephew Kyle, and I, were at his side, when his heart slowed and stopped.  I knew I would miss him, but I underestimated the void that would be left in my life.  He and I were such good friends and he was so much fun to know and have as part of my life.  I was a lucky daughter, to be sure.

It was hard for me to carry on after Dad died.  I look back now and can better see how deep was the sorrow that I was managing through.  I learned that grief is individual and very personal.   

I will always remember the cliché words said that were meant to be kind, or the encouraging advice that was given, but that I now know, all are better left unsaid.  I hope that I have learned to be a better friend to someone who is grieving.

Today I am grateful for photos that captured Dad's smile and character.  

These memories are truly priceless.

And so it goes.