What a nice way to finish out a work week and the month of November.
Another new place for my cat to land, during the day.
She loves watching me in the morning and sometimes, in the evening.
This happened to be in the middle of the afternoon, during Thanksgiving weekend.
It always amazes me, if she gets up there when I do not hear her.
She is suddenly at my eye level...as in this photo.
Such a cute kitty.
My neighborhood is directly next to my Church.
One of the closest houses in the development, is by the entrance to the Church itself.
Well, I am not sure what they are building in the back yard of that nearby house, but it is totally being framed in steel.
Our houses are stick built, so I truly wonder about this one.
I did not want to disturb Mass (yes one of the best views was through the window of the Church), so I waited until I was outside.
Sorry, it is not the best photo of the steel framing.
We shall see what it turns out to be. A garage? A storage unit for a camper? A granny house?
Only time and luck, will tell.
Another year, another light display.
I don't have a wide eyed Son around anymore and he didn't comment for many years, so who knows.
I like to think that there are other wide eyed children, who get that spark of excitement from seeing a neighborhood filled with lights.
So we still decorate.
As usual, it came out pretty darn nice and very similar to last year.
You can see that display, HERE.
I have made Persimmon Cookies in the past, though not in the past few years.
Someone at work brought in about 15 Fuyu Persimmons (the ones that you don't have to let ripen) and so I took 3 to make some cookies.
We are having a cookie exchange on Wednesday and I thought I might bring some of them with me.
I will save me and the Hubby some, of course.
This was my original Persimmon post from 2014 and it includes the recipe, if you are into such things.
Obviously this year's batch has not yet been iced.
They look good enough to me, but I will ice some of them.
My Water Post For Today.
After a few weeks off, I once again bring you to our trip down the Hudson River.
This time we are in Albany, NY.
The Livingston Avenue Bridge crosses the Hudson River and connects Albany and Rensselaer, NY.
From what I just read, it is not in great condition and that is why I managed to get some decent photos.
The speed limit on the bridge is 15 MPH.
It was just about sunset, so the photo is not very bright...but you get the idea.
It made me think of the fact that after a long day, we were finally getting toward NYC.
Just a few hours to go.
I hope you enjoy.
Yesterday was Hubby's Birthday.
I invited my Magic Son to come along and then when I got a request from another friend of my real Son, I added her to the dinner plans.
We appreciated having some get together time and celebrating my Husband's birthday.
My birthday gift to him, was that we booked a cruise to Alaska, for next year.
Please don't ask me how we are going to pay for this.
It should be fun.
We did manage to talk to our Son on Thanksgiving and find out how things are going, as winter settles in, in Michigan.
He said that it was 20 degrees out and that he had put his snow tires onto the car.
He was one of 3 employees in his area, so that any work that came in this week, went to one of the three of them. It was busy.
He ended up spending Thanksgiving with Chris' Family and friends.
He made stuffed Mushrooms, a la Mama. :-)
They fried a turkey for dinner, which seemed a bit scrawny, but I am sure it was good.
Glad he was not alone and of course, it was great talking with him.
So our Thanksgiving was quiet, but good.
We did indeed barbecue our 2 thick steaks and they came out delicious.
The Cranberry Conserve was sweeter than it had been the night before, but it went well with the steak.
We ended up putting half into the freezer, for Christmas.
We went shopping today and landed a fresh turkey for a good price. Put it into the freezer for Christmas (see I told you we would not go through the season without another turkey. :-)
As the day passed, Makenna kept us amused with her posing on the ottoman.
She looks like an Egyptian Cat, in this photo.
What is the deal with that? :-)
Hope your holiday was peaceful.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Thanksgiving is a family and friend holiday, when people get together to celebrate the fact that food and family are the most important things.
They travel such long distances, in horrid traffic, to gather.
We did that for many years, but this year will be different.
On the last Sunday before he left, my Son asked us to cook him a Thanksgiving dinner.
My Husband and I bought things, week after week, hoping that what he wanted, he truly wanted.
We finally asked him on the Friday before, if this was still something he wanted us to do for him.
His answer was a firm YES!
It was not as wonderful as it could have been. The rolls were canned, instead of home made, but that was fine.
He enjoyed it and we ate the leftovers most of last week.
To say the least, turkey is not a wanted thing, this Thursday...so we will barbecue some nice thick steaks instead, (since we are not ham types).
My Son will be going to his friend's (from EcoCar2) house, so hopefully it will be a good day for him, too.
As I said, family and friends make the holiday.
A traffic friend of mine put up a recipe that they will be serving, on Thanksgiving Day.
It is called Cranberry Conserve and both my Husband and I think it might work for our dinner.
Since we are having steak, I am trying to get into the holiday mood by having Sweet Potatoes and maybe these.
Here is the recipe.
Cranberry Conserve
1 12oz pkg fresh cranberries
1 C light brown sugar
1 C chopped toasted walnuts
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 C orange marmalade
1/2 C raisins or Craisins
Preheat oven to 350F
Toss cranberries and brown sugar in a bowl, toss to combine, place in a baking dish or foil pan and cover with foil. Stir after 30 minutes and bake for about 1 hour.
Add walnuts, lemon juice, raisins, and marmalade to the cranberry mixture and stir. Bake for 15 more minutes and let cool.
(a note from Susie's sister:)
I think this usually fills about 2 of those 2 cup Ziplock twist and lock smaller containers...it is usually enough to take one to PA for Thanksgiving and keep one here. It keeps well in the fridge and even freezes well.
On Sunday, my cat decided to not only enjoy my new blankie, she began kneeding on it.
Claws and all!
She is totally in her own world, in this photo...and totally happy, too.
I keep the throw up above the couch, when I am not using it.
Otherwise someone is going to take it from me.
My Water Post For Today.
I saw this photo by William McCabe, on Long Island Sunsets and Beyond and could not resist posting it.
Especially since I have mentioned being a Girl Scout leader and bringing our Junior Troop to Tobay Beach.
I must admit that I never saw sunsets that look this good, when we were camping there...but who cares.
I hope you enjoy.
In High School and then in my 2 year college, I shot archery.
In High School, my Sister and I were on the Archery Team.
The first year my team won every game...except the one we played against Manhasset. They were a wealthy town and had competition bows. Oh well.
The second year we won every game...except the two we played against Manhasset. I assume you are getting the idea here.
The third year (which I thankfully did not compete, though my Sister did), we lost three and all of them were against Manhasset.
We loved the sport, anyway.
In college I took an archery class and won the award of best female shooter.
I didn't touch a bow, since that last class...but I wanted to, badly.
The other day I read an article in our local paper about a group of people who had approached the City of Santa Clarita. Land was provided to them, for an archery range and the soft launch was yesterday.
I was super busy, but I managed to spend an hour at this new (totally out of the way) range and shoot 2 sets of archery.
My car is dusty, but the girl still has it.
Two bullseyes on my second set.
Hopefully, I can carve a small amount of time and get in some shooting.
I haven't owned my 2006 Saturn for 2 1/2 years, but I do know that just before I sold it, the radio display was starting to go bad on me.
I have never had my 2007 do what my car did, but suddenly the display on my radio stopped lighting up. So we could not see the time (muy importante!) or the Radio Station/CD Track.
My Son took it to Long Beach last Monday and when I drove it on Thursday, the display was better.
So I took this photo and sent it to him, asking if he fixed it, while he was out here.
He then informed me that it repaired itself (for now, at least) on the way down to Long Beach.
I am sorry that it is going the same way as my other car, though it should not surprise me.
They were built about 4 months apart.
I received a text message on Sunday.
"Do you still have the Harry Potter Books?"
So I went into the den and photographed what I thought was the collection of books.
After I sent it, I asked, "How many were there?"
He answered me that there were 7.
OK then, I think I need to look around some more, since all I see are 6.
I seemed to remember that when we were recycling books to the Library, we came across a Harry Potter book and that I put it back on the bookcase.
So I looked at the nutcracker and there it was...sitting on that top shelf, since the bookcase was filled.
My Son informed me that he had not read the series for 20 years and he wants to do so, as an adult.
So somehow, in his luggage, he managed to fit 7 very heavy books in there.
I was shocked that they made it and they are now living in Michigan.
Wonderful memories reading these books with him and then watching him read them on the floor of my office, during summer breaks.
Things you never forget.
