2014 Project 365 – Week Forty-eight

We went to NC to spend time with family for Thanksgiving. I’m writing this on Sunday night after traveling all day to get home. Although Dr. M drove the whole way, I’m not sure how coherent this post will be. That should make it fun!

P.S. If you haven’t entered the drawing for a free Flexi Clip & you want to, check out this post to see how! I’m doing the drawing & announcing the winner Tuesday evening.

Sunday, November 23^rd

Nuthatch & chickadee sightings – made Dr. M’s day!

Squirrel action.

Pinky is still glorious… I need to get a picture with one of us standing beside her so you can see how big she is!

My daily walk. As I said on Facebook, what profiteth a neighborhood if it hath two disturbing turkeys and also a nativity?

Monday, November 24^th    

My daily walk – it was a BIT breezy out!

After the events of the day I found my evening prayers to be even more meaningful…

Tuesday, November 25^th     

My daily walk. You know, I’m not sure the penguin cap is really necessary when it’s nearly 40 degrees outside.

Wednesday, November 26^th  

We drove to Hickory this day. I drove the whole way! Usually I get drowsy on these drives, but I was alert & only marginally terrifying to Dr. M. Even Rusty the Reindeer seemed to be ok. Score!

I knew I had arrived at Daddy & Amy’s house when I found the blubarb pie. Daddy had the idea to use half rhubarb & half blueberries & it was fabulous!

My daily walk – the Wallace B&B treadmill…

The moon!

Thursday, November 27^th – Happy Thanksgiving!

I was responsible for decorating for the family gathering. Which, um, isn’t a particular skill set of mine. Thank goodness I had a lot of help!! Dr. M & my cousin’s granddaughter helped quite a bit, along with another cousin & his stepson. Whew!

Here’s the crew! We were missing a few folks this year…

Random shots. I’m not sure why I’m wearing the paper pilgrim hat.

My rather yellow meal. I’m not a big turkey eater. I decided to just get stuff I love. Oh, & I didn’t eat all that food on the dessert plate – just most of it :)

My daily walk – up & down my dad’s driveway. Made me appreciate the sidewalks in our neighborhood!

Friday, November 28^th  

Dr. M took some great pictures in his old haunts – this is a refurbished cotton mill that’s now used for weddings & other events.

Sheep!

The South Mountains.

My daily walk. I once again didn’t listen to my father when he expressed concern about my choice of walking trails, but once I had in my head that I wanted to walk Bakers Mountain there was no backing down. Only a little over 2 miles, but it was just a bit strenuous. My calves are still sore!

Daddy & Amy headed out to a viewing. I decided I needed to take their picture.

Saturday, November 29^th    

Songbirds at my dad’s house. Dr. M took a ton of great pictures – this is just a sampling.

We were driving over to Dr. M’s dad’s house & I saw this little calf & made Dr. M take its picture – SO CUTE! Its mom wasn’t too sure about us.

Spent some time with Dr. M’s dad. The dining room table is over 125 years old – it’s sure seen a lot! And I just like this funky lamp. Ha!

After we left Pop’s house we decided to check out a “Rails to Trails” trail nearby. There were a couple of benches on the trail put there by our great-nephew for his Eagle Scout project – Dr. M’s dad helped build the benches. The benches are great & it’s a really nice trail!

The moon!

That evening I took some phone pics of pictures on the walls at Daddy’s house – they’d be a pain to scan & I want to use them for future Throwback Thursdays. (Insert maniacal laughter here)

Hope everyone has a great week!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I was in charge of writing the family Thanksgiving poem this year. I struggled with it because the words are just not arranging themselves in poetic ways these days. And yes, this doesn't bode well for our annual Christmas poem! Ah well, this one is done now, and it talks about some of my favorite things, so it's poem enough for me, I guess. Hope you & yours are enjoying the day!

I’m sitting in my muse-free zone

picturing the faces of my family.

Surely there is poetry there –

in those eyes and those familiar smiles,

in the vision of generations,

in love lost, love regained, love found,

in the possibility of persimmon pudding

and home grown green beans.

There is poetry in the familiar – 

in the ritual of rush and not enough time,

in the spectacle and laughter,

in the empty places for those we miss.

And there is definitely poetry 

in the hands we grasp around our family circle,

in this annual waltz of thanksgiving.

Dana Rhyne

Thanksgiving 2014

Lilla Rose Giveaway!

Sound the trumpets! I’m having a give-away! Elizabeth Williams from Zizzie Happenings approached me about this a while back when I still had hair & I was a slacko & didn’t take her up on her offer of a free Lilla Rose Flexiclip to one of my readers. I have several of them & they’re perfect for my slippery hair. See?

Well, they were perfect… So I said to Elizabeth, “I don’t have any hair anymore! And I don’t think any of my readers do either!” “Well, Danabug,” she said, “you don’t have to use the flexi clips in your hair if you don’t want to.” Exhibit A:

Well! Using them that way had not ever crossed my mind. So I played around on my own.

Fun! Now I know everyone will be clamoring to win the free clip. There is one rule: to enter my drawing you must email me a picture of your feet as you take a walk. Or the back of your head. Or the neighbor’s dog. Just something to show that you’ve wandered around outside somewhere. If you don’t want to email a picture to me, you can post it on your blog instead. Please keep the picture family friendly because I’m gonna post it on my blog (you knew I would, right?).

Go check out Elizabeth’s Lilla Rose site here and see all the different styles available. She’ll give away a style/size that she has in stock (excluding the clip of the month). And men, remember that many of you have women in your lives and Christmas is coming…

I’ll announce the winner one week from today. So get to walking & snapping!

2014 Project 365 – Week Forty-seven

We got our first significant snow of the season, so of course there are a number of snow pictures. It’s as if no one had ever seen snow before!

Sunday, November 16^th

Our friendly neighborhood sharp-shinned hawk.

My daily walk – it started sneeting while I was out! Also, this is the “I should have listened to my mother” edition – I should have made a potty break before I left the house. Heh.

The snow begins…

Monday, November 17^th    

This was my view when I opened the back door this morning. I decided to work from home (I love my job!).

Morning snack. That’s whipped peanut butter in case you’re wondering. And yes, the clementines wandered into the peanut butter and that was just WEIRD!

Dr. M took some snow pics. Poor Heather the sheep!

My daily walk. The abominable Snow Bug!

Dr. M filled the feeder & it was emptied again in short order.

Dr. M cooked dinner – Southwest chicken & beans. VERY yummy!

Tuesday, November 18^th     

I knew my thermometer would come in handy! This was the temp in my office when I got to work Tuesday morning. Brr!

I tucked my scarf up into my hat & decided that I had created Cthuluguin!

As proof that I’m not entirely stupid I decided to not walk in the cold icy dark.

Wednesday, November 19^th  

My daily walk – fall would like winter to know that it’s not QUITE done yet, thank you very much.

Dr. M said that he felt like this turkey :)

Thursday, November 20^th

Pinky Two Tone (our 7 year old pet geranium) is certainly thriving these days. Eventually she’ll decide to take her winter break from blooming, but until then we’ll enjoy pinkitude.

Once again, not walking outside in the cold icy dark… But look – I have a tiny little (not very attractive) ponytail!

Friday, November 21^st  

My daily walk. I forgot what I was doing & left the house with the wrong shoes on. It was a bit slippery out there!

We’ve been binge-watching Band of Brothers again. Three hours of crochet gave me claw hand!

Saturday, November 22^nd     

My daily walk. What a difference a day makes! Wow! And, also, please note tiny little goofy ponytail in my shadow picture. Ha!

We got our first Christmas card of the season – from Rite Aid Pharmacy.

I was on Altar Guild duty this weekend. At long last we’re at the Last Sunday after Pentecost! Woo hoo! It’s a long time to be in the same liturgical season (if you recall, Pentecost was June 8^th). Next week: Advent!

Dr. M spent the evening with his own project – a survival bracelet made with leftover parachute cord. His comment on Facebook: Picked a fast deploy pattern and went at it. Finished it, and the wife approved. Then she said, "you know that's just single crochet, right?" Come to think of it, a hook would have helped. I wonder if Dick Winters crocheted... ‪#‎downinflamesigoagain. Heh. (Note – Dick Winters is one of the men from Band of Brothers – a mini-series about paratroopers in WWII.)

Hope everyone has a great week!