Birds In The Belfry

 It's a chilly 45 degrees this morning, heading on down to 35 this week.  There have been weird cloud formations in the sky for the last few days.  Word has it that the aliens are pouring chemicals into the atmosphere, causing these "trails" that are sucking the life out of us.  Poisoning us as it were.  Who knew?   I just thought they were pretty clouds!

So while I'm still preoccupied with counting beans ... at several different locations now ... here's another fashion show.  Anyone remember back in the day when you had to wear a hat if you went to town?  We were lucky, we only had to wear a hat to church ... every single Sunday.  None of them looked like these.

I'm betting that in the old days, it was a coverup of the messy, unwashed hair.  I think about that sometimes ... there weren't a lot of bathtubs or showers available in the mining towns.  Can you just imagine?

On the left is the go to town hat, with birds in the belfry.  Two REAL wings from either a blackbird or maybe a crow are sewn onto this hat.  I can just imagine being the first to wear THAT down Main Street.  The one on the right is completely covered in sewn beadwork.  This was the hat of an upper class woman with a rich husband on her way to church.  It was made to impress. 

I've shown this image before.  I have to admit it's pretty hard to walk in those boots, which were always catching on the petticoats.  In order to be presentable even in a tornado-like windstorm, the hems of these already heavy black skirts were loaded down with even heavier lead weights.  That way they didn't let your skirt blow up in the wind and you could kick it out in front of you so as not to trip and fall.  They also left nice bruises on my shins.  They were strong those gals!!!  It was a workout every day they left the house.

Coming into the 1900's, things got a little lighter weight.  This hat was worn with a thin white skirt and blouse, under which was layered three petticoats.  You were certainly upper class when you wore lacy blouses, but then you had to don layers underneath to make sure no one could see through the material.  It must have been hotter than hot in the old days.

I've no information on this beauty at all.  It looks like something you would wear to the horse races back East.  It's still in fabulous condition and fits perfectly.  

Even horses got into the act.  This is a horsehair fluffy thing attached to this wonky hat from the 30's.    Imagine ..... things from 1973 are now considered antiques.  Get out those tie-dyed shirts and bell bottom pants.  You are now officially ancient!!!

This is one of my favorites.  It's made of velvet.  The inside of these hats usually had a silk lining, but silk was made beautiful by acid washing.  As it aged, the fabric disintegrated almost completely.  I have a silk flapper dress that is in shreds.  Nowadays they make fabric so cheaply, that I doubt it will last long enough to become an antique.

Here's another of the few outfits I have pictures of.  The jacket and blouse made a great outfit for Captain Hook to wear on Halloween.  Check out those rose colored glasses ... and I was so SKINNY!!!  I doubt I could get my arm in that jacket now!!  By the way, this was the perfect outfit for where this picture was taken.  I'm sure I wasn't the only one to wear it to church.

Finding someone to care for all these amazing things will be difficult, but I will continue to look.  I hate to see them go in the trash.

And so ended another day of counting and accounting.  I think I mentioned when I went to Sanger to see my wonderful friends Barbara and Tom, they had a great lunch planned.  It came from Walmart she said.  That can't be ... it was so GOOD!!  

So yesterday I placed my order to be picked up in the late afternoon.   You can set your own time.  I have to admit, this is a pretty easy way to do shopping ... and they get my order right every time.  

This is red pepper and tomato soup in a box.  No kidding .... just pour it out, heat it up and you've got dinner.  I couldn't believe my taste buds.  It was delicious!  Add some of these garlic croutons and WOW!!  Dinner is served in about 60 seconds.  

To make it even better, they seem to pick the right ones.  I ordered avocados ... they were perfect.  I ordered tomatoes ... they were perfect.  You know I'm not a Walmart fan, but I'm apparently crossing over to the dark side.  Dinner is served!!!!!

Speaking of Trees

There wasn't much going on yesterday as I rested my achey fingers.  It always amazes me just how much popping and cracking there is when I first stand up.  I take a hint from the doggie critters ... I do doggie yoga every morning just so I can walk without waking Jonathan up.  

It seems that tinsel brought about lots of Christmas memories.  I think we got our tree about fifteen days before Christmas.  You were at the mercy of the tree lot guys, who were very scary to look at.  We would pick up several, twirl them around and see if they were even.  

After being cut, wadded up and hauled clear from the forests of Oregon, they were a little worse for wear. I later realized those guys worked really hard for that money and were always covered in pitch.  This was a once a year money maker for them.  There were maybe five tree lots in town.  Now the only place you can buy a very sad tree is at Home Depot or Lowes. 

There were rules.  It could never come in the house that day.  It had to sit outside in a pail of water while all the critters fell to the ground.  We learned that after swatting all the bugs that dropped to the linoleum floor.  Finally inside and firmly screwed into the red tree stand, it was ready for the boxes of ornaments.

But WAIT .... you had to wait at least one day for the branches to settle in.

There were more rules.  The lights had to go on first.  Those big heavy strings were always tied in knots and were so hard to unravel because of the big light bulbs, multi colored of course.  Don't dare break one of those bulbs, because replacements were very hard to find.

There was also one very special string of lights we were not allowed to touch.  Have you ever seen bubble lights?  They are filled with liquid (I've no idea what) and when you plugged them in (after warming up) they bubbled and looked like candles.  I would sit and watch them for hours.  I kept those lights for many many years, and actually think I still have a replica set stored high in my cupboards.

Next came the ornaments.  The thin cardboard boxes were so old you had to be even MORE careful not to drop and break anything.  You got swatted for that.  There was no sparing the rod in our house.  The bulbs were plain, which few exceptions.  

Every year we cut thin ribbon to the correct length and tied it tight to the bulb, then tied every bulb on the tree.  I don't think they even had "hangars" back then, although on occasion we did use paper clips if we could find them.

By the way, none of these pictures are of my family or our trees.  THIS one however, resembles our tree more than any other.  Oh yeah .... the tinsel.  It came in a little (also thin) cardboard box.  You would gather up the tiniest amount and begin to place it on the branches one piece at a time.  Again with the rules.  

As Doris mentioned, do NOT let it touch the branch below.  It should just hang straight like the icicle it represents.  I wasn't so good at that part.  If we ran a little short, we would get out the box of aluminum foil and cut enough strips to finish the tree.

It was always my job to water the tree.  The more water, the less mess you had to clean up when all the needles fell to the floor.  Sadly, I wasn't very good at that job.  Cleanup after Christmas was epic.  The good thing was we did not have carpet.  There was no carpet or rugs in our house, so sweeping was mandatory.  Come to think of it, we never had a vacuum cleaner either.  Brooms and mops were the tools of the trade.

Mom always wanted a flocked tree.  We would see them going out of the tree lot looking like they had just been in a huge snow storm.  Back then I had no idea what they used ... something with lots of glue I guess. 

 At long last (we must have had a good cattle year) Dad said we could afford a flocked tree.  We lost a lot of flocking on the way home.  Sadly, the smell of the tree disappeared completely.  It had a chemical flavor that permeated the house.  Decorating was a little difficult, and every time we even touched a branch, the flocking would fall to the floor.

There was never EVER a flocked tree in our house again.  What a mess it was to clean up.

After that came these.  Anyone have an aluminum tree?  I think it was discussed at one point due to the easy setup and cleanup, but it never went anywhere.  This was not going to be a Christmas tree in our house, no matter what.  

This wasn't my idea of a "tree" either, but I admit, I was the first in the family to buy an artificial tree.  I still have it in the garage 35 years later.  After all these years of service, it is now losing its needles too.  It's not the pre-lit version of today and you have to spend hours hooking dozens of light strands together to cover it's nine foot height.  It's a beauty, but WAY too much work!!

The folks who put up these trees for Christmas probably have the right idea.  Turn it upside down, stuff it in a box and you are done.  

So what are your Christmas tree decorating stories?  I imagine practically everyone will have different memories.  It's fun to think about them.  Makes me want to put up that big tree again.  

No ..... no it doesn't!!!!  

Foggy Trees

Our winter weather has suddenly changed yet again.   If there is one thing we have consistently around here, it's fog.  People complain.  On occasion, it even lowers our Bingo numbers.  That's a shock.  It usually shows up at night and hangs around until maybe noon.

As much as people complain, it is NOTHING like it used to be.  In the old days when we drove to Bakersfield for Christmas in our 1949 something (I only remember it was gray) or later, in our 1959 green Buick, it was really bad.  You've heard these stories before.

Today if I'm driving in fog and making a turn, I'll roll down my window, turn down the rocking cowboy radio and listen for cars.  Oh ... and never walk under the foggy trees.  You never know if it's the dew dripping or if the birds are hanging out above you.

The outside kids are still fighting over the fruits of their midnight scavenging.  Most times they show up at 7:00 pm or so, then come back for a look see ... you know, just in case something magically appeared at 2 am, then once again at 6:30 in the morning.

Last night when I let Cooper out at 5:30, someone was checking in early.  The early bird catches the worm and gets the last of the leftover turkey.  I watched him jump up on the top of the six foot fence, knowing there is nothing on the other side to help him.  I just can't believe these guys are like cats!

When he saw me, he froze.  When I moved, he jumped down into the corral.  These guys are something else.

Morning came way too early.  Sometimes as I sit at my desk, I see a pink glow float across the room.  I grabbed my camera and went outside.  Obviously not quite as good as Arizona, but not bad for a morning sunrise.  

After breakfast and a little snuggle time with Mr. Cooper, I headed on out for more bean counting.  Isn't this beautiful?  Not really our traditional RANCH tree, but it's pretty and what I always wanted as a kid.

THIS is what our tree always looked like.  They didn't make fake trees back then, so we always got a $10 Charlie Brown tree from the only lot in town.  Our lights were not like these ... they were the big ones that dried out the tree in about three days.

There were no homemade ornaments ... we didn't do that back in the day ... but there was LOTS of tinsel to cover up the bare spots.  Anyone remember grabbing a handful of that stuff and placing it ONE AT A TIME on the tree?  We didn't cheat like nowadays either ... the ENTIRE tree was covered, front and back. 

You probably shouldn't sneak a peek at the back of my tree today.  It's cheaper to decorate just the front!!  When Christmas was over, we took the tinsel OFF one piece at a time, to be reused the next year.   Oh the fun!!

And so I was off to counting debits and credits, deciding what was taxable and what wasn't.  With all the new "things" nowadays, there are lots of new categories to program, and reprogram when one entire account went south.  I got home just in time to gear up for egg nog on the Second Day of Christmas.  I do like egg nog, but could leave out the alcohol.  One drink was all I sipped since I had to drive home.

The good news is my fingers get a rest today .... well sort of anyway.  Not only do I have other folks taxes in mind, but I have mine too.  Whoever came up with this TAXES idea should be bonked on the head.  Mine is always so convoluted I have to hire a CPA to do it for me.  

Sadly, it will take me the entire day to get everything in order.  Maybe one of those fancy drinks can be my reward for getting it done.

Twelve Days Of Christmas!

 And we're OFF!!  It's December 2nd and Santa will be coming around the moon and through the fog in no time at all.  If you haven't bought any of those must-have Christmas presents, you better get on the ball.  Time is running out faster than Rudolph's nose can light up.

Having been otherwise occupied for the last few days, and no sign of that slowing down for a week or two, I had to get in some play time with Cooper.  He's definitely a ball fanatic and will return it every single time.  Of course he may not GIVE it to you, but he will return it.  Eventually he rolls it to you with his nose so the game will continue.  I love this kid!!

Lucky for me, I got a reprieve yesterday morning.  Accounting free for an entire four hours.  Just to be sure I could keep my fingers moving, I worked on this quilt a little more.  It's not all sewn together yet, but it's getting there.  The top row is done, I just can't reach that high to stick it up there.  I think this is one of the prettiest patterns I've made.  

But wait ... it's far from done.  Not only do I have to sew it together, but there are FOUR borders that have to be cut and sewn on.  It will take even longer to finish since this quilt is too big for my machine.  It will spend a month at the quilt shop where they will quilt it on their mega machine.  

Then it was back to work, typing and calculating my fingers to the bone.  It's end of the year tax time, which always brings about a flurry of finding all those records and helping people stay out of the black fingers of the IRS.

It's also DECEMBER ... which means it's time for the Twelve Days of Christmas.  You know, like the song ... On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, a partridge in a pear tree.  Yeah, you're going to be singing that all day long!!

Well the King and his lovely Queen Deb (we do seem to have a lot of Debs, yes?) or Debbie as I call her, have come up with a great idea to get together with friends.  For the next twelve days, skipping over bingo nights of course, everyone is invited to a different eating establishment for some Christmas cheer.  Everyone drinks the same thing.  

Take this Rudolph Martini for example.  Who would ever order this unless it was a crazy group of people singing the Twelve Days of Christmas.

The next night, at the next location, maybe it will be a cranberry something or other.  There are any number of cranberry drinks this time of year.  Luckily one night will be at the Elks Lodge so the drinks will be affordable.  This fancy restaurant stuff comes with a hefty price tag.

Two years ago when the flu was going on, they did this in their garage with only three people.  You can imagine all the leftover booze.  It's probably on the menu this year.  This chocolate martini would be on my list.

How about a s'mores glass of chocolate alcohol and toasted marshmallows?  Yummmm ... I would have to be sure and not miss THIS night!!  

The problem is, I'm not a drinker.  One of these would probably knock me on my butt!  Maybe they can make a LIGHT version, or just leave the alcohol out ... replace it with hot cocoa!!

At any rate, what a great way to celebrate the season.  You might even start a new tradition and do this with your friends.  It would be fun to play bartender and fix them at your house too.  Just be sure the smoke alarms are working if you are toasting marshmallows!!

I'll be back to the numbers game today .... maybe I'll have another cup-o-joe so I can stay awake.  It's all worth it in the end because I get PAID!!!!

HELLO DECEMBER!!!!

Only 24 more days until Christmas!  How could that be?  I checked out the back door for the predicted snow storm that would afford me another chance to make snowmen.  This didn't look too promising.  The sun was shining brightly the entire day.  Honestly, I don't see how the weather guys can always be so wrong.  You would think they might lose their jobs since their predictions are always out in left field.

At any rate, it was a day of tap tap tapping.  It started with the window.  AHA ... I'm going to catch you this time!  The second I went out the door, it stopped.  Next thing I knew, I heard it again and again.  Really, I thought it was probably just the neighbor building something.

I snuck out the back door to find something amazing.  There on the roof was a big crow with a pecan nut in his beak.  He was trying to open it by banging it on the roof cap.  It finally broke and he flew off with his treasure.  Nature sure is funny ... they usually just drop it on my concrete patio, which works every time.  Maybe the tapping will stop now, except for my fingers working the calculator.

At noon I finally took a break since I had an appointment to get the shocks on my truck replaced.  I went with Bilsteins for what I thought was a reasonable price.  When they told me about two hours, I sat down in the waiting room.  This was my view.  Nice rims!

That lasted all of five minutes.  Hobby Lobby the next block over was calling my name.  Truly, I don't get it.  I can see all of the old folks in there ... they are probably retired ... but that place was absolutely packed with younger people shopping for Christmas stuff.  Doesn't anyone work any more??  It's the old double the price and stick it on the item, then offer 50% off everything in the store game.  And it's working!!  I didn't part with any of my money.

Next I walked a couple of blocks to the hardware store.  I once again have a toilet leaking water on the floor, so it's time for some new guts.  They only had self checkout aisles, so I played the old lady game and asked the girl to please show me how this thing works.  She came right up and checked me out.  Works every time.

I really needed a bag, but she wanted to charge me.  Nope ... not paying for a bag.  Well she said quietly, you can just grab one for free.  I didn't see any, so I asked her where they were.  Hidden underneath the register were huge paper bags.  Where's the plastic I asked?

Oh ... we don't have plastic any more.  They aren't safe.  I laughed out loud while explaining to her ... we got rid of the paper bags because we were cutting down all the trees ... how terrible ... and went to plastic bags, which are now SO BAD for the environment, we're back to killing trees?????  Too bad the environmentalists already put the lumber companies out of business!!  The look on her face was priceless!

So now what to do ... I've still got way too much time to be walking around holding the box because I don't have a bag.  I spotted a book store off in the distance.  That's a rare thing nowadays ... book stores.  This one even had a coffee shop in the back.  Though it LOOKS like a Starbucks, it is not, however they do sell Starbucks coffee.  

I picked up the last book on the shelf from one of my favorite two authors.  Wow ... how books have increased in price.  It cost me $20.00 for a $7.00 book.  BUT .. I got a coupon for BOGO cookies.  How could I not partake in THAT!  

That drink and two cookies cost me $13.00.  How do people afford this stuff?  To make it even MORE ridiculous, on the way out I picked up a calendar book to write down all my hours I'm going to be working for the next month finishing up year-end books.  

I almost fell over.  That little book cost me $35.00!!!  I definitely had second thoughts, but she already rang it up ... and I do think we should support bookstores.  Good grief ... this little bookstore stop cost me $68.00!!!!  I won't make that mistake again.  Except the cookies .. they were delicious!!!

Finally, the call came through.  My truck was done.  I raced back to pick it up.  The difference in the feel of the truck is surprisingly much more than I thought.  Hopefully this will make the ride even better when I'm hooked up.

Back to work ... until time for the meeting.  I got home about 10:30, exhausted with achey fingers.  I'll be back at it today until it's time for the Twelve Days of Christmas.  What's that?  I'll explain tomorrow.

Fighting Over Food

Well ...... I wonder about our weather guessers.  Here we are at the nausea-inducing altitude of 171 feet and they have predicted snow.  Snow flurries that is.  The white cold stuff.  That has happened twice in my long lifetime at this location.  

Believe it or not, we actually got about one whole inch way back in 1998.  I think it was before that, because I remember making a 6 inch tall snowman in the back yard.  It's a rarity for sure, and I doubt we will see any today.  On the other hand, it gives them something to talk about other than "It's Sunny"!!

If it's going to be THAT cold, I need sustenance.  What better than a sugar coma inducing French toast breakfast.  Yes ..... yes that IS whipped cream on there, not butter.  Oh there's butter too, underneath the whipped cream!!  I think they even said it was National French Toast Day.

There might be more to talk about today, but I have fallen into an accounting problem that requires my time.  There was no couch sitting yesterday, but at least I did get one big problem fixed.  I took off the pieces of fabric that are velcroed on my quilting machine on which I attach the quilts in order to quilt them.  I can't believe that repair guy put them on so crooked.  

My next quilt got loaded before I had to actually put my brain to work.  It was shades of working again as an accountant, and WAY too much thinking was involved.  

So for today, here's a couple of videos from my Foxy friends.  There's no use wasting the leftover tasty turkey treats.  Really, I just thought I would see if they would eat it.  The first night, the local kitty cleaned up every single tiny piece.  When he walked away, he looked like me waddling to the couch after MY big dinner.

The second night, wasn't I surprised to see this happen.  Up until now, they have been sharing.  I only feed them occasionally, and only things they might find while scavenging.  They did love the gopher!!  But on this night ... they got a little snarly!!

Wow ... they must have thought that turkey was AMAZING, unlike Cooper and I.  

I received my second propane tank reader last night, so I'll be setting that up today and turning the heater off.  Looks like the snow isn't going to materialize after all.  Just in case however, I ordered a nice half price down ski parka to keep me warm.  

My old one, now 42 years old (they used to make stuff to last), still works great, but when you put your hands in the pockets, they come out the bottom.  The pockets completely disintegrated.  The last Bingo night at the Elks Lodge had icicles hanging off everyone's noses, so now I'll be warm.

I hope everyone has a great Thursday as my fingers fly across the calculator keys.  Sugar and coffee will surely keep me going strong.

The Magic Castle

Yay ... yahoo .... OH BOY!  Another night of Bingo in the Magic Castle ... but first, let's be entertained by my kid. 

I literally just got out of bed when the barking began.  It's time for Doggy Yoga!  I retrieved the ball twice from under my armoire before capturing this action.  He does this every time there are shoes around.  It doesn't matter if they are sandals, high heels or boots.  It's amazing how he can roll that ball right into a boot laying on the floor four feet away.

Why is it laying on the floor?  Because that's where I took it off.  This is my mantra and I'm sticking to it.

The rest of the morning was spent outside, first working on the rig, and then spending time with the neighbors. They were in the midst of making their house beautiful.  I admit it doesn't look like much here, but it's amazing.  I'll try to get better pictures today.  That brought on a frenzy of decorating in our neighborhood.  Since I don't have a 30' ladder or a lift, I don't participate.  Just a wreath and a few lights around the door.

Before I knew it, it was time to fly off to the Magic Castle.  A trustees work is never done.  I spent the first 90 minutes discussing business while trying to sign checks.  I always have so many questions and they have so few answers.  That became a distraction all day and night long as I investigated suspects and grilled witnesses.  In the end, I got nowhere, other than volunteering to check wristbands at a big Fire Department Bash this weekend.  How did THAT happen??

Bingo started out with the normal you-didn't-yell-loud-enough incident, followed by you don't have the right numbers.  You see, as the numbers are pulled from the machine, they are placed on a camera that shows them on TV screens around the room.  That number isn't actually CALLED until the NEXT number has been pulled.  People think they can yell Bingo, but they have to wait until that number is actually spoken by the caller.  It's complicated.  The King came to the rescue.  

It causes lots of problems when people yell before they are supposed to.  The crowd erupts in horror because that would mean they did NOT win.  You just have to be there to experience the excitement.

The only redeeming factor is the wonderful people who volunteer to subject themselves to this mayhem EVERY TUESDAY NIGHT!!  

AND the lovely acid inducing chili cheese dog (without bun) that causes extensive pain about 45 minutes after you eat it.  We are all gluttons for punishment.  No one ever said the Castle Chef(s) were trained.

Surprisingly, there were no lost red tickets, but there were lost bingo cards.  Or golly gee, I played the wrong card.  That's pretty hard to do since they are all different sizes and/or colors.  I was very accommodating on this night ... it was BEFORE I ate the chili dog.  

I'll be busy today, proofreading the by-laws while I continue to investigate the problems.  The good news is the bookkeeper and I can hang out and stick together while "suggesting" things be done our way.  Actually, we just draw a line in the sand.  Accounting rules at the Castle!!

The infernal machine tried to fool me on this night ... I was too distracted by other things rolling around in my head ... but I persevered and was able to come out $2.00 over.  Woohoo ... one more Bingo night in the bag.  

Beavers and Salsa

 Another day in paradise has faded away.  It's not your normal paradise because it's colder than a frozen water trough you have to take an axe to every morning so the cattle can drink.  Woooeeee I even went out to turn the heat on in the fifth wheel.  

The propane tanks were a little bit of a problem.  I should light the stove burners more often I guess.  The spark on one isn't working at all, but I finally got two going to clear the air out of the lines.  My tank sensor battery died, so I had to practice my surgical skills to replace it.  It's a Mopeka in case anyone was wondering.  I love that thing.  It sticks on the bottom of the tank with strong magnets (haven't lost it yet) and the app on my phone tells me how much fuel there is.  

In fact I love it so much, I just bought another one on Amazon for the second tank.  Now I can tell if a tank is leaking or empty.  No, they are not cheap, but SO worth it.  You can buy two with a "reader" that hangs on your wall inside, or you can just use your phone to check it.

Though you would expect paradise to come with a housekeeper, she does not.  I can always tell when we've had a breezy day.  If I HAD a housekeeper, I could leave her notes in the dust.  I spent two hours cleaning ... my least favorite pastime.  

Since I had all that lovely chicken for tacos, I had to make another run to the store.  What I didn't have was salsa.  Salsa is not just for tacos and burritos.  Beaucoup years ago on the ranch, we would deep pit meat for social events, like branding or maybe my grandmother was coming to visit.  I've mentioned this before.

It's cooked low and slow in the ground for 6 to 8 hours.  When you cook beef wrapped in gunny sacks (the ones that came full of grain), it tends to dry out.  It's probably a good thing there were no health inspectors back then.  The meat needs something, and our version of salsa worked perfectly.

That required ingredients I didn't have, so off to the Mexican store I went.  There's no buying the wimpy version ... this bouquet is large enough for a wedding!!

I also picked up tomatoes.  I don't know what's up with them these days.  Does this look like tomato salsa to you?  Oh they were bright red and beautiful on the OUTSIDE, but chop them up and the inside was almost white.  Sadly, it didn't have much flavor either, even though I put in more jalapeños that I should have.  Not as good as the potatoes and gravy from Thanksgiving, but it worked.

Going along with the weird sun dogs in the sky, were weird sightings of the moon.  That one little patch of clouds seemed to follow it up into the sky.

What a beauty.  This is the Beaver Moon.  Okay, that's different, so I looked it up.  This is the time of year when beavers would stock up on resources in their den to ensure they survive the incoming water from winter.  A good indication that the humans should do the same.

Apparently it is often shrouded in clouds.  Who knew??

And finally it rose high enough in the sky to be seen more clearly.  It makes me wonder what all the dark spots are.  Mountains?  Clouds?  Poisonous gas?  Okay, probably not gas, but pretty to look at.  

I cut and sewed on and off throughout the day, before plopping down on the couch for dinner.  Easy peasy .. just heat up the last of the leftovers and pile it high on a Kings Hawaiian roll.  Boy do I love those things.  For Barbara and Tom ... I saved the last of the rolls in the freezer to make bread pudding after the pumpkin pie runs out.

And so ended another day as I tossed and turned all night.  If nothing else, I should be getting in my 6,000 steps a day just in turning over in bed.

AND ... it's TIME FOR BINGO!!!!!  YAY!!!!!

Tap Tap Hooooo Hooooo

What a fun night!!!  I spent most of it flat on my back staring at the ceiling.  You know those nights ... everyone has them.  Lucky for me, I was serenaded most all night long.  Come to think of it, that's probably why I was staring at the ceiling.  

The tap tap tap ...  tap tap tap on the window was like a woodpecker on a tree.  I thought I might sneak out with my camera, but it was 36 degrees outside ... in the dark.  And then the hoo-hoo's started.  That wasn't enough to get me up, but the hiccups that followed was.  There's nothing like chugging half a bottle of water at 2 am.

I wandered around the back yard in the freezing cold, but not for long.  I counted not one, but FIVE different Hoo's, hooting for all they were worth.  I tried to record them for you, but I was too far away.  That was fun ... no use going back to bed now!

For those that have been seeing the weirdness in the sky lately, this is a Sun Dog.  It's an atmospheric phenomenon that you don't see very often.  This image was taken by a resident at the Salton Sea.  Pretty cool.  This has absolutely nothing to do with me wandering around in the middle of the night.

Might as well have breakfast.  Yes, there was a big piece of pumpkin pie sitting on this paper plate, smothered in whipped cream. 

It looked rather like this one from the day before.  My mother made me a rebel.  We were never allowed to have anything other than breakfast food for breakfast.  All these years later, I'm STILL going against the grain.  It was DELICIOUS!!

I had discovered two things the day before.  One, I was out of whipped cream, and two, Jonathan was out of bird biscuits.  Off to the little Chinese store to find some cream.  Wasn't I surprised when I discovered it had been completely remodeled and turned into a Mexican store.  Woohoo!!!  

Sadly, there was not one container of cream, but a can of ReadyWhip would work just fine.  Apparently canned yams aren't on any Mexican menu either, because they didn't even exist.  I went for the raw variety.

I quickly learned my lesson.  They take forever to cook in the microwave, have to be pealed and then smashed.  I hope Jonathan is appreciative of all the work it took to make his favorite food.  Not that he likes sweet potatoes (or yams) ... he likes the cornbread biscuit that disguises the "orange" food vitamins birds need.  Carrots also work.

But WAIT!!  What I did find was this guy outside at a huge barbecue.  What's going on here?  This is one of those Hawaiian Huli Huli barbecues that rotate the half-a-chicken pieces over a very hot fire.  

This is the result.  Of course I couldn't say no to this!!!  You get an entire chicken, 8 perfect corn tortillas and two containers of sauce for $13.00.  They make it every Saturday and Sunday, meaning I don't have to cook on the weekends.  The nice gentleman said if I didn't like it he would give me my money back.  What a nice guarantee.

No worries about that though ... one taste and I was hooked.  Oh my great aunt Sara!!  (I don't have a great aunt Sara!). But this chicken taco was amazing.  It has a different taste that I can't explain.  No I didn't smother it in hot sauce.  Ooooooeeeee that stuff could burn a hole through a piece of steel.  I barely touched the sauce spoon to the chicken and took a bite.  

OH YEAH ... it's delicious!!  I even added a little more hot sauce and stole some of Jonathan's Cole slaw.  I would say that this is going to last me for several days, but alas, Cooper loved it just as much as I did.  Guess I'll be sharing.

The rest of the day was spent watching football.  You just never know how it's going to turn out.  The Las Vegas Raiders who luckily escaped Oakland California without too many bullet holes, lost to the Kansas City Chiefs and Mr. Mahomes, who had an excellent game (having lost a few lately).

It's hard for me to sit still on the couch for more than ten minutes at a time, so I threw in a little sewing here and there, to Cooper's protestations because I disturbed his sleep.  I can't believe I had five days of doing nothing ... and magically, over night, they all disappeared.  

Today I'm off to Home Depot for another project.  At least that's the plan, which may get waylaid for a nap.  Yawn .............