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 .............

Machines ... Love Them Or Hate Them!

Good Morning from sunny California.  It may look like it's warm outside, but the temperature gauge says put on your long johns and two pairs of socks.  That's why Cooper and I snuggle in front of the fireplace in the mornings.   

After two cups of coffee, just to be sure I was awake, I began the project of the day.  I was a little nervous since I haven't done any large quilts since I got my machine set up.  It's like the difference between climbing the steps up to your RV and climbing Mount Whitney.  Little ones are a breeze ... THIS was a big challenge.

Machinery ... you either love it or you hate it.  To begin with, you have to choose a pattern.  This one had stars exactly like the fabric stars.  You never know how it's going to look until you've done enough you don't want to take out 1,000 stitches.  You are looking at a computer screen with circles so small they are not identifiable. 

I thought this pattern was small, so I enlarged it.  Obviously, not nearly large enough.  The problem is I am limited by the "throat" space.  I only have a total of 17 inches to play with.  You just never know until it's too late to switch patterns.  

Like any piece of machinery, including D9 cats and excavators, you have to listen to the sounds it makes.  That will tell you instantly if something is wrong.  I've got one ear on the quilting machine and one ear on the laundry in the back room.  It pays to be ambidextrous in that department.

We were sailing along quite nicely until I got down on the floor to play with Cooper who was bugging me.  That's when I heard it.  I couldn't get up fast enough, banging my head on the bar.  It didn't even complete ONE ROW before running out of bobbin thread.  Small patterns like this use up three times the thread.  Oh it's going to be a VERY long day. 

 It's hard to get the machine to see where it's at.  Once you stop, it thinks it's three blocks away on Elm Street.  It takes sonar, GPS and maps to get it back at the house.  And it's going to stop at least once in the middle of every single row.  Sheesh!!!

This is what it sounds like.  If screaming children bother you, you may want to mute this one.  Never EVER leave the machine and go into a room where you cannot hear.  You will regret it!!  

To compound the problem, because why not, the three pieces you are going to quilt together, loaded separately on three different bars, must be exactly square on the frame.  On a small quilt, you wouldn't notice, but on this big one, it makes a HUGE difference.  None of the pieces for this one were straight.  That means the setup guy didn't put the leaders on exactly in the middle.  Big sigh.  

Luckily  I was able to push, pull and manhandle them so it came out sort of straight ... but now I have to take them all off completely and reset everything squarely.  No one ever said this was easy!  In the end I finished the quilt after a grueling eight hours of standing and watching every second.  I like it, even though the pattern makes your eyes go wonky.  

Now completely beat up, having had to crawl under the machine numerous times, let's make those pumpkin pies!!  Should be easy, right?  Wrong!!  This recipe is made from the Pumpkin Only can.  I was a little leery since the evaporated milk cans were past dated.  

Here's the lesson I learned from my Mom when I got swatted for putting the pumpkin in the pie crust BEFORE putting it in to bake.  Pumpkin went everywhere and I spent two days cleaning the oven.  Yes, that's a Marie Callenders frozen pie shell.

This mixture made not one, but TWO pies, which is why I asked about freezing.  The one on the right came out perfect, baked in my Breville oven.  The one on the left suffered a terrible death for 45 minutes longer since my REAL oven temperature is way off.  I kept having to add 10 minutes after 10 minutes. 

There was a little pumpkin mix left over, so in my little brain I thought why not nuke it and see if it sets up.  No, no it does not.  It curdles rather nicely, looks like you already ate it and never sets up, but it tasted pretty good.  Yeah, it went in the trash.

As for the pie ... anything smothered in whipped cream will taste wonderful.  Truthfully, I again ate way too much for lunch, so this was dinner.  It was well deserved after struggling with the quilting machine all day long.

Since it's Sunday, or at least I THINK it's Sunday, I need to make a trip to the store.  The crowds should be gone by now, and with TWO pumpkin pies to eat, I require MUCH more whipped cream.  I'm thinking maybe a few 5 miles walks wouldn't be a bad idea either!!

BLACK FRIDAY!!!

It's getting chilly in Central California.  We're down to the very low 40's and wearing two layers of clothes.  It doesn't seem to bother these guys however.  There are four that I can identify.  At least SOMEONE liked the turkey!   

It was Black Friday ... did you get your buy on?  Not me, mostly because there wasn't anything I just had to have.  I admit you can get some deals out there, but generally they aren't something I want.  

I finally turned the fireplace on after messing with it for an hour.  It's gas ... and electronic.  If the controller goes bye-bye, I would have no idea how to get it to work.  Sure enough, the controller went bye-bye.  The surgeon in me came out to remove the acid covered batteries, fix the springs and reinsert one of those weird ones you can't find at the store.  

After much pushing, pulling, cleaning and banging on the table, it finally worked.  After all, it is 18 years old.  Maybe they're having a Black Friday sale on fireplaces!  It's really hard to get the pilot light to light.  I found several if I want to install it myself.  Seems fireplaces have gone out of vogue.  Not a big deal really, since the price of natural gas is now so high.  Electricity is MUCH cheaper.

You can probably guess what I had for breakfast.  Yessirree ... turkey, potatoes and gravy, stuffing ... the whole shebang.  That made Nancy sit on the couch for an hour because I was still full from the day before.  Cooper did not complain.  He loves nothing more than snuggling with his Mom.  He goes right back to sleep.  If only he would do that in the middle of the night!!

I spent the next two hours loading this quilt on my longarm.  I actually love the neutral colors of this one.  It's a queen size, so it's going to take some time to quilt.  My secret is to always start quilting in the morning when my head is on straight.  It makes it much easier to remember what you are doing!

Cooper and I finally went out for a walk near the end of the afternoon.  I was pretty surprised when I saw the sun going down at 4:30.    

I was completely shocked when I turned around and looked behind me.  This is the MOON, just as high in the sky as the sun was.  How can that be?  I think it would be fun to have some kind of toy/device that could sit on the coffee table and turn around just like the sun and moon do.  I know, I'm weird.  Maybe it would even light up like the sun.

I have to say, it was a completely boring day.  I had another round of turkey dinner for lunch.  By dinnertime, I was too full to eat anything.  I just don't want any of that goodness to go to waste.

As for the dressing recipe Dee ... it's very simple.  I made a box of Jiffy corn muffin mix and baked it in a pie pan so it would be pretty thin.  When cool, I cut it up into squares along with a few slices of homemade bread.  I spread that on a pan and put it in the oven at 250 degrees for about 40 minutes.  Then I left it out on the counter all night long.

I used my mother's recipe of half a stick of butter (more if you are making a big batch), chopped onions and chopped celery, cooking it until still a bit crunchy (it will cook more in the turkey).  Put the dried cornbread mix in a bowl, pour in the butter onion mix and add thyme, basil and poultry seasoning.  I don't know how much, I just shake the bottle, adding a little more than I think I should because I always seem to under season stuff.  Stir it up and stick it in the turkey.

If you don't want to cook it in the turkey, you can take the giblet bag of goodies and cook it on the stove in some water.  Place the cornbread mix in a casserole dish and add some of that broth.  Cover and bake maybe 30 minutes or so.  

I know, they tell you never EVER roast your turkey with stuffing inside.  Well I've been doing it for at least 50 years and I'm not dead yet, nor have I ever gotten sick.  So there's that!!!

Back to my honey do list ... the back room toilet ran all night long.  I should have known ... I have three and have already fixed two.  I knew it was coming.  

Enjoy this weekend ... I'll be shivering on the couch.  Not really, I can turn the heat up now that I have solar!!

EAT TACOS!!

This was my advice to everyone yesterday.  I should have followed it myself.  It's been a long time since I've felt the pain of eating WAY too much food.  My eyes are always bigger than my stomach.   

Here's my naked turkey.  Pretty sad looking with butter stuffed under the skin.  I think I mentioned this is NOT a Butterball turkey.

This year the Elks Lodge went with turkeys from Target for their volunteer giveaway.  Target makes nice and only charges us $.99 a pound.  No one else in the country is that cheap!!  Never look a free turkey in the mouth ... or wherever.

Looky here!!!  He turned out beautifully browned with a nice crunchy skin.  You can't go wrong with this huge roasting pan I inherited.  It's probably cooked hundreds of turkeys. 

Once the turkey was out, I went to making gravy.  Of all the things on the Thanksgiving table, mashed potatoes smothered in this gravy is my all time favorite.  It doesn't always turn out, but on this day it was perfect!!  I even surprised myself.

This however ... THIS describes my cooking better than anything I can say.  Cooper got the first bite of turkey.  He unceremoniously spit it out on the floor.  ARE YOU KIDDING???  Is it really THAT BAD?  Yes, yes it was.

How can I share with you the flavor.  If you have ever had a nice grain-fed fillet mignon from a steak house, then had a piece of grass fed beef, you will just know.  The difference in texture and flavor is incredible.  Incredibly BAD that is.  This was definitely a grass fed turkey.  It was tough, though juicy, but the flavor was awful.

No matter, I smothered it in gravy and ate it.  I'm surely not going to waste all that meat.  I dove in to the homemade bread and cornbread dressing.  Oh my gosh it was WONDERFUL!!  Best dressing I've ever eaten, and nothing is better in my book than mashed potatoes smothered in gravy.  I even stuck in two Kings Hawaiian rolls.  The salad had apples and cranberries, but got completely overshadowed by the rest of dinner.

Naturally, I ate WAY too much.  I didn't even pull out the key lime cheesecake, nor did I eat dinner.  No worries, I've got breakfast, lunch and dinner covered for the two weeks!!

You're not going to believe this ... I even used my dishwasher.  I think it's been several years since it was turned on.  It ran for three hours and I didn't care.  Sadly however, I had to scrub that roasting pan in the too small sink and knocked my all time favorite Maui coffee cup to the floor.  Coffee will never be the same again.

Thank you everyone for the pumpkin pie advice ... I'll be making two pies today, cutting them in half and freezing them.  

And thank you to all the hubbies out there who gave me advice on my truck shocks.  Noble Sports recommended Bilstein shocks all around for the same price as the other shop.  I've never had a truck more than ten years, so fixing this stuff has never been in question.  

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving with friends and family.  My "kids" enjoyed the food .... well except for the turkey ... and the company.  It was a GREAT day!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Today is the day!!  Let's stuff ourselves with good food and watch a little football.  It looks like there are games to keep you out of the cook's hair all day long!!   

It's early here as I sit and play games on my phone to the light of the Christmas tree.  It's a no-no I know.  NO Christmas trees until AFTER Thanksgiving.  Here's the thing though ... it reminds me to be thankful for every day and for good friends I've met through all the blogs I read.  You have become my family and I am ever thankful for that.

And so it's time!  Time to dig that turkey out of the fridge and pray that it has defrosted.  I'm surprised to hear so many people are roasting pork this year.  I'm too traditional for that I guess.  I'm all about the turkey leftovers being made into sandwiches, casseroles and other things that completely disguise the taste of turkey.

The first order of the day was to make the stuffing.  I love it, but it doesn't love me.  This year, for the very first time, I'm making my own.  I cut up some of the homemade bread I had left over in the freezer (which doesn't bother me for some weird reason) and baked up a batch of cornbread.  

Once done, I chopped that up and stuck it all in the oven to dry.  No fire alarms were heard, but it's early.  Of course who can make cornbread without having a chunk.  That's weird .. it needs salt.  I guess it will be fine after swimming in that pound of butter and onions.  

Next up ..... bacon.  Who doesn't love THIS!!  The plan was to smother the green beans with this beautiful piggy delicious creation, but alas, I forgot to buy them.  No worries, this will be great in the stuffing.

I did have a burst of energy about 10:00, which led to the hanging of the second drapery rod.  Sadly, I can't find the quilt I wanted to hang.  I know it's somewhere, I just don't know where.  

I talked to St Anthony a lot in this endeavor.  For the life of me I could not find the brackets.  Then the screwdriver disappeared.  It was a sign.  When I finally remembered where to look, and got the rod hung up, it was 1-1/2 inches too high.  Big sigh!!!  Yessirree ... that's my luck.  There was another tiny spot on the wall next to the REAL spot.  I took it all down, made a new hole and hung it back up.  You KNOW that little plastic gizzy is never coming out without making a BIG hole.  No one will notice, right?

I hope that's not an omen of my turkey cooking for today.  Just in case, I took all the batteries out of the smoke detectors.  Maybe eating tacos for Thanksgiving is not such a bad idea after all.

Here's breakfast and lunch.  There's a very nice couple from Bingo who make tamales every year.  NOT the one who made me sick.  These are made in a nice clean kitchen.  They are delicious with a capital D.  They would be better if I had some decent salsa, but just tomatoes will have to do until I get back to the store.  

Where's the pie you ask?  Well .... I bought the wrong size can of pumpkin.  There's enough there to make six pies.  So here's my question of you good cooks out there ... can I freeze pumpkin pie?  

And one question for the men.  My 2005 Chevy Silverado with 130,000 miles on it needs shocks I'm being told.  I guess I should have gotten them at around 80,000 miles.  Any suggestions on what kind?

Lastly, I hope everyone has a fabulous Thanksgiving with their families and friends.  I'm really very thankful for all of you!!!

LET THE FOOTBALL BEGIN!!

Another Night In The Castle

 There is frost on the pumpkin this morning!!  That makes my morning cup of coffee taste even better!!  It's a lovely 45 degrees, heading on down to the 30's later in the week.  Winter has apparently decided to sneak in like a lamb.  I'll remember that since I absolutely FROZE last night at Bingo.  

Yessirree ... it was once again Tuesday ... a night of unrest and fighting in the Castle.

The Knights met up in the turret to gird their loins against the peasants for yet another night of Bingo.  The smart ones disappeared to attend family celebrations of Thanksgiving.  Little did we know, those of us left wouldn't be all that thankful for this night.

Really, it wasn't all that bad.  My Fairy Godmother showed up early and had everything set up.  She who must be first in line did not.  Thank you for small favors.

We always expect it to be a slow night before Thanksgiving since most of these elderly folks are the ones cooking Thanksgiving dinner.  That means they have to buy a turkey unless they were lucky enough to win one of the ten given out the week before.  Although I heard about a couple of sales, turkeys were running around $2.50 a pound, compared to the usual .99 a pound.  You know who to thank for that.

And slow it was.  Our usual numbers run around 120.  On this night we barely hit 72.  That means the payouts are smaller for ten of the games.  We actually play 22 games throughout the night.  

We were cruising right along until one of the Knights came to tell me there were two people playing only two cards.  Minimum buy-in is two PER PERSON.  Seems the second guy didn't have a receipt, meaning the lady bought two books, giving one to her partner to play.  Thats a no-no, and everyone knows it.  

Chaos erupted when he got a Bingo!  If I have to buy two books, YOU have to buy two books.  Lucky me, I got to sit back and watch the melee.  I called over the Head Knight since the King was out of the country.  Too late.  Someone slipped the winner a receipt.  I'm positive that guy did not go through my line and buy books, but what can you do.  It always surprises me what people will do for a few bucks.  It was only $25 since that pot had to be split four ways.

There were a few other spats throughout the night.  We have three callers of the numbers, and some people don't like the way they call.  I don't know ... you just say the number, but sometimes they are too fast or too slow.  It's always something.  We were very shorthanded since most of the Castle volunteers were off visiting other castles.  

At long last I got to leave after counting on my fingers and toes for 30 minutes.  It seems the Castle does not carry backup batteries for my calculator. 

It was a long night of nightmares, so I'm thankful I have four days in a row with no Elks duties.  I do have to cook the turkey for Cooper and I to share, so I'm glad I got all the smoke alarms fixed.  And since I didn't get home until 11:00 (having risen at 3:30 your time), I'm a little drug out this morning.  Maybe a nice walk in the cold air will help, after which don't knock on my door because I'll be busy holding the couch down.