Out of the blue...

I've been going through hundreds of pictures, trying to sort out good images for the family book I try to put together for the grandparents at Christmas, and found some that I wanted to share with you back in October, but life got busy.  So they are chronologically out of place, here, and will seem really strange now that it's November, but I'm going to post them anyway.

Pluhar Ranch (what it was when I married in), now Lang's Fork is opposed to horses on the place. Pretty adamantly opposed, I might add.  Neither Wayland or his dad are riders; in fact, I think Wayland has only been on a horse twice in his life and never cares to try it again.  Some people are born farmers (this is not a bad thing) and are much more comfortable with machinery as means of moving livestock.  I grew up on a ranch that used ONLY horses (and the occasional bumper of a pickup on bulls) and miss them.  I've been here 13 years and have never seen a horse even come near the border of the place.  So, when my father-in-law told me that our neighbors, Jack and Glen, were bringing their horses over so we could doctor some BIG steer calves, I thought he'd been drinking.  This is big, folks! 

Of course, we took the camera.
It was Wayland's little camera, because I was helping with the process, too, and couldn't very well have my big old Canon hanging around my neck, so the pictures are snapshots.  But still....they're proof that there WERE horses on the place.  And nothing apocalyptic happened! 

Sizing up the bunch...the calves are really big, in October, so it's not like roping them for branding in June.

Caught one!

You see the wrestlers, wisely moving out of the way.  They took a lot of abuse that afternoon and had to step lively on several occasions!

Turned the calf to heel him....

Moving in to doctor.

Concerned mama cow, certain that her baby was being tortured, and not happy about the proceedings!

I love this picture! Check out the cows in the background; you see how they stretch their necks out to bawl for their babies? In books, they're always standing there, rather pleasantly moo-ing, but in real life, when they want to make some noise, they use their whole body.  And they can sure make a ruckus!  The cow in the forefront is suspicious of me with the camera, but she has no time to investigate, really.  We had a tough time with her because she kept rushing the gate when we tried to turn the calf back in with the cows. 

This picture has no significance, other than I liked the perspective and the ropes.



I tried to post the pictures in a larger size, but it cuts off a lot of the image and you miss the WHOLE scene...I think you really need the "big picture" for things like this.

Now.

I'll probably be in trouble for revealing to the entire world that there were horses, here; after all, we have a reputation to uphold.  But I'm guessing it's sort of like those comets that only pass by once every 40 years or so, and there should be some evidence of it for posterity.

JOY

Thanksgiving Pics

This is what the train looks like to a 5 year old....(except more clear in real life, I would hope)

I love watching the country go by, especially in the mountains.

Angus was a curtain nazi, though, and HAD to have them closed.  Whoever sat with him spent the entire time shielded from the light, and sadly, the view.

The kids had a clubhouse (that you can't see in this pic) and they decorated it for Christmas, along with their "yard"! It kept them busy for hours, this clubhouse.

Wayland and Ivan, shooting clay pigeons.  It was so cold that the hand launcher wouldn't work, so they just pitched 'em. 

All dressed up to go to the Nutcracker!

I wish we had pictures from that experience, but this is pretty much it.

Thanksgiving, at last...

We had a great Thanksgiving, in Bigfork! I've been trying to write this post for almost a week, getting all bogged down and overwhelmed with the magnitude of it; I get halfway through the train ride, quit writing because I have to do something silly like make dinner or shower or pick the child up off the bus, and I can't figure out where to pick it back up, so I trash it and start over....
But I want to do it!
SO.
To make it manageable, it's going to be a Top Ten post.  It won't be all-inclusive, but we'll just have to live with it and move on.
Without further ado:

Top Ten Great Things About Thanksgiving 2011

1. Riding the train with my family. We had a great time and the kids were unbelievably good!
2. Seeing the Nutcracker ballet in Bigfork...I can't begin to describe how magical it was.
3. Having everyone together for Thanksgiving for the first time. It was crowded, but we weren't missing anyone and THAT was a blessing.
4. The food.  (I know you were wondering when I'd get to that...) There was a LOT of food and it was all good.  Every day.  Except Frank took the gravy home (accidentally, he claims) leaving us with naked leftover mashed potatoes, but I'm not bitter or anything.
5. Shooting (at) clay pigeons on Thanksgiving morning with Wayland, Ivan and Jenny. I didn't hit many, but remembered that I like shooting!
6. Running in the mountains...it's just flat gorgeous, there. My runs were longer because of the scenery.
7. Morning coffee with Celestia, in our jammies.
8. Doing dishes after Thanksgiving dinner, all us "kids" laughing and visiting, Pink Martini playing in the background.
9. Cheesecake. 'Nuff said.
10. Making a new friend, a kindred spirit.

Top Ten Not-So-Great Things About Thanksgiving 2011

1. Delayed train...three hours delayed...for the return trip. We got home late and grumpy.
2. 14 bodies in an 8 body house. Everyone got along and it was cool, but it was FULL. It would be better in the summer, when we could all set up tents or something.
3. Did I tell you that Frank STOLE the gravy? (Now I'm just picking on him...) :)
4. Some varmint got into the pie and cheesecake, that we were storing outside since the fridge was too full. We're not pointing fingers and understand how a critter would not be able to stop eating that stuff.
5. We swapped germs and came home with colds. I have no idea what we shared with everyone else, but I'll just apologize right here.
6. Not enough time with each person I wanted to have time with...across the board.
7. I didn't take my big camera and I wish I had.  I felt handicapped, artistically speaking!

I really can't come up with any more things for that list; technically not a TRUE Top Ten list, but it'll have to do. I think I have about 4 photos that I'll attach here later!

I don't know why, but this makes me grin....

We take a break in our regularly scheduled posting...

...to bring you Crazy Mary Q and A.
That's right.
TOASTBA wants to know:

1-What is your favorite holiday cartoon/TV show? Feature length movies are strictly prohibited, here, but all holidays are eligible.

This is tough.  I have two that are near and dear to my heart, that we almost always saw at Grandma's house every year: The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and The Charlie Brown Christmas. I absolutely LOVE the little dog Max, in the Grinch.  I also like the animation, the crookedy trees with bobbly ornaments, the Who-Hash, how completely wicked the Grinch is about pulling the nails out of the stockings, how he sews his costume like a first grader would and yet it works...all of it.

 BUT....in the The Charlie Brown Christmas, there's the little tree that bends over with the weight of one lousy ornament; I've had that tree! (In fact, all the tinsel-y, tin trees in the lot convinced me to always, always have a real one, no matter how messy or lopsided they are.) There's the organizing of the Christmas play with no one paying attention; I've been there, Charlie Brown...believe me, I feel your pain.  And there's the scene where Linus tells the Christmas story onstage.  That's what makes it my favorite holiday cartoon...the absolute simple, beautiful Truth.  And I almost always cry, even though I think "This year, I won't!"

 
2-If you could get the autograph of any one person alive today, who would it be? What item would you have them sign?
Well....since I already HAVE the autographs of Homer Hickam, Susan Kushner Resnick and Shelly Reeves Smith in their books, my top three are out of the running.  :)
This question proved harder than I thought, and I put some time into it.
Here's the kicker: I don't just want a hastily scribbled signature on, say, a football that was thrust into the hands of the signer.  I want them to look me in the eye, talk for a couple minutes, and connect. I want it to mean something.  
I want Joe Montana to sign my raggedy old 49ers jersey.  
I know.
It was almost Sandra Day O'Connor on a gavel, but I went with the athlete because I've loved him since I was 15 and you know that football is a passion for me.  I greatly admire S.D.O., but it's JOE MONTANA, for heaven's sake!  There you go. 

3-What's your favorite picture that you've ever taken?
This makes me laugh! It's like asking which is my favorite child! And I sifted through the pictures, mentally, unable to choose for a long time.  I love taking pictures of people...not so good with scenery...and it was impossible to make a choice on a people picture because each one had its own special memory and weight, its own photographic composition that pleased me.  Finally, I came up with one that is just weird, but I sort of shake my head every time I look at it.  It's entirely serendipitous, completely amazing that all things conspired to make it work....and it's a cow picture.

Bull, cow, calf...standing perfectly in a row, shoulder to shoulder, looking forward, with all the right tags in a field of good grass.

This is a picture that couldn't be set up if anyone tried, but it's a great capture of the bovine family unit.  Makes me smile, shake my head, look again....and it's probably meaningful to only a handful of people!

4-How do you like Tim Tebow's chances to start for the Broncos again next year?
How do I LIKE his chances? I like them.  I think the Broncos need to get a bigger picture, though, because one man does not a football team make and their offensive line needs some sincere help.  I don't know if they need to can some guys, train 'em, get a better O coach or draft new ones, but they need help.  And Tebow can be brilliant, but if he gets taken out by a big defender while he's trying to rush, having no other choice, then there goes the team. 
Tebow's obviously going to start for the Broncos next year, no doubt there.  And he should; he's put in the work and proven that he can lead.  Or get away from the opposition.  I just don't think he should be tagged the team's savior (a title I'm sure he loathes) and their big hope for ultimate success. 
(Sorry, Steve Brock, for all the football here, but I had to! The cow picture should've helped, though, right?)


5-How do you handle the last drop of food that gets stuck at the rim or lid of a jar when you pour it out? You know--like that little dab of ranch dressing or BBQ sauce or picante that doesn't actually make it onto your plate but doesn't get sucked back into the bottle, either. Do you lick the lid? Or wipe it off with a cloth? Or just mash the lid on and throw it back in the fridge to get all crusty and nasty? Something else?
EW!
Wipe it off!
My goodness....
(I know you thought I was going to let the dog lick it off, but I'm not THAT crazy...)

Well, hello friends...

It seems like a month since I've been here, written to you, laughed about crazy things....like why our dog food bag says, "Improved Flavor!"; who would know that? Seriously? Do you think some poor guy is hanging out at Purina, tasting dog chow?
"Oh...YEAH!...THAT is MUCH improved, Bob! Slap the label on there!"

I feel almost like starting out like Garrison Keillor:
"It's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon, my hometown..."
Except that I haven't actually BEEN in Cohagen for the last week, really.  We loaded the family up and boarded a train in Glasgow, MT (not to be confused with Glasgow, Scotland, Alice), rumbled across the High Line of the state to Bigfork for Thanksgiving, and time in the mountains with friends we call family. 

To catch you up to that point, however, you need to know a couple things:

1. The Harvest Supper/Pie Auction went brilliantly, with the community coming together and supporting our little school as they usually do, whole-heartedly and appreciatively.  Who won the Pie War, you're wondering? Well....I did, between Traci and I, but I think Susie Milam took us BOTH out with her chocolate-mocha-frozen-ice cream-homemade fudge sauce on top pie.  As well she should have! I mean, my goodness...!

2. This is sad news; Daisy's calf Rosie died on Saturday before Thanksgiving, taking the OC herd back down to one.  I'm still very sad about it, and I don't really know what to say except that this is the cattle business, however small, and these things happen.  But 50% of a herd is sort of a big deal.  I have her little eartag and am trying to think about next spring and Daisy's upcoming calf.

3. I had my first root canal on the Monday before we left.  I can honestly say that I'd rather give birth than have a root canal done.  And it wasn't that I had a bad dentist...quite the opposite; Dr. Matthews is great, and listens to me as I'm drooling and shaking, adding liberal doses of anasthetic.  I'm just that big a wimp, when it comes to dentists.  But I lived and it's all much better.  Still...this was a noteworthy event in my life!

Now, then...
I feel I need to do a separate Thanksgiving post, because this is just a catch-up, clean-up, check-in post, so that's tomorrow.  This evening, I'll leave you with a couple pictures from the Harvest Dinner!  I didn't take many because that darn tooth was hurting like crazy and I had two options: slumped in the corner with a hydracodone coma...OR...alert and hurting.  I chose the alert because there WAS a Pie War going on, you know, and Traci is beguiling.  I couldn't trust that my sour cream raisin meringue, bourbon pecan, and fresh lemon meringue pie could each hold their own against her flirty ways...

We had cowboys and Pilgrims and Indians.  One Pilgrim was a bit surly, because she thought she was more suited to being an Indian, but eventually got over it.  Pilgrims don't wear feathers.  Or fringe.  Or headbands.

The tribe...

A very serious trapper with a clip on tie under his neckerchief...one never knows when one might be called upon to mediate a trade and it's vital to have the proper wardrobe.

Customers!  Friends and family! Pie bidders!

Our friendly, courteous staff is eager to serve you...

Ham, roast beef, cheesy potatoes, rolls, corn, applesauce, pie, coffee or cider, pie; you get the idea!

Traci, coercing a bid, I'm sure....or demonstrating her square-dance prowess.  Not sure, really. It was entertaining, obviously!

The Thanksgiving reader's theatre/dang cute kid display.  Mrs. Carroll just gathered up any old kid, costume or not, student or not, to join the Cohagen students up on stage.  It's not shocking at all (to us in Cohagen) that you can't tell the costumed ones from the ones off the street, so to speak. 

The lemon meringue, before it made its way to the community hall for the Pie War; isn't it pretty? But not pretty enough to beat Susie M....alas! Next year.  Watch out for next year's pie!

Mrs. Eunice Surle's Mardi Gras Party Cake

(Because I know Aunt Bert will want the recipe...)

Typed EXACTLY as it was in the cookbook!
Even with ingredients in bold type....

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Melt............2/3 cup Nestle's Butterscotch Morsels in
                   1/4 cup water, in saucepan.  Cool.

Sift
Together.....2 1/4 cups sifted Pillsbury's BEST All Purpose Flour
                    1 tsp Morton salt
                    1 tsp soda and
                    1/2 tsp double acting baking powder.  Set aside

Add...........1 1/4 cups sugar gradually to
                    1/2 cup shortening (part butter may be used), creaming well.

Blend in.....3 unbeaten eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.  Blend in melted butterscotch morsels;
                   mix well.

Add...........the dry ingredients alternately with
                  1 cup buttermilk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.  Blend thoroughly after each
                   addition. (With electric mixer, use a low speed.)

Turn............into two 9 inch round layer pans, well greased and lightly floured on the bottoms.

Bake...........at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes until cake springs back when touched lightly in center.
                   Cool; spread Filling between layers and on top to within 1/2 inch of edge.  Frost sides and
                    top edge with Sea Foam Frosting or whipped cream.

Butterscotch Filling

Combine 1/2 cup sugar and 1 T cornstarch in 2-quart saucepan.  Stir in 1/2 cup evaporated milk, 1/3 cup water, 1/3 cup Nestle's Butterscotch Morsels and 1 beaten egg yolk.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick.  Remove from heat; add 2 T butter, 1 cup coconut, chopped, and 1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped.  Cool.

Sea Foam Frosting

Combine in saucepan 1/3 cup sugar, 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar, 1/3 cup water and 1 T corn syrup.  Cook until a little syrup dropped in cold water forms a soft ball (236 degrees F).  Meanwhile, beat 1 egg white with 1/4 tsp French's Cream of Tartar until stiff peaks form.  Add syrup to egg white in slow, steady stream, beating constantly until thick enough to spread.

Mrs. Eunice Surles

...of Lake Charles, Lousiana really couldn't believe it when her cake won the first grand prize.  She's baked many a cake in her life, often for her church suppers, but never with such a triumph as this.  The recipe is from the long-ago days of the South, high in glamour as well as the taste.

Isn't that EXCITING?!

I don't know about you, but with a billing like that on the back cover, I HAD to buy the little

Pillsbury's BEST 11th Grand National Bake-Off Cookbook

to get the high glamour, triumphant Southern cake recipe submitted by Mrs. Surles.

100 Prize-Winning Recipes for 25 cents!

I couldn't go wrong.

And I was not disappointed....

More on Mrs. Eunice Surles:

I think the dear lady also devotes much of her time to eating her very own wares, bless her heart!

Are you dying to see the $25,000 Mardi Gras cake?

(And doesn't it make you chuckle to think of Mrs. Surles baking something so daring and festive? Mercy!)

I know you can't read the text in the top corner, telling you yet MORE about Mrs. Surles, but this is what it says:

Eunice G. Surles of Lake Charles, Louisiana, is a widow who lives alone in a three-bedroom apartment.  She's a cooking hobbyist and has won a number of contests with her fancy baking.  Mrs. Surles plans to use her $25,000 Grand Prize money to improve her property.

I don't know how she intended to improve her three bedroom apartment, but I'm wildly guessing it wasn't by purchasing something so frivolous as a canopy bed....

Here's the spread on the actual contest.

Please note that everyone is polished and smiling, even as they measure their Pillsbury's BEST flour...

In the bottom right-hand corner you'll see a group of women sitting around a table.

The caption there reads:

Behind closed and well guarded doors, top food editors from newspapers and magazines judged each of the 100 best recipes of the year before selecting prize winners.

I shudder to think what sort of bribery and strong-arming would've gone on, had the doors not been well guarded.

The little cookbook really does have some good recipes, with the exception of Sheila Pittman's Cookie Cakes which not only contain small pieces of diced prunes, but also are coated in a prune glaze.

And Donna Jean Izzo's Pizza Pancakes.

And Senora Yolanda de Lizardo's Chicken Rico Ring.

(I swear, I'm not making Sra de Lizardo's name up! Isn't it the bomb?!)

There WERE a couple pie recipes in there, but I think I'll stick with my original plan.

Pie Wars

It all starts out so innocently....
with a harvest dinner to raise money for an interactive white board for the school. 
And then, in a flash of brilliance, it is decided to have a silent auction for pies!  Yes!  Who doesn't love pies?  With Thanksgiving just around the corner, folks can buy a pie at the auction, stick in their freezer, whip it out on Wednesday before to thaw and voila! baking done!

Yesterday, over coffee and amidst the clamor of tired kids, my friend Traci and I were sorting out the details of the dinner; assigning jobs, figuring out who cooks what, drawing up a floor plan (complete with little circles on the big rectangle to represent pies on a table).  We were visiting about the pie-lent auction and Traci unknowingly threw down the first challenge while I was planning the sign up sheets: "Yeah!  And we could see whose pie brings the most money!"

The Great Pie War of 2011

We both laughed and I patted her on the shoulder; in that chuckle, though,we both KNEW at THAT instant that we were destined to be fighting for the prize with our pastry.  We agreed to be friends, no matter how it turned out, but it's definitely on....

We have a little background in friendly competition.
One summer, we decided to see who could walk the most miles in a month, for fitness purposes.  It started out very nicely, each of us turning in our mileage every couple days and encouraging one another.  But then, about 7 days into the competition, the tone changed.  I HAD to win.  And, as it turns out, so did she.  We were killing ourselves to rack up the miles.  I mean to tell you...I went to Butte for a MASBO conference and worried like everything that while I was sitting in workshops on school finance that she'd be inching up in miles.  So I doubled mine up before I left, AND walked while I was there.  Just in case.  Traci developed plantar fasciitus in her quest to squash me.  It was not pretty. 

But bless her heart, she presented me with my winning trophy at one of her family functions, in front of everyone...a little tennis shoe charm that is one of my most cherished possesions.  And we laughed and hugged, realizing that perhaps we were both perhaps a little too competitive for our own good.

That was a few years ago.
I'm sure we've outgrown that silly sort of behavior...

I'd like to invite all the Chronicles readers to come to Cohagen Gym next Friday evening, November 18th, starting at 5:30 p.m. and bid on the bourbon pecan pie or the sour cream raisin pie with miracle meringue topping.  Remember...it's for a good cause!  (The interactive smart board is a pretty good reason, too, if you have to have another.)

*I was just told that my bum calves brought $800 dollars, total, at the sale barn on Tuesday.  I know my husband is going to be standing close to the pie-lent auction table, making sure I don't bid my own pies up with this funding....
**As if I'd do that....

(I'd like to note that this war is not between anyone but Traci and I.  If it was over ALL the pies, we'd just have to hand the ribbon over to Nancy Horn before it even began...)

HELP!

I need help with html.
(No, that does NOT mean "hot meal".  If that's what you thought, you are A.) obviously more into cooking than computers; call me.  or B.) not in touch with your inner nerd; really probably a good thing in the long run but of no service to me at this time, thanks anyway!)

I really want to get rid of the little "New Blog!" flag on the upper left hand corner of the Chronicles banner, but I can't find it in my html code!

Any ideas?
And it doesn't have to disappear, but I DO have to change the words.  It's not a new blog.  It's ancient. 
Any ideas on what to change the wording to?

AND...
I'm unable to comment on certain blogs!  Marina's simply hates me! I can't find ANYWHERE to comment on Christine's, but perhaps she doesn't want comments. There's THAT.  Traci's makes me use Anonymous and I'm always worried that crazy "Really-and-truly-the-original-and-ONLY-Anonymous" person is going to find me and discipline me for using that function. 

If you can,
HELP me!!!

A Veggie Tale

If you're a sensitive lover of vegetables, look away...this post is not for the weak of heart!

This is a photo of what remains of a romaine lettuce head.  Or maybe it's the heart. 
Either way, it was a disturbing find on the counter when I was doing dishes a few days ago.  Moved aside a plate and AAAAGGHGHGH!!!  Oh, the carnage...!

I have a child who requests the end of the lettuce head, who turns down cookies for carrots, who can't understand why other children don't eat red bell pepper slices like candy, who paws through the fridge for things like celery and sugar pea pods for a snack. 

In the sage words of Jeff Foxworthy: "That ain't RIGHT."

This child will take the lettuce off her hamburger and eat it first, before anything else on her plate.
She's the one who happily tells me at mealtime, "Thanks, Mom, for the salad; lettuce is SUCH a treat!!"
Other moms hide vegetables in the dishes they serve their families, hoping they'll accidentally ingest zucchini slivers in their spaghetti sauce before they realize what happened.  I just lay vegetables out on the counter and they're gone.  Handy, huh?  Sure saves a lot of scheming and fine mincing on my part! 

I can't even begin to comprehend veggie-love at this level.
I like vegetables, but I can tell you I've never been passionate about them. 
I'm more of a carrot cake sort of person. 
My kid would rather have just the carrots, thank you very much, and get rid of all that yucky sweet cake junk you have wrapped around it!

So when we come to your house for a visit, lock up your lettuce.  Hide the cucumbers in a cake mix box.  Put the pea pods under the soda pop cans.
I'm trying to save you from the horrors I encounter every day, the corpses of vegetables lying on the counter on their paper towel shrouds....

One Thousand Gifts

Do you know?
I believe I could find one thousand gifts...little reasons to be grateful for grace...right there in our bookclub.  Maybe in one evening, even! 
Well, that might be a bit much...I mean, I'd be writing things down like, "Grateful for secretly procurred toothpicks to spear pickles while Traci isn't looking" and "Ice cubes that melt slowly" and "The second sentence about mold in the thirteenth chapter of the book."

Our book this month WAS entitled One Thousand Gifts, by Ann Voskamp, and it was essentially about recognizing and giving thanks for God's gifts of grace in our lives.  What a timely selection, hm?!  And it was a good, thought-provoking book, although I had a hard time with the author's style of writing.  All I can say is that it's rich; like a really rich dessert that one can only eat a little bit of, then needs to take a break or it's overwhelmingly too much.  It's not a bad thing, it's just a book I had to pace myself in or I would start feeling ill, because I couldn't handle the intense descriptions of life. 

It highlighted how we all could be more aware of the little quotidian joys and blessings that surround us, daily.  Traci first read it during a hard month last winter and it helped her outlook immensely.  During the winter, here, we all really struggle with cabin fever, everyone and everything getting on our nerves, feelings of despair, bleak views out our windows.  It's easy to get down.  She said it helped her recognize the true blessings and get over the little irritations in her life at that time. 

We had a great discussion, chewing on different ideas we pulled out of the book, talking about individual blessings, big and small. 

Speaking of chewing....

We also had a really good meal.
(I know.  This shocks you.)
*insert sarcastic tone, here*

Traci made gumbo, which after she told us the ingredients, we realized it contained nearly every major meat possible: ham, shrimp, crab, sausage (I think it was a beef based sausage), chicken,  loads of veggies and great spices.
I ate too much, but it was wonderful!

We had sweet potato rolls, pasta salad, spinach salad, and these incredible pinwheel appetizers that Joni made!  (Joni C. of "I don't really cook all that often, so don't expect big things from me" reknown.) They had bacon and cheese and olives and bacon in them (I meant to do that); I ate too much, but it was wonderful!

Anne brought weird beverages that we loved!  Fauhncy root beer in vintage apothecary looking bottles, a berry fizzy malt beverage that was sort of like strawberry champagne only softer, and wine.  (She'd just been to Bozeman and was giddy with the access to all the frou-frou beverages!) I drank just enough, and it was wonderful!

We ALSO had homemade apple pie, this too from Joni Don't-Expect-Big-Things C.

topped with homemade ice cream that froze while we ate the rest of the meal.

(She didn't want me to take her picture holding the pie, so here is a picture that she can't squawk about.  Pretend the meat is a pie and you'll have the general idea of what she looked like holding it...)

Here's the actual pie:

Incidentally, I ate too much, and it was wonderful!

Here's a shot of my plate, before the decimation began...

Marisa's boys joined us for bookclub and they were, of course, adorable and well-behaved all evening. (Comes from the Mosby side of the family....)

(I have a cousin who just fell off his chair laughing, after reading that.  The best part is, he IS a Mosby, so he should be standing and applauding, saying "That's RIGHT!")

Everett loved Sweetie Boy, the cat, but I can say without hesitation that the feeling wasn't mutual.

Check out the truly irritated demeanor of the cat, as evidenced by the glare of his eyes and the slant of his ears...

(You see Finn, there in the background....)

I'll start the count on the 1000 Gifts of bookclub:

1. We are thankful for fun evenings with amazing friends (and wine)...

2. Dinosaurs and good books...

(How many bookclubs are thankful for dinosaurs, I wonder?)

3. HOMEMADE APPLE PIE AND ICE CREAM!

(On pretty china, no less!)

4. Happy babies that let us smooch them with ice cream-y lips and coffee breath...

Okay, he doesn't look so happy here....he's tired from all the smooching and it's almost time to go home.

Next month, we meet at Susie's house! We're all excited about that, because none of us has ever been to the beginning of the end of nowhere, except me when I was a little kid but that's been a few years.  I'll let you know the book when we know; Susie was gone for this bookclub and I teased her about choosing a Harlequin.  She may, just to drive me insane, so stay tuned!

Mental Diarrhea...

THAT got your attention, didn't it?!
(Oh, how I hope my mother doesn't read this...)

I've got all sorts of little, insignificant thoughts that can't stand alone as a post, but I feel the overwhelming (and probably ill-advised) need to share them with you. 

For instance...
Nearly every morning, when I run, I meet this grumpy old skunk who is trundling back to his burrow after a long night of carousing up and down the creek.  We've gotten sort of accustomed to one another; I holler so he knows I'm coming, he raises his tail in greeting, we keep going.  This is going to sound completely deranged, but I've gotten to where I look forward to seeing him and am disappointed when he's not there.

It's pie season!  Yes!  Remember last year, when I went through about a month of sincere pie-love?  It's back.  Cohagen School is having a harvest dinner/pie auction on November 18th, and I think I should start practicing now.  Sour cream raisin pie....I think there's probably only one person in ten that like a sour cream raisin pie and I'm that one, here.  With meringue.  *sigh*  Pie love...there'll be more on this, later. (Incidentally, if you're planning on coming to the harvest dinner and think you'd like to bid on a pie, I will take requests now, to ensure that your favorite kind is there.  And if I can't do it, I know of a couple other pie girls who CAN!)

My bum calves, Lily and Willy, are gone.  I know.  I'm a little sad.  Do you know what makes me cry, about this?  It's not that they're going to be hamburger soon...although that's not a pleasant thought, either.  It's the thought of how scared and bewildered they must've been at the sale barn, how frightening the sale ring was for them.  Every year, that nearly kills me.  But next spring will come, with new flower-baby bums, and we'll start all over again!

This is out of the blue, but do you watch the music/movie awards shows?  I usually don't, simply because they're deadly boring.  But when I DO, it brings out the worst in me; for about thirty minutes, I find myself cattily looking at the over-the-top fashion (good and bad), watching the faces of the nominees, rolling my eyes at the acceptance speeches.  Last night was the CMA awards and I got sucked in because Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood were hosting, picking on EVERY person in country music.  It was highly entertaining when they brought out the Tim McGraw and Faith Hill Barbie dolls. And this morning, I notice that everyone is all in a fluff that Taylor Swift got Entertainer of the Year.  Drama, drama, drama...(She had a lovely dress and wore it well.  Drats. I can't even disparage her fashion sense...)

Today is Sara Hagedorn Calvert's birthday!  Huzzah! Now THERE'S a girl who can understand pie love, sad bum goodbyes, and friendly skunks....  :)  Think Bon Appetit meets Agri-news.  She's a treasure of a friend and I'm so grateful she e-ntroduced herself last year.  Happy birthday, Sara!

Tonight is bookclub; we've been reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp and you'll get the report/menu tomorrow.  I know.  You'll be waiting breathlessly until then....

That's all for right now.
See? It wasn't as bad as you'd imagined after reading the title of the post, right?

But, it's just make up!

Because she won't tell you herself, unless you accidentally trip over some of her pink and black boxes, my sister is now officially selling Mary Kay.  Yes!

And Saturday evening she had what the invitation termed as an open house, but what she referred to as her "coming out of the closet" get-together. It was a big deal for her, as well it should be, and she'd cleaned and baked and fluffed and prepped all day for the shindig; as the day went, though, friends started calling and cancelling.  Su much so that when I talked with Jen at 1:30 p.m., she sounded sort of frantic and begged me to come so she wouldn't get skunked.  Please?

Well, what's a sister to do?! I had to go.  I know how it feels to have a party that no one can make it to.  And I didn't want her sitting there in her pretty dress, in her clean house, looking all sad and drowning her sorrows by eating the whole Double Chocolate Bailey's Irish Cream cake by herself.  I mean, if she's goona be sad and eat cake, I should be there to join in and support her in any way I can.

The weather was AWFUL.  The morning was just cold, but it started snowing that afternoon and just wasn't going to let up.  I thought it wouldn't be so bad, because I'd get in to Miles when it was relatively light and evaluate whether to risk the roads after the party.  I told Wayland that I'd turn around if the roads got too bad...no big deal.  And took off, thinking of all the times Jen had come through for me. 

As far as the road went, they were alright, except for the last 70 miles.  Those were white-knuckle, tense shoulder, 40 mph, blowing and melting and freezing sorts of miles.  I kept thinking I'd run out of it.  By the time I decided to turn around, I was closer to Miles than home, so may as well plow on in...

It took 1 1/2 hours to get there. 
Yeah.

I was 15 minutes late, missed the big shpiel, had to hurry up with the interview card, and was all twitchy from the trip and the football game I could hear on in the next room.  This is love: that I would miss the biggest college football game of the year to apply moisturizer and make-up with the girls.

It turned out that a couple of friends who thought they couldn't come, did, and Mom was there, too, so there were five of us.  Yay!  We Mary Kay-ed from 6:30-10.  I'll admit, I did sneak off and watch the equivilant of one quarter of the LSU-ALA game, while everyone was eating chocolate cake and drinking chai. 

I decided to spend the night, which really was no choice at all, considering what I'd driven through to get there, so Jen and I visited and laughed, went through all her products after everyone had left, planned and plotted.  We were counting on the time change to buy us an hour.  Then we blew right through that hour and kept going....I think it was 1:30 by the time we finally called it quits and went to bed. 

I came home the next morning with all sorts of little trial sized lotions and potions, some new colors for my face, and a happy heart from having sister time. 

And this morning, I'm moisturized and spackled up, ready for whatever the world might toss my way!

If you need Mary Kay, contact Jennifer Pitcher at 406  853-5901.  You can tell her I sentcha!