I always go Christmas shopping right before Thanksgiving. In Hendersonville, the ginko leaves covered the sidewalks. I accomplished my goal and have all my gifts so I can avoid the crowds.
Started the Christmas tree getting it put together and the lights on, and it is now completed. The red maple outside the window matches the red balls I now have hanging on the tree. Despite hard winds, the leaves are still intact.
Lots of red going on!
Even though it was just me and Bob for Thanksgiving dinner, I brought out some harvest gold dishes. These goblets I found and was going to sell, but I like them so much I'm keeping them. Very heavy, thick amber glass. Great for the dessert I had planned.
Found a stack of these pottery plates "Franciscan" in the garage when we bought the house.
Your basic Thanksgiving dinner, nothing fancy.
Bob surprised me with my favorite wine Amarone from TJs.
Pumpkin flan with whipped cream and Kaluha. We put on a fire and streamed the new Beatles documentary that came out that day.
Went to our local theatre on the weekend to see the last of the Daniel Craig Bonds. Will miss him, he was my favorite Bond. Next is the French Dispatch which I've been waiting for. Wes Anderson is my favorite director.
Love our small, local theatre.
Update on Timber & Geisha: Getting along splendidly!! They now look for rabbits together.
Tryon's claim to fame. The town is working on a museum and I believe restoring her childhood home.
I watched a documentary last weekend, not what I expected. Not a fan of her singing, but she was a darn good pianist.
Came up a side street I rarely go up and saw this! Never saw anyone painting it, which must have taken some time. Should have been on another building, doubt many people see this.
I can't believe he is 65! Where did the years go? A couple presents to open wrapped in stacked wood wrapping paper.
Spent the afternoon cooking his requested birthday meal. From Eddie Hernandez's cookbook from one of our favorite restaurants Taqueria del Sol. This is melted cabbage with carrots. Looks healthy, doesn't it?
Until you put on the stick of butter, half cup of sugar and salt. This steams for quite a while till the cabbage is soft and melts in your mouth.
Then, to make it even more unhealthy, Creamy Lemon-Black Pepper Dressing and Mint-Jalapeno Drizzle goes on top. It's so good!
Alongside Texas Chicken-Fried Steak with Tabasco Cream Gravy.
I tried it with a piece of organic chicken.
I made a Hershey's chocolate cake found on Pinterest. My cakes are never pretty, but they do taste good. I remember Rachel Ray saying you are either a good cook or a good baker, never both. She is the cook, her sister the baker. I tend to be the cook, not the baker.
I made Bob blow out candles for a photo! Next week Thanksgiving!
It's been two weeks and Timber has fit right in and Geisha loves him. She has been very happy, tail wagging and taking much more frequent and longer walks.
Not only was a black tongue a prerequisite for being adopted, so were big paws! I love big paws and this guy has them!
First fire of the season last week, I think Timber's a fan.
These two clicked right from the start. Geisha never got this close to Kodiak Kakes.
Timber likes to rearrange his furniture and do other things to it, he's not neutered. I won't neuter him at his age.
Today I picked up this blind/deaf senior from my local shelter and drove him to an overnight foster. He will go to a home tomorrow in TN. Stinkiest dog ever!! This poor guy was just walking around with no clue where he was. He will have a good home now.
The girls at the shelter tried their best to clean him up, but he was so disoriented and upset, they didn't get far, even with peanut butter on a stick to entice him.
In the car drinking goat's milk . . . what else? They all love it!
Storm is a senior that lived on a chain his whole life in Nebraska. I was asked to help get him to a home in WA State and I said no. I did not want to take on a dog out west not having the connections I have here on the east coast. Girls tried to get it done, and within weeks contacted me begging for help, so I stepped in to help just a little, but got stuck doing the whole thing. It has now been a month and he is still not where he needs to be because of one issue after another and weather. Snow is now falling out west making getting him to his new home in Arizona not an easy task, but I think this weekend he will be on the road!! FINALLY!!!
One thing I did was set up a gofundme to pay for him to be neutered, chipped and get shots. I wanted to only raise $250, but raised $460. Chow lovers are very generous. So with the extra funds he got groomed yesterday and the girls at the groomers said he was an absolute peach! Today he got neutered and is spending the night at the vet. Tomorrow I have a person picking him up and she will begin driving him from Lincoln, NE to Denver, CO, where I have a person waiting to keep him for the week. I have another girl in Denver driving to Grand Junction, CO and his adopter is driving from Arizona to Grand Junction to pick him up. All in all it is 16 hours or more of driving. And this is why I do not take on chows needing help out west! Have to say though, he looks pretty happy.
So Geisha says Timber is a keeper! Hopefully they have a few happy, healthy years together, although I just got the meds in the mail for his infected ear and he does have heartworms, so he will be getting meds for that for a year and then will be tested. Ear may never go up, but it's kind of a cute touch!
Really enjoying the morning glories on morning strolls. Don't know when we'll get hit with our first frost that will take them out, but for now they are amazing, so wanted to share them.
Inside I've been dealing with the wren that likes to come in everyday and go into this birdhouse on top of a cupboard in the bedroom. I leave the doors open for the dogs to come and go, and this little guy stands in the front doorway, I tell him not to come in, but he never listens! Can you see his tail sticking out of the hole on the top right?
Here he is on my nightstand laughing at me.
I leave the door open in my bedroom so he can leave when he's ready. Another reason I love these Dutch doors.
Working hard outside to get all the things I need transplanted in the ground before it gets cold and too hard to dig. I completed the boxwood "fence" and have my stone cut-through in place. Removing the holly bush was the best garden decision! I am pleased with the outcome, but not finished. Will plant small bushes along the house come spring.
My cannas did not bloom this year. They were in that pot you see with the pansies, so I transplanted them to the hole from which one of the boxwoods came from. Don't know if I like them there, but they will die back and when they come up in spring I can make that decision. (Yes, that is Timber and I will be doing a post on him next!) Geisha really likes him.
