Two's Company

"Two's company, three's a crowd," so the saying goes.  That may be so, unless there are two cats on one crowded lap.  It's a scientific fact that a sleeping cat immediately gains twenty-five pounds and becomes an immovable object.  Two cats equal fifty pounds.  I begin to lose feeling in my legs and would like to reposition, but no.

The same thing happens at night.  I must get comfortable as soon as I lie down because almost immediately Ralph curls up on one side of my legs and Celeste takes the other and I am effectively pinned under the blanket for the duration by the heavyweights.  There will be no tossing and turning, or even turning over, for me.

Grey and overcast, the rain held off during the day and allowed me to bring another couple of wagon loads of wood to the porch.  I'm in the process of negotiating with a different propane company and a gentleman came to inspect and decide the best way to put in a new tank when the time comes.  We were both pleased not to get drenched.  Bess and I took the trash down to the big road in early afternoon while the rain continued to hold off.  (It came sometime during the night.)

I just felt Ralph's light touch on my shoulder.  I swiveled around and he stepped onto my overworked lap.  It matters not to him that typing with a cat in my arms is difficult.  I think of it as my lap.  Ralph and Celeste know it is theirs.  Sigh.

The Breakfast Club

(The Breakfast Club,"1985, Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald.)

The sky was just light yesterday when I heard a commotion down at the feeding station.  I kid you not (shades of Jack Paar!), I counted over fifty turkeys, toms and hens, all yelling, "Hey, lady, how about a little service here!  We're waiting, don'tcha know."  The photo didn't capture all of this unruly bunch as some were running back and forth down to the woods.  I think it's important to teach a little self-discipline and explained that I am perfectly willing to provide the food, but the timing is on my terms and they'd just have to wait until sunup and I at least had my clothes on.  You haven't lived until you've been flipped the bird by a bird.

Something set Stanley off.  For a rooster who is normally so silent, he started crowing as soon as I left the pen, and kept it up the whole while I was getting alfalfa and taking it down to the girls.  Go figure.

Tessie's limp has returned, not bad, but there, same foot.  Since it seems to come with the onset of cold or wet weather, I wonder if it isn't caused by arthritis.  There is no swelling and no obvious injury.  It was better by nightfall so maybe she was able to walk it off during the day.

Rain has been forecast for the next five days and it looked imminent when I was going down to the barn last evening.  Because the sky was darkening, I went down a little early, too early it seems.  The Bonzos ("Bedtime For Bonzo," 1951, Ronald Reagan, Diana Lynn) were not ready, and when a goat is not ready, well...you wait.  A couple of does were also too early.  They came casually walking up the driveway, undoubtedly planning to jump the fence and have a little snack of leftover alfalfa, but caught sight of the goats and me still in the yard and changed their mind.

The sky had changed drastically by the time the girls decided that they really didn't want to spend the night outside.  Another pretty picture to end the day.

Morning To Night

The view from Farview is always changing and, in my opinion, always spectacular.  Fall is particularly colorful.  Even the dry grasses in the goat pen provide a layer of contrast next to the fading vines in my neighbor's vineyard.  Beyond the grapes are the oaks down by the big road and behind are the pines on the hill overlooking Fair Play Road to the south.  This photo was taken on the way down to the barn yesterday morning.

While waiting for the Steelers game to start in the early afternoon, I started watching a game I really had no interest in, but it turned into a tight contest and I got hooked.  Thank goodness for halftime so I could bring more firewood to the porch and clean up the kitchen.  Bess and I shared (another) half of a turkey sandwich.  A few more days of a steady turkey diet and we're both going to sprout feathers.

The Steelers couldn't get it together and lost to the Denver Broncos.  Sigh.  Immediately after that game, the Vikings against the Packers came on.  I can always count on exchanging texts with Clay when the Steelers play and with Dave during a Vikings game.  Vikings won!  Another all-day stint of football and I'm going to need a helmet.

The sun caught and highlighted the bright red-yellow of oaks in my yard to the east in the afternoon, too pretty to pass up the opportunity of a snapshot.

Sundown in the west was splashed with its own colors last evening while I was again going down to the barn.

Look in any direction, morning to night, and there is beauty everywhere.

Another Break

After another night of rain, the sun came out yesterday, which was good for me because I needed to (make that had to) make a trip to town.  There hadn't been time before Thanksgiving and I certainly was not going shopping on Black Friday!  After paring the list to bare essentials, I only had stops at two small stores in the "newer" section at the east end of Old Town.  There was very little traffic getting there; it was on the way back that I hit the wall.  That same little stretch of road was jam-packed with bumper-to-bumper cars.  Where did they all come from?  When you're in it, you're in it and there's nothing to do about it.  If a car coming from a side street was foolish enough to want to join the train, I let 'em in.  What was another car going to hurt?  Evidently these people were leftovers from the Black Friday mania epidemic.

With all the shoppers in town, there was very little traffic on Cedar Ravine and Bucks Bar.  There was time to enjoy the beauty of the changing colors in the forest.  Politics aside, looking at the three or more inches of fallen leaves and needles blanketing the ground, I thought it would take an army with rakes to clear the floor, and then what could be done with the mountains of leaves?  I'm not sure that's a feasible plan.

With just the few days of rain, the creeks and river were flowing again.  They'd dried to just a trickle.  If we get another day or two of sunshine, I might be able to mow again without fear of striking a rock and sparking a fire.  I also need to bring more wood to the porch.  After gorging on Friday, Stove's appetite diminished, but he ate up a good amount yesterday, too.

I did not wear the pig hat in the evening and the chickens went calmly to bed.

Town notwithstanding, it was a good day.

True To Form

After that lovely break on Thursday, yesterday we we were right back back to wind and rain and the house was cold.  The goats let me know that they were not happy with conditions and what was I going to do about that?  Being in charge does not give me super powers, regardless of what they think.

There were at least thirty turkeys gathered at the feeding station in the morning, celebrating their own Thanksgiving, thankful that they had survived.  They'd been pretty scarce the couple of days before.

Since I'd not lit a fire the day before, Stove was starving.  He gobbled up wood like he'd never get fed again.  True to form, after a day of activity I had no plans to do anything, but I got my exercise getting up to fetch another helping for Stove, just the same.  I honestly think I slept more than I was awake all day.  Ralph was a permanent fixture on my lap.  Celeste came and went.

Tinka had called in the morning to laughingly ask if I was going to join the hordes of shoppers on Black Friday.  Gahh!!  No, no, and no again!  She knows how eager I am to go shopping on any given day.

Come sundown (I guessed it was sundown as we hadn't seen the sun all day), I got ready to put the kids to bed.  Deb and Craig had given me the great fleece-lined jacket and, true to form, Dave had just presented me with the fleece-lined hat.  I can count on him for at least one pig item a year.  I can't think of anything more ridiculous than an old lady with a pig on her head, but it was cold outside and the hat was warm!  There was a drawback, however.  Ralph thought I'd been taken over by an alien and ran away to hide.  The goats didn't care about anything but getting into their rooms, but the chickens sided with Ralph and scattered instead of going into their coop, rain or no rain.  I had to take the hat off to calm them so I could shut their doors for the night.

I look forward to Saturdays because I usually get an early morning call from Deb.  Today I got a text at 4:30, saying she and Craig were at the airport and waiting to check in for a flight to Hawaii.  It will be their first real vacation together and her excitement was clear even in a text.  They'll have an opportunity to meet up with Larry, too.  Bon voyage, Kids!

Thankful

As promised, the wind died down and the rain stopped.  By the time the Kids started arriving, the sun was shining.  That was a good thing because Craig wanted to get the doors he'd built for the Taj put on right away.  Deb stood guard in case Stanley pulled a sneak attack.  The hens put on a show when one caught a tiny frog and they all played keep-away.  The doors, by the way, make my job so much easier 

I'd been having a problem with the new vacuum cleaner and Jester and Craig figured it out.  There was a place I didn't know about and had not cleaned out.  Another reason to be thankful.

The thing about Thanksgiving dinner is that everything on the menu has to be prepared the same day, nothing can be made ahead.  That pretty much keeps me in the kitchen all day.  I'm not as fast as I used to be and ended up running behind.  Deb stepped up and made the mashed potatoes.  Craig always volunteers to baste the turkey and whatever else is needed to help.  Dave, Clay and Jester started the traditional poker game.  Dave is the official family carver when called on.  Bessie Anne did her part while Dave was cutting the turkey, cruising the floor and cleaning up whatever bits had fallen.  She may not see or hear well, but her nose works just fine.

I couldn't have done it without the Kids' help.  They are such a good team.  The cards and chips were set aside and finally dinner was on the table.  Then when plates were full and forks picked up, there was the sound that every cook wants to hear...the silence that comes when guests are simply enjoying the meal.

After dinner, the crew went to work clearing the table, portioning out leftovers, and Deb and Craig filled the dishwasher and washed and dried all the inevitable pots and pans while I sat like Lady Astor's horse, thankful for their help and just to sit down.  When there was nothing else to do, and I do mean nothing, the cards and chips came out again.  I'd hoped to get the Kids out of the hills before the rain started, but when you're late, you're late.  Tryptophan kicked in and Craig had a good nap, waking in time for the pecan pie made in celebration of his upcoming birthday (it's his favorite).

About 7, everyone loaded up their care packages, gave kisses and hugs all around, and headed home in the light rain, calling out, "Love you!"

They don't call it Thanksgiving for nothing.

Early Bird

This will be short today as I've got to get the bird (turkey) in the oven and I didn't wake up until 4:30.  That said, nothing, but nothing gets done until I finish my coffee.  So there.

Didn't get much rain yesterday, but, wow, a lot of strong wind all day.  It was surprisingly warm.  That took one of the chores off the To Do list.  Not much sense in clearing off the deck when leaves were falling in a veritable blizzard.  The wind is howling again this morning and there's a pretty good rainfall.  I hope the forecasters are right.  They said most of the day should be dry today, with rain again about nightfall.  That would let the Kids get up and back down without a problem.

Thanksgiving dinner isn't particularly difficult, but there's a lot of fussy prep work, chopping and dicing, etc.  Trying to cut back, tearing up just three loaves of bread instead of the usual six or so for the stuffing hardly seemed worth the effort.  Almost everything on the To Do list got done...whew.

Turkey to stuff, pies to bake (I have double ovens), cranberry sauce to make...and there goes the last of the coffee.

Happy Thanksgiving!