Goodbye November!

     Golly, gee whiz, November is gone already! It was a rather quiet month. The day before Thanksgiving, I made 36 deviled eggs, two pumpkin pies and a blueberry pie. On Thanksgiving we had Wayne and Tom over for the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Which I must say was delicious, even if I did make the whole thing myself. The two bachelors went home with a big doggie bag and the next day, the dogs got the left over turkey. I can't stand the taste of left over turkey!!!

    Tom and I went to Flagstaff on Monday to pick up the pump and other things needed to complete the repair on the community well. For a man, Tom is fun to shop with. He likes to browse, even in thrift stores and craft stores, so I didn't feel rushed. I found some Costco cookbooks at Saver's. Have you seen those? You don't have to use Costco products. I donated a bunch of stuff to Saver's including two boxes of Cooking Light magazines. I've subscribed to Cooking Light for almost 25 years and have only cooked three things from it....but I have saved those darned magazines, just in case! I have more boxes of them to donate as soon as I find them. Anyway, our next stop was the Goodwill Weigh and Pay. We had so much fun in there! I usually can't find a thing but I hit the jackpot this time. Each of my dogs got a new stuffed animal, I found some old Readers Digest books that I needed for a craft project ( I'll probably read them first). Oh, some gorgeous dinner plates that will go in Wayne's Christmas gift, (we're on a budget here!) a huge flat bowl that will end up as either a bird feeder or bird bath, a set of silicone baking mats which I will use in the craft room because glue won't stick to it and a Hoover Steam Vac with all the attachments. And it works! And it only cost $8.00. See  why I love the Goodwill Weigh and Pay? Most of the stuff, you pay $1.49 a pound but the heavy stuff has extremely low prices on it. Tom found a couple of things to buy also. We had a yummy lunch at Sizzler and then headed for Joann's and Michaels. This will be hard to believe but I didn't find much at either of those places. Does that mean I have enough craft stuff? Is that possible? Tom wanted to tour Old Town but we ran out of time so maybe we'll do that next time.

  Today the guys, Pa, Wayne and Tom are at the community well pulling up well pipe and the old pump. This has been the longest project! If our POA president had kept his nose out of things, it would have been done months ago. But he is a control freak even tho he doesn't know diddly about most things. They had gravel put in all around the driveway around the well so trucks won't sink during the wet weather. So hopefully, we won't have to go to town everytime we need water within this next month.

   I can't begin to describe our weather. It freezes at night but the days are in the 60's. Sunny days, clear skies, lots of birds at the birdbaths. We've seen so many Robins this fall plus both Western Bluebirds and Mountain Bluebirds and two red shafted Flickers! And Blue Jays, Juncos, house finches plus those pesky towhees and doves. One night I left the garden gate open and the next morning, Pa saw 10 rabbits in the garden, 10 in the front yard and 5 in the back yard, all at the same time! Where's the gun? Those cotton tails make mighty fine eating.

    Speaking of eating, I'd like to find some sort of class that teaches ya how to find things that are safe to eat off the land. Don't think I'll find anything like that around here. Obviously the ancient Indians found things to eat out here. Ha, I can just see Pa eating something I found in a ditch. Did you know you can eat baby tumble weeds? You cook them like spinach. Last night we invited Wayne to eat with us. I made spaghetti, salad and garlic bread. I have some spinach, artichoke spread that I put on my garlic bread before I broil it to brown the bread. Wayne tried it once and said he liked it so I had been putting it on all the garlic bread for the both of us. Pa wouldn't let it touch his lips. So last night I mentioned that I was going to put it on our side of the garlic bread and Wayne got a funny look on his face. Turns out he hates the stuff and can't understand why I find it so delicious. He was just being polite all those other times. Pa had a good laugh over that. I told Wayne I really appreciated the fact that he was willing to try something new whereas Pa would cut out his tongue before trying anything unusual. All thru dinner Wayne made comments about the bird poop on my garlic bread. Good thing I have a good sense of humor. I even shared some of my Lindt chocolate truffles with him for dessert. That's another thing Pa won't eat. Who in the world doesn't like chocolate truffles?  One of the reasons, I've lost my love of cooking is because Pa is a meat and potatoes man and won't try new things. I get tired of making the same old things over and over. I guess the reason I buy cookbooks is to look at all the things I can't cook because Pa won't eat them. That is one of the reasons, I won't be renewing my subscription to Cooking Light. Every time I found a recipe that looked delicious, one of the main ingredients was something Pa won't eat......like mushrooms.

    Craftwise, I'm in a grand funk. I'd like to make some Christmas decorations but why? We probably won't have a tree this year. When there are no kids around to share Christmas with, and no presents to put under the tree, it seems like a waste of time. Of course the kid in me really wants a tree so we will see. And the kid in me would love to have presents to unwrap. Unfortunately I married a relative of the Grinch who never gets in a holiday mood and would just as soon ignore all holidays and birthdays. Guess I'll never get rid of the kid in me and I really don't want to anyway......so there!

   Sorry , no pictures this time. I did take a picture this morning of the full moon so maybe I'll post it next time. I'm off to Holbrook this Sunday to spend the day with my BF Katie. Can't wait to see her and have some girl fun.  Until next time......