You knew we lived in the midst of a forest.  You knew that there are mostly evergreen trees in the forest up here.  But did you know that some evergreen trees lose bits and pieces of their needles/branches?  Here’s a snap of a nearby Cedar tree… each fall, all the cedar trees have sections that turn a rust color and eventually drop off – normally during the wind and rain storms that come in November.   There.  An autumnal bit of etcetera.

Hey, it’s great living in a forest!  You get to see lots of wildlife… like these very tame and laid back deer, lounging in our next door neighbor’s back yard a few days back.  Some days I think the deer are cute.  Some days I’d like to make them all into deer jerky. 

This happy little photo is of the mommy deer and twins that have spent the entire summer going from home to home, devouring every edible flower, tree, and plant  in the vicinity.  They look so content, don’t they?

Last week, on one of our truly glorious autumn days, we took a drive with our neighbors Irv & Elaine over to Anacortes, WA.  They took us to the top of a large hill where Cap Sante Park is located.  We’d never been there – and on a nice day (like we had) the view is stunning.  Here is a photo of our good friends with Fidalgo Bay in the background. 

Irv and Elaine are now back in Florida, where they live most of the year.  You may remember we went to see them last March and had a fantastic visit!   Today we woke to 32 degrees and saw that it’s in the 70’s in Florida.  I’m going to try not to think too hard about that.

Here are a couple of shots of our cat, Jinx.  He wanted to show off his Halloween “Beastie Bands” collar so I told him, “just turn your head the other way so we can see it, Jinx”.  And he did.   By the way, in my humble opinion, “Beastie Bands” are simply the nicest (but definitely NOT the most expensive) cat collars.  Jinx likes to change his neckwear as the seasons change  

I absolutely love Autumn.  It means I can start making more homemade soups and stews, roasts in the oven, and baked goods.  So far, I’ve made a pot of chili and an apple crisp.  I’m thinking tonight might be a great night for my homemade potato soup.  Lots of evenings in the fall and winter, we’ll make our dinner on soup and bread.  I still am intimidated at the thought of making my own bread… not so much in the technique exactly, but in the time it takes.  Ok, I’ll admit it, the technique scares me a bit also.   At any rate, I love to buy (at Costco in a pack of six) the small sourdough baguettes that are not completely baked.  They need about 20 minutes in a 375 degree oven to finish them off to perfection.  This time of year I keep them in the freezer to go along with the soups and stews.

Here is a snap shot of an open-faced sandwich I made for lunch a few days ago.  I got the idea out of my favorite “Everyday Food” magazine – I think it was in an issue about 5 years ago. 

They are cheese, apple, and bacon on a nice whole grain brown bread.  I cooked the bacon first, then assembled the sandwiches and baked them in the oven at 350 for approx 12-14 minutes.  Long enough for the bread to get sort of crispy and the cheese to melt.  I used extra sharp cheddar and golden delicious apples.  You could use any cheese that you like and even change the fruit to thinly sliced pears.  Yep, that would be soooo good too!

On the subject of food, I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of The Pioneer Woman and her website, and all the great food she makes.  Well, she’s started another website, the Tasty Kitchen- described as: “Favorite Recipes from Real Kitchens Everywhere!”  – where anyone can submit recipes that are tried and true family favorites.  It’s a great website and if you enjoy cooking like I do, you may discover a great recipe or two there!

The final subject for todays “Autumnal hodgepodge” is painting. An eight-letter word that describes perseverance and determination.  We moved in to our new home (yes, it was actually new when we moved in) in 2003.  The builder, bless his heart, painted (with a spray gun I am sure) every wall and ceiling in this house the famous off-white color.  Five years ago we ventured into the world of color and painted the guest room a sort of ‘whole-grain-mustard’ gold.  Sounds horrible doesn’t it?  Well, it looks okay and goes well with the “African” theme we sort of have in there.  It took two coats of color to cover the off-white walls.  Fast forward to 2009.  Finally, hubby and I agree that we absolutely must update the walls in our “great room” – which encompasses the living room, dining room, and kitchen.  I kid you not, we made FIVE trips to Home Depot and Lowe’s before deciding upon the two colors.  The painting has been in process for much of this past week.  It is not yet done.  But here are a few shots of the prep and beginning of the debacle!

Taping in the kitchen

The big wall in living room area

Let the painting and 'cutting in' begin~

Obviously, I’ll post some “after” pictures once we are done.  Having the house in total chaos is a yucky feeling, but it was definitely a must.  All I’ll say is we are very happy with the outcome — so far!

Wow, my life has sure been busy lately.  Seems like forever since I added a post to my blog.  Hopefully that trend is changing!  As I sit here at my desk, merrily typing away, I can see… yes once again… snowflakes fly past my window.  I hate to admit it, but it’s depressing.  Welcoming snow in March is oh-so-very-hard-to-do.  Especially when a person must  drive in it…. All I can say is I hope it ends soon, and I hope the prediction of up to 5 inches is incorrect.  What the heck – in a week and a bit, dear hubby and I will be trekking to the land of warmth and sunshine ~ Florida.  I simply cannot wait to feel the sun on my face.  But enough about that for now.  

Last week I made it over the mountains (between storms, thankfully) to visit my Dad, Brother, dear Son #2 and dear daughter-in-law (aka: DIL!).  It’s a four hour drive, but so totally worth it.  My brother helped me figure out some important stuff about our taxes; I got to hang out with Dad and cook him a few tasty dinners; I got to meet my new grand-puppy, LUCY; I got to spend the evenings with DS and DDIL; I got to spend most of one day doing some “retail therapy” with DDIL — OH what fun that was!  Only moms who never had daughters (and women who didn’t have a sister – like me) can understand what a special treat it is to have a very special female family member to go shopping with.  We sort of celebrated a late Christmas as well, since nobody was going anywhere last December (due to very nasty weather).  Now for some photos!!

little Lucy. Who can resist a beagle puppy? SO CUTE!

Lucy joins big brother Buckley, shown here with dear DIL

me, li'l Lu, and Mr. Bojangles

 Believe it or not, they are now a Three-Beagle-Family!  I love beagles (yup, even I owned one once) but for now, it’s great that I can just visit the happy doggie trio! 

Here’s a picture of my Dad.  He is now 94 years old, and we are SO BLESSED to still have him.  He lives at home, although my brother now lives with him.  Dad still has all his wits and brains, and LOVES to talk politics!   I love this guy – and always have.  He is “multi-tasking” in this picture… listening to his favorite TV show (typically something on the Fox News channel) with his headphones, and reading the paper!

As mentioned, my dad and brother live together.  My brother is a CAT-lover (so am I!).  Here is a snapshot of one of my brother’s four fantastic cats!   They are all SO MUCH FUN.  Just glad I don’t have all that fur to deal with!  I think one cat will have to do for us for now. 

This is "Red". What a happy cat!

Since we “sort of celebrated” Christmas… I want to share with you my gift.  Something I really wanted but never dreamed I’d get!  A panini grill!!  WOOHOO!  I had to try it out this week, and the next pictures will show my first (but hardly my last) attempt at making yummy sandwiches. 

New panini grill with first sandwich on board.

Ham & Provolone with pineapple. YUMMY!

Thanksgiving.  I love this time of year.  I’ve always loved Thanksgiving as long as I can remember.  It has always meant plenty of food (really *good* food like my Mom used to make), family get togethers, and football.  Pumpkin pie with real whipped cream, turkey gravy with lots of mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and homemade pickles.  Often it has been easy to forget the many, many reasons to be truly thankful.  This year, I think just maybe, we are all a bit more focused on the THANKFUL part of Thanksgiving.  I for one, have so much to be grateful and thankful for – too many to list, but I would like to mention a few of my blessings. 

• My wonderful husband – my greatest earthly blessing for sure
• Two precious sons and one precious daughter in law
• My good health and the general good health of my family
• The world’s greatest Dad, who at age 94 is still a vibrant part of our family
• My home, snug and dry all winter long
• A rewarding (in many ways) job
• Enough resources for all that I really need
• My delightful cat, Jinx
• A neighborhood of wonderful, caring people
• Eyesight good enough to read and stitch

For all these things (and so much more) I give thanks to God – from whom all blessings flow.

This week I have spent quite a bit of pleasant, quiet time finishing up a cross stitch bib that I am giving to one of my co-workers next week at her baby shower.  It looked like a small design to me, and I thought I’d “fly right through it”, but alas, no stitching is as quick as it may seem!  Here is a picture of the finished product! 

This afternoon, “Daddy” captured this picture of “Mommy” toting Jinx the cat around like a bag of beans!  (He LOVES it!!)

Jinx and his mommy

I also just finished reading a book called “Dewey” about the library cat in Spencer, Iowa.  Being a cat lover, I thoroughly enjoyed it!!  Well, until the ending….  we all know how those books have to end.  Anyway! 

This year, Thanksgiving will be spent with our neighborhood, all bringing food, sharing together, communing together…  I’m soooo thankful I am off work that day!!  Another blessing!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!!!