the joys of streaming...

This has been my mind-set this week...

Reading and binge-watching "Delicious" on Acorn TV.

I really like this streaming - as one doesn't have to wait till next week for the next episode. You just keep watching until you have to do something else... then pause it and continue where you left off at another time. Wonderful!

Thanksgiving 2018 - food, family, and friends

Thanksgiving 2018 Food!

Thanksgiving 2018 Table

I don't decorate too much for Halloween or Thanksgiving... mostly put out a few pumpkins, but I do start sneaking in our Christmas decor here and there (if you can see there are a few stockings hanging by the fireplace... and if you could see further up, there's Christmas candles, etc.) It works.

Besides, the traditional holiday food is the main attraction. Each family is different, but mine want Turkey, Ham, stuffing (used to be oyster, now it's Jalapeno Pecan), bourbon sweet potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes, green beans with bacon, cranberry sauce, broccoli/cauliflower casserole, and rolls. I occasionally try something different (last year I added stuffed artichokes - my 5 year old grand daughter loved them!) And our desserts differ some. Most want a family traditional favorite - a chocolate pudding with a pecan cookie crust... but DH makes a fantastic cheesecake that everyone likes too. This year my DIL even brought a delicious apple crumble to add to the mix. 

In general, I make all the food and they all come here... but last year we went to my daughter's in the hill country and one year we went to my son's (before they moved to Hawaii). I love doing it here, but it's getting to be difficult getting it all done on my own. It may be time to 'pass the baton' or find a good restaurant. It won't be the same, but time passes and things change. As long as we're all together, it should be fine.

Here are a few pics we took - mostly of the grands:

4 grandkids - outside by the house
(hard to corral that youngest for a pic)

grandkids by well

grand daughter on top

in tree

with her friend

daughter on left with her best friend

Our daughter lives in the Hill Country around San Antonio, Texas and her best friend now lives in Colorado Springs - but they get to see each other either at Thanksgiving or Christmas when each comes here to Texas to visit family.

I guess that's about it. Everyone left for home yesterday. It's been fun, but a bit hectic. Giving myself some 'downtime' this week... 

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

Happy Veterans' day! And other things...

Happy Veteran's Day!

 and...

Happy Birthday today to our Grandson!
(as of today he is no longer a teenager)

Also... Thanksgiving is around the corner and our youngest grandson is coming from California to spend a week with us! We can't wait to see him!

Hopefully I will remember to take a picture of everyone that is here for our Thanksgiving dinner! (I used to be good at that... lately when it gets busy, I tend to forget.) We should have our daughter and her family, youngest son and his family, and our 2 grandsons! We will be missing our oldest son and his wife this Thanksgiving as they are in Hawaii and won't be here this year (although we hope to visit them soon on Oahu).

I may not be posting in the next few weeks due to the holidays as well as company and the end of the Fall semester when our projects are due for critique. I've just about finished everything; the egg birdhouse, the Tiki mask, the pocket Tiki, the 2 sets of windchimes, the architectural tiles, one fox, 2 birds, and a chicken! (Yes, just one chicken this semester - can you believe?)

I did have a little time Saturday afternoon at the studio... so I threw 2 small bowls on the pottery wheel.... just to see if I remembered how to throw.  I did. I just haven't had time to use the wheel at all lately. I really need to get back to it.

Here are a few pics of the bunny windchimes - finished and hanging in my kitchen for the moment.

Wanted you to see the designs on bottom of round....







and on top!

Sorry if the pics aren't terribly clear, but it's hard to get it from all angles. The extra string you see will be cut off, but I just finished them this morning. Stringing them so that they hang properly isn't easy.

OK... that's it for today. Hope you all have a good Veteran's Day weekend!

(I really need to find this sign... or have one made!)

an early morning post...

It's 5:30 am and I'm up having a cup of tea with the cats. I usually go right back to bed, but today felt the need to stay up and read blogs for a little while. My cough is much better and I plan to go to my pottery class later this morning. However, I am a bit worried about my hearing. 

I mentioned to our family physician when I was in last week for this coughing crud that my hearing has been strange ever since the auto accident. It might have had problems before that but if so, I didn't notice. Immediately after the accident I had this loud ringing in my ears as well as a strange echoing or maybe more like being in a well (hard to explain)... and I was dizzy. They did a CAT SCAN of my head and found nothing wrong (thank goodness). Told me that the explosion of the air bags probably caused the ringing. 

But my hearing still is "off"... not to a large degree, but I hear someone talking (like on TV), but don't always catch what they're saying. And it's strange because some people have loud clear voices that I hear fine and some I can't quite make out what they say. Now... we also watch a lot of English television... and on some of those shows it's difficult to understand because of the accent... but this is different. 

Anyway, my family physician recommended that I get my hearing checked. And I will - probably after the holidays. But I do wonder if the impact or the loud explosion of the air bags could have actually done something to my ear drums??? 

Maybe what it boils down to is 'getting old is not for the faint of heart'....