So into town again today, to the walk-in clinic, there to get prescriptions for antibiotics.  I seem to have a bladder infection and a sinus infection.  That took an hour, most of it sitting and waiting.  Then on to Farmers Feed to get dog biscuits and deer corn; on to supermarket to get lettuce, celery, chicken quarters, a hunk of turkey back for only 67 cents, and some liversausage.  And finally, over to Good Will to give them a bag of linens I had garnered from my shelves in the bathroom. 

The wind is strong today.  It blew the cover off my mailbox, and I had to run around after it sailed off into the woods.  The house was cold when I got home, so I've built a fire and soon it will be heating up in here.  Think I'll stew up that turkey back and make something out of it. 

We all had a great Christmas - lots of snacks, sandwiches, wine and desserts, followed by the opening of the presents all around.  I got a pink fleece nightgown and fuzzy pink slipper thongs, very cozy.  A book called "Keeping Chickens," which is very educational, with lots of pictures of chickens, but not one of my Suzy Q.  I got an optical mouse, a set of drill bits, some DVDs that I will never listen to featuring old songs from the "Midnight Special" program, a jar of raspberry salsa. 

It did indeed rain! starting yesterday as a fine mist, then continuing to patter all night.  There were thunderous slides of snow coming down off the roof, and the snow pack has gone down quite a bit.  If this now freezes again, the deer will have trouble walking or running in it, so we are going to get some deer corn and put it out for them.  What few are left, that is.  There were half as many deer harvested as usual this year, hunters saying over and over that there were no deer to speak of.  My son saw only a doe and her fawn, again and again, during the hunting season, and didn't have the heart to shoot either one of them. 

But my daughter has a whole herd of deer that come into her yard all winter long.  She brings corn out to them, and they come running, which is somewhat scary.  They have a pecking order, using their front hooves to flay at each other for the corn.  She lays the corn down in long rows to give each of them room to eat.  Still, the biggest one always picks on smaller ones, and so on down the size range.  We spent much of our time watching them out the windows on Christmas.  The bucks are losing their antlers; they drop off one by one after the rut. 

I've gotten all things put away from Christmas, all Christmas dishes washed and put away, fuzzy slippers on my feet, and I am just about ready to begin the New Year.  New Years Resolutions pop into and out of my mind.  Think I'll just take a few days off and wait for inspiration.    

I worked until 10:30 p.m. yesterday from 12:30 p.m. when I finally got going.  I fed all the critters, got the fire going, made the toffee bars, made a rum baba cake in my bundt pan, and made a pasta chicken salad for my food, which was pretty good, featuring dried, sweetened cranberries.

Then I got all the presents wrapped.  This will be a frugal Christmas, and I think that is appropriate to the times we live in.  I got my son a fleece padded workshirt in an olive grey color, my daughter-in-law 2-piece underwear in denim blue with slippers, my son-in-law a pair of sweatpants in navy blue and a pair of gloves in black, and my daughter a quilt in burnt orange and a puzzle mat in black.  My grandson received a check for $30.00 in his card, and each of the other presents came to $30.00 as well.  So 5 presents x $30 each = $150 spent on Christmas this year for presents. 

Food?  That's another $50 very likely - I'm bringing Barefoot Merlot, Asiago cheese, Wenzel's summer sausage, cut up carrot and celery sticks, rutabaga chips, home-made ranch dressing dip, chips, crackers, rum baba, toffee bars and sodas.  My daughter and son-in-law are furnishing a raft of other goodies, and we are just all going to relax and feed ourselves from a smorgasbord of food whenever we feel like it.  No fancy sit-down dinner with lots of dirty dishes on this day. 

And I've already cleared all the snow off my truck; however, that leaves a question of whether I will be able to drive away from that mess.  John did some snowblowing yesterday, so once I get a run for it, I should be able to make it out of here.  It's a clear, sunny day with the forecast for ?rain? tomorrow, which I don't believe. 

So here I sit, fooling around on this computer, and the house is cold, 62 degrees, and my response is to put on more clothes so I don't have to do anything.  The fire is out, ingredients for toffee bars are sitting on the table, and I still haven't done anything towards getting underway.  I went to town day before yesterday, that would be Monday, got my prescription refilled, bought D batteries, wrapping paper, and extra eggs and butter for baking.  But still I sit...I'm probably just too cold to do anything.  But I slept well last night, and I am rested, and I'm procrastinating just for the heck of it.  It will be the last push to get ready for Christmas.  That is, if I can get out of the driveway.  My truck looks like a lump of snow.   

I need to get the fire going, throw some paper on the presents, and throw the toffee bars in the oven.  John is seriously considering snowblowing the driveway.  It's rather warm out, 20 degrees, and I know that soon the Christmas spirit will take over.   

I just added something to my blog, but now I need to get it to compress so that all three columns are visible at once.  But it is 1:45 a.m. and my eyes are burning, must get to bed.  Tomorrow, wrapping presents and baking....

Apparently, I got my cell phone working, but the volume is so low, nobody could hear me talking.  All this hi-tech stuff....I just don't know....

How old can a chicken get?  I was watching a show about commercial egg production last night, and hens do not start laying until they are 20 weeks old.  They lay for one year, or 52 weeks, then their eggs are considered unfit for commercial production, and they are sent to the great stewpot in the sky.  Well, that means that my Suzy chicken is at least 2 years old, possibly 3.  Which explains why she does not lay many eggs anymore.  Now we will see how long a pet chicken can live. 

She gets so much food every day, that she can't eat it all.  I give her warm water every day, garden dirt about twice a week.  She has a straw bed she can sit on in the sun if she wants to, and her house is so warm (with a 30 watt bulb) that a rush of warm air comes out with her in the morning when I open her door.  It's amazing how much extra food (besides her egg mash and sunflower seeds) that is always available to her here. 

Right now she's going through a strange dish I made the other day of mac and cheese, laced with tuna and corn, plus some rock-hard prunes I found in the cupboard that I've stewed and softened for her.  She gets an odd but nutritious assortment of things to eat, and she's always interested in what I put out for her.  That macaroni and cheese dish is sorta okay for human consumption too, but not the tastiest thing I ever invented.  I've had a couple of servings of it before deciding it's a Suzy dish.

Woke up late, 9:30 a.m., having slept soundly all night for a change, and not having gotten up once to tend the fire.  It was out, and the house was 58 degrees.  Outside, it had snowed about 4 or 6 inches and the trees were all frosty, every little branch and twig looking sugar-coated.  Sky slate-grey, negative 6 degrees.  I love it.  Pepper loves it too.  When I uncover my chicken now, I feed and water her, but put her cover right back on to preserve warmth. 

Got the fire going again, and I sure do like dry pine for getting a roaring blaze that warms the house up fast.  What can I do today?  I got half the vacuuming done yesterday, laundry, etc. and want to cook some things today.  Will probably make breaded pork steaks and lay them in a shallow pan in the oven to brown and cook.  How about mashed potatoes again with rutabagas?  And frozen corn John put up last summer.  It is so sweet, it tastes like candy.   

And finally, I got underway to town, after clearing much snow and ice from my truck.  I went to the Library, got 2 books by Scott Smith, The Ruins and A Simple Plan; and two more books about the Amazon.  I had previously read one book by Joe Kane, Savages; but was unable to locate Running the Amazon.  As you can see, I've gone from the northernmost of the planet to the Equator in my reading interests.  I suppose I could ask for interlibrary assistance with that book I couldn't find. 

Then on to pay my insurance bill and do some more shopping for a few items I might need at Christmastime.  Home, just as the liquid golden sun was sitting on the horizon - back to my beautiful woods, snow and cozy house, dogs sleeping on my bed until I return.    

I WILL get the tree up today - yesterday I actually located all the parts and decorations in 3 or 4 separate boxes in the attic.  I tried to recall just what was in my mind last time I undid the tree.  It seems to me that I was not as well last year as I seem to be this year, which is surprising.  I AM getting better and better, at least in some ways. 

I am thinking about the novels I wrote last year, trying to recall what they were about.  Oh yeah, a murder mystery and a murder mystery, and a story about elves, that was rejected quickly.  When I see all the vampire crap on tv, I think I should change the elves to vampires and then it would become popular.  I want to start writing again, after the holidays.   

It was 16 deg. below zero last night, and we took turns stoking the fire all night.  It stayed warm enough.  We turned on a box fan on low to blow some warm air through to the side room, and it stayed 40 degrees out there.  I'm impressed with the success.  Nothing froze up.  And my $40.00 radiant oil-filled heater worked well to keep cold spots to a minimum elsewhere.  I only had it on for about 1/2 hour, put on a small extra blanket on the bed, wore flannel pajamas, a sweatshirt jacket, big socks and a t-shirt "hat," by putting a t-shirt over your head and pulling it up to your forehead, then flipping it over your head.  It looks like a shiek hat, but it's easy to wear in bed and keeps the head warm.

My chicken is doing very well and is much easier to care for in her greenhouse.  We doted on her yesterday, giving her warm water to drink and feeding her 3 times.  She gets an amused, happy look in her eye, that I just can't fathom... a happy chicken? 

At least, I am improving daily with my health, but I am not getting a lot done by way of housework.  I just feel like hibernating.  I'm going to make pork chops for supper, with a mashed  potato/rutabaga dish on the side.  Basically, you cook a little cut up rutabaga in with your peeled potatoes, and make mashed potatoes.  It's yummy, and I have the rutabaga on hand. 

The fire is brightly burning, and the steam on top of the stove is hissing, and some of my Christmas cards have already been delivered, I'm happy to say.  Now if that final present would just get here, so I can wrap it.   

My nose did not start running right away when I woke up, and I managed to sweep the kitchen floor, moving the refrigerator back to where it belongs.  I had moved it to the other side of the kitchen because the electrical socket doesn't seem to be working, but it still isn't.  I have rigged up another system until the wiring is fixed.  At least the frij doesn't stick out into the middle of the room anymore.  I had made lasagna using the recipe on the box of lasagna noodles, and it's a good thing I did, since I haven't been able to cook with this cold.  The recipe made a huge pan-ful and it gets better every day. 

Another thing I wouldn't do is try to make out Christmas cards while snotting and sneezing all over.  Now that the worst of this cold seems to be over, I'm going to make them out today and get them in the mail tomorrow.  Although it's freezing rain outside right now, it's supposed to return to below zero temps tonight, with wind.  There's a huge pile of wood in here now, so we'll be ready for cold spells.  I've moved furniture upstairs into the spare bedroom to accommodate all the firewood.  It's dead pine, dead birch and dead oak.  We never take living wood for fires. 

I'm just being thankful that the worst of this cold is over, or seems to be.  I'm so well today, that I will put up my 2' Christmas tree on an end table.  That will be cheery. 

We watched a scary movie last night called "The Ruins" that was truly frightful.  Loved it.  It was almost believable.  And of course, Johnny Depp and the Oompaloompas on another channel.  One of my favorite movies.  Well, on to Christmas cheer.  

I've just watched Rachel Maddow and company expose the southern Republican Senators for the Hooverites they really are - blocking the auto industry bailout, endangering the country and the world, in order to gain their political agenda of busting the UAW.  Just another backward-thinking, evil-parent Republican ploy...  blocking progress to achieve their political ends.   We need cooperation, but of course, they are going to block progress, just because their bungholes are angry over the election.  This is what we can expect from them at every turn. 

Well, I have the worst cold ever.  I have been miserable all day, medicating with OTC cold meds, drinking plenty of liquids, and staying warm.  I don't understand why this cold can keep coming back on me, every time I think I have it going away.  I just don't know...and it gets more virulent each time it comes back.  What is this? 

I spent many hours on the phone today, with a young woman from India (I think), who sounded like she was doing business on the sidewalk during a riot perhaps.  I pictured her sitting on the curb, with her fix-it manual on her knees, patiently going through each and every step it takes to try to get my TracFone to work, while angry or frightened mobs ran back and forth behind her.  At the end of this lengthy session, it was finally decided that I need to receive a new number for my phone, or a new phone.  Actually, it's probably not the phone, just the Pin Number or something that is not allowing my phone to work.  It performed every function that was asked of it many times over.  But it was exhausting, probably because of my head cold. 

I was supposed to go out to eat tonight with my kids to celebrate a birthday, but I was too sick to go.  I realized at 4:30 p.m., after getting off the phone with India, that I was still in my nightgown, sweater and boots, still stuck to my box of Kleenex; my nose very sore from constant blowing, my lips parched from breathing through my mouth, and I was supposed to be in the next town in less than two hours.  Of course, I did not make it, and called to cancel.  The only sensible thing to do.  It has been below zero a couple of nights this week, and it makes sense to keep close to the wood stove, and keep the fire going brightly.  I can only hope that tomorrow finds me much improved.    

Why don't they quickly develop plans to utilize efficient gas engines and retrofit all the gas guzzlers on the lots that are not being purchased now?  If they would increase gas mileage twice from 19 miles per gallon to 38 miles per gallon, that would double our gas savings, usage, and environmental protection by twice.  This would be a good interim move, and would utilize our existing resources to the best advantage.  Another move could be to utilize spent carbon dioxide saved from "clean" coal and make carbon fiber parts for autos and trucks.  That would lighten the load and improve gas mileage. 

Well, there you have it; my ideas for helping the auto industry get through some tough times, while they work on their plans for a better future.  The above, however, will never be used because the big boys at the top are only interested in their huge salaries, and cars that go 160 miles per hour.  They love designing cars for the futuristic looks.  Last suggestion:  get rid of these auto executives and hire engineers to work on those fuel efficient engines! 

I did manage to get back into town, spent a lot of time at the tire shop.  I don't know why, but I think they are all idiots.  They claimed, after I had already been waiting for one hour, that they couldn't get my tire off without a special tool for the lug nuts, which they claimed, I should be providing in my glove compartment, perhaps?  I asked them how they got the old tires off and on again, when I had purchased the tires here in the first place.  When? they asked.  I said about 2 years ago, and they cheerily said that was plenty of time for me to "lose" the special tool.  Since I have never even heard of this before, I can only presume they kept my special tool and never put it back in my truck when I purchased tires last time.  Somehow, they muddled through and fixed the slow leak, which, by the way, was caused by a faulty air valve they had installed last time.  I had to pay for it, and am now unsure just what kind of lug nuts they have reinstalled. 

Every time I go into town or go somewhere with people now, I am always getting sick, catching whatever evil germs are floating around.  Sure enough, I have been miserable again since my last trip to town.  The weather has been getting colder, with snow, and it is beautiful outside.  The dogs are able to be outside at night now, and have been bringing back wonderful treats - deer legs, and now a hide.  We took the hide away because Pepper will eat the fur and get bound up, big time. 

I have been in a bad, Grinchy mood since last trip to town, because of catching all those nasty germs, dealing with the tire people, and now with the cell phone I purchased, trying to get it to work.  My last hope is to bring it to my son and he will soon fix it up so that I can use it.  My truck is getting old and I ought to have a cell phone with me in case of break downs, or any kind of emergency on the road.  My sister and I are deploring the plight of old age, when we must turn to our children to help us manage cell phones, VCRs, cameras, computer functions, etc. etc. etc.  This is why I am crabby lately.  Technology has passed me by, and that isn't nice.  Everytime I have to deal with another new gadget, I feel so frustrated and angry.  Why do they have to make things this way?  Nothing seems to work as they claim, or the instructions are inadequate. 

I laid down and prepared myself mentally to do all the things in town that needed to be done.  I am amazed that I went to about 8 of those places.  Mailed out my bills, shopped for groceries in 3 different stores, bought a Tracfone and some minutes for it, returned library books, donated to the Food Pantry, sold my Ruby Glassware at an antique shop and got $30.00 for those things, went to the bank, went to Pit Stop and got an oil change with full service.  But couldn't make it to the feed store, nor did I go to tire shop to repair slow leak in tire.  Will take care of those details next trip into town.  Hope my tire holds out until then. 

It's much colder today, and I'm dragging my feet on getting more stuff done until I feel warmer.  At least I have some room in the etagere where that red glassware used to be.  I will go through my clothing soon, and see what good things I can part with for the Good Will store.  I can take things in to town on my next trip. 

I was listening to Ariana Huffington talking about blogging, and how you should blog your passions, along with your everyday things.  I have just been settling down after the election.  All I can say is that it is such a joy to me to listen to the intelligence of Barack Obama, as he faces up to the enormous challenges that the Bush administration has (almost) left in its wake.  If only there was some way to prevent the damages that Bush is hell-bent on doing in his last days in office!  We need to change so many things that are wrong about the way government operates now.  We need a total overhaul of the entire system, and I hope Obama intends to remake our government in a humane, commonsense way.  He has got a fine retinue of people to work on it.  All the people who ran for president are all extremely good men and women, and I just wish they were already in office with Barack.   

And I've just about had it with calling that woodpecker "The Red-Bellied Woodpecker."  It has red on the back of its head, and no red at all on its belly.  Now I've seen photos too of this same woodpecker, and I think I might start a protest of some kind to have its name changed to "Black-Speckled-Back Woodpecker" or maybe "Partially-Red-Headed Woodpecker."  And the Pileated Woodpecker is at the beef suet hung up on the oak tree.  Plus, all the other woodpeckers that live in these parts.  There are blue jays, nuthatches, chickadees, canaries, finches, and off in the distance, the otherworldly sounds of the raven can be heard. 

Got a nasty jolt when going down to the mailboxes to pick up my mail - some not-too-respectful person has backed up into the row of mailboxes and taken out 3 of them (mine in the middle) and 2 newspaper tubes.  I tried to straighten them back up, but 2 of them and the newspaper tubes are hopeless, but mine (setting in a bucket of rocks) came up nicely.  This is not good; we'll have to see how much longer they can keep us going a half-mile to get our mail anymore.

The after-Thanksgiving turkey is almost gone, a couple more sandwiches will do it.  It sure was good while it lasted.  I've finished the books from the library; one was about the Apaches, who were defeated by lies told to them by the whites, and the other book is about Huoranis in Ecuador, also defeated by lies told to them by oil companies.  Come to think of it, we have all been defeated by lies told to us, or by lies told about us.

But the subject of this posting is that today, I am curiously listing to port.  Began as dizziness this morning while searching my cupboards for donations to give to the Food Pantry, felt really awful, and haven't been able to walk perfectly straight all day.  And I'm very tired.  I wonder if it time to have a catscan and see what this sharp pain is that plagues me on the left side of my head.

I went through my closet also, to see what I may part with to bring to Good Will and found several purses, a jacket, a dress, and another shirt.  If I went through my shoes now, I bet I would find more to give.  And I threw away things today - stuff that just sits there, can't be given to anybody, and it's stuff that annoys me just to look at it.  Good girl, good girl.  Keep on doing that.   

My daughter woke up early Thanksgiving morn to a police officer banging on her door.  Her truck had been stolen after she had fallen asleep at 3:30 a.m.  Right out of the driveway.  Of course, she left her keys in the ignition, but who could believe anyone would steal her 1991 Mitsubishi - well, it's not really a truck, but a 4-wheel drive jeepy/boxy thing, that won't start for her, even if she shuts it off for only a few minutes.  She always has to get out and get under the hood with a wire brush and clean up the battery terminals.  But of course, it started right up for the thief.

It was some 22-year-old youngster, having left a late-night drinking party, very drunk, who thought he would just walk home in the very cold night.  Perhaps realizing his mistake, he first stole a bicycle and went on his way.  But he was completely lost and didn't know where he was.  He must have been near frozen when he turned into my daughter's driveway, threw the bike into the back of her truck, fell down once, but started it up and prepared to drive away.  But failing to realize that the driveway could have been used to drive out, he tried to go through the woods - backed up and smashed my son-in-law's car and finally got away.  Until he somehow drove through an unplowed woodland road until he came to another road, where he completely mowed down a utility pole, breaking it in half and totally destroyed the Mitsubishi. 

A police officer, who lived nearby, was just leaving to go to work, when he spied the broken utility pole lying in the road and saw the poor vehicle all smashed up.  Realizing that someone was inside, he got out of his car and went to see, found the kid still trying to drive away.  Then the kid got out and fled on foot!  Well, the arraignment is this morning, but my daughter and son-in-law are home-bound, as both their vehicles are undriveable, to say the least.  The kid was not hurt at all, of course.  But the Mitsubishi is totalled.  The car can be towed in and repaired, though. 

The only other news is that we all enjoyed a good Thanksgiving Day feast anyway at my daughter's house, except for one thing.  She had charged me with making the pumpkin pie, and wanted me to use the pumpkin I bought at Halloween, which I suspect now was a field pumpkin more suited for making a jack-o-lantern, and not for making a pie.  Something was not quite right about it, and I warned everyone that they probably wouldn't like it.  They were brave enough to agree with me, and I hope that Suzie, the chicken, will like it, as that is where the rest of it is going.  What a disappointment!  But we all agreed that none of us is that crazy about pumpkin pie in the first place, and next time, there will be cherry, apple, cheesecake, or some other dessert, we all agreed. 

I called my brother and he is doing well, having been invited to a friend's house yesterday for turkey/duck dinner.  I watched a program on tv about stuffing a turkey with a duck and then stuffing the duck with a chicken, calling the whole thing a turducken.  All day long, I was going around saying "turducken" every so often.  I ate this dish once at a restaurant, but didn't care for it as much as the traditional feast, and tomorrow, I think, I am going to do the roasting of the turkey that John brought home.  It has been thawing for 2 days in the refrigerator, and I believe it will be ready to roast tomorrow.  We'll finish up an English pot roast made day before yesterday, tonight.  Gosh, all I ever talk about is food? 

I am beginning to feel the stirrings of something like an urge to clean house and decorate, which I have not begun to do yet.  The weather has been fairly mild and still, there is a very light covering of snow everywhere.  This can't and won't last much longer, I think.  I feel the need to do something interesting, or crafty, for a change. 

The turkey is thawing in the refrigerator, a 14-pounder; the pumpkin I bought for Halloween has been stored most of the time in the side room, next to the sunflower seeds.  Now it has been washed, scraped out, cut into big hunks and baked until it is soft.  Cooling down now, then I'll scrape it away from the shell, cook it a bit longer with spices, sugar, milk, etc.  I've got to make the pie crusts now, and bread is rising in the pans.  Once the pie shells are filled with cooked pumpkin, they will be baked, and tomorrow I'll bring one to my daughter's house, where my son and son-in-law have a tradition of deep frying the turkey outdoors, while passing a football back and forth.  But my kids only like the jellied kind of cranberry sauce that comes in a can, so I won't bring my cooked from scratch kind along.  

We here at home will be cooking our own turkey on Friday, with stuffing and all home-made side dishes, like pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, and home-made bread. 

Aside from these preparations, I have been in hibernation mode for at least a week now.  It's true I have been getting over a very persistent cold that just will not give up, and I'm looking forward to being well enough to make progress on whatever it is I'm doing these days. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all!  And we will try not to overeat in the coming days. 

The temperature dropped below zero last night, but I kept the place warm by getting up every few hours to add more wood to the fire.  Today the temperature rose to over 20 degrees, so it was a beautiful sunny day, for the first day of deer hunting season.  Strange to say, I haven't heard much in the way of gunfire around here.  Maybe the deer have left, or the hunters are going elsewhere.  I saw no deer tracks at all on my walk, but I did see round poody toes, which means a cat of some sort walked by.  It was bigger than a housecat, but not as big as a cougar, so that leaves Mr. Bobcat. 

After much ado, which means trying to stabilize the horrid aluminum ladder, we got the beef suet hung up high on an oak tree in a coated basket.  And today, the pileated woodpecker has been on it twice when I went outside to feed the chicken.  And Miss Suzy, the chicken, is very happy in her sheltered, sunny location.  And I am happy to go out and feed her, because everything is so much easier to do now.  Her water freezes up though, so I bring hot water out and pour it in her jug.  It stays liquid long enough for her to get her fill. 

I'm feeling lazy these days.  My list of things to do sounds like this now:  call about my tire; bake bread; get the mail, etc.  Not the heavy schedule I was on during the fall, and I am really enjoying extra relaxation time.  I now have new books to read and new puzzle books to work on.  And today, to add to my enjoyment, yes, even before Thanksgiving, a seed catalog for 2009 came from Pinetree Seeds   The fire is crackling in the stove, the birds are enjoying the treats I put out for them, and my Pepper is lying by my side after our walk. 

Although the temps are in the 20's, the breeze is brisk, from the north, and it is definitely wintry.  Snowflakes are falling, they tell us it's lake effect snow, but north of here, this lake effect snow is really dumping many inches.  Soon the ski hills and trails up north will be open. 

We had a birthday celebration for my son the other night at the restaurant where my son-in-law is the chef.  That boy can cook!!!  On Wednesday night, they have a buffet, featuring all of the things on the menu.  I also got a salad, a relish tray, home-made bread, along with veal parmesan, shrimp in linguini sauce, cheese dumplings, spaghetti with marinara sauce, Italian beef, barbequed pork, Sicilian breaded chicken.  There was pizza, mussels on the half shell, and other goodies I couldn't get to, because my plate was too full.  I told myself I would come back for more, but that never happens.  After eating as much as I could, I was just comfortably full, so didn't go back.  I settled back with a cup of extra delicious coffee and contented myself with a few spoonfuls of my son's birthday ice cream.  He got lots of nice presents, and the restaurant brings a camera and a big birthday hat; all the employees stand behind singing "happy birthday."  Well, it was a good time, lots of good food.  My son and his new wife look so happy together. 

But my left front tire was almost flat when I came out later.  I had to hurry to a gas station and put air in that tire.  This always happens with that tire, and I'm going to have to take it in and find out what's wrong.  My daughter attended the birthday party too, but the next day, she was very sick with her multiple sclerosis.  I had to spend an hour with her before she could even go to the party.  Yesterday, she came close to being hospitalized.  And just then, she got a letter from her neurologist, saying the neurologist was transferring my daughter's case to another doctor.  She has decided to go to a different clinic altogether.  I can't wait until they finally come up with something that will stop the immune system from destroying the myelin sheaths of the nerves that go to the brain.  I don't want her to get worse.  So yesterday was a scary time. 

If nothing else, I am beginning to work in the house, cleaning and decorating for the holidays.  There's no end to that work, is there?  I won't comment on the political scene, as that has enough commentators already.  My son is gearing up for the hunting season with his friends and father gathering for this coming weekend.  I hope he brings me a deer.

Just got back from a walk with Pepper and have constructed a fire in the wood stove, that is taking off very well, and it will soon be warming up in the house.  There's about 3 inches of snow now, and I believe I may be safe from having to blow more leaves this year.  It's snowing sideways, the wind is roaring in the upper branches of the barren trees, and I'm loving this weather, of course.  I bought some "barn boots" awhile back for only $12.00 at Walmart.  They have a lug sole, plastic toes, fake felt sides and are lined with fleece.  I bought them a size or two big for me, and I like the extra room-iness they give me.  I got them big so I could just stick my feet in when I want to go outside.  As I walk along, I pluck twigs and dead branches, and old birch bark off dead wood, and bring it home with me for fire-starting.  Works very well. 

Soon I will be eating the chicken noodle soup I made the other day for my lunch.  I love home-made soup.  Browsing through the frig, I found a head of cauliflower that is recent, so I'll make a cheesey-cauliflower soup again today, using some smoked turkey brats I bought (low-cal stuff), but don't like at all.  I'll put those turkey brats right in there with the cauliflower.  My daughter keeps trying to steer me to the turkey brats, but all I could find was these smoked ones.  I hope it tastes all right. 

Seems that not much is happening in my life right now:  I'm hunkering down for winter.  So politics is on my mind.  I got an email the other day, and apparently, I've deleted it, but it has stuck in my mind.  It was about the "One Drop Law" that states:  black man, black woman = black baby; white man, white woman = white baby; black man, white woman = black baby; and white man, black woman = black baby.  The email said that this constituted a racial mindset, and I agree that this was (and is) a discriminatory practice.  So that is why Barack Obama's white heritage is never mentioned, because of this "One Drop Law?"  I had actually been wondering about this for quite awhile now. 

I don't want to take away from African Americans' joy at having an African American President elected for the first time.  I can understand what a major event this is for them.  But shouldn't he be referred to (to be totally correct) as an African-American/European-American?  Of course, it's a huge description, and I look forward to the day when racial prejudice is such a thing of the past that we don't have to make such discriminations anymore. 

Now, on to the bailouts...where was Congress?  Sitting on their hands?  Daydreaming out the window?  Giving billions of dollars to the very people who were responsible for destroying our economy WITHOUT CONDITIONS.  And watching these same crooks take the money and say no.  We're going to do other things with the money, we're going to have our golden parachutes, beef up our stock portfolios, take some time off at posh resorts.  Screw the American taxpayers, the people who are losing their homes, the small businesses that are in dire straits.  I'm with Keith Olberman on this one.  He calls the bailout "the reason daddy went to prison."  I want these people punished and the money returned and given to those who need it to save our economy. 

Now the auto industry, seeing the possibilities of cashing in on Congressional generosity without oversight, is screaming for another bailout, too.  Have they come up with high-mileage vehicles?  No.  They haven't made any of the desired changes to the gas guzzlers.  Last night on Bill Maher's show, Ashton Kutcher came up with the brilliant idea of having the oil companies bail out the auto industry with all their enormous profits they have made, with the auto companies going along with the gas-guzzling, heavy SUVs they have built for the oil companies.  Brilliant, but we still need to have CONDITIONS before giving them any money. 

And President Bush!  In the last throes of the worst presidency in many years, we have him trying his best to establish regulations that would prevent any future president from changing things back to the way they should be.  He is again attempting to slaughter wolves in the lower 48 states, and is giving out uranium leases in Yellowstone Park, oil and gas drilling leases right and left.  The greedy businessmen who are his supporters will stop at nothing in their attempts to strike the death blow to this country.  Bush has extended the spying he loves so much to give local law authorities the right to spy at will on anyone they choose, without a warrant. 

Then, the Supreme Court has recently ruled against the whales in the Sonic Blast trials in the Pacific.  Why do they have to do it?  They could perform their tests right up to where they actually do the sonic blast and call it a day.  Sound kills!  And it's extremely painful.  Talk about not agreeing with the Supreme Court - this must be one of their worst decisions in awhile. 

Today, making chicken soup and tinkering with a recipe I dreamed up for salad slaw.  We'll see how it turns out.  It's cold outside and I still need to get those leaves off the driveway. 

Or is it?  Yes, it is.  It's snowing, but not heavily.  Yesterday's dusting was still on the ground, and it was snowing when I got up, but the temperature is warming now, and it turned to raindrops.  I love this weather for being inside the house.  My chicken is warm, dry and happy.  The dogs love colder weather, but not wet conditions, so they are asleep now inside.  I still have a lot of things to do outside, but they are not critical. 

Sunday's debacle was the Green Bay Packer game, which loss I could see coming all along during the game; so I slept and read, not doing anything.  On Monday, I baked bread and made a crockpot of store-bought frozen meatballs with 2 packages of brown gravy mix (a "recipe" from my new daughter-in-law).  I added 4 home-grown potatoes into the top of the pot and put it on low for a number of hours.  It was tasty, but the package told me I was getting a lot of cholesterol in the meatballs.  I've been eating a few of them each day since, with potatoes and green beans.  I feel the need to cook something low-calorie now.  I have been eating a lot of fresh fruit since I went shopping.  Two bunches of grapes, one pink and one dark red, oranges and grapefruit, and today, I got out some frozen blueberries.  Think I'll make blueberry pancakes for supper.  Is that cholesterol free?  How about calories?  I think it depends on what you put on those pancakes. 

Well, I obviously don't have much to talk about, even to myself, today, and I'm tired of expressing my political opinions now, too.  But I'm glad that Obama is going to close Guantanamo.  That has been a stain on America for long enough.  I hope he restores all of the lost Constitutional rights to the people, too.  I hope he does something to insure that voting is carried out in a generically safe and sure method, with no hanky-panky allowed at the polls or registration.  And the more I hear about these spendthrift companies crying for more and more bailouts, the more I think they should either be allowed to fail, or that their officers, etc. should go to prison for their corruption and mis-management. 

And please, please start bringing our troops back home.  I was thinking about those contractors in Iraq, too.  The Blackwater people that are each making $400,000 salaries to do god-only-knows-what over there.  They are being paid by American taxpayers, we being the ones who are indebted to China, etc. for their pay.  Barack's head must be spinning when he lies down to sleep at night, with all the many huge problems he will have to tackle immediately to save this country. 

I know that Barack wants to bail out the auto industry too, and though I think he knows we have to do these things, I really want to believe that these people will not get off the hook for free.  They were complicit in the mis-management and corruption that's been going on for a long time now.  Barack is saying that we have to forgive them, because they were just going along with what was "the way" at the time.  But can I forgive AIG for taking the bail-out money and twice going to fancy get-togethers at taxpayers' expense?  No, I can't.  They should have cut back like the rest of us and gotten together in a much cheaper locale.

Monday, my daughter and I went Christmas shopping at Kohl's.  We didn't spend too much, and had a good time, getting into every department they had.  It was a long trek and I was so tired at the end, that I spent all day Tuesday recovering and resting up with my aches and pains.  Today, I can say that I feel much better and will probably get a goodly amount of housework done.  It surely does need some cleaning around here. 

Taking today off, I am.  Except for whatever I get done in the house.  I managed to get outside on Friday and put the finishing touches on the greenhouse, which consisted of bracing up the sides and roof, spreading the mulch on the ground and tucking some rolled-up chicken wire between the cage and the chicken's house.  It was very hard for me to do, and I groaned with every effort, moving slowly.  I didn't work outside yesterday, either.  It's been threatening snow, and we just have a dusting this morning, but the temps are down there.  I built a nice fire in the wood stove last night, which makes life worth living. 

I am concentrating on doing some Christmas shopping, putting my thinking cap on to see what I might be able to afford to spend.  Or actually, what I am willing to pay for on my credit cards.  I usually get done paying for Christmas presents by April 30.  I want to say this is a foolish thing, but that's not the point.  It's just the extra effort that is required to participate in our culture. 

Although I have a lot more work to do outdoors, my thoughts are naturally turning to staying in.  But on nice days, I'll be out there again, trying to get things done.   

The recipe for guacamole I found on the internet - just googled guacamole recipe and there it was - I only tinkered the recipe just a bit.  

                                    Classic Guacamole

2 ripe fresh avocados, peeled, seeded and mashed with a fork in a bowl; 1-2 tblspns. freshly squeezed lemon juice, 1 tsp. minced garlic, 1 small tomato, chopped; 1/2 cup minced onion; 1/4 tsp. ground cumin; 3 drops hot pepper sauce; 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves; 1/2 tsp. sea salt and a dash of white pepper.  Mix this up well and transfer it to a food processor.  Pulse away until the mixture looks smooth.  Put into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and store in refrigerator until ready to use.

Avocados, I have read, contain the best kind of fat - the HDL kind - that brings the bad kind of cholesterol (LDL) to your liver where it is destroyed and eliminated!  Yes! 

I did force myself to go outside as soon as the pattering rain let up and worked in the wetness on the greenhouse sides, stapling up plastic sheeting all around and laying boards on the bottom of the plastic.  Also dragged/carried the bale of straw into the greenhouse and put it on a sheet of plastic at the north end of chicken house.  Then dragged the bag of wood chip mulch into the greenhouse, where I intend to spread it around her cage and create a nice floor for me to walk on.  I anticipate spending some time in there with my gardening pretty soon.  It began to rain then, and I went inside with Pepper.  My back and shoulder are very sore now.  All that remains of construction is to apply bracing to the side and front walls, and across the ceiling panels for strength and stability. 

Today, I hope that is what I get accomplished.  The temperature is falling and winter-like conditions will soon be upon us.  I never got the leaf blowing done, nor all the clean-up of the garage.  But there may be better weather still to come after this blast.    The guacamole recipe I got off the internet was superb, and so sprightly.  What a treat to go with our fried tortilla strips, breaded, fried chicken strips, black olives, sour cream, sharp cheddar cheese, tomatoes and the really good, refried beans John made after I cooked up a batch of beans all afternoon.  I went through the cupboards and found that I had no black beans at all.  So I cooked up what I had - soy beans, garbanzo beans, pinto beans and great northern beans.  To 3 cups of mixed beans and 6 cups of water in the slow cooker, I added a lot of chopped cilantro, salt to taste, a few dashes of hot pepper sauce and one tomato, chopped.  Then John does something with some of them in a frying pan.  This must be the refried thing.  I don't know what he does to them, but they are good.  I froze the rest - two containers for next time. 

Well, I got to the voting place before 11:00 a.m. and I was already 734th to vote.  As usual, I saw my friends there and chatted awhile, so it was an enjoyable experience, too.  They didn't need any more volunteers, so off I went to shop for groceries.  I surely needed food in the house, as the frij was barren and the cupboards were spacious.  I used coupons and only bought things that were advertised sale items or absolute necessities.  I even managed to get an English pot roast for $2.89/lb.  I haven't had a piece of beef, other than hamburger, for a couple of years.  I'm looking forward to this pot roast - a special occasion.  I also got avocados, tomatoes, cilantro and lemons.  I don't know what else goes into making guacamole, but I'm going to try my hand at it.  I need to look up a recipe - I'm not sure if tomatoes go in it at all.  So tonight, we are having Mexican food. 

The voting results were watched until Barack spoke, giving his acceptance speech.  The tears of joy!  It looked like half the people, including myself, were moved beyond anything we have seen in this country for a long time.  Even John McCain's speech had me weeping in appreciation for his life's work for this country.

Next morning, again I burst into tears when Nancy Pelosi spoke, telling us that the Senate and House are Democratic in the majority.  I know we still have to fight for a lot of things, but the fight will be fair from now on. 

One thing I don't like about our media is that they are behaving like vultures now, picking over Sarah Palin's defeat, as if she was the reason for McCain's loss.  She shouldn't be treated like this.  She did her best, rising to a huge challenge.  I hate that they are deriding her and her family.  No wonder some Alaskans wish they could secede from the Union.  This cat-calling won't help at all.

I went back into town on Wednesday, to go to two other stores, to pick up items that I know are cheaper there, and more cold medication that seems to work for me.  I have been gobbling my zinc, immune essentials, deglycerated licorice, vit. C, Sambucol tablets, and elderberry for days now, trying to avoid getting a nasty sickness that I was exposed to last Sunday.  So far, so good. 

Well, back to work!  It is still 60 degrees out, incredibly warm for this time of year, and I now need to finish the greenhouse sides and do some more leaf blowing.  It is supposed to get cold now and snow is on the way, they say.  I don't see any way I can finish all my outside work this fall before snow is here to stay.  All I can do is keep going for as long as possible.  My right shoulder is so sore!  I need to rest it soon.  But for now, I got to get out there and staple plastic sheeting and chicken wire onto the sides of the greenhouse.  I'm looking forward to planting winter lettuce in there.

Slept well, I plan to be at the polls by 10:00.  That would be the time of day with the least voters there, according to the news channel.  I will also volunteer to man the tables later in the day, when and if they need me.  John is a volunteer, standing outside, conducting after-voting polls, and checking off known voters from their lists.  What's that all about? 

This country - we need a whole overhaul of the entire voting system!  Back in the 60's, we finally got Truth in Lending, Truth in Packaging, and Truth in Services(?) passed, and aren't we all much better off for it.  Now lenders can't con you into loans that have hidden costs buried in the fine print.  Now items you pick up at the supermarket have labels on the back announcing what the contents are, a tremendous help in shopping for food.  And now, auto mechanics have to give you an estimate of the charges for repairing your car and stick to it.  These laws have helped, and now we must have TRUTH IN VOTING.  I am going to start a bill, if necessary, with my (new) congressman, and try to do something myself to get this country straightened out on voting.  No more should we have roadblocks set up to reroute voters into detours.  No more flyers announcing that Democrats are supposed to vote on November 5.  No more should there be only three voting machines when there are thousands of voters.  No more exclusion lists.  No more intimidation and dirty tricks.  We just have to do this thing.  We have to overhaul the voting system on a national basis.  I am making this my commitment after this election.  No more monkeyshines in voting!

And we must look at re-apportionment to see exactly what effect this has on the electoral college.  I know that I used to be in a district that was pretty solidly Democratic until they re-apportioned this whole area, and now I have a Republican representative who lives far from our area.  I never really understood what happened there, either.  I know that this was done to hopefully give electoral votes to the Republicans, and they said, "there!  it's about time!" etc.  Hmmm, got to see just what re-apportionment is and what it does or doesn't do to the electoral college.  Well, off to the polls!

Went to my son's house on Sunday to watch the Packer game with her family there, and we had a good time, eating snacks and drinking soda.  But the Packers went down to the undefeated Titans, and we could feel the loss coming all along the way.  My daughter-in-law is the only (and fervent) Titan fan and always has been, so she would run to the window, open it, and scream out every time they scored.  I can't imagine what the neighbors must think.  "Isn't she a cop or something?"  "They just got married - what is he doing to her?" 

That flu shot I got on Halloween is spooking me out.  I've never had any kind of reaction before to a flu shot, but this one is different.  I had a nasty bout of diarrhea along with a bloody discharge, back pains, and I'm very tired, with ringing ears.  I hope this is the end of it.  I did manage to get out there today and do some leaf blowing, but for some reason, I would rather have the leaves than the bare ground.  The leaves are a natural insulation.  Well, I just blew off my rock collection and a short path - that's enough for now.  Washed clothes, dried, folded and put away.  But I'm still tired and will lie down soon.  I have lost 6 lbs. since the wedding, and hope to keep losing by eating much better food.  Also, my blood pressure is going down.  I wish I could check on my own cholesterol, but if I just stick with the program, I should be going down on that too. 

Well, tomorrow morning, I will get up, get dressed, and go to the polling place to vote, and I hope all my friends and family do too.  I imagine we will be up late into the night to see who will win. 

A truly beautiful day again!  Over 60 deg. and I had to go into town on Halloween Day to get my annual flu shot, which didn't take very long.  I had made an appointment at the local hospital, and was the second in line.  I also took all my recyclables to the landfill, then went to the feed store and loaded up on goodies for the dogs and the chicken.  I took a couple of bags of old clothes to Good Will, a nice Pendleton jacket of my mother's and a good corduroy shirt, boy sized.  Then on to Menards, who has the best price on suet cakes for the birds.  I got 16 suet cakes and let's hope they last for awhile.  I have a new woodpecker or flicker (or both) that really eat a lot. 

In my birdbook, I have found the woodpecker, but it is called the red-bellied woodpecker.  There's a long streak of red on the back of its head, but no red on the belly.  I suppose it's a case of the namer of these birds not getting this one confused with the red-headed woodpecker, whose entire head is red.  Still, couldn't they have named it something a little more in line with its appearance?  I think the other one is the flicker, maybe the female.  If it would call out, I would know for sure.  There's the pileated woodpecker here, but they hesitate to get onto the little suet basket.  I need to get bulk suet from the butcher and hang it in a big basket right on the tree trunk, but I want to wait until the bears have gone to sleep for the winter.  And of course, we have the hairy woodpecker and the downy woodpecker.  The hairy is larger than the downy; otherwise, they look the same. 

I also bought a package of window plastic to keep cold drafts from coming in.  I've never used this before, so should be an interesting effort, getting it on the windows.  A tiny bag of candy, peppermnt patties, in case trick-or-treaters come by (they never have), and another electric cord and a cube for many plug-ins.  And they had a 1/2 price sale on wallpaper borders, so I bought a cute green-blue border with happy frogs and lily pads.  This will sit in a drawer until I need it (?)

Then gas in the truck and home.  I would be in a terrible state, if I hadn't made up my mind not to even think about the coming election - tension is high, so I limited myself to the 5:30 news with Brian Williams, Keith Olberman at 7:00, and a start of the Rachel Maddow Show, but I find her a bit abrasive, carping on things that she should just leave alone.  For Halloween, I watched a scary movie called "Second Subject" or something, that was truly nasty.  I worked the very last puzzle of Sudoku in my little book, and that's all there is to October.

On a breezy, sunny day, 65 degrees and likely to be the warmest day of the autumn season, I got out there and took apart the greenhouse, with deep regret.  In spite of temps in the teens lately, things in there were still alive and growing; Only the Lonely Nicotiana, now in the house, and some ripe tomatoes, with vines still producing blossoms and setting fruit.  The greenhouse was the best idea I'd had in a long time, but it would not survive the winter under the roof where snow and ice slide off and crash to the ground.  I am going to put it back up, covering up the chicken house and yard, on the west side of the house, where snow and ice have never fallen, just melted and flowed into the rain barrel.  This will save it and will give the chicken a sheltered location to live in for the winter. 

So I got the greenhouse completely dismantled and put away all the things that I had stored in it (amazing number of things), dragged all the parts to the west side, and began to put up the header.  That's when I realized I would have to put the header up using a ladder.  I simply do not have the upper body strength that a man would have.  When I really lean into the job of screwing in the screws, the whole ladder raises away from the wall and it just doesn't work out.  So that is where I'm at now.  I get so frustrated with my limitations. 

Since I have stopped drinking milk for the past two months, I realize that I have gastric distress now, and I may need to take ranitidine or some other acid reducer.  I also want to eat more cruciferae vegetables that have all the calcium you need in them, and in an easily available form for the body to assimilate.  I still have one glass of milk left in my regimen, as I love milk.  I used to drink at least two quarts a day.  So going down to 8 oz. is quite a drop, and my stomach certainly feels it. 

But the most aggravating thing of all to me is listening to the pundits on TV talking about the election, and how McCain is gaining on Obama now.  It is hard for me to believe that the Republicans are so stubborn that they would vote for four more years of the same.  I doubt our country will stand much longer if we don't get a change from what we've had.  I will be calling friends and family to make sure everyone votes, but I will be very discouraged if Barack doesn't get elected this time.  My deep disgust with the way things are now IS possibly the reason for my gastric distress, in fact.  Well, I can't do much more than I have done, and will continue to do whatever I can, but I feel very discouraged today, after listening to the pundits this morning.  Maybe Keith Olberman can cheer me up this evening.

I found this today on the Center for Media and Democracy website's weekly email to subscribers.  At least there's a place to go to if we are subjected to voter suppression tactics on Nov. 4.

The Weekly Spin, October 29, 2008 Citizen Journalists Protecting the 2008 Election Source: New York Times, October 27, 2008 The New York Times notes, "There are at least two wikis intended to let voters collaborate to collect examples of problems with voting, whether exceptionally long lines or more direct actions meant to scare off voters -- the Voter Suppression Wiki and SourceWatch's Election Protection Wiki. Since 2006, the Video the Vote project has sent out volunteers to monitor voting around the country, and this year the group expects to dispatch at least 2,300 volunteers with cameras in all 50 states to videotape potential trouble spots. ... The ultimate home for much of this content could be the video-sharing giant YouTube, which has created a channel, Video Your Vote, in collaboration with PBS, to encourage submissions. ... While his organization is partnering with YouTube (and received 300 cameras as part of the Video Your Vote project), [project founder Ian] Inaba says he sees their missions as different. 'YouTube is there to generate content, to generate eyeballs,' he said. 'We came at this from more of an election protection framework. We want voters to oversee the election process - it requires citizen oversight.'"

I am wondering about that election!  It seems so obvious that the people want Barack Obama for their next President.  So why does McCain keep saying he's got him just where he wants him?  Is the election rigged?  Will Democrats come out to vote?  Or will the screwed-up voting machines work to the Republicans' advantage?  Will people be turned away for no good reason?  Could even I be turned away because of some minor clerical error?  I see the Alaskan senator, convicted of 7 counts, can still run for office, but can't vote for himself.  This is truly a messed-up voting situation.  My personal beliefs are that you should not be able to run for office if you've been convicted of a crime, but felons should be allowed to vote.  So this country has gotten things just opposite of what they should be, in my opinion.  But the potential for having the election stolen again remains the most worrisome thing, to me.  After all the hopes for change, will it all be ruined on Election Day?

I woke up Monday morning to about 2" of the white stuff all over, and for some reason, it makes me so happy, even worshipful, to see the first snowfall, even though we've been dreading it for awhile now.  But we all experience that first rush of joy.  After all, it's only frozen moisture.  It is still here today, but warmer temps are coming in a few days. 

I made pumpkin nut bars yesterday.  It bothers me when a recipe such as this calls for less than 1 can of pumpkin.  What am I supposed to do with the leftovers in the can?  I suppose it can go to the chicken, or be made into another batch of the same thing.

                                  Pumpkin Nut Bars

Combine all this in a big bowl and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  One cup of flour; one cup firmly packed brown sugar; 1/2 cup liquid shortening; 3/4 cup canned pumpkin; 1-1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice; 1/2 tsp. soda; 1/2 tsp. salt; 1 tsp. vanilla; 2 eggs; and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts.  Beat together for 1-2 minutes and spread in a greased 13 x 9" pan.  Bake at 350 deg. for 20-25 minutes.  Frosting:  2 oz. cream cheese, softened; 1/4 cup soft butter; 1/2 tsp. vanilla; 1 cup powdered sugar.  Beat together and spread on cooled bars. 

Went to lunch with my daughter; we were the only patrons in the diner, which had been completely full only an hour before...we commiserated with the waittress and cook, had them laughing at our own stories of waiting on people and they said we made their day, just cheering them up.  After lunch, we went to the liquor store and got liquored up (for the holidays).  I bought the usual gin and vodka, but didn't see the spiced rum until too late.  Then we went to the meat market, but didn't see anything there we wanted.  Got gas, $2.79 a gal. and home, to bed.  I am truly sick, probably caught a cold somewhere along the way, with all my many encounters with human beings lately.  But I am also aching and sore.  So I soaked in a warm epsom salts bath, drank decaf chai tea, and took many cold medications. 

I was asleep by 7:00, but got up later to view Sat. Night Live, to see what sketch they would have about Sarah Palin.  They had a truly classic one with "President Bush," "Sarah" and "John McCain."  It was the funniest one ever.  They even had an appearance by "Todd Palin" in a snowmobile suit, having run down and dragged McCain in to be "endorsed" by Pres. Bush.  So funny and so true.  Only 9 days until election day!

And I feel pretty good today, I mean, better than yesterday.  I went outdoors with Pepper and we went for a walk, her favorite thing.  It is supposed to SNOW today, the wind is picking up, and the raindrops feel harder than usual, with almost a tinkling sound.  I stayed outside for awhile then, picking up things and pampering my chicken with shovels of dirt full of worms, her favorite thing.  Then, with firm resolve, I marched right up that shaky ladder and just stapled that last bit of plastic that was hanging there undone, up into the peak of the porch roof.  It might not be the job I dreamed of, but it is up there and solidly in place.  Rearranged the remaining boxes of "stuff" in the porch, and I can finish dealing with that, some other day.  At least it's down on the floor. 

We're back in the house now, having had lunch of chicken stew, listening to the sounds of approaching winter, and feeling closer than ever to getting things done around here.  But the forecast for the coming week shows 50 deg. temps coming, and there will still be time for firewood-making, and applying the underlayment insulation to the back side of the house.  After that, it's cleaning out the garage, and picking things up that need putting away or throwing away.  Taking the rest of the day off, I am.