Did You Brave The Madness?

Do you Black Friday?  I don't.  I did one time when Durwood wanted to "see what it's like" and that was quite enough, thank you very much.  There is nothing, no thing that I want badly enough to either line up in the cold, windy, and dark or wrestle a bunch of mad women with elbows flying to get.  I will admit that as soon as this is posted I'm going to get dressed and go to the fabric store(s) because I've found a pattern for something that I want to make for everybody and need a notion or eight and, according to the teacher, I bought the wrong kind of quilt batting for my Block of the Month class and they're 50% off until noon.  See?  This is purposeful shopping, not the wild free-for-all that is Black Friday.  I'm convinced that all the electronics and giant TVs, etc. are promotional or off brands, not the reliable, long lived ones you want to spend your money on.  We've been researching microwaves, seeking out reviews of the models we've looked at and the ones that are the most promoted this time of year have the worst or most variable reviews.  I'm thinking that "on sale" may not always be the best way to buy things, especially things that beep or light up.  Tomorrow is Local Shopping day so I'm thinking I'll corral Durwood and seek out the local shops to find a few gifties.  Did you eat your weight yesterday?  I don't think I did but it was a close thing.  DIL1 said that you should serve pickled things before a big meal, then people don't gorge on appetizers, which worked.  They set out dishes of lovely pickled beets (yum), giardiniera (hot), baby carrots (hot-ish), standard pickles (good but not a standout), and green beans (hot-ish and my fave).  There was also a baked brie with currant jam that was tasty and a good companion for all the pickled things.  DS, WZ & JZ were in charge of deep-frying the turkey, which was fantabulous, WZ made homemade wheat rolls (from this book; you need to try it), DIL1 made corn pudding and standard stuffing, Aunt Sally made her famous mac & cheese, KZ made tiny pecan pies, I made Mom's green beans (turned out great) and sausage cornbread stuffing (meh, it was too dry this time)... let's see, what else?  Oh, Brussels sprouts with onions and bacon (like Mom's "glazed" carrots), steamed diced sweet potatoes in a pecan brandy glaze, pumpkin & apple pies plus the pumpkin bread pudding (with toffee rum sauce--OMG), 2 kinds of cranberry sauce, and the Z family's traditional green jello ring.  All very good, all... GAH! IT'S SNOWING!... I'm willing to eat more of, soon.  We have beans and stuffing leftovers to accompany the leftover bbq ribs we have for supper.  I love leftovers.  Durwood wishes we had the turkey carcass though, I don't care about it.  I'm kind of glad we don't have a bock of leftover turkey.  We've got a turkey breast in the freezer and I think he's planning to get turkey legs when he's in the grocery later, so I'm predicting more turkey in our future.  I'm also predicting that I won't be dashing out to fill the birdbath in my cami and underpants in the early morning anymore, at least not until it warms up quite a bit.  Last night after we got home the wind picked up and blew arctic air down upon us.  We broke a high temp record yesterday hitting 61 degrees and today we might make it to 35.  Might.  And that'll be optimistic for the rest of the weekend.  I think all my complaining about unseasonal weather has paid off.  That's okay, I'm tough.  For today's picture here's the sunset yesterday.  We drove about 40 miles to Shawano to DIL1's parents' house for Thanksgiving supper and it was gorgeous.  Gorge. Us.  And the secondary picture is the newly formed ice floe in the birdbath.  See the shape of the heater?  The birdies thank us for it all winter.  Time to shop.

November 23--Paul Cezanne, Still Life with a Ginger Jar and Eggplants.  It looked like there had been a fight in the dining room.  The blue and white tablecloth was rumpled up and folded back on itself.  The bowls and plates were stacked with a fork trapped between plates, and a plate of ripe pears was ready to fall at the slightest nudge.  The stems of tree small eggplants were tied together with string and hung on the sconce above the dresser.  Paula stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips, not looking forward to clearing the mess.  She cocked her head.  The composition of the mess was somehow pleasing and the colors made her smile.  It wouldn't take long to make a sketch.  If she was quick she'd even have time for a watercolor.


Well, that pleased me last night and it still does today.  Did I tell you that I get to go collect eggs today?  DS & DIL1 & Porter are staying out at her folks' because her brother and SIL are there for the weekend and she asked me to go check for eggs; I get to keep them too.  Mm, fresh eggs.  I smell bacon in my future.  Now for shopping.
--Barbara Sue