Mom is here and making stuffing. Yesterday I made the potatoes using the recipe I posted, along with a sweet potato casserole. Robert made the cranberry sauce this morning. So after this afternoon, all that's left is the turkey itself, stuffing it and when it's cooked making the gravy. Martha is bringing some veggie sides and Mrs. Gaimari is bringing the pies.

I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving!

Once again we're hosting Thanksgiving at our house. It's a nice tradition, started the same year that my Dad died. It was nice to have a new tradition so that doing the same old thing wouldn't be as painful. My mother is coming over tomorrow and she'll spend a couple of nights. It's good that she comes over because she knows how to do all this stuff and what order it has to be done in. Today I'm making the do-ahead potatoes, a recipe I got from my mother-in-law. I told my husband this recipe is why I married him. They are so good and so easy because you can make them a couple days before and refrigerate them until the day you heat them up and eat them. The flavors get to know each other better while it's refrigerated. Yum.

8-10 Medium Potatoes
1 cup sour cream
1 8-oz. pkg cream cheese
1 tsp garlic or onion salt
butter & paprika

Bake at 350 degrees 45 minutes or so
Serves 6 to 8

Boil potatoes until soft. Drain. Have sour cream and cream cheese at room temperature. Beat them until well-blended. Add cut potatoes gradually, while beating (potatoes should still be hot). Season with garlic/onion salt. Put in 2-quart casserole. Refrigerate for a couple days. Dot with butter and paprika (optional). Bake at 350 until hot.

The internet at our house still isn't fixed completely. We have it, but are unable to have TV in the kitchen as well. They're coming again tomorrow to check things over.

This weekend was my birthday. The whole family went to the Bedford Village Inn for dinner. It was really nice. We had our own private room. It was a very pleasant evening.

Here's a gratuitous picture of Bobby and how he likes to share my chair. There's not much room, but he squeezes himself in. He was sound asleep and snoring when Robert took the picture.

Here is the coolest set of mittens ever. They were made by my friend Becky. They have a thumb and a finger as well as the other place you put your other three fingers. These will be great for walking Bobby when the weather gets cold!

I have no internet at my house. The technician came this morning and found that the problem is with the cable at the street, not a problem in my house. So I brought my netbook to my mother-in-law's and father-in-law's house to make this post. I can't ruin my perfect record of posting every day in November.

Today we bought the two big wreaths for the house and the bead cottage. The owner of the Grain & Hardware store where we bought them was nice enough to deliver them. Now that I don't have the BMW, huge things don't fit into either of our little cars. We hung them up and I think they make the house look so festive. I think I've posted a picture every year. Here is today's:


I used to not decorate for the holidays, but now I like to. I especially love candles in the window and the wreaths lit up. I think it makes the house look so cozy. I also love driving around at night and seeing other people's decorations. It's fun to ooh and aah at the nice ones and trash the tacky ones.

Today the fresh local turkey we ordered for Thanksgiving is being "processed." So thank you.

Off we go for a girls' day out to the yarn store!

"Buckle up Elizabeth," says Grammie


We stopped for lunch at the Longhorn Steakhouse, Elizabeth's favorite restaurant. After lunch, we did the "tour" of the restaurant to look at all the different animals.

The yarn store is way out in the country. It took us a whole hour to get there, but Elizabeth passed the time by falling asleep. There was a nice feeder out front that this nuthatch was busy visiting.

This is the Wool Room in Antrim. Very sweet looking. I found some wool to knit hats for sailors on ships in the Navy. That way I can knit to my hearts content and I don't have to find people to give them to, the Ships Project will do it for me! If you are a knitter and have a second, check out that link. It seems like a worthy cause to knit for.

Auntie Ellen had to spoil little Elizabeth and let her pick a new friend. She also got a new book about how wool goes from sheep to sweater. Fun!