We Had a Lovely Turkey Day - Turkey and a Beloved Movie to Top Things Off

 I hope all of my US readers had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. I had a turkey in the oven for much of the day, and it turned out PERFECT! I was delighted. DH and I are looking forward to the left overs for a few more meals. He spent most of the day in the computer room playing his on-line game, which allowed me to be in the kitchen, undisturbed, playing various solitaire games on my phone while basting the bird every 20 minutes. 

The turkey turned out spectacular. I used my plant-based 
butter to melt, and added an herb mixture to it. It was really 
tasty. I also had my hand-made cranberry sauce. I skipped 
stuffing but I think DH might have made some for himself. 
One thing I did that I hadn't done before, was cut up an 
onion and put it inside the turkey while it cooked. It helped 
keep the meat really beautifully moist. 

After dinner and the dishes were done, he announced he wanted to watch "The Fellowship of the Ring" since we hadn't seen it in quite some time. What a delight, to re-enter Peter Jackson's world of Hobbits, Elves, Men and evil entities. Of course there are things I don't like about the triad, but generally, the first movie, that wonderful visit to Hobbiton, ending with grief in Lorien ... there's nothing much better. It has aged well. 

I always enjoyed the first of the Trilogy the best - 
in the books, as well as in the movies. There's just 
so much of Middle Earth to explore, and it isn't 
all battle, battle and more battle. LOL

I'm trying to get to the swimming pool today. We have the first day of our two-day inventory reduction, after Thanksgiving Day sale today. We changed things up quite a bit for this year's sale. We're not reducing the price on our seed beads at all. I'm sure we'll still sell some of them, but we're focusing on larger beads and Swarovski crystal beads instead. So, we'll see how we do. It's a BOGO, which is also a much larger sale than we've done in the past. I am hoping we'll be super busy. 

I'm not fond of sales, but we do a major sale every Black Friday 
and Small Business Saturday. We changed things up a bit 
this time - no seed beads are included (although we're happy 
to sell some - LOL). We're focusing on larger than seed beads 
for both days of the sale this year. 

DH was busy on our huge ladder yesterday, replacing light bulbs, so hopefully we've got some good lighting around the place today. I'll need to print our our Holiday Hours handouts, and I'm hoping to get some of the sparkling garland up, but if not, I'll get to that tomorrow. It's not that important. I will have to print out a copy of our customer email to remember exactly what's on sale today - LOL.  

Sol I'm off to the pool. Have an excellent Black Friday and I'll be back tomorrow to wrap up the week. Slava Ukraini. 

It's a Blowy and Snowy Wednesday - Winter Has Finally Arrived

So, it's snowing. We got the leaves raked and the patio put away just in time! I'm proud of us (and rather surprised that we managed it). Although originally they had predicted around five inches, I suspect it will be closer to three. Still, I'll have to shovel the driveway soon. I think my grocery store will be running their usual hours, so if I get out there around 7:30 am, I should be fine. There are a few things that I HAVE to get - I'll be running out otherwise - and I need to make a batch of Ogre Juice today for the upcoming week. I won't get Friday off, so everything has to be accomplished today. No chicken for dinner, however, since I have a 14 pound turkey in the refrigerator waiting for Thursday morning. 

I'm thinking about making another batch of sweet 
potato spears. It's such an easy recipe and they're 
so very tasty. 

I'm skipping swimming today because of the snow. We got anywhere from 3"-5" inches overnight, although it really didn't start falling on us until around 2:30 am. It's not bad by any stretch, but I have to get the driveway shoveled. Of course, I forgot to charge the batteries for my automatic shovel, and I'm uncomfortable about using the snow blower (although DH has demonstrated it for me several times). So, I'll have to shovel with my trusty lime green shovel. It's not my first rodeo, but it is my first real snowstorm since my cancer surgery, so I might be exercising muscles that don't get used in my swimming or treadmill days. 

Turkeys are actually pretty easy - they cook themselves while 
we watch football - LOL. It'll just be nice to have a day off 
before jumping into the holidays with both feet. 

Speaking of the treadmill, on Monday it came up with an error code. That was disturbing, but I was too busy at the shop to put any time into it. I was too busy yesterday as well, I'll have to contact them today, though. I unplugged it overnight to see if it might reset on its' own when I restore power later this morning. It sure would be nice if it did. 

I adore my treadmill, but having the virtual scenery is 
essential to my being on it. Otherwise, it's just too 
boring. Right now, however, it's coming up with a computer 
error code. So ... I unplugged it and will check it out again 
today. Just one more thing - LOL. 

So, that's it for me on this snowy Wednesday. I won't actually post tomorrow (except to wish people a Happy Thanksgiving Day). I'll be back on Friday, however, the first day of our two day sale - Black Friday. The e-mailer went out (I'll double-check that a little bit later today), the store is a disaster, but that's because we're working so hard on getting everything ready to clear out next year. We'll manage, but a good holiday season is mandatory, so Friday and Saturday will be crucial. I'm not sure I'll put up garlands, but I don't need to have them up for the weekend, I can do that early in December. DH wants to change ballasts in our overhead lights (something he absolutely HATES to do), so we're both looking at some early morning hours to actually be ready for Christmas. Have a great day and a good Thanksgiving and I'll be back on Friday. Slava Ukraini. 

I Guess I Had Food On My Mind - A Post About Food - LOL

Happy November - the threshold of Winter, a darkening of the days, a crisp to the nights, and snow. I'm quite sure we'll have some snow at some time this month - maybe a lot, but more likely just a reminder of what is still to come. I've already bought my foil pan for my Thanksgiving Day turkey, and am digging through my recipes to find the one I like/trust. Roasting a turkey is actually not that difficult, but I want the proper browning of the skin without having the interior too dry. I've had dry turkeys in the days of my youth (usually at my Tante Gerty's home - she wasn't a great cook). I didn't care for it then, and I don't like it now - LOL. 

There's a new recipe that I might try, it takes a bit less 
time, and if the turkey turns out looking nice and brown 
like this, I'd be totally over the moon. 

We haven't had a real freeze up here in the Frozen Northlands yet, so my pepper plants are still producing peppers. I've gotten a massive amount of dried peppers from them, which I've pulverized and put into jars for use in my cooking. Yum! 

DH planted five different varieties of hot peppers 
for me this year. They're almost done - it's getting too 
cold for them now - but I got a LOT of peppers off those 
plants. I was VERY pleased. 

Of course, today is a Monday so Chickie has the day off. (She also took Saturday off for some reason or other, so work is piling up for her do to when she gets in tomorrow.) We totally binged last night and ordered Chinese for dinner. I haven't eaten that for years - literally years. I always ordered a different meal when I was on a strict WildFit diet, but we indulged and got a double portion of yummy goodness last night, which I ate knowing I would put on a couple of pounds because of it. And yes, I was up three pounds this morning, but I declare the meal well worth it and the three pounds will be history by the end of the week. 

China Restaurant is our favorite Chinese 
restaurant. They have an extensive menu, 
they're excellent cooks, and it's a family 
run operation. They're close to the 
house too. 

So, I'm going to wrap this up and start my day. It's a busy one, and DH usually isn't a lot of help to me in the shop on Mondays, so I'll be grumbly too. But I have the second half of my Chinese dinner waiting for my dinner, so I won't complain - LOL. Have an excellent Monday and I'll be back after my swim tomorrow morning. Slava Ukraini! 

Turkey Day Eve, LJ Idol Voting and My Sale Email Flyer - It's Always Something!

I was awake at 1:30 am today, and decided sleeping was not going to happen, so after my meditation I went down, took my laptop, made last-minute additions for my Black Friday/Small Business Saturday email, added two more names to the mailing list, and hit SEND. Hopefully we'll get good business from all of this, we really need the dollars, and we love seeing the people. Busy is good, for us at this time of the year. 

Busy is good ... at least I know without a doubt that I'm 
alive - LOL. I'll be glad to be a bit less busy after the 
holiday season is over. 

I think DH will bring the Christmas tree up from the basement today and get it set up. Personally, I advised against it because we don't have many holiday ornaments left to hang onto the branches, but he's a person of "tradition", so ... it wasn't worth the argument. 

Usually I try to avoid the grocery store on the day before 
Thanksgiving, but I don't have a choice this year. So, I'll 
read a book on my phone while I'm inching ahead in line. 

On my end, I'm willing to face the long lines of a "day before Thanksgiving" grocery trip, because I'm out of some things that I HAVE to have and since I'm working on Friday, I don't have that day as a fall-back. But, what the heck. The only things I want/need to cook today are my baked fruit, and a butternut squash. I'll probably pick up a frozen Kevin's for my dinner - I just don't have the time to add cooking a dinner to that, and I'll have a large bird roasting tomorrow. 

I would very much appreciate your vote for my 
current story on the theme "Fools Errand". I actually 
had a lot of fun with this one once I got going, 
and so many of the other stories are rather 
depressing. I am a firm believer in positive thinking. LOL

I'm going into this Holiday season the least prepared that I've been for years and years. So let's concentrate on LJ Idol instead. I'm in the Final Six, and voting has opened for my current story. There are some good ones in the mix - a lot of depressing outlooks. I, on the other hand, took the positive for the prompt because I try to be a positive person, and I enjoy writing about happy people. There's too much angst in this world as it is. Anyway, the link to the poll post is here https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1175673.html and I hope you'll be kind to vote for me. I'm sure it will be close, and I've never gotten this far in any previous year, but all of these writers are REALLY good, and I'm breathing in rarefied air just being in the same group as they are. Please vote. Have an excellent Wednesday and a good Turkey Day. Slava Ukraini. 

Hell Week, Phones, LJ Idol, and Internet Friends

It's Hell Week, and my phones are still iffy. For some reason, when DH uses his phone to call me, it comes through as a 218 area code. We live in a 651 area code, with Minneapolis as 612. Either of those would be acceptable. However, 218, which is the northern part of the state, is NOT. I'll be contacting the phone people today. They need to get moving on getting our phones fully operational, AND the incorrect area code HAS to be fixed. Quickly. 

The 218 area code takes up most of the northern portion 
of the state. The 651 and 612 area codes are for the 
Twin Cities only, and they barely appear on the map because 
the Cities are a very small part of the greater state. 

So that's one PITA. The fact that this is Thanksgiving Day week, and it's a week later than last year is also a serious problem. It cuts a full week off the Christmas holiday shopping days, and that's going to hurt our bottom line. Just what we DON't need right now. I have my Black Friday email ready to send, the same as it's been for the past two years or so. However, DH is making changes, and I don't have them yet. I need to get that out, and he's sitting on it. ARGH!!! 

I won't get my Friday off this week, and we'll also be 
working Sundays for several week (restricted hours, 
but still, another day at the shop *sigh*). In many ways 
I hate the holiday season, but we really need the added 
business and dollars. Now if the phones could just be 
operational. I have to get my email sent out too - TODAY. 

Posting for the latest stories in LJ Idol ends tonight, and only two of us from the six remaining have posted our stories. Tinnean pointed out that I switched from third person into first person. A stupid mistake, but it's out there now and I can't do anything about it. I don't think it harms the story, but grammatically, I certainly know better. It's a clear indication that I only had a few short hours to pull this together before diving back into the maelstrom of my current life. *sigh* I'll let everyone know the links for reading and voting when I can, and as usual, I'd REALLY appreciate your votes. I'd LOVE to make it into the FINAL FOUR! Wow! Wouldn't that be awesome! 

Internet friends - I treasure each and every one of you! 

So, I'm off to the pool. Every electronic item I carry with me is recharging right now - my phone and my watch. It's rather silly how attached we've all become to electronic items. I still remember (and own) watches that had to be wound, and my phones at home are still hard wired (that will be changing next year). Progress keeps progressing, but I'm not so sure it's always progress that we're dealing with. Sometimes it's a bad idea gone viral. Still, the Electronic World has allowed me to meet and interact with all of you, my friends and readers, so I'm grateful for that. Be well and enjoy your Tuesday, I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

The Clock is Ticking - the Holidays Approach AND Final Six! Thank You!

I'm into the Final Six in LJ Idol, and both thrilled and terrified, going against some extremely talented writers. The topic now is "Fools Errand" and I've got ideas running through my head. The story is due on Tuesday night - not impossible, but difficult since my "weekends" are usually solidly taken up by DH. Nonetheless, I've got a couple of possibilities tapping at my mental doorways, we'll see what ends up in the short term, and what survives culling. 

I'm beyond thrilled to have made it to the Final Six 
in my writing group. I could NEVER have done 
this without your votes, and I thank each and every 
one of you who have voted for each story of mine. 
Every vote counts SO much. 

Today is Saturday, of course, and next week is "Turkey Week". It's also Black Friday and Small Business Saturday and I'm working on the emails to send to our customers for our sale of the season. We usually do the same thing every year, but the discounts are EXCELLENT and we have a lot of new people on the mailing list. I spent some time with Customer Service on Constant Contact yesterday, making sure everything was working properly and getting a few questions answered. 

It's almost Turkey Day, and I have SO much that 
has to be done before then. No time to spend on 
writing, so the next topic will be written on the 
run (so to speak). I have to make the store ready 
for the holidays, release our Black Friday/Small 
Business Saturday email, and get everything 
arranged. We'll probably repeat the sales we ran 
last year. I'm out of time to invent new things. 

DH also wanted to know my doctor and lab appointments, and I have an appointment for something quite unknown for a Saturday. That just doesn't sound right, so I'll need to go into "My Chart" when I get to the shop and find out a bit more about what's going on. Maybe it's for 2025, not 2024? Saturday appointments are rare, and quite unusual. 

It's Saturday - the end of the work week, and the 
beginning of one of the busiest weeks of our year. 
*sigh* So much still to be done before next 
Friday/Saturday and Turkey Day on Thursday. 

I had a lovely "run" today, going through the Northern Rocky Mountains - South Dakota and Montana, and ending up in the northern Italian Alps region going on dirt roads through lots of tunnels with some really stunning scenery. All of that while listening to my favorite Heavy Metal on my headphones. Mornings don't get much better than that! LOL I hope you have a totally SPLENDID day today. I'll be working, and turning story plot lines over in my head. Final six! I'm totally chuffed! LOL Slava Ukraini

The Leaves are Gone, Now Winter Can Visit (But She Can Take Her Sweet Time)

DH got busy with the leaves yesterday morning, and I joined him after I had cleaned up the kitchen after breakfast. He already had three piles along the street, and was working on more piles in the front yard. Our procedure for leaves is tarps - we take a pile, move it onto the tarp, add more piles if there is room, and then pull the tarp down to the steep slope where we've been depositing them for 20+ years. It helps to stabilize that slope, and it's out of the way. A good location. 

We had a LOT of leaves to rake and it took us several hours 
to finish things up from what DH had done on Saturday. 
Fortunately, although it was cool, the weather was perfect - 
no rain, no snow. Yippee! 

I think it took us about three hours total to get the leaves taken care of. I had to admire the garden while I was outside. My Lantana flower plants are still blooming, they're the only plant we have in the garden that are still giving us color. Such a delight. They won't survive the winter in our cold, but it's a joy to see them still giving us their all this late in the year. 

My Rosemary is actually good in Zones 4-8. We're in what's 
called "Zone 4 Hardy", yeah ... we get COLD and we get 
Winter. But we'll keep the pot close to the back patio door 
and see if it makes it through the winter. I do love my rosemary 
for cooking. 

The other things that are still growing are my herbs. my Rosemary and my Thyme. It's possible that the Rosemary might winter well if we move the pot to a protected place, so we'll do that. The Thyme won't survive our cold at all, but I'm enjoying the fact that they're still up and growing. I actually got quite a lot of herbs from them over the summer, put them into my dehydrator, and have jars of freshly dried herbs for my cooking. Happy me! 

We usually do a really good reduction on price for our 
After-Thanksgiving Day two-day sale. We hold it on 
Friday and Saturday. Then we focus on after Christmas for
the next sale event.  

It's two weeks until "Turkey Day" and then we dive into the Holiday season with our after-Thanksgiving Day sale weekend. I still have NO idea what we'll put on sale. I'm thinking maybe the cube shape of our Swarovski crystals, but in the past I've also done a straight percentage off the price of everything in the store. I might just do that for easy. I don't like having to do cash register gymnastics for items on sale vs items not on sale, when I'm super busy with customers. Easy is better (and more accurate). So, I'll bounce things off DH and Chickie and figure out what I want to do. I have newly purchased garland, so I'm bringing my staple gun to the shop so that I can put it up over the next few days. Since this is new garland, it doesn't already have the right lengths together, nor the wires to mount it to the cabinet fronts. I'll be starting from scratch with that aspect of the holiday decorating this year. But, hopefully, I won't have a floor full of sparkly shedding to sweep up after January 1st either. 

I'd very much appreciate your vote if you haven't already 
voted for this week's story. I'm in the final eight (actually 
the final seven since one more person has dropped out 
because of time conflicts with real life). I'd love to keep 
going with this group, and every vote is important. Links 
are in the paragraph below. 

Voting is open for my story at LJ Idol, and I'd really appreciate your vote (if you haven't already voted for this story). The link for voting is here https://www.dreamwidth.org/poll/?id=32233 and my story is here https://erulissedances.dreamwidth.org/1072926.html . Thanks for your vote in advance. Have an excellent Monday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slave Ukraini! 

It's After Thanksgiving - Bring On The Sale!

I hope that all of my US friends and their families had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day holiday yesterday. My bird roasted up beautifully, although I do have to learn to trust in my oven thermometer a bit more. I had to put it back into the oven for an additional 1/2 hour after realizing that the thermometer was right and I was wrong. LOL But ... after a minor melt-down on DH's part (because all of his side dishes would get cold while I reheated and finished roasting my bird), we got back on even keel and the meal was wonderful. 

Our turkey, despite a small bump in the cooking road, 
turned out beautiful and very tasty. I need to be better 
with my thermometer placement in the thigh. I'll 
work on that over the next year, in time for next year's bird. 

I had made my own side dishes this year, and I'll be doing that again. My gluten-free stuffing was quite tasty and made a very generous portion (I'll have some for days, yet). My homemade cranberry sauce was SOOOOO good. That's a winner. And since it actually took less than 15 minutes to make, it's a total YES in my holiday from this point on. The Primal Harvest brand gravy that I purchased is a 50/50. It tastes wonderful, but I'm not fond of the color or the texture. Still, taste is the thing, so I'm calling that one good. My Carnival Squash was a dud. I won't buy that variety again. Acorn or Butternut would have been a better choice. All in all, though, dinner was wonderful. The kitchen looked like a typhoon had hit it (DH used every pan in the place for his meal), but even that was quickly taken care of and we topped the night off by watching a bit of TV. 

My homemade cranberry sauce is outstanding and 
I'm definitely going to be making that one again. It's 
my true shining star from this year's meal. This year 
was the first year that I really made all of my own 
foods, instead of caving and eating the standard 
store-bought stuff and regretting it afterward. I came 
away from the table quite happy in my choices and food. 

I'm leaving for the shop very early today. DH got our Christmas tree up on Wednesday, but I have to go around the shop and staple our tinsel garland on our shelf tops and the "evergreen" garland around our front cases. I've done it enough times, I can practically do it in my sleep, but it has to be done before we open because today and tomorrow are my busiest sales days of the year. It's our seed bead sale today,. and our pressed glass bead sale tomorrow. Some of my customers only come once a year, and they'll be here to restock their supplies. We're all working today and tomorrow, and will welcome Sunday as a true day of rest. 

Today and tomorrow are the only days we have official 
sales all year. It's the only time that almost everything in 
the store, from artwork through jewelry, and of course, 
beads, are on sale. We're usually VERY busy for these next 
two days, and we count on them for important income. 

So, I'm out of here. I'll try to catch up with everyone's posts over the next few days, but if I've missed something important, please message me and let me know. I'll be back tomorrow, ready to start all of this again - LOL. Have an excellent Friday. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

Happy "Turkey Day" to All

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my friends throughout the world. Whether you celebrate today in USA style, or it's just another day to you, spend a little time today thinking about what you're grateful for in your life. Look at those positives, try to push the negatives aside for a day. Smile, love, maybe dance a little. I'll be back tomorrow after roasting a very large bird today. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

Turkeys, Food, Tension and Sales - It's the Start of the Holiday Season *sigh*

It's a day off for me today, but it's also a day where I have to think very carefully about what I'm doing over the next week. The refrigerator space is minimal, but I think I have enough food to take me through to Thanksgiving Day on Thursday, and the 14 pound turkey that DH picked up yesterday that's taking up one shelf on his side of the refrigerator. 

DH bought a 14-pound turkey yesterday, and it's in the 
refrigerator taking up a good portion of the bottom 
shelf on his side of the "fridge" at this time. It might 
be a bit early to have the bird, but time compresses 
when there is so much that needs to be done. 

I have fresh cranberries that I want to cook today, so I have some for "Turkey Day", and I have to locate the gluten-free stuffing mix I bought a few weeks ago so that I have that on hand. I'll still need to go to the grocery store on Wednesday morning (which won't be fun - too many people getting last-minute stuff for the holiday meal), but I can't buy my salad stuff too far in advance. 

I haven't worked with fresh cranberries before, but my co-op 
had them on sale and they just called to me. So I have a bit 
more than a pound of fresh cranberries to cook down. I think 
I'll use maple syrup for the sweetener. It should be quite tasty. 

I have our e-mail sales flyer for our Black Friday/Small Business Saturday annual sale sitting on the desk in front of me. I need to make minor revisions and have that ready to send out, there are also new names to add to the mailing list. Between everything else, I need to find out how to enable sharing a file with a potential customer (for DH). He has a bunch of product pictures that he wants to share with a particular potential customer, and it would be easiest to do via sharing the file. It's a large, heavily populated group of photos, and was too large for him to just append to his email as a PDF (although I find that hard to believe, I guess it's possible). I think it actually hit the limit on their side, not ours. Still, we need to get this going. It's why we (I) started work on his web site in the first place, but after he looked at what I had developed last night, that didn't really meet his criteria either. *sigh* It's a mess, and we need to get it nailed. Any ideas you might have that will allow us to send a bunch of photographs to this potential buyer would be very helpful. 

It's a good thing I'm already bald, otherwise 
I'd be pulling my hair out from the pressure 
and tension. *sigh*

So, I'm going to try and enjoy this day. It's one of the last days I'll have off until the end of the month, so yeah - time is seriously compressing on me. I'll drop by the shop quite quickly this morning to drop some things off and check a couple of things, then I'm on the road picking up a prescription, getting my groceries, and figuring out the planning necessary to handle Thanksgiving and our two major days of sales at the shop before I can collapse on Sunday the 26th. Oy! LOL. Have a great day, hopefully you're a bit less busy than I am. I'll be back tomorrow to wrap up the week. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

Wasting Time and the End of Daylight Savings Time

For those of you in the USA, who have had Daylight Savings Time for the last six months or so, get ready. Daylight Savings Time ends at 12:01 am Sunday morning, so don't forget to set your clocks BACK. You benefit from an extra hour of sleep, but to me, it means that Winter is finally here, howling at the door. I'm definitely NOT ready for it. 

I'll welcome the extra hour of sleep, but I'm not fond of 
driving home from work in the darkness. It just seems wrong 
to have full dark at 6:00 pm. 

We still have a bunch of leaves that still have to fall, so we aren't going to be doing much raking yet, but I hope they hurry and get on track before we get caught by the snow. Already we're getting touches of frost that are freezing the downed leaves to the ground below. Ever tried to rake up leaves frozen to the ground? It's not easy, it's rather frustrating, and it means I'm too cold. I'm sure I'll be wearing my snowmobile suit again when I help DH with leaves in a week or two. 

There's a habit - a food habit - that revolves around the 
Thanksgiving Day meal in the USA. Turkey or Ham (or 
both) for the main dish, with a variety of side dishes, 
and pies (pumpkin and sometimes a fruit pie) for 
dessert. We do usually roast a turkey - I enjoy making 
the bird, it practically cooks itself. The sides and dessert 
are up to each individual person. It works best for us 
that way. 

It's also time to start thinking about Thanksgiving meals (if you're in the USA). Now ... of course that's not saying those of you in other nations of the world can't think about Thanksgiving meals too - and even celebrate our holiday if you so choose - but "Turkey Day" will become our focus for the next few weeks. I'll have to get my annual Black Friday/Small Business Saturday sale e-flyer pounded back into shape and add names to my mailing list, and I still have to finish the interior of this year's holiday cards. 

Why am I wasting time? I have a TON of things to 
get done this month, and here it is, the 4th of 
November, and I've done nothing of substance! *sigh*

So, with so much to do, why am I wasting time? I suppose because I really don't want to dive into much of anything right now. So ... I'm going to let the clocks change on Sunday, and I'm going to move onward from there. Things will be done when they're done, and deadlines aren't set in stone. I'll just keep moving forward, paddling madly and hoping I keep up. Have an excellent weekend, I'll be back on Monday. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

Thanksgiving Was A Lovely Day - Food, Football and Holiday Cards

Thanksgiving turned into a very productive day. It was warm enough (barely) for DH to finally attack the gutters around the house, clearing out the leaves so that we will have less ice buildup over the winter. He was chilled and grumpy afterward, but also glad he got it out of the way since he's been wanting to get that done for a few weeks now. 

Our turkey looks slightly overbaked, but it was 
absolutely fabulous. The skin was crispy and 
perfect, the interior was juicy and flavorful. It's 
one of the best turkeys I've ever roasted. Yippee! 

I, on the other hand, started working on my turkey at 7:00 am and had it in the oven by 8. I followed the directions of my favorite on-line turkey guru to the letter (almost) and even added chopped rosemary and thyme into the melted butter that I put between the skin and the meat of the breast.  Then, uncovered in a VERY hot oven for 20 minutes (although I forgot and left it in that very hot oven for 40 minutes instead), and then covering the whole with foil and turning the temp WAY down for the next few hours. 

We like a well-basted turkey, so I was up basting it every half-hour or so. I had my digital thermometer inserted, so wasn't worried about anything else. I turned it around 180 degrees mid-roast and re-inserted the thermometer in a different location which did seem to need more heat, so it was good that I did that. DH started making his side dishes and I pulled the turkey out to sit and rest for 20 minutes while he cooked. Finally it was ready, and it was absolutely AWESOME. Very flavorful (the thyme and rosemary were an excellent idea) and yummy! I steamed some fresh green beans and had a large salad, DH had his stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy and corn. The best part of this meal will be the leftovers. 

I love my Tim Holtz Distress Inks. I don't have 
this many, but I do have a very nice selection. 
I'm going to need to start buying the refills for 
them, so I'll have to start a list of which ones I 
own and which refills I've already purchased. I 
think that will make a nice holiday gift for 
myself - one that DH would never think about 
getting for me. 

I spent the majority of my day, however, working on painting my holiday cards. I got about 2/3 through the fronts of the cards, and then I'll tackle the inside of the cards on Sunday. I'll (obviously) finish the fronts first before starting the interior image. It's been fun to pick up paint brushes again, it's been a few years since I've painted my cards so it's a nice change. It'll still be a bit before they're finished and ready for mailing, but I'll tell you when they hit the mail so that you can watch for them to arrive at your homes if you've on my list. 

DH did a great job with the store tree on 
Wednesday. I ended up going over to the 
shop Wednesday night to spend an hour or 
so getting the garlands up and the wreaths 
on the door and front case. I have holiday hours 
signs in my laptop bag to hang on the door and 
windows today, and some handouts for the 
bags of our customers. I think we're as set as 
we can be for our Two-day Sale. 

Other than that, we watched football for the day. Some really good games were played yesterday and apparently, the Minnesota Vikings ended up winning their game. (Since it was the late game, I went to sleep before halftime.) Still, all in all, it was a lovely Thanksgiving. Today and tomorrow is my Two-day After Thanksgiving sale at the shop, and Sunday is the last Sunday I'll have off from working until Christmas Day. That's a rather depressing thought, all around *sigh*. Have an excellent Friday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Happy Thanksgiving to All of My Friends Worldwide

Today is Thanksgiving and I'm just about ready to start working on my bird. I'm taking a quick moment to wish all of my friends, those in the USA and those who live elsewhere in the world, a safe and happy day. If you have an opportunity to help someone today, please do. If you have the chance to give a child or a loved one another hug, please do. Let's spread some joy throughout this world today, one small step at a time. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

My meal won't be this comprehensive or large, but this 
year I actually have an oven, so I'm putting a bird into 
it for this year again. I really missed that last year. 

Today Is SOOOOO Busy and Tomorrow is Thanksgiving!!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving so tomorrow is my "Friday" and Friday will be a work day at the shop for the first day of our "Two-Day" Sale. As soon as I get into the shop on Friday I'll have to work with my staple gun and get my holiday garlands up and the two wreaths that I mount in the store at the front case and the front door. I should have done that yesterday, but was busy until the last minute with a shipment that we got in on Monday that had to be checked in and processed. Well, there's still processing to do, but at least everything is checked in, so it was a good day's work. 

DH and Chickie are tasked with putting up the 
store Christmas tree today. I'll do the garlands 
and the wreaths early Friday morning. I DON'T 
do trees. 

Today will be busy and hectic and not enough time - that's a guarantee. I start out in the pool, and then as soon as I'm home and have switched the first load of laundry from the washer to the dryer, I'm off to the grocery store. Yes - the grocery store on the DAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING!!! OY! I'm not looking forward to it, but it's the only day I can shop and my "cupboards" are bare. DH already bought all of the Turkey Day fixings he wanted, and I have a large bird defrosting in my refrigerator to be roasted tomorrow, but there's the daily stuff that has to be bought, and I'll be busy in the kitchen for the rest of the day. 

I normally love my Alkagizer. I have one four days a 
week for my lunch at the shop. But Monday's glass 
made me almost vomit - I don't know if it was slightly 
"off", or what? But it was NOT a good thing. I'm 
going to toss the rest of that batch and stay off for a 
week or so. Then I'll make a new batch and start 
fresh. 

I've decided I'm taking a couple of weeks off my Alkagizer. I love them, but Monday's got me very ill. I think I'm a bit overly sensitive to them right now, even though I only drink them four days a week. I also think I'm leaving them in the refrigerator too long, when I should actually freeze them instead. That's much harder - my freezer space is VERY limited. But I'm going to toss the batch I have already made into today's garbage and start fresh after the first of December. Maybe that will work out better for my health. I think it's well worth the try. 

What a crazy Thanksgiving Day balloon in this photo. But 
with the reflected lights on the belly, it almost looks like 
a demon pumpkin wearing a Native American headdress 
and a VERY angry expression. Don't you think? LOL 
In any case, have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with 
a good meal and the friends and family you choose to 
spend it with. 

So, since I'm VERY tight on time before hitting the grocery like EVERY other person out there on the day before Thanksgiving, I'm closing this and wishing all of you a wonderful Wednesday. Be good, be kind, have patience and I'll pop in quickly tomorrow to wish all of you a great Turkey Day. Slava Ukraini. 

Transgender Remembrance Day (Late) and Thoughts On the Week Ahead

Yesterday was Transgender Day of Remembrance, and the official death toll was in the upper 300's. These were people just like me or any of you. People with dreams and aspirations, hopes and fears, loves and hates. These were people who were killed merely because they were transgender, and that's just WRONG. It's wrong to be murdered for any reason, but because of sexual blinders ... no words. I hope you had a chance to put some of these victims into your thoughts and prayers yesterday, and if you didn't, maybe you could do that today. OR ... here's a thought. Why not think about keeping all of those persecuted in your thoughts and prayers EVERY day. 

The REPORTED Transgender deaths over the past 
year amounted to a bit less than 400 lives. That's people 
who deserved to live full and rich lives, who interacted 
with others, who lived and loved and tried to do the best 
they could, just like the rest of us. Hold them in your 
thoughts and prayers. 

This week is Thanksgiving week - Thursday is Turkey Day. My middle niece was kind enough to Facebook message me yesterday, inviting us to the annual family get-together for Thanksgiving, which will be held at her house this year. Of course, the invitation came less than a week before the date, and I already have a turkey defrosting in my refrigerator and the various fixings accumulated on my kitchen counters. So, no. I thanked her for the invitation and turned it down. If it had been given a couple of weeks earlier, DH and I could have discussed whether or not we wanted to attend, but at this point, we're already blocked in to our own Thanksgiving (which I'm quite looking forward to). I'll be spending the day roasting a large bird, watching football, and painting my Holiday Cards. I have my schedule already set. 

Thanksgiving is a holiday that's all about the food. We'll 
have a turkey and stuffing, a veggie or two, DH will 
probably have mashed potatoes and gravy too, and I'll 
try to pick up 1/2 of a pumpkin pie on Wednesday when 
I'm at the grocery store. I'll have turkey and a salad and 
I'll also have a little bit of stuffing and gravy, but not much. 
I'll probably also indulge in one piece of pie. Then I'll 
be back to my normal eating on Friday. It's actually 
not a famously unhealthy meal, just pushing my boundaries 
just a little bit. 

Yesterday, while watching Minnesota lose (BADLY) to a team they shouldn't have lost to (and while hearing that Denver also lost their game - sigh), I set up my photography area again and continued photographing my Swarovski crystal rounds. My goal was to photograph the 3mm rounds, and to begin re-shooting the other sizes I had done a few days prior because I wasn't happy with the quality of the original photos. This new batch of pictures is turning out MUCH better. I understand my ring light much better, and found the doohickey I needed to get exactly what I wanted. I've left my photography lights, etc in the den once again, although out of DH's way. I want to re-take the 4mm and 6mm sizes within two weeks. I'll start massaging the photos I took yesterday while I'm at the shop today and tomorrow. I'm quite sure I'll be much happier with the quality. 

I purchased a Kobra-Tech Ring Light with stand 
from Amazon in May, and I've been using it for 
the photos of my crystal beads. It works really 
well, but I was sure I could get it arranged to be 
directly over the product sheet. I did a bit of research, 
found the part I needed to add to the set-up, and put 
that onto the stand on Sunday. Now I finally had 
exactly what I needed for great photos. I took photos 
of the 3mm round crystals, and re-did the photos of 
the 8mm round crystals on Sunday. Now to bring 
them into Photoshop and size them properly for my 
Etsy pages. 

And on that note, I'm out of here. I've been a bit long-winded today, but that's how it goes sometimes. This will be an odd week, with the Thanksgiving Day holiday on Thursday, and my having to work on Friday and Saturday for our "Two-Day After Thanksgiving Day Sale" days. I have to have the store all decked out for the holidays immediately after Thanksgiving is done, so I'll have a few busy days at the shop. Have an excellent Monday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini.