Winter fields of white

Yesterday was clear and cool and sunny, perfect for going outside and soaking up some (much needed) early winter sunshine. I decided to go take some pictures of the small cotton patches I had seen outside of town on Thanksgiving day. I went just in time; some of the fields around me were being harvested as I was taking my pictures. I felt kind of silly, standing knee-deep in a cotton field with a camera, but I have a feeling some of my blog readers have never seen cotton plants.

When you drive past these fields, it looks just like snow has fallen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bleak November days

Winter is settling in early this year, or so it seems. Nighttime temperatures have already been hitting the freezing mark, and the days have been damp and chilly. The almanac is predicting a cold, snowy winter this year and I wouldn't be surprised if it's right, based on the weather so far this month. I would dearly love to see some real snow this year.

Today there is a cold, intermittent rain falling outside, and the wind will chill you to the bone. It's certainly not a day to go out and take pictures, which is what I had planned to do with my day off. On the way to see my family last week I saw some interesting landscapes about 10 miles outside of town, cotton fields blooming and abandoned tobacco barns and swampy areas with bare cypress knees reaching up out of the water. I promised myself on my next day off I would pack a lunch and a camera and go get some photos, but unless the rain lets up soon it will have to wait until later in the week. Possibly Thursday will be better (that's my next opportunity).

Meanwhile, it's a good week to enjoy the comforts of home. Pajamas at night, the fireplace lit, movies to watch, warm home cooked meals, and books read in bed are how we're passing the time on these bleak early winter days.

A poem for November I wanted to share:

"The wild gander leads his flock through the cool night,
Ya-honk! he says, and sounds it down to me like an invitation:
The pert may suppose it meaningless, but I listen closer,
I find its purpose and place up there toward the November sky."- Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, 1855, I Celebrate Myself, Line 238

Stuffed

A quick post before I fall into bed and attempt to sleep off all the food I ate today. We had a huge Thanksgiving meal with my parents.

Mom cooked: Roast Turkey, southern cornbread dressing, rice and gravy, biscuits, deviled eggs, and banana pudding.

I cooked: baked macaroni and cheese, green bean casserole, real cranberry sauce with toasted pecans and mandarin oranges, pumpkin pie, and pecan pie.

After we drove home, we went for a short walk with Ginger (who got lots of turkey with her dog food tonight) and then watched a bit of tv while eating leftovers. Now it's time to turn in early. There's really nothing else to do when you're as stuffed as we are!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Cleaning and shopping and cooking, oh my!

Today is going to be busy! Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and my mom is cooking a large feast for our family, I plan to make some dishes to take along. Unfortunately, I wasted a day off yesterday when I should have been taking care of business, so now I have to clean my messy house, go shopping (the grocery store will be a madhouse today) and then cook the dishes I promised to bring.

Time to crank up some Pandora radio and get my rear in gear!

I'll be making homemade cranberry sauce from my own special recipe, baked macaroni and cheese, and a couple of pies (probably pecan and pumpkin). If I can get the cleaning and shopping out of the way early, I can spend the afternoon in the kitchen sipping a leisurely glass of wine while I cook. That's the plan, anyway.

  Tomorrow I will post pictures of all the glorious food we'll be enjoying! Stay tuned!




Ready for turkey!

Friendly feline walking companion

I've mentioned here before that there is a friendly neighborhood cat that we've been making friends with on our nightly walks. To begin with, it would just follow us at a distance for a portion of our walk. After awhile it would come closer and even sometimes let us pet it when we passed by. These days it will run to meet us, tail straight up, meowing loudly. Then s/he will rub against all three of us (Ginger the dog included!) and purr loudly before walking with us for awhile. This has been going on for months! A few days ago it did something I've never seen a cat do: stood up on it's back legs to get petted, like a small dog. Crazy cat! We're beginning to love this little creature, and despite my allergies and Ginger's inclination to chase smaller animals, I sometimes wish it could come live with us. It has a home already, of course. But still. What an awesome feline!!

I was finally able to get some pictures when we were out uncharacteristically early one afternoon recently. The cat ran out to greet us when we passed it's house, as usual.

 

 

Living proof that not all cats are aloof!

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful November skies

A couple of days ago I was out raking leaves in my front yard and was struck by how pretty the sky looked. For once the batteries in my camera were fully charged and I was able to get a few photos. These were taken from my front yard and the street in front of my house.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Too much cake!

Friday was my husband's birthday, and I ordered him a a special cake for the occasion. What I didn't know was that his workmates had done the same thing! So we've been eating cake all weekend and I really need to find someone to give the rest of the leftovers to. Too much of a good thing is still too much!

They were both awesome looking cakes though! Check out what our local bakery came up with for the "fish dude":

By the time his work cake made it home, it was missing some parts!!

The inside has chocolate layers with raspberry filling.

Red state blues.

It's election day! And here in South Carolina, it's also "show off how racist, uninformed, homophobic, and misogynistic you really are!!" day. The one good thing about election day finally arriving is that no matter who wins, it means the extreme right-wing teabaggers will finally quiet down a bit and get back to their small, miserable little lives. They've been spewing venomous hate and contempt for months now, and it's difficult to be a liberal in this kind of atmosphere. (To give you an example, I once posted something on facebook about supporting gay marriage and I got blasted by  people I once considered good friends who said I "supported perversion"and  "was completely misguided" and worse...all for suggesting that everyone should have the same civil rights in this country!)

In any case, today I actually get to stay at home in my pjs and avoid the lines at the polling stations, because I voted two weeks ago! I didn't actually intend to do the early voting thing. I went to the voter registration office to change the address on my voter ID, and discovered that it was going on. The nice man that took care of updating my address urged me to go ahead and cast my ballot. What a great idea! It's only 9 am today, and people are already filling up my facebook news feed with reports of standing in lines for over an hour. I waited a grand total of 10 minutes! That was a lucky break for me.

I don't think there's a chance in hell that my vote will actually make a difference in my state. The "red" candidate always, always wins in South Carolina.  Still, I consider my vote and the vote of others like me important, if only in principle, in this area.

November is here!

November came in on a cold front this year! This morning dawned clear and cold, but with bright sunshine and the bluest of blue skies. This month contains my darling GB's birthday, Thanksgiving, and the start of the holiday season!

The past three nights I've worked very late, doing holiday merchandising at the bookstore. We've pretty much completed the bulk of the work, and I'm very happy that tonight I will finally make it home before midnight. Last night I finally understood why we have so few trick or treaters at our house....the mall was packed with little ghosts and goblins and princesses looking for goodies. I never knew Halloween at the mall was such a big event. I'm still not terribly impressed, I think the old fashioned door-to-door thing is better, but it was nice to feel that I got to see a little of the fun. Our store gave out candies, pencils, and stickers.

I'm happy to see November arrive, and more than anything I am looking forward to New Year's Eve. It's been a rough year at my house, and we're going to have to do some major celebrating when we finally see the end of it! Actually, we plan to do some major celebrating throughout all of the winter holidays this year!