Greatest global online bookclub in town

I forgot to mention we had Thanksgiving lunch on their patio, turned on the overhead fans and lower the shade a bit to keep the sun out of our eyes. For Susie, their first one four years ago in Austin was her first living where Thanksgiving was warm enough to eat outside has become the norm. Growing up as I did in Indiana, associating Thanksgiving with early snow and cold, I’m still surprised by warm Thanksgivings. I do remember one day several years ago on a cloudy, cold, damp Christmas Eve thinking “this is Christmas weather”–and instantly realized I’d adjusted to the new normal in Houston. That was an update from Christmas Eves with big snowflakes that stick, and the stillness created by that white blanket over everything. Change and nostalgia–both have their place.

Candace

Excuse me! When confronted by great food prepared by someone else, different from what I normally have, I didn’t even try not to overeat! It was a great day–left with Pat at 7:00 as planned, arrived at Mike and Susie’s exactly at 10:00 as planned, despite varying degrees of fog most of the way. I put Pat in the shade in a crate and we left to take their boat out on Lake Austin. The water was like glass, the scenery beautiful, the weather perfect. We didn’t get back to their house until 1:00. Since my plan was to head home by 2:00 (with a 30-minute buffer built in) to make it before dark, I didn’t think there would be time for lunch. Wrong! They had everything ready for the last step–jalapeno/sausage/bacon wrapped appetizers, delicious steaks Mike grilled in his Green Egg Cooker, squash bowls filled with a delightful mix of brown sugar, butter, raisins and spices; cubed potatoes with butter/herb sauce and pumpkin pie. I was barely able to waddle out to the car but we were on the road at 2:20–home at 5:10, well before dark. There was very little traffic morning or afternoon.

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving!

Candace

Happy thanksgiving to all. Diana and Mary are coming down and we had planned to eat out. However, when I tried making reservations, the restaurants are all booked up. Well, I didn’t try MacDonalds, or Wendy’s, etc. Anyway, we decided to cook but keep it simple. I have a recipe for Cranberry-Apple Crisp and I really like it. Candace, I buy cranberries and freeze them, too. I hope you all have a holiday of thanks. I appreciate all of you so very much. Has anyone heard from WedeWede? Georgianna

Wishing everyone a great Thanksgiving! Don’t eat too much (at one time)
save some for later!

Love to all.

Joanne

Wishing you all a peaceful and joyous day, hope your allergies calm down, Jo.

We have no pets, Clive doesn’t like animals, but we’ll be going to my sister’s on Thur and her family comes with 4 dogs, all house types, but older, so well behaved.

I just got Jon and Kate, plus 8, a book by the mother of 8 kids, you may have seen them on the Learning Channel, twin and sextuplets! Makes me tired just watching them, so I don’t much, but our youngest daughter and grandaughter like the show, so I got the book for them.

Also Its more than just a Catch, a football book for our son, who loves the game. I’ve been listening to Clive Custler books on cd when I’m in the car, but our trips are too short to move very far and I forget what’s been happening.

Again have a wonderful holiday, Jacky

Your train trip sounds good to me, Darlyne–I love trains. I had a free turkey from Kroger last week so I cooked it and have been sharing it with my dogs and cats. Thursday I’ll drive to Austin to my son and dil’s house. It will be cool enough to take one of my bulldogs along for company. I’m anxious to see one of their dogs, a big Newfoundland. He had stem cell treatment for his joints as well as allergies last week. There has been a lot of success treating animals with stem cells. The vet said improvement should be evident within a week to 10 days and they say already he’s acting a lot better. It would be wonderful if they can just get that perfected for those of us with knees and hips wearing out.

With fall’s short daylight hours, I plan to leave at 7:00, arrive by 10:00, leave by 2:00, home by 5:00 when it will just be getting dark. Apparently it has been a good year for cranberries, at $1.88/12 oz. that’s the best price I’ve found in years. I use them year-round so have stocked my freezer.

Have a good Thanksgiving, everyone.

Candace

I am ready to take the train to VA and Julie where I will spend the week with family and others and dog and cat. I have been reading a Wallace Stengler book but am taking a smaller mystery to read on the train. I have a feeling I am re-reading the Stengler book but thanks to CRS I am enjoying it anyway. It is a life on the frontier saga and starts out in ND and right now they are in Alaska, or the husband is anyway.

I guess everyone else is preparing for the holiday too, cooking a turkey or going out for a burger—whatever have a good one.

I had mine act up when I first got to TX but then they eased up some and I had no problem in MD or PA. And no problem at all in ABQ. I too loved the dry air etc in ABQ although I did have to run humidifiers in the winter. I expect I’ll get used to it in time. But I’ll hate going back to PA, no problems, and then back to CO and have to do this all over again.

Suzanne called my PA dr’s office and left a message about my problems. They called me back and told me either Claritin or Zyrtec. Daughter says we’ll try the generic for Claritin which works RIGHT NOW, but first I have to get some. SOMEBODY will take me, I hope…and soon.

My bro and SIL arrived from CA; they’ll be here for Thanksgiving, weather permitting. If it gets ready to snow, they’re outta here. They are on their way to GA to their youngest. AND, best of all, their granddaughter.

And that’s it for me - I feel so crappy!

Jo

One thing I learned and liked when I lived in El Paso which is just on the cusp of high altitude, is that meringue rose a lot higher and so did cakes. That is back when I used to bake. I didn’t notice any problems. I liked how fast clothes dried and used a clothes line much of the time. I also didn’t really mind the heat. It usually cooled off at night.

I can compare notes with you, Jo.  Although I know you lived in Albuqerque for quite a while, so maybe you are familiar with  the climate at a higher altitude.  I was so delighted when I first came here because I quit having allergies.  I had bad ones in Alabama.  It didn’t last long though - about three months and they were back with a vengeance, so I’m taking allergy shots once a week.  Don’t know how long that will go on.  I really love the summers here, but am not looking forward to winter again.  There is an awful lot of wind and of course snow, snow, snow.  One of the things I have noticed is the number of people who need oxygen.  I hardly remember anyone in Alabama carting around an oxygen tank and it seems here 65% of the seniors  use it - maybe because the air is so much lighter (?).  Also,   I have noticed that ball point pens dry up in a matter of a month or so.  I had some in Alabama that I had for about 25 years and they were still working when I left there - certainly not a “biggie”, just something I’ve observed.  On the other hand, I can rinse out a blouse in the sink and hang it in the bathroom and it will be dry in a couple of hours. I hope you find a place to live that you like as much as I do, Jo.  I just love it here - sort of like being on a cruise ship without the water!  Wonderful staff, entertainment, food and a lot of scenic drives and activities.  I find that I am not reading as much as I used to, though.  I don’t have as much spare time.

I do prefer dogs also - but I would like a bigger one like Ebony - she was a smallish black Lab/Australian shepherd and a good size. Cats are nice, too; I had a black and white American shorthair who was more like a dog than a cat, really. But I DON’T like a cat with front claws…no matter how often you taken them to the scratching post, the armchairs seem to be the preferred ‘tree’ and my latest, Whiskers aka Miss Puss, really made a mess of my one year upholstered chair. She got given away.

However, I shall wait and see - maybe I’ll get a pet, maybe not. Maybe I’ll just get me a cute teddy bear to cuddle and let it go at that. at least I wouldn’t have to buy cat or dog food, litter, toys and walk the beast. LOLOL

I really prefer dogs but cats are nice and a lot easier—-once they get over the kitten stage.

Well, I’m thinking about getting a dog but on the other hand maybe not. I really haven’t decided yet and will probably wait until I get here for good.

It does seem common that changing climates can either trigger or clear up allergies temporarily. I couldn’t find Marisol apartments but did see several that accept pets–one I noticed even said “large pets.” I want you to be where you can have at a dog. One small enough that you could train to not have to take outside if its bad weather, but would not trip you. I think I’ve mentioned the little long-haired Chihuahua rescue I had that had a perfect sense of self-preservation and never came close to my feet.

Candace

The cold has turned into allergies - I sneeze and blow but it goes no further and is like the allergy attack I had when I first got to TX. Suzanne took me to her doctor for a meet and greet type appt and he mentioned that allergies are a tad more - um - evident when one first gets here. My only comment: NO KIDDING!

I’m on the list for the Marisol apartments unless I win the lottery and then I’ll opt for one of their duplexes. LOL They are very nice and you might find them online if you do some searching. I haven’t tried to locate the facility but if I find it, I’ll let you know.

Today I have another recurrence of the sneeze/blow action; we went for a nice Sunday ride as it was quite clear. Pike’s Peak is 100 miles away and could be seen in the distance as we wouth down I-25. That’s like the view driving north on I-5 or US 101 in CA when you can first spot Mt. Shasta. Doesn’t seem possible that it’s so big you can see it from so far away.Anyhow, the final place we went was a small lake where Suzanne and Paul used to live in Lafayette CO and where they would take their dogs for the walk. It was windy and rather cool and no telling what blew up into my face and nose.

These mountains are so lovely. They have a bit of snow will disappears before the day is over and then it might be right back the next day. And some spectacular sunsets. Paul says the sunrises are superb too but so far I’ve not yet been up early enough for that. LOL

From my understanding of it all, I seem to be moving to CO late spring whether or not a place is open at Mirasol. I wasn’t too sure of that until lately from a couple of things Suzanne has intimated. That’s OK — I’m ready for the move. It’s been really nice to be around Suzanne and Paul and since Paul is out of down Mon-Fri, flying back home Friday night (usually) and Suzanne has training in the evening, we get to spend the morning and early afternoon doing “stuff.”

Well ladies and Jerry, that seems to be the extent of the news. I’m reading Agatha Christie’s autobiography and also Roosevelt’s Secret War which I mentioned some few weeks ago. He apparently was a very secretive man when it came to his plans; it’s an interesting tale.

Take care, y’all,
Jo

I too hope your cold is gone-or getting better anyway. Kittens left Saturday afternoon and all is quiet here and the house is almost back to the normal mess. I am enjoying a Harlen Coben mystery before I get into the next book group book. I can’t remember what it is but suspect it won’t be an easy read. I Did see a movie that I enjoyed very much yesterday afternoon, The Changeling. It was 2 and 1/2 hours long and kept me on needles and pins all that time. i hadn’t expected it to be that good.

Hope you got rid of your cold and can enjoy your stay in Colorado. You mentioned a possible place to live–any further thoughts there? I’m interested in moves others are making as I try to wrap my mind around the possibility myself. I’m less enthusiastic now than I was seven or eight years ago when it first came up. Then I anticipated clearing out a lot of accumulated stuff and exploring a new environment. Right now it seems a huge hurdle.

Candace

Darlyne, I had a similar reaction to the ending. It certainly was unexpected but the more I thought about it, in a strange way it was inevitable. It was one of those endings that was not quite satisfying. It’s a book I want to read through again at some point.

Candace

They know what “no” means and are learning that they can’t jump up on the counters or kitchen table, although I am not sure what they do when I am not in the room. I have a squirt bottle that has worked quite well in keeping them from clawing the couch. Some one suggested that.
They don’t know what hit them and they dash away in a flash. It is a comfort though, to have a warm kitty sleeping on your lap.

I caught a cold - it wouldn’t let me pass! So I feel really stupid today. Suzanne had made an appt for me with her doctor - called meet and greet. Great idea and I like him.

That’s all for today - I’m not smart enough to write any more.

Jo

Tell me about kittens - but I trained mine to YOU’D BETTER NOT! said all in a monotone with a little oomph behind the line - sorta like you’d tell a kid. It worked too. They’d put out a paw but it never quite reached the strand of yarn. I finally bought a love-seat type chair and I’d put a cat on either side. That also moved them further away from the temptation.

My motto when the kids were still young was, “Kids and animals can be made to behave.” My youngest daughter, the one I’m visiting now, hated that. She also hated it when I’d call the tribe in from outside - all on word - GENE MARK LES DEBBIE SUE. I think mostly because she didn’t want to be called Sue, her name is Suzanne if you please.

I smile now thinking of these things. Both girls were bound and determined to not “do that when she had kids.” They also found it to be natural to do/say some of the things I had said - Mom, I sounded just like you. I don’t smile in front of them unless they are smiling too.

The good old days???????????

Jo

I finished this book last night/ I had a hard time understanding the ending and had to read the last 30 pages over. I know that the boy and his uncle died but am not sure about his Mother and the Dr’s brother who had lime thrown in his face and he was blinded. There was a reason for all this happening. If anyone can explain it please do. Other than the ending I found the book a real page turner and very interesting.

I am taking care of the web master’s two six month old kittens. The little female is very loving but a terror and needs a lot of watching. The male is nice, but probably not as smart. It is hard to knit or read when they are on your lap interfering with everything you try to do.

My library book group met today. The book was Matrimony and the author was there. Most of the group didn’t care for the book but we were nice and asked him mostly personal questions about writing the book. A couple liked it. I picked up a Harlen Coben mystery but haven’t started it.

The only pleasant time to visit a dentist is never! That’s just my humble opinion, of course.

That, too, Jo. My most recent difficulty was almost pleasant.

Candace

< < ...better techniques >>

or the dentists are getting smarter?!?!?!?!????