Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Betta Discoveries



This is my fish.  It is a male Betta that I bought recently from the local pet store.  He replaces the last Betta I had because that one died.  I tend to like the beautiful blue color in a Betta, so I picked a blue one.  As you can see, he has a bit of maroon on him too, and some seagreen on his fins.












This is the fish hammock. WQhat?  You never heard of a fish hammock? 

ME neither, but I bought it anyhow.

It's basically a horizontal single broad kind of leaf near the top of the tank, attached by a suction cup (to the right.)







And now for the "discovery"...







This is the fish on his fish hammock:



 Shhhhh... I think he is asleep.











Thanksgiving Turkey Walk

Thanksgiving is a special time of year.  I love it!  I love the colors, the smells and time with family and friends.

One of our neighbors, someone I consider to be a longtime friend, likes to have a neighborhood Turkey Walk on Thanksgiving.  She calls all her neighbors and invites them to take part in a group walk to celebrate the holiday with her family.  After walking for maybe a mile, we return to her house and enjoy coffee, cocoa, cinnamon rolls and various breakfast items together.

The event began a few years back with about three or four families and it has continued as a bit of a tradition, year after year.  This year there were about 50 people walking in our group.... or is it a gaggle?... (No, not a "gaggle," that would be geese! Actually, a group of turkeys is called a "rafter."  Maybe we were just a "crowd.")  Anyhow, having done this for several years now,  it was quite fun to get her call to join in and do it once again.  It is becoming quite the holiday tradition!  It has also been fun to see kids who were at first being pulled in wagons and sleds over the trek of a mile walking, and sledding on their own and to meet some neighboring families we have not had the opportunity to meet yet.

Here is our holiday flag.... which someone in the group always gets to carry.  It's a pilgrim-dressed type of turkey with they words "Give Thanks" on it.

It has been very cold here following a lot of snowfall.  The night before was extremely cold... in fact it zeroed out....   I was almost certain that it would still be very cold, making for a freezing "Turkey Walk."  But come Thursday morning it was 19 degrees and snowing.  (That means it was warm!)  So after waking up Thanksgiving morning, put our turkey in the oven and headed out the door to our friends house for an 8:30 AM walk.... but not just any walk...

a Turkey Walk!


Here we are arriving.... people with kids and treats in tow.

We gathered our troops,




grabbed our Hotties,




and off we went!







We made our way back to our starting spot and gathered around the table of food to give thanks to the Lord our God, for the food we had to eat, for His many blessing upon us us in this year, for our gathering of friends and neighbors, and for being our savior when this life is through. Then we ate and visited and met one another if they were new to us.  The kids played, some played the piano, and it was lots of fun.





Here is our lovely host and hostess.  Stu and Natalie.










After all was said and done, we came home and celebrated Thanksgiving with our immediate family, feeling very thankful for many things, but especially all these dear sweet neighbors, old friends and new, who are not afraid to brave the cold and who make their own homes around us, near and far....

I should mention that one of the families at our gathering were visiting missionaries, relatives of one of our neighbors.  They are currently living in Mexico....home for the holidays.... planning to return before long.  

Yes, we are thankful for good neighbors... and thoughtful, loving friends, both near, and far!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Christmas Jokes from Steven... 2009

Looking through Christmas recipes I found some jokes (riddles actually) from Steve from last year.  Again, some of them are funny.... like:

(NOTE: Answers are below the riddles.... )



1.What do you get when you cross and archer with a gift wrapper?

2.  What do elves learn in school?

3,  Why was Santa' little helper depressed?

4.What do you call a chicken at the North Pole?

5. What do monkeys sing at Christmas?

6.  What did Adam say on the day before Christmas?

7.  Why does Mr. Claus like to work in his garden all summer?




Answers:

1.  Ribbon Hood


PS....     scroll down...answers are a little bit hidden so you can guess...




2.  the Elf-abet





3.  He had low elf- esteem.



4.  Lost!



5.  Jungle Bells...Jungle Bells...



6.  "It's Christmas Eve!"




7.  Because he likes to Hoe-Hoe- Hoe!

Monday, November 22, 2010

Thanksgiving Poetry


Happy Thanksgiving!
This poem was sent to me by my friends Gil and Christy.... and so now, I share it here with you.




T'WAS THE NIGHT OF THANKSGIVING,
BUT I JUST COULDN'T SLEEP.
I TRIED COUNTING BACKWARDS,
I TRIED COUNTING SHEEP.

THE LEFTOVERS BECKONED -
THE DARK MEAT AND WHITE,
BUT I FOUGHT THE TEMPTATION
WITH ALL OF MY MIGHT.

TOSSING AND TURNING WITH ANTICIPATION,
THE THOUGHT OF A SNACK BECAME INFATUATION.
SO, I RACED TO THE KITCHEN, FLUNG OPEN THE DOOR,
AND GAZED AT THE FRIDGE, FULL OF GOODIES GALORE.
GOBBLED UP TURKEY AND BUTTERED POTATOES,
PICKLES AND CARROTS, BEANS AND TOMATOES.

I FELT MYSELF SWELLING SO PLUMP AND SO ROUND,
'TIL ALL OF A SUDDEN, I ROSE OFF THE GROUND.
I CRASHED THROUGH THE CEILING, FLOATING INTO THE SKY,
WITH A MOUTHFUL OF PUDDING AND A HANDFUL OF PIE.
BUT, I MANAGED TO YELL AS I SOARED PAST THE TREES....
HAPPY EATING TO ALL - PASS THE CRANBERRIES, PLEASE.



MAY YOUR STUFFING BE TASTY,
MAY YOUR TURKEY BE PLUMP.
MAY YOUR POTATOES 'N GRAVY HAVE NARY A LUMP.
MAY YOUR YAMS BE DELICIOUS.
MAY YOUR PIES TAKE THE PRIZE,
MAY YOUR THANKSGIVING DINNER STAY OFF OF YOUR THIGHS!!

Riddle Me This One, Will Ya?

Okay.. so I was shopping on Saturday with afriend and this man comes up to me.  HE is a round little fellow with cokebottle glasses and a top hat... a black T-shirt with writing on it and a pocket watch on a chain that was hanging from his shorts.  He was, to say the least and interesting fellow....

He says... "Hey, can I tell you a riddle?"

"Sure, why not?" I replied, finding his demeanor a little bit amusing,.... and his odor a little bit musty... like maybe he was some antique from a bye-gone era.

"If athletes get 'athlete's foot,'" he said, "..what do astronauts get?"

I thought about it and smiled wondering what the punchline could be... as the man said...


"Missle toe!"  (mistletoe)

(It was a seasonal joke, I think.)


I had to laugh as we parted ways...and immediately of course retold the joke to my friend who was by this time, already shopping n the other side of the store.  She laughed too.

It was kinda funny.  The man was obviously a fun  loving fellow and he made me laugh!.  HA.  Not sure what was funnier the man or the riddle that he told.  Either way, it was notable, you might say.

The incident made me look up and read about mitletoe, the plant that people like to "kiss" underneath at Christmas time.  By the way,  I learned is a poisonous plant, (poisonous...to people, but edible for birds) and to trees it is a parasitic plant.  It grows in trees and has no roots.  The Romans saw the plant as a symbol of peace and Scandanavians associated the plant with their godess of love, Frigga, believing that  "Those who kissed under the mistletoe had the promise of happiness and good luck in the following year" (www.allthingschristmas.com).  But get this; it's name means, "dung on a stick!:"  
Not very romantic to kiss "under the mistletoe," if you ask me. 

Snowman Dreams

Yes, it's true. the snow is here.  Isn't it pretty?
  
It has already snowed once before this season, Thursday morning in fact, but it didn't stick around.  That was okay by me.  I love snow, but I have to admit that I am often apprehensive just before it begins, especially as I think about driving and shoveling... and all that stuff.  By the afternoon that day, the sun had come out, the snow turned to water, and 'poof," it disappeared.  But lo! and behold!.... "It's ba-a-a-a---ck."

It's evening now and the snow is falling again...



...but, let me tell about this morning's little snowfall:

Today while in town, at church in fact, I was seated, talking with friends and George drew my attention to the window, where outside, in the parking lot, snow was falling.  It was falling in big snowflakes and it looked so pretty as it fell from the sky.  It was falling really slowly, like snow sometimes does.  I could not help but want to go outside to experience it up close and personal.... so I invited George and off we went.

Before long lots of people had joined us and we had a blast.

It was so refreshing to feel the cold, snow-laden air against our skin.  (There is just something special about the air temperature when it snows.) The snow was accumulating on the ground around our feet and decorating our hats and hair with puffs of the manna-like whiteness.  As we were watching, the flakes began to get larger and everyone was in awe, laughing and talking about snow experiences and other winter topics as we stood around, opening our mouths and occasionally chasing a snowflakes with our tongues.  It was fun.

A couple of the little children outside were amazing to watch.  One was Joe's young son and another was Audra's baby boy.  Being not very old, it was the "first" time they had really seen snow and they were as delighted as the adults, if not more.  Their eyes were big as quarters as they awed over the falling white stuff and it was great watching them copying their parents, trying to catch a snowflake or two on their tongues.

But it didn't last long.... Soon the snow stopped falling and the people slowly dispersed.  I went back inside to resume the conversation with friends.  The snow melted; the memories however will linger.

I was very happy tho have taken the opportunity to go outside in the snow.  It was a very fun little interlude, o' de day.

The falling snow is not as breathtakingly beautiful as it was this morning, but it is snowing some more.  It's only snowing lightly, but we are expecting more snowfall and a lot of cold.  I attempted to capture a snapshot of the falling snow, which almost looks like a starfield in the sky.

Maybe it will snow all night. 

I imagine there are lot of little kids laying in their beds... dreaming of the wintry days to come, having snowman dreams...

me too.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Autumn Leaves











I can remember, 
back in September,
when autumn arrived.....



 










Now,
I can see it leaving...  







 EVERYWHERE!