Another Warm day in sunny Wisconsin. Chelsea and I had a lovely walk. She was quite eager so we had a lot of fun. On the way back through the park, however, a noise was heard in the distance that sounded something like thunder and she made double time back to the house.

I put up the outside lights this morning and placed the Santa hat on the totem. The wreaths that we used on the garage lights fit just fine here too. So we are now very festive.

This afternoon, I went out shopping and found a timer, (by morning we will find out if we set it right. We want the lights to go on at dusk and continue for nine hours.) I also found four battery operated candles and some suction cup holders so that I can put them in the glass panels next to the front door. I will light them one at a time during Advent until all four will announce Christmas.

Tomorrow, work at Rhine. I thought it was last week but got there and the club was even closed for the opening week of deer hunting. THIS is the week I am substituting for Greg. I wonder if there will be many shooters this week. Oh well, we will just have to see.

I was thinking today of Dick's theory on raising children. He said that they should be kept in the basement until they are 35. Parents should feed and clothe and educate them. Then at 35 they can be on their own. I pointed out that he did not do that and he says that other parents should learn from his example.

Now, however, I think he knows that in order not to ever worry one can NEVER let them out of the basement.

Love

Mary

It has been quite a day.

Chelsea and I went for a very foggy walk this morning and she was raring to go so we went around the park. I did turn her around a bit early. We did not go ALL the way down and around. I am glad that she is feeling well anyway.

Then I showered and fixed scrambled eggs with chopped green onions and cream cheese for Dick 2 and Brenda and Dick and me before Dick 1 and I went to the Clinic to get his legs wrapped. That went very smoothly. A young lady named Angie did them for him this time. She is a very bubbly nice gentle young nurse and Dick liked her too.

When we got back I took off for Mother's to help butcher Five deer. That is the most that we have ever butchered in a year. Randy's deer was STILL BIG. A bad thing: I cut my little finger nail to the quick on the meat slicer blade. (Don't worry. It was not turned on at the time. I simply adjusted the meat and nicked the nail. That blade is obscenely sharp.) It seemed to take a long time, but with that many deer it is not surprising. Bobbie came to help today too and to get her ribbing for not being out there and "missing" the big buck. Actually Randy said that he was just as glad that she wasn't there.

The hunters again shared meat with Bobbie and me, even if we haven't contributed to the take yet. We split what they gave us and I also brought home a nice rolled roast to prepare for the wild game dinner. I also was given a deer hide to take to Hartland for tanning. In a year or so I will have enough for a coat or a jacket.

Then when I got home and checked my computer, I found that Jim has located my great picture of Waylon and now has it as my wallpaper on the computer again. I am so happy. I can print it out and frame it to put with Zero's picture.

Tonight Jim and Michelle joined us for leftovers and then we played a game of Rummy.

Tomorrow we are going to the new Cavella Store. Doesn't that sound like fun.

When Bart was just a little guy, he went through what I call his Kung Fu stage. He and Bret watched Kung Fu on TV and he was fascinated but he kept yelling Kung Fu and kicking people. One day we were at church and he yelled Kung Fu and kicked the priest before I could stop him. Another time on Ascension Thursday, they gave all the children balloons and led them out of the church to release the balloons. Everything went well until it was time to let go of the balloon and he started yelling. "God can't have my balloon." God didn't get it either.

Love

Mary

Well, Thanksgiving is almost over. We have finished the feast and the guests who are not spending the night have gone home.

The meal turned out just fine. We had the turkey and stuffing, stuffed squash, rutabaga, broccoli, mashed potatoes, fresh rolls, a molded salad and cranberry relishes. I got carried away again. I am my father's daughter. I still remember him in the kitchen when Mom was preparing meals for guests telling her to put in just a couple of more potatoes, or maybe one more loaf of bread or something. We always had too much food too.

What a wonderful life we have that we can prepare too much. I do make a point of not wasting but it does not seem fair that some family out there is probably hungry.

Leslie called today just as almost everybody was arriving. She picked the best time to talk to Jim, Michelle and Bobbie. Dick and Brenda came after she had gone on her way. She and Bill are spending the day with Nora who was cooking everything but the turkey. She figured that she was not quite ready for that.

It was gorgeous today, almost 60 degrees. Really too warm. I am sure that Randy and Jeff had to ice down the deer. Fortunately it has been dropping to freezing at nights so the garage is probably remaining very cool. We will butcher tomorrow. I will be a bit late because Dick gets his legs wrapped in the morning too. Bobbie is going to join us. She is prepared to be teased for not coming out but I suggested that she has a little bit of come back because she can ask Cory whether the rumor that he missed four shots is true.

I went to Mass this morning as it seemed that there was plenty of time. It is always good to thank the Lord for the good that comes to us. Fr. Van Beeck pointed out that this is one secular holiday that has crossed over to a national holiday with religious overtones rather than the other way around. He also said that married people should go home and thank their spouses for sharing their lives with them. The greatest love next to the love of God. As he said single people and priests never experience that committed kind of love which is very special.

Hope you had a lot to be thankful for today and that your tomorrow will be good

Mary

Well. It was a good day and a bad day.

It was a good day because I spent it cooking for tomorrow. I do love cooking and I had a LOT to do. I made two stuffings, a pie and Fiffy Hobbin and day ahead mashed potatoes and jello. It was fun and I was busy ALL day.

The bad is because Dick has changed his mind about letting us bring kitties here. He had said after I met with Mark Kleinhans, the builder, that he felt that put a different light on it and he would reconsider. Today he practically said that he was not going to. It looks like I will have to wait until Chelsea is gone and then what will he say about TWO kitties. The rules DO say one animal. I am so sad. Every person I talk to, resident of Tall Grass or not, says JUST GET THEM. WHO WILL KNOW. But Dick knows and feels that we are leaving ourselves open for lawsuits and what ever else awful could befall us.

I have no hope.

Chelsea,by the way, is feeling pretty good, but she did take a short walk this morning. She got a shower this morning too so she will be very pretty for the visitors tomorrow.

Jim and Michelle had their Boots declawed today. They brought him home tonight and he is a rather subdued little guy. He spent his time at the Vet's after the surgery trying to get out of his cage and getting his little paws bleeding. Now he is home and demanding lots of love and sympathy. Boy can that little guy purr.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I have SO much to be thankful for. I hope your day will be as nice as ours. We will be visiting and eating to the MAX.

Be. Happy.

Love
Mary

Such a nice day. It was rather warm. The temperatures climbed to 50.7 degrees at the hightest. Now they have dropped down to 31.5 again. Whew. Hope they stay that way. We need cool temps to preserve the venison. Randy will ice it down if he feels that there is any danger of it getting too warm.

I did preparing for Thanksgiving dinner today, mainly chopping and dicing things. Tomorrow I will be doing some serious cooking and baking.

Tonight Dick and I watched the Da Vinci Code. Jim and Michelle came over and made it through the first hour before they got too tired to finish. They will borrow it later for the end. That's what happens when you have to go to work. I remember those days.

We went to the Hub City Restuarant for breakfast. We had gone once before and thought it was pretty good. The ONLY problem then was that they serve way too much food. If you ask for one egg they give two and they have super sizes of potatoes and the meats.

This time, however, we found out that they allow smoking and there were two people smoking in the booth right next to us. It was just sufficating. As we were leaving we talked to the waitress and a customer. They were saying that most people say their food is good even if they don't like it. People don't want to make a fuss. I agreed with them and I told them that I had liked the food very much but found the smoke very bad. I am araid that we will not go back now, because it is iffy as to whether we can breath or not in there.

Guess that is all for now.

Mary

Went to Bible Study this morning. Sunday is Christ the King. All three readings were related to Jesus coming back at the end of the world for the final judgement. On a cloud they say. Sounds like we had better be ready. As I pointed out - we don't really have to worry about that. We just have to worry about our own personal judgment.

I visited with Mother for a while after the study. I brought her two of the frozen pasties that I made last week. She was pleased. That will be something she can just pull out some evening and not something that she would be likely to make for herself. We discussed the deer hanging and the fact that it is supposed to warm up during the days for the next couple of days. However, the deer are not in the sun, they are in the garage, it will be cold all night and Randy will ice their core down during the night to keep them cold. We butcher on Friday.

I went to the Cream City Writers Club. That is what the Plymouth group calls themselves. They meet on the third Tuesday at Book Heads, the local book store. A nice group. I really knew tham all, not well, but have met them. Sue and Sy from the Sheboygan Group were there also. I learned that somewhere in the bible it tells the farmer to leave the corners of his fields for the poor. Some cultures allow the poor to come through the fields after the harvest to gather the gleanings. Wonder why those traditions fell by the way. I guess that is what our Second Harvest programs are kind of replacing. There is plenty of food in the world and noone should ever have to go hungry. Distribution and good leadership are needed.

Tomorrow and the next day we will be cleaning and I will be preparing for the Thanksgiving feast.

ATTENTION:
ALIENS ARE COMING TO ABDUCT ALL THE GOOD LOOKING AND SEXY PEOPLE.


Have a great Tuesday.

Mary
YOU WILL BE SAFE; I'M JUST EMAILING TO SAY GOODBYE.

Here is the picture I promised. From left to right kneeling:

Cory Carpenter, with his nubby buck, Lee Carpenter, my brother Randy with the BIG BUCK, and Randy's Jessica holding up my brother Jeff's doe.

Standing in back:

Shane Deeley, Jeff's son and yours truly.

Quite a shot. Jeff took the picture so he is in others.

We will have LOTS of meat to butcher on Friday.





Today was a beautiful day weatherwise. It was still and the sun shone. I went to the 8:00AM mass and then spent the rest of the day putting hunting stuff away and cleaning up my desh and the house.

We had the chili that I had left out for Dick's Saturday dinner for supper. (He found something else that appealed to him before he found the chili yesterday.)

I watched the Extreme Makeover tonight. We don't usually but they featured the Koepke family from Dundee tonight and I was anxious to see it. Next time we are near Dundee we can drive by the house and then go see the restored Mill. The Makeover fixed that too because it was Matt Koepke's dream and they like to benefit communitee's as well as individuals. Matt Koepke always would say this to his family and I felt that it is worth repeating. They put it on a memorial in Dundee also. "There are lots of things to think about the but nothing to worry about."

Have a good week.

Mary