Yup, 70% off...and the powershopping began. Of course, my daughter made full use of the shoestore's discounts as well. We came home with some really great stuff for next years gifts as well as more fleece fabric for my wife's blankets.

Best of all.......I got my much desired and fervently wished for "BURGER"!!!!!! Now I can face "ham and beans" night, lol.

It was a wonderful Christmas with family coming out of the woodwork. The Eve at our house, the three of us, our two older children with their spouses and 8 grandchildren. The big hit was the handmade fleece blankets my wife made this year. A funny story about those. She had made a Cinderella blanket for one of our grand-daughters and packed it in whatever boxes we could find. This one happened to be a castoff Bud Light box wrapped in pretty paper. When our grand-daughter tore the paper off and saw the outside of the box, she took it over to her dad and continued to open other gifts. When she saw that everybody else was getting blankets, she tearfully told her dad that she hadn't gotten one. He chuckled and showed her the unopened box. I believe she thought that someone had made a mistake and given her beer, lmao. Her tiny smile, when she finally pulled her blanket from the box, was worth a million dollars.

Anyhoo...I loved everything given to me and I'm pretty sure everyone loved what I gave, so it was mission accomplished...another lovely holiday...

Damn, only 361 days till Christmas..better get crackin!

Peace and Love and a New Years fuzzy buzz, wink

Why is it that blocking out things that disagree with you can be a blessing and a curse?

Foolish me...forgetting the Post-Christmas shopping for bargains in preparation of next years holiday bedlam. So, Monday..shopping....Tuesday..shopping...Wednesday...who knows, sheesh.

My wife sees 50% wrapping paper, baskets, bows, gifts.....I see leftovers that nobody else wanted before the holiday..lmao. Good thing I'm easy....let me get my coat on and we'll go track down those bargains.

I'm babbling because I need a cheeseburger. It's the same with Thanksgiving....a week of polishing off leftovers and I'm ready for some seared beef pattie smothered in cheese, grilled onions, lettuce, tomato, mayo and mustard on a lightly toasted bun encircled by shoestring fries and topped off with an ice cold Dr Pepper....sigh. Hey, a man can dream, can't he.

Well, guess I had better go have a ham sandwich for breakfast...there's only 4 or 5 pounds left, lmao.

Peace and Love and a rapid end to that damned Ham!

Shopping, Shopping, Shopping, Eating, Napping, Shopping, Shopping, Shopping....such is life. Man am I glad that's over

Mistletoe a Christmas poem

by Walter de la Mare

Sitting under the mistletoe
(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe),
One last candle burning low,
All the sleepy dancers gone,
Just one candle burning on,
Shadows lurking everywhere:
Some one came, and kissed me there.

Tired I was; my head would go
Nodding under the mistletoe
(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe),
No footsteps came, no voice, but only,
Just as I sat there, sleepy, lonely,
Stooped in the still and shadowy air
Lips unseen - and kissed me there.

A time for friends and family...Merry Christmas to you all and a very happy New Year. As of late, I've been quiet as a church mouse but will never forget my love for you. Be safe and happy and a Big ole Christmas Bear Hug under the Mistletoe...never mind what my hand is doing..wink.

Peace and Love and Forgotten Diets.....

A couple towns over, lives a farmer who's family is friends with my wife. He's an older gentleman who takes his farming seriously and puts in long hard hours from early spring until long after harvest. You would think a man like this wouldn't have time for any tomfoolery but you'd be wrong.

A few years back, someone left a hobbyhorse sitting next to his field as a joke. The nature of the joke was obscure but this farmer took it to a new level. He mounted the hobbyhorse on a fence post and stuck the damned thing in his field. Well, crazyness isn't a very exclusive club around here..lol. Soon other hobbyhorses began to appear at the edge of the field and he happily mounted these in the field as well.

The first year, there was just two lonely hobbyhorses, riding the range. The second year, it doubled. After that, it snowballed. Now there's a regular stampede of hobby horses and even a bright green worm riding the fence-rows of his property. This last halloween, a ghost joined their bright colored jaunt.

I will get a picture of this soon as well as the pumpkin bridge...

Still crazy in Illinois

Peace and Love and Electroshocktherapy..lmao

I'm thinking that if they run out of ideas....this could work. The trick is to get all the way to pumpkin pie without throwing up or passing out..lmao.

I thought I'd share one of the local oddities on this morning after. I call it pumpkin bridge. It's located about 3 miles from the house and each november, each of it's railing posts is blessed with a large, orange pumpkin resting on top. Nobody knows who does it or if they just grow there..lol. From now until they rot into an unidentifiable puddle, nobody will disturb them, no kids to smash them...they're almost mystic. I drive by them 2 or 3 times a day and each time, I marvel at their shiny skin glowing in the sunlight and the way they fill my soul with warmth and happiness.

Farm-folk are an interesting breed. There's more strange things around here than that but I'll save those for another time. Just wanted to share a little of the little mysteries that make life worth living....

Peace and Love....to all

Just wanted you to have a nice chuckle on one of the most hectic days of the year. Have a beautiful day.

Peace and Love

As in: Rubbing it in. Oh, it was delicious, saucy, sweet and spicy. The meat falling off the bone and it isn't real bbq unless you're wearing as much as you're eating..lol. Shame you couldn't be here to enjoy it.

Peace and Love and Teasing the hell outta ya...wink

Ok, a little biblical but it's Sunday...give me a break.

Finally finished with the winterization. Well enough that the house stays around 70 degrees without using the natural gas furnace..hehehe. The gas company is going to love me.

It was a pretty daunting task, realizing that a 110yo house has many little drafts and dead zones the heat never really reaches. All of the ductwork and electrical as well as the plumbing was retrofitted long after the house was built, so you find single outlets in the rooms, a veritable octopus of ductwork in the basement...when i replaced the bathroom floor, I found the toilet was sitting on open space in the back. After I fixed that, the back of it sat 3 inches farther from the wall..lmao. Everyone loves this house...says it has character... I think that means it is going to be a challenge until the day I throw up my arms and say, "enough is enough".

Now that the house is ready...Thanksgiving dinner is next. Naively, we had thought it would be just the 3 of us. A small, intimate meal and then a nap on the couch...lol. My older daughter informed me that her genetic father has decided to take a trip rather than having Thanksgiving so we are going to play host to 5 more people at our table. Guess we'll be needing a little larger turkey. This gives us a chance to try out the new stove..put it through it's paces. Thankfully, I bought one with a huge oven!

I know you're dying to know how I'm doing...well. I'm just fine. I am enjoying the fact that the weather has warmed up a little from Canada's gift earlier this week and there's a rack of ribs begging to be put out on the grill. I've got it rubbed down with bbq spices and I'm thinking a slow cook with hickory chips will make it mouthwatering.

Only two days of work this next week. Wed. is a layoff day with Thurs. and Fri. as paid holiday and then the weekend.. 5 days...ahhhhhhh, sweet lazy opportunities....lol

So, sorry about the lag in my blogs and Peace and Love to you all.

Sitting on a chair, constructed of manmade materials. Peering into a monitor of plastic, electronics and glass, my feet pressed against carpeting composed of mechanically woven fibers and my fingers dancing along keys that have no earthly connection with the tides, winds, weather...seasons..i begin to lose perspective.

Mankind is an organic substance. We are affected by the world around us, endure heat and cold, drought and hurricane. We are born, catch cold, experience the sweaty rush of lust, embrace others, cry, laugh, grow old and die. Why do we surround ourselves with that which is inorganic...static....unchanging?

Perhaps it is because we are so aware of our humanity...our fragile bond to this world. Is it that we hide ourselves away, surrounded by unyielding environments to protect ourselves from change?

The Native American was also aware of their humanity. They are, collectively, one of the most family based societies to ever exist. Yet birth and death were treated as a private affair, something to be faced individually, without the comforts of surroundings. Perhaps they see it as a rite of passage...admitting your organicness by facing Mother Earth at both the beginning and end of life. By doing this, does it cement the bond that binds them forever to this world, the spirits of the winds, the moon, the animals?

Is this a ramble..could be. I just find myself disgusted sometimes at the comfort I feel, hidden inside, surrounded by acute angles and faux wood. What a throwback I am...to wish for a time when a table had to be made, not bought. Fire was an accomplishment and food was there when you went out and hunted for it.

Just thinking out loud...Peace and Love, my friends