Let’s start with reader photos – my favorite!
Around the farm this afternoon:
See that twig in the seat? Hazel is obnoxious about fetching a twig or a leaf or a stem – nothing that will go very far if I try to throw it. And I do try but it’s maddening – she doesn’t want to retrieve the ball. A twig? Grrrr……
I watched Yellowstone tonight – shocking! Anybody else watch?
How about some Thanksgiving side dish recipes?
We have had 3 days of a slow steady rain and then this morning the ground was covered in frost. Most of the leaves are down due to the rain and we mulched the leaves so the fall cleanup is pretty much done. The leaves we missed blew away in the high winds. We are taking a short trip to Spring Green, Wisc to tour the House on the Rock and to also tour Taliesin, Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and studio. We toured the House on the Rock over 30 years ago so it will be nice to see it decorated for Christmas. Not sure how I would get the pin out, particularly the head. Lots of options in the comments. Both of the kids are coming for Thanksgiving, and we will participate in the Turkey Trot Walk held in town. I will host for 3 days so a ham is on the menu and then its leftovers and lots of snacks.
yellowstone. can someone direct me in the right direction so i can watch this from the very beginning? with all the changes in television programming, i am lost. have no idea. is it on streaming, on dvd? all help greatly appreciated. i hate being so out of sync with this show. patti in florida
Patti – it will cost you. Go online and search – some are available for purchase on Amazon Prime.
Or try your local library to see if it is available by the season on DVD
My husband and I are both veterans and attended a very nice Veterans Day program at our grandsons’ middle school and reception afterwards. They go all out every year to make the day special. Then we went to Longhorn Steakhouse to take advantage of their special deal!
For Thanksgiving dinner, I announced to the family a few weeks ago that I have made the turkey for the last fifty years and I am done! Someone else can take over that duty and could decide amongst themselves what to do. The answer? They are ordering a full turkey dinner from a local country club to be picked up on Thanksgiving Day! We will still be making a couple of our favorite sides. Two daughters and a daughter-in-love and not one is willing to make the turkey, plus a son who is a great cook! Oh well, none of them got the sewing gene either lol.
sue, that is pretty much what happened to thanksgiving dinner here. everyone was willing to come eat and let me do all the prep and all the cleanup while they ate and then left. no more. not worth it. i’m sorry this is happening with you. patti in florida
Well, the girls were great about bringing the sides and helping to clean up. No complaints there. I just didn’t want to cook the turkey anymore, but apparently no one else wants to either so we are all taking it easy this year haha. I have great kids and they all live busy lives, so if they want to do this to make the holiday easier on all of us, it’s fine with me.
Sue, you know what is funny? Each year back in the 80’s and 90’s our church did a Harvest festival and the women cooked the foods in homes which resulted in a nice cookbook for our community of good recipes. Well I always asked to cook the Turkey rather than make a pie. I could season it, pop it in the oven and forget about it till I took the roasting pan over to church for the men to slice onto platers. One year they needed more pie bakers and I cheated and bought one from the store cause to make that crust and filling was way more work than cooking a Turkey. Our daughter cooks the turkey for our family now and we all bring the sides so she has a line up of crock pots and dishes. I think I’m glad our church gave up doing the dinner many years ago cause I wouldn’t want to cook that turkey anymore.
Kathy – I grew up in a tiny country church that always had Harvest Festival – I can still smell the basement where all the food was and I remember exactly how the tables were set up, how crowded the chairs were and the din of everybody talking at once. It was a magical day with decorations, great food, lots of visitors that we saw only once a year and more cars than would fit around our tiny church. What a sweet memory!
Children of the Mountains Update Cont. : Heard a story about an Employee of Earthfare. She’s a single mom with 3 children and she lost her house . It was destroyed in the hurricane. She and her family are who we will be helping. I’ll make sure she gets quilts etc for her kids. Almost all tof the employees of Earthfare suffered a loss but they are thrilled to help me pull this off for the kids asking NOTHING in return. There’s are still good people in this world !
Barbara – YES! There are good people in the world and you’re one of them!
Children of the Mountains Update: Items continue to arrive almost daily. Will give you an itemized count later this week. Was taking care of my daughter, the one from Asheville, the past 4 days and her family. She’s pretty sick with pneumonia. She’s going to the Dr. again this afternoon so we’ll see how she’s doing. They went home last night so I’m playing catch up all day. Earthfare may hire a Santa for our event. depending if any are available in the area and the cost. Was shocked at what they charge. Some $500+ for a few hours work. That’s pending.
Barbara – paying a lot of money for a Santa is huge waste, in my opinion. The kids will be so excited to get their quilts, Santa I’ll be overlooked.
Yes I watched Yellowstone last night! What a shocker beginning, maybe it will turn out to not be John. Plot twist – perhaps he is in hiding. Anyway it looks to be another interesting season. But all the commercials are overwhelming. It certainly must cost a lot to produce that it needs that many commercials.
Hazel and Keeper looked like they found a huge bed on the trailer of grass. And your chickens are enjoying the free range. Love the picture of your barn, it looks so peaceful.
I had to take a second look at the blackbirds in the tree at first glance I thought they were leaves😳.
Mary – Next time I send photos I’ll put my name on a piece of paper to identify mine! Thanks for sharing and all that you do to make the blog possible, Mary!
Yes, I watched Yellowstone last night on CBS. I quit sewing and watched Tracker before Yellowstone. Lucky thing I did because the schedule where I live in Washington state was off by 30 minutes! A game must have ended early or something. Anyway, I think the patriarch John Dutton offed himself – either that or Jamie killed him or hired someone to kill him. It’s so convoluted that I think I’m going to have to re-watch Season 4 and season 5, or is it Season 5A, and what I watched last night was Season 5B? 😂
Hazel and Keeper look like they’re onto something and having a grand time.
Have a good week everyone and take care.
Patti, Your quilts are beautiful! The recipients are going to love them. I especially like the design of the cardinal quilt. You’re very talented.
Very windy here today with a few stray snowflakes flying around. Our Fall has been just wonderful weather wise. Now for winter weather.
thanks connnie. i make quilts for the joy of making them. other people liking them is a blessing. patti in florida
My favorite Thanksgiving side dish is cranberry cornbread stuffing. It comes from Costco, so no new recipe here!
Love the quilts today and all the pups. Wish they could all come over and play with mine. What a fun day that would be!
Thanks to all the readers who shared pictures of their quilts and fall decorations. So pretty!
When we come to your house Gaylen throws a stick for Hazel and he said only one time did she finally give up. Ha!
Yes I watched Yellowstone last night. That was going to happen to John at some point as it will also happen to Beth and Jamie. Costner has been too busy with his new show to be able to appear in the Yellowstone series. Sad to see it end.
Hi Mary
I love Hazel!!!! Keeper is so so cute too, a blessed fur baby! Love all the quilts and pics and comments. Your blog is outstanding!!!!!
Relaxing, inspiring and a joy.
Thankyou very much!❤️❤️❤️❤️
Bea boca raton
Bea – you are tooooo kind! It’s you readers who make this blog – the quilts, pics and comments – like you said!
All the photos were grand. I especially like the tabletopper that had white in the center and partially Dresden around the outside! Never have seen one like that! I love fall clean up so enjoyed your photos of such.
I have such fond memories of Thanksgiving with my hubby’s huge family as we always spent Thanksgiving with them in GA when we lived in FL. Then we moved to AK and we made our own memories at home with family and then it extended outward with grandchildren etc. When I moved here after hubby deceased, I did a couple with daughter and her hubby’s family at the time. It was not the same for me. I then just spent it alone with my memories refusing invites and it did not bother me. But this yr. I am planning a trip to Bellevue, IA with another daughter to be with 3 of the grandchildren and their new babies. I booked an Air B & B. I am so excited. All but the driving for 5 1/2 hrs. some of which I might have to do alone. Hope the weather holds.
Wow, this post has everything. Readers’ pets, quilts, decorations, and your adorable pets and outdoors. Hazel is super ready for you to throw that “beloved” stick! I love all of the different quilt patterns and all of the color choices. I am working on a flannel panel. The directions are okay, but even as a “seasoned” quilter, I like very specific directions. It rained all day yesterday which was what I needed for time in the sewing room.
Today, I am going to our local YM for Quilt of Valor presentations to many Veterans. That will be so wonderful. PBS had a program on yesterday called From D-Day to VE Day. It had the Boston Symphony as background and hundreds of black and white photos from WWII. It was so moving. Many of the WWII photographers had a hard time after the war due to what they had seen and photographed.
Off to see my dogs on my walking route.
Oh Patti, you are such a trouper and your positive attitude is beyond compare. Love all your quilts and admire how prolific you are. Please continue keeping us informed of your interesting life with posts here.
thanks, janet. i’m blushing here. i’m just like everyone else. patti in florida
One of the ads to click read this morning read “Home ownership doesn’t have to be a nightmare “. It was for a service plan. Boy even big brother reads our comments about home repairs to put that on your site!
The pictures are so nice to see and it was a good day to be outside working in the yard. We have been gifted with such a gorgeous long fall that it makes upcoming winter tolerable again.
Thanks for all who share their beautiful quilts and homes with quilted runners. It’s nice to see scraps used for bringing happiness to Patti’s friend. I do enjoy how your readers engage themselves with all of us. We’re lucky to have that caring gene to want to be there for each other.
Thinking of all the Veterans and their families today. Many restaurants here offer free meals for them today which is a small token of appreciation for our freedom to walk freely on our land here and for so many others abroad.
Kathy – we all should thank a vet always but today is special.
Hi Mary – we’ve been watching Yellowstone all weekend – earlier seasons were on Pluto. I think I haven’t seen the first half of the 5th season because a couple of things didn’t make sense…I will eventually catch up I suppose!
It was nice to get some rain! I think we’ve gotten about 1.25″ since the beginning of November. I asked my friend who lives in Colorado how much snow they got – she thought it was over 2 feet – yikes. But she said it was going to get into the 50s and turn to rain and it would be all gone in no time. I think if we got 2 feet of snow now – we would still have that same snow on the ground in March along with a bunch more!
Today was Al’s birthday and he’s a veteran so – tomorrow we will go to the Vet’s program at Kasson-Mantorville with the grands that go to school there and on Tuesday we go to Woodland in Eagan for their Vet’s program with the grands. They love to walk with grandpa in their parade.
Last Tuesday we spent from 6am to 9pm working at the polls as election judges. Always an exhausting and interesting day! ALMOST all of the people were patient, kind and appreciative. I think I am almost recovered lol.
Does Hazel always bring the same stick back or does she find random ones to take the pressure off of the game? Does she try to trick you with different sticks? Silly girl. We had a dog that would catch frisbees in the air. She loved playing frisbee – was really good at it, and would chase until exhaustion, but when she got tired she’d take the frisbee and go lie down to rest for a couple of minutes – then back to the game. We’d go thru 2 or 3 frisbees a year.
Great photos as always! Sherry from SE MN
Sherry – Hazel brings me the same twig every time without fail. She circles until she finds it! Happy Birthday, Al, and thank you for your service.
what a great post tonight. your barn is always so distinctive. i just love it. the fall decorations so rich, even with kitties hiding out in the dining room. the dogs are cuties, even hazel begging for her twig.
the quilts are wonderful. the story on my two are – the one for my friend – she knows how scrappy i work and always have, she will love it and has no idea it is coming. she really needs a hug now. the cardinals for my sister are in honor of our mother who loved cardinals and fed them and all the birds all the time once they moved to the country. sister doesn’t know it’s coming either. they will both be happy.
dogs always seem to find good smells in brush piles and after burns. must be a dog thing. i wish i could get excited about your chickens but have horrid memories from my childhood. i still like seeing them.
i watched yellowstone tonight. mr. ed says we missed three seasons when it was on paramount. i want to see the whole thing all over again. i feel like i’ve been robbed of something.
i’ll have to think about thanksgiving sides. we usually go out to eat as there is no family here. years and years ago, all our friends got together but people have slowly moved away due to jobs so it is just mr. ed and i and we are happy with perkins or a quick turkey dinner somewhere. it has been too much for me to do alone for way too many years. i would like to have our family pecan pie and may have to think about that. we shall see. i’ll have to eat it all as mr. ed thinks it is too sweet. happy stitching to all, patti in florida (who has just had mr. ed put a lidocaine 5% patch on my hip so i can tolerate the pain – i’ll be a mess tomorrow because of side effects)
Patti, I love cardinals! In the summer I hear them sing but they sure are bashful! So, I love your cardinal table runner, small quilt?
Sorry you have to use those pain patches. They do help, thankfully. Thankfully I have not had to use them since I had back surgery. I didn’t read the directions too well, and was using them 24 hours a day for a few days; I got really shaky and THEN I read the directions 🙄.
WE are having a really busy thanksgiving this year. Our grandson is getting married in January, so they are having a shower on Wednesday evening. Family is coming from Michigan. It will be a happy whirlwind for a few days with 5 grandkids in the house!
It is so mild here in Iowa that it doesn’t seem like it should be Thanksgiving already.