November 2016

We have been blessed with a very lengthy, very warm Indian summer.  No one seems to be complaining, although it does give me concerns about global warming.

Rusty and I biked the trails.

My mums finally bloomed in time for Halloween.

Celeste dressed up as Bat Girl

I think these two are becoming friends.

My Aunt Joy has been a Chicago Cubs fan all of her life.

She finally got to see her team win!

The warm weather has given me many opportunities to ride, even though the calendar says the season should be over.  I had coffee and donuts at our house after one of our Saturday rides.

The Just Sayin' team

We hosted an evening for our dinner group.  We relish our times together and wish we could gather more often.

Love these folks!

One of my favorite activities is the First Friday Art Walk.  I talked some friends into joining us at The Sheldon and The Kiechel art galleries.

Sheldon Art Gallery, an elaborate collection of American Art.

Lorraine, Sissy, T.C., and Rusty at The Kiechel which specializes in 19th and 20th century American art.

Dinner at Dish after the art walk.

I joined some folks for a photo shoot done by Parks and Rec to promote the Haines Branch Corridor.  When completed, this trail will connect Pioneer Park to the Spring Creek Prairie outside of Denton.

Rusty had such good luck with his homemade lures that he's been spending time carving a few more.

Whittling away!

We took a trip to Idaho to see Mom, Dar and Tom.  Day 2 of our drive was the day following the election.  We drove most of the day in stunned silence!

Tom and Dar are wonderful hosts!  It was so great to spend time with them!

Dar cooked fabulous food every night.

 Dar and I did some  biking, hiking, and some swimming, and spent a couple of lovely evenings in the hot tub under the stars.

Mom  was able to join us for an afternoon and evening.

Tom cooked salmon on the grill, Mom's favorite.

 As I write this, Mom is out of rehab and back in her apartment.  She's happy to be back in her own place and among her friends.  I'm so thankful for her diligent work in therapy and her positive attitude.  They both attributed to her quick healing.  Go Mom!

Which is prettier, the canyon or my sister?

We went to a local dive in Twin Falls and had Big Ass Prime Rib dinners.  They lived up to their name.  Yummy!  The bar played older music and when Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville came on the entire place sang along.

Look at the size of those beers!

Shortly after we returned from Idaho, Rusty got a call from Lindsay announcing that she and Jeff are engaged to be married.  We are very excited for them and think this will be wonderful for them and Celeste!

Rusty poured champagne to celebrate.

Although I forgot to take pictures, I hosted a pre-Thanksgiving open house for my Irving friends on Wednesday.  It was so wonderful to see all the smiles and hear the laughter of my dear friends!

We enjoyed Thanksgiving with the Fowler clan in Kansas City.

Linda and Phil hosted dinner in their lovely new home.

Andy, Judy, Olivia, Danny and Bill

Olivia has a tradition of doing dessert on Thanksgiving evening at her home.  She is close to the Plaza so folks can walk down and see the lights go on.

Pierce, Olivia and Reece.

Despite making two pies and taking them to K.C., I was too full to enjoy them Thursday evening.  I've been craving pumpkin pie all weekend.  Tonight I called four restaurants and none of them had pumpkin pie.  They had pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin chiffon, pumpkin whatever, but no pumpkin pie.  In desperation I told Rusty to come with me to Village Inn as surely they would have pumpkin pie.  NOOOOOO!  They had a pumpkin cream.  The filling was palatable; the crust was not.  Guess this is just to be remembered as the No Pumpkin Pie Thanksgiving.  😂