The Pink Glove Dance

I just love it when my own kind goes a little nuts -- especially when it's for a good cause (in this case, Breast Cancer Awareness).

Check it out:

Christmas Recital Coming...

The granddaughter tells me she and her equally adorable fellow dancers will be performing "I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas" at the upcoming dance recital. If you need to refresh your memory, click on the video play button below. (WARNING: THIS SONG WILL GET STUCK IN YOUR BRAIN AND IT TAKES DAYS TO STOP SINGING/HUMMING IT):

Squirrel Update

Not only did the precarious squirrel's nest survive four days of heavy rain and 40 mph wind gusts...

...there are more up there than I thought. Five, at last count. The pecan tree is only a few yards to the right. Very handy.

It rained off and on all day yesterday. Still gloomy and overcast this morning. More rain coming Sunday.

And this concludes the local weather and critter report. (What can I say? Sometimes there's not much happening -- for which I am very grateful.)

Till next time...

So, What Have You Been Doing?

I've been participating in a quest for a cookbook, a team effort with a very nice reader of the blog who wanted to find a copy of The Grange Range for her young daughter who is a budding cook. It was also matter of nostalgia for her -- her mom had owned (and used) one. There is no doubt that the cookbook is a stellar collection of "real" recipes from "real"cooks and worth the effort to locate one.

So. The quest was ultimately successful. You can read a blow-by-blow account and discover the way to acquire a new, updated copy of said cookbook by clicking on The Grange Range link above.

I've also participated in a Big 1-3 Birthday Bash for grandson No. 2. (I gave him some "manly" shower gel in honor of his teen-hood, among other things.) Children get older so fast, don't they?

I'm really anticipating Thanksgiving this year. Assorted family is coming from afar, including our World Traveler, if he's over his cold and sore throat enough to be able to fly. The menu is changing constantly. My locked-in contribution is always potato salad and I'd be happy Charlie Brown-ing it with toast and popcorn, so this isn't on my worry list. It's times like these, though, that I miss my Grandmaw Wagner and her chicken and noodles, green beans and white corn (yes, cooked together), and peach custard pie with a meringue top. (sigh)

And speaking of Thanksgiving menus and cookbooks, one of my favorite holiday recipes from The Grange Range is Mrs. Troy Miller's "Cherry Salad."

I thought I'd share it with you:

CHERRY SALAD

1 large can sour pitted cherries (save the juice)

2 small cans crushed pineapple

1 cup chopped nuts

1 orange, grated rind plus juice

1 lemon, grated rind plus juice

2 packages cherry Jell-O (NOT the sugar-free kind)

3/4 cup of sugar

Mix juice from the cherries and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to boil and remove from heat. Add all other ingredients (except nuts) and stir until Jell-O is dissolved. Add nuts (I use pecans). Pour into a pretty bowl and refrigerate until set.

(NOTE: Don't fiddle around with the can sizes because it may not gel if you do and you don't want Cherry Salad soup.)

That's it for this time.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Autumn In The Back Yard

Today, a short fall tour. In the photograph below is The Swing. I'm very fond of it because late uncle made it for me using a pattern that belonged to my grandfather. It's incredibly comfortable for an uncushioned wooden swing and highly effective when it comes to getting a baby to nap. Add a little warm sunshine. A soft breeze. MawMaw's lap -- and "Zzzzzzzzzzzzz...." Unfortunately, it's also a favorite place for wasps to build their nests, so one has to be careful before sitting. There are a few wind chimes in the maple tree just to add soothing ambiance. This particular tree is lucky to be here. Hurricane Hugo took out its center, and for a long time it looked like a big leafy bowl on a stem. It has recovered nicely.

See?

Another view of said maple, with a dash of pecan tree and an oak tree in the distance:

And here are two of the many reasons why I never get any pecans off the pecan tree. See the two brown blobs high in the treetop? Those would be squirrel nests. The one on the left is in a very precarious location. We may be getting some high winds by midweek courtesy of the late season hurricane (Ida, is it?), so this particular limb choice could be a problem for the nest dwellers. Like many of life's situations, I suppose it seemed like a good idea at the time.

That's all for now.