She's about to...6... Fall is here!

I need to learn how to make those coated flavored pecans.. they are so yummy! Hello everyone.. we got a bunch of snow last night. The dogs had to go under the rose bushes to get into the yard becuause they were bent over into a sort of tunnel from the snow. Probably 3 inches.. that is a LOT for here.. it was heavy wet stuff. GREAT.. possibly more tonight.

what??? snow?? oh tammie, u are kidding! i know u r not, but that is crazy!

We've having a soaking rain at the moment but the weather folks say we might get a dusting of snow by the week-end. How far are you from the Dallas / Fort Worth area, Tammie? My two SIL's live there. Haven't heard from either one of them since Saturday. Snow is such an oddity in TX. One of my SIL's grew up in VA and is like a kid at Christmas anytime she sees snow.

My mouth is watering for PEcans. We had a Stuart tree in our backyard when I was growing up. It was feast or famine when it beared in the Fall, sometimes every year, and others it would skip a year or two. They were thin shelled and so tasty. Even after I married and moved to VA, my Mother used to mail ziploc bags of them to me that she'd cracked and cleaned to remove the bitters. I usually add a few chopped pecans in our Thanksgiving dressing but didn't this year because the price of a small bag was off the charts. Instead I substituted a can of drained chopped up water chestnuts to add a little crunch, but the flavor just wasn't the same.

Oysters are popular around here at Christmas for either shooters, oyster stew, or appetizers. Several local markets are pre-selling a gallon for $73. A gallon! and the bulk of the weight is brine. Hubby and I love them raw with a shake of tabasco sauce and a bit of fresh squeezed lemon juice served on a Saltine cracker, but even at $13 a pint I seriously doubt fresh Oysters this year will make it to our Christmas table.

Keep that snow up North please? it is cold here, supposed to be 34 tonight!
Debra how are you doing? Been busy at work?
Fruity, you can have all the oysters to yourself! Hubby loves them, along with any other seafood. Dobn't know why they are so high? We went to Pappadeaux's, a few weeks ago, and he paid $12.00 for a dozen raw oysters!
Stay warm everyone!

below freezing here, everyone at work is sick, thanks to me I hear.. feeling much better, but sure did need to water the basement gardens.. plan on working on my xmas seed pouches this weekend, that is so relaxing for me..
only way I like oysters is in a can soked on crackers or in stuffing LOL

My Dad loved his oysters. He would eat them anyway imaginable. The day before he died they had fried oyster sandwiches at the nursing home and he told them they were really horrible. :0) i'm betting they were. Even though he was sick, he could tell you if the oysters were good or not. Personally I can't stand to touch them, much less eat them. Although I did have some really good oysters rockefeller once upon a time. Yuck, too early in the morning for oyster talk.

Glad your feeling better Debra. Seems lots of colds and crud is going around! Did you get your flu shot?

Morning everyone! Hot chocolate for those that need to stay warm! It is only 34 here this morning! Pretty cold!

snow on the ground here a light dusting. yes, got a flu shot for the first time in my life. need a pnumonia shot next. ugh.
everyone have a great day!

NO flu shots here they make me sicker then if i was to get the flu so no more for me . well 8 mini loafs of PUMPKIN CARROT BREAD ,
My sugar cookies Dough in the frig waiting for my brother to get back with my Mincemeat , & Oil so i can work on the rest of my goodies ,'Between daddy,& Baking, answering phone, washing, dishes 4 times this morning I'm hurting so off to the recliner till jim gets home .

you all have a great day.
susie

You have been busy! Don't over do it!

LOVE oysters! I used to eat them with my father.. don't know why we don't get them anymore.. except mom gets fussy about the price when we mention ordering them.

Temp got down to 17 last night... burrrr... stayed warm in the house .. no more snow overnight but still on the ground. The sun is out now and it is way up to 23 right now. LOL I need to get the snow off my car to take mom to the eye Dr. I don't think she would like to go in my old van which is what I have been driving. My car is piled with snow! It sits in the shad of my garage so the sun is not melting it off very well.

susie sounds like a baking queen!
Tammie we had snow overnight, gee thanks.. LOL
not enough to make any piles tho..

Supposed to be 28 tonight!

I have a pecan tree in my backyard. :D

Amanda, trade ya my old fashioned pear tree for your pecan tree.. oh wait, I would never see a pecan either cuz of the critters, so never mind LOL

Yeah, we can't fight the squirrels for those nuts. Still . . . a pear tree might not be as messy as the mulberry in spring, but the birds sure do love that one too! This old neighborhood is unique to me because of all the fruit and nut trees. I love it! :)

With nighttime temps only in the 50's the past few days, we still have our windows open. That's sure to change over the week-end when temps take a drastic plunge and we struggle to get out of the 40's day and night. Hello! Winter is knocking on our doors whether we like it or not.

When we attended a regional awards meeting for hubby's work several years ago at Pawley's Island, one of my best friend's husband ordered a plate of raw oysters. He had to coerce me into eating just one. But before our main course arrived, he and I had must have slurped down at least three dozen. That was the same year but a different night a bunch of us wives got snockered on way too many Lemon Drop martinis :0)

Ha ha ! Making me think of those lemons again Froot.

Also - i read today that oyster shells are banned from a county landfill (and others I assume) so as to encourage their collection at special solid waste collection facilities so that the empty oyster shells can be picked up by the state dept of marine fisheries and returned to dump off shore to build up reefs and such to encourage baby oysters to live there.

That's a long run on sentence but the proper English, I believe. How bout dem oysters?
A.

p.s. look at the damned time! this is what I get for sleeping all day to get rid of my migraine. :/

Hope your migraine is gone soon Amanda! Morning everyone! Coffee is ready! Nice and cool here this morning! 25 degree's, and sparkly frost on everything! Guess what few plants I had are done for the year?

morning! I'll take a cuppa coffee plz, black and extra trength..
gee LindaKay, did your impatiens, zinnias or marigolds toast?

mine did when it got that cold.
off to get ready for work..

All I had blooming/living was a few shrimp plants, and a few mums! That's it! I have a few brug cuttings inside, hopefully rooting for next year! I am not going to worry about the bougainvillea's as they will come back next year.
Have a good day at work Debra!

It was a long day - sorry I missed the coffee LK. Migraine is gone, thank goodness. I really screwed up my sleep schedule last night! Didn't get to sleep till almost 5 a.m. Ha ha ha

Tonight was out pacing around the neighborhood looking for (and thank goodness found) one of my dopey cats. I have so much adrenaline choking my throat I'm not sure I'll get settled for bed soon.

I did some decorating today for Christmas. YES - THERE I SAID IT!!!

Mom sent me a table top tree years ago, and I haven't put it up for years because of the cats, mostly. 2005 was our last year I think. They are more stable old critters now and less interested in eating my ornaments. Hell, I didn't even get out of bed till 11:30 a.m. I put 250 lights on that little tree and started to feel some melancholy. My peeps are all croaked except for my brothers in PA and some distant relations here in NC.

>shrug<

But the new neighbors across the street have 2 young girls and they have infected us with holiday cheer. I even decorated some for Halloween. :)

So I am going to step away from the machine and start putting things back where they belong so I can mess it up again tomorrow morning.

Don't look for me at breakfast. I have a feeling I'll be late again.

A.

p.s. I haven't seen hide nor hair from Jax in sometime. Is she doing ok?

Morning everyone! Hope you get some sleep Amanda!
Coffee is ready. still cold here, 35 this morning! Guess winter is here?
Jax post once in awhile in other threads, but she is just so busy, as she babysits all the time, and the kids keep her busy!

Gm can't stay just wanted to say gm & let you all know doing fine just a busy with daddy right now even with my brothers help we both have our hands full & lack of sleep. wishing you all a great day will check back when i can:)

Take care Susie!

Morning ladies - got some sleep. ;)

Have a fun day - the sun is shining and I have to get away from this machine!!!

A.

Hope you are all ready for Christmas. Yeah right! Who is? Who isn't?
I'm almost ready.

Twyla, your gift goes out next Tuesday.

NOT ready for Christmas here. We bought our tree 2 weeks ago, and it is still sitting in the back yard. were going to put it up this week end. And I have not bought one gift yet. I need to get busy!

LK:

Your presence is the only present I need. :)

Loveya.
A.

^_^

So sweet Amanda.

Question for everyone! Were any of you asked by Seedtosser1 to do a surprise "Party In A Box" for one of DG members?





This message was edited Dec 10, 2011 7:34 PM

As far as presents, my list to buy for is pretty short since I don't have any immediately family left and we don't have kids. Got Hubby, MIL, SILs, neighbors, and delivery folks taken care of and have already wrapped or bagged their presents. Now to put our tree up and hope to do that in the next couple of days. Hadn't planned to put it up til next week-end but got a call from my SIL last week to let us know she's flying home Thursday for a long week-end. She hasn't told her Mom yet, but better soon or she'll be locked out when she gets there. My MIL keeps her house locked up 24/7 like Ft. Knox. Hope the surprise isn't on my SIL.....lol Decorating our tree takes me a good two days. Is it ever finished.....probably not since I fiddle with the decorations til almost the day I take it down. Since we're heating with our wood stove again this Winter, we'll use the 6' pre-lit tree I got at Lowe's for a song last year. Fingers crossed the lights still work! Not sure yet if we'll have our dinner next Friday or Saturday afternoon. The ball's in SIL's court waiting to hear back what she'd like to have. Turkey, ham or beef? Last year's menu was easy...shrimp cocktail, a fresh salad, filet mignon, stuffed baked potatoes, croissants, and a store bought pie. Knowing her fiasco at Thanksgiving, she'll want me to roast a turkey and serve traditional sides. She cooked Thanksgiving dinner for 7 of her friends, asked me how I prepare my turkey the week before, and reported late Thanksgiving afternoon that her turkey was dry. From the party going on in the background, it sounded like they'd all been enjoying an afternoon of Mimosas and somebody forgot to baste the bird.

Not me, Faye.

thanks Susan.

Howdy everyone... winter has been sitting on top of us for a week now! OK, that's enough.. come on spring. LOL The snow actually stuck around for 3 days. I can't remember the last time that happened. It is usually gone by noon when we get snow.

I have not gotten the Christmas lights on the house yet because it has been too darn cold outside. The first warm day.. hopefully there will be one... they will go up. It does not take too long. It has been too wet!!! Yea!!! WET!!!

No Christmas gift buying going on here. With absolutely no money coming in, I can't risk spending anything at this time. Until I find a job, I have to conserve every single penny. $300 in the last 2 months! Yea.. it paid 1 month of health insurance.

I was receiving unemployement until October until some sort of "computer glitch" they had which I have tried to get corrected. Been a nightmare!!! They have made me feel like a criminal!!! I finally gave up. My nerves were raw... can't deal with it... Now I understand how they are getting people off the unemployment numbers!!!

Sorry to hear that Tammy, sending prayers you find a job soon?
Stay warm.

Best of luck Tammy. I'm also looking for work. I'm one of those chronically underemployed people that they don't count when they count.

Anywho - I was thinking about how much I love the angle of the sun this time of year and the way it comes into the house. It's so bright and I am glad I am not one who hates this time of year. I don't have to be out much in it nowadays - I can just shuffle the dog out the back door into the gated yard.

I'm up awfully late, LK. Think I'm going to miss breakfast. I had to finish up with the seed robin so I can ship it off tomorrow. What fun! :)

Hope everyone will enjoy a pleasant week.

A.

Morning everyone! Coffee is ready!
Amanda, hope you find work soon too! Did you file a workers comp claim at work for your hand?

I sure sympathize with you all out of work and underemployed. It sadly looks like this may be the norm. We had a 401k meeting with an investment guy at work and he said the unemployment numbers had gone down and someone said did the underemployment go up? He said yes, now that we are a "service" economy and not a "manufacturing" economy this will be the future. Which was a little shocking to actually hear someone say it. I have several friends and family members that are unemployed and/or underemployed. Our food pantrys around here and the collection for toys for kids is WAY down and that is so so sad. It looks like they won't hit their goal. We always adopt a family and this year the agency was quite strong that we purchase just what was on the list and no extras (the list are actually pretty sparce) and ask if we could purchase extras that we adopt another family, now that is bad.

I am fortunate that I live in a fairly well populated and affluent area at that. I have also to remind myself regularly that even with nothing I have so much more than so many. I put myself thru school with scholarships and work study and student loans, so I will always have that debt looming, but with those pieces of paper come experiences and opportunities.

Not too long ago I imagined I would go into teaching because there is a need, and there are parts of teaching that I enjoy. It's not as glamorous as law practice or perhaps some other fancy jobs I imagine me chasing, but I could be content with that, I think.

I have been looking and lately applying to tutoring positions with private companies. I have an interview lined up this week with one company, and I returned a voicemail today about a different tutoring job. Hate to have to play voicemail tag, but It's okay because at least the phone is ringing.

Holy cow!

You all just reminded me and I almost jumped out of my seat!

Yes I did file a workers' comp claim but since I was still in school for the semester and on part time hours I received very little in benefits. What's frustrating is that I can't be compensated for all the things I could not do because of my hand - well for one very obvious thing I couldn't work in my own garden. I actually had a doctor's note that said I should do absolutely nothing with either hand. HA! I was overdoing it with my left hand where I started feeling pain in that one too. Crazy. Anyway that has held up my schooling so my master's degree is dangling until I can pay off last spring semester. Can't do that without $$$.

The thing you reminded me to do was get online to pay my car insurance before they cancel the damned thing. THANKS!!! ;)

It's no consolation to know that there are others out there who are also having a hard time, but I remind myself that I chose this path. It does help a little when I start blaming myself about it. There's no one to blame, well, except maybe that other 1%, but that's a rant for another day.

Have a goodnight.

A.