So many branches snapped off in the October storm, I've only got three seed feeders & 2 suet feeders out this year. There's a gazebo-style pole feeder in front and a large, square wooden tray feeder hanging from a hook on the breezeway. Normally there are several more seed feeders hanging in the crabapple tree. My neighbor whacked three branches off the tree that were damaged in the storm and were touching the house so those are gone. Now it takes about half the usual time to fill the feeders but at least so far I can still get to them. Last winter I was forced to feed on the breezeway because the snow was too deep on the front lawn. I can't lift a 50 lb. bag so I buy it in 25 lb. size which means, of course, more frequent trips to the feed store. The store isn't too far a drive and I suppose in a pinch if I were really snowed in I could buy seed at the local hardware store. I've always fed the birds and love watching them. The hawk landed in the crabapple one day last week and let me snap quite a few shots through the big window. There are lots of cardinals here and the bluejays have made a comeback the past few years to where they come in noisy groups of 5 or 6. Nuthatches, junkos, chickadees, eastern bluebirds, titmice, finches, wrens, mourning doves and various woodpeckers make up the rest of the indigenous species. We'll rarely see a Baltimore oriole, evening grosbeak or red-wing blackbird.

None, even on Thanksgiving. A real ripoff, but when everyone else is enjoying dinner that is when I have to work the hardest. Just goes with the territory. I may buy a turkey and cook it the following week when things settle down. Then again, maybe not. My DW and I have had pizza on Thanksgiving day a few times. We don't always let the calendar dictate our food choices. However when I told my dad that I was busy on Thanksgiving he did have a look of horror on his face. He loves his turkey, mashed potatoes and yorkshire pudding. He will just have to have 'my version' another day. Duane

Thanksgiving is the only day we eat turkey. The rest of the time, give me a roast capon or a duck prepared almost any way at all. DH and I are just not turkey lovers. My niece makes a very fine brined and roasted turkey, but once a year is enough for us. We're sauce and gravy people. Stews, braises, casseroles - we love them. I do a fair amount of cooking and a lot of dining out, and we hold that a fine sauce is a work of art. Even though we eat a lot of steaks and roasts, a great sauce is always to be admired. There are too many bad ones around to not acknowledge when something is done correctly. One of our favorite restaurants does a great poached monkfish. This is the fish known as "the poor man's lobster" for both its taste and texture. It's a great little fish, with wonderful flavor. But nap it with Amoricaine sauce, and it rises to a whole 'nother level. This is a Bretonnese classic, and for good reason. Red wine and marrow Bordelaise on a rib-eye? Absolutely! Black truffle cream sauce on a filet? Yum! Mop that goodness up with a well made starch - roasted fingerling potatoes, barley risotto, fresh pasta, freshly baked bread rolls. Gravy and sauce was the way to extend meat to feed a lot of people. Most of the world still loves sauced dishes as treasured childhood memories. Like soup, they are warmth and comfort, soothing and homey. Chicken strips that are velveted and steamed with lop cheong sausage (classic Chinese technique) are stunningly tender, almost as soft as sous vide but we like the flavor and texture better. Perfect with a roasted garlic-oyster sauce gravy over lots of rice! Far better than stir-frying or roasting. As Charles Phan of The Slanted Door restaurant in SF points out in today's WSJournal, steaming is considered the ultimate test of a professional chef in Asia. Getting back to the NY Times' and Pepin's suggestions for steaming, one of the greatest dishes in Chinese cuisine is steamed sliced chicken breast with thin slices of Hunan ham. My mother introduced me to this dish (she took classes from one of the leading Chinese restaurateurs in San Francisco) and it still ranks with DH and me as one of the three finest poultry dishes we've had in our 45 yrs of dining. A glaze should always be light. Heavy-handedness is the mark of a bad cook. Peking Duck would not be the same without the glaze applied, for example.

Can the park entrance sidewalk be made a more attractive gathering space? Benches for the adults? a wider sidewalk for the strollers? play equipment of some kind for the kids? Ways to protect your property but without appearing "mean": short white picket fence to set off a flowering border around your whole front yard. Park a car or two in your drive during morning bus stop hours. Hang bird feeders or bird houses from the dogwood -- could be fake, purpose is to make leaning against the tree uncomfortable, not necessary to attract or feed actual birds. Talk to a realtor about selling/relocating -- they would have a better idea than anyone else how feasible that would be for you. Worst case, you know you're stuck a few more years. Best case, you're on your way! :-)