It was all I oculd do to read this. Hits very very close to home. I got Mom and Dad a cat. They had never had one, only dogs and they didn't want him. He stayed and they grew to love him very much. He slept with Momma every night...every night...even when she came here to live with us...every night...then the night she died in her chair he didn't coem in...she had been feeling so bad and we were headed back to the hospital the next AM for sure...Boots stayed out that night and Momma passed away alone in her chair. We still have Boots. I have shown his picture here. He is getting pretty frail. When he is gone a large hole will be left. Thank you Lorna for posting this story. c

We started a fantastic tradition a few years back... My hubby makes the entire dinner for the four of us on Christmas Day!! We have a standing rib roast/prime rib with Au Jus Juice, mashed potatoes, steamed asparagus, tossed salad, corn, warm flaky crescent rolls, oh and a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon. Later in the evening...a slice of cheescake with strawberries and a fresh cup of coffee to top it off. Ahhh.... Perfection!! (and did I mention he & little elves clean up the kitchen also? Kinda like his gift to me that day...no complaining here! :) ) There are some traditions that I will NEVER change!!! :) ~Mary Jane

Yes, Mike, it's either lots of rain/heat or whatever OR NONE. One person stated that 'farming was a crap-shoot' and I think that basically covers it. Maybe you can get some water over there to water a few plants at least. Or maybe Mother Nature rained on your area and not elsewhere, I've seen that happen before. We mudded a hundred or so tomato plants and about 50 zucchini on Sunday about 1 hr before it looked like it would rain, then nothing. But the neighbor was able to get some animal corn in on Saturday. It rained abit after he got home. We still have about 200 zukes, 400 tomato and 200 pepper plants yet to get in. Not counting the winter squash and pumpkins that is needed. Marla

Michelle, I had thought about taking pictures but I guess all of that frying wiped my brain smooth. ALso, after seeing that cookingrvc had dinner in nice, civilized courses while ours was more of a fish free for all I realized that our christmas eve dinner probably wouldn't photograph very well :-). Plus the picking that goes on while things are being cooked and who ends up getting smacked with a wooden spoon for trying to sneak a piece of something while it's cooling off. We had (all thrown down on the table at the same time): Baccala, wrapped in dough & fried Alici (anchovies) wrapped in dough & fried fried smelts (dredged in seasoned flour & quick fried) fried calamari (same prep as smelts) Baked baccala & potatoes Baked, stuffed calamari (filled with the same stuffing we use for peppers but not sealed so the bodies shot across the pan away from the stuffing..next year I'm sewing them shut!) fried shrimp (flour, eggs and panko) angel hair with marinara sauce salad (our nod to a green vegetable) Stuffed clams (my SIL's contribution) And I just now realized now that I forgot to make the fried flounder! But nobody even missed it (including me) or asked for it. I'd better let my mom know that it's still in the fridge. The real trick was getting everything to the table hot but I was able to keep some things warm in the oven & saved the shrimp, smelts & calamari for last since they cook so fast. Dessert was a bunch of assorted cookies, hazelnut cream puffs with dulce de leche filling (oh my GOD these are good) and pandoro, cut into layers like a Christmas tree & topped with a candle so that we could sing happy birthday to baby Jesus. No torrone. I had brought a box to my mom about a month ago but apparantly it got eaten. Funny how that happens! Nina