Well, of course one counts the dogs for a Thanksgiving meal. Geesh. LOL. What do you mean "unless you count the appetites of three dogs". I watch what I give them of the meal (like no grease for fear of pancreatitis)....but lean turkey breast won't hurt them! They'd be absolutely crushed if they sat there all day and sniffed the scent and went to bed with kibbles under their belts. Friday musings? I've been carping the diem too. Temps almost to seventy. House reasonably clean and took time to get a few projects done I've been obsessing about. Took dog for nice walk, and eyeballed the flora. Have primula in bloom........just the deep purple ones. Have dianthus in bloom. Have a few of my wild mums in bloom. All in shades of pinks and purples offset by the last of the glorious golden leaves. Last night was a glorious full moon. Wasn't red, but it was the hugest one I think I've ever seen here. Big as a Volkswagen, hanging on the horizon. I almost drove off the road when I came over a hill and spied it. Have only seen ONE wooley worm this autumn. What is wrong? It was totally black. I googled the long range weather prediction and the NWS says it's expected to be a bit warmer than average. Well, it sure the lleh hasn't been so far. I've been covering my lettuce patch in the garden, and still harvesting from it. More cabbage is heading up. The green peppers I've been growing on in my g'house are ready for the picking. Smoked sausage is sizzling now on the stove, as are a skillet of potatoes frying in bacon grease. Every once in awhile, I'll cook them in that, because you can't begin to compare the taste with something 'healthy' and it reminds me of my childhood. In the poor sections of town, it was cheap food then. You could smell of it daily at suppertime coming from every window. I have a bouquet of bright tangerine roses on my kitchen counter. I was going to 'save' them from the last hard freeze, when temps went down to lower twenties. Ha, the ones outside are still cranking. LOL. But, I am enjoying the beautiful flowers as I putter in my kitchen. Hens are finally molting and they've all but stopped laying. I left instructions to my dh, no more egg sales. My customers would gladly take my last egg for Holiday cooking. And this year, they're all mine.

Well, I'll get to find out this year if fat, woody canes above a graft can produce new green stuff, because I have 4 grafted roses that have zero green. I did cover them with leaves (heavily), but that didn't cut it. This year we had bitter cold for us but only a spell or two of snow that came late. Over a foot! I wish it'd come sooner :( The ones that really worry me are the more unusual (or pretty rare) ownroots. But since they do have roots, they'll all sprout up again, right? Oh, they'd better! Those were still young from Vintage or RU, but they all looked great and big and thick enough going into winter. I protected those better and they still lost everything up top. None of my really established roses had a bit of problem, even the teas. It was the grafts (I don't bury) or the smaller ones that really took a beating. This year I'm taking insurance cuttings and rooting all my favorites, just in case! Oh, yeah, my main water pipe froze solid underground for nearly a week this winter, too. No bursting, though :) May that luck hold out, lol.

Like most people have mentioned, I keep staples around the house at all times. Our family's staples, based on the foods we like to eat, are the following: pasta, brown rice, whole grain bread, soft tortillas, potatoes, onions, olive oil, canned legumes, nuts (we keep them in the freezer), peanut butter, jelly, pasta sauce, canned salsa, tomato products (I mostly use whole packed tomatoes and tomato paste), a few types of Progresso canned soup, milk, eggs, butter, some simple cheese for cooking, certain fresh fruits and vegetables (apples, oranges, bananas, broccoli, carrots, celery, baby spinach), certain frozen vegetables (peas, carrots, green beans, corn), canned pineapple, frozen meatballs (my own), a couple pounds of frozen ground beef and/or turkey (in one-pound packages), and a couple pounds of frozen chicken pieces (also in 1-1.5 pound packages), and a few frozen dinners. I'm sure I've forgotten things, but you get the idea. Oh, and in addition to the baking supplies, condiments, sauces and herbs and spices I always have on hand, I keep around a package or two of brownie mix, in case my (live-in, like-a-daughter) niece tells me she needs something to take to school tomorrow. These staples are the things I buy over and over, whenever needed. I used to have a list that I kept on my computer and printed out each week, but I've been doing it so long I don't need that any more. And if I buy something I don't need yet, I know I'll use it. I buy the canned staples in bulk when I can get a good price, and I try to get the best price possible on the rest, but I honestly don't worry a whole lot about it. I practice FIFO (first in, first out), too - if I buy a few pounds of chicken this week, but still have some chicken left from last week, I'll freeze the fresh chicken and use the frozen. With these staples, I can always prepare a meal without having to run out to the store. I don't plan meals ahead of time, but I have a general idea of things my family likes to eat, maybe two weeks worth of meals. As I'm making dinner one night, I try to think ahead to the next night and make a tentative plan for what we'll have. Sometimes I'll even do some ahead-of-time prep, though not often (usually only if I want to put something in the crockpot). In addition to the staples I always have on hand, I also buy meats, produce, or other things that look good or are on sale, but only if I know I can use them in the next day or two. I go shopping a couple times a week for produce, bread and milk, as my favorite market is four blocks from my house (not as good as Tally Sue, but not bad!), so there's always another chance to look for something good on sale. I do the same thing as Celticmoon, too, keeping a short list of things to get if I happen to be near a place that has them on sale. If I were you, I'd start this process by making a quick list of meals your family likes to eat. Take no more than five minutes to do this. Then take another five or ten minutes to make a quick list of ingredients in these foods. Voila! There's your list of staples to keep around at all times. Use the list to give you ideas of what to make on a given night. If you have some time, maybe it's tacos or roast pork; if you're rushed, omelettes or spaghetti and meatballs. All with your staple vegetables or whatever you've found on sale that week. Make another quickie list of snack foods for your kids. The basic snack foods we keep around are carrot and celery sticks, oranges peeled and pulled into sections (I just peel one at a time, then do another when Chloe eats one), turkey slices from the deli rolled up with cheese slices, nuts, raisins, fat-free yogurt, whole wheat crackers to spread with peanut butter or top with cheese, and apples. Sorry if I went into too much detail. Good luck!

Lol! She's pretty nutty Ceph! It's great that BF sticks up for himself, you, and A___ though. Sweeby is right in the fact that he sounds like a gem. He may not be A___'s real father, but he's his dad. That's fantastic and he should be proud. Keep your chin up lady! Find humor in the situation. Lord knows it's needed.