Hi Saucy...I'm here. I ended up having a lovely Thanksgiving day after thinking it would be a lonesome day with just the 2 of us. I overheard our evangelist saying he and his wife wouldn't be going to Oklahoma,( where the rest of their family was going), because of a doctor's appointment the following day.I asked them if they would be with anyone else that day, and thay said no, so I invited them to come to our house. They didn't know for sure whether they could come, but I went ahead and started the preparations on Wednesday( baking pies and pumpkin bars). I told Nolon I didn't think they would come.But Wednesday night, after we both had gone to bed early, the phone rang and it was John asking what time I wanted them to come! I was so pleased. They arrived at the time I told him ( 1 PM ) as I was putting the final touches on the meal. As one of you said about your meal...it was a real nice dinner even tho I did the preparing of it.:-) Doris brought a pumpkin pie , whipped cream, green beans, and a few other things. After we ate, and ate, and ate..:-), we visited the rest of the afternoon. It was a wonderful time ! Our former DIL decided that she wanted the girls this Thanksgiving, and Tim could have them at Christmas. She has decided they will alternate the years for the 2 holiday get-to-gethers ! (I am wondering how long she thinks Nolon and I will be around???) Since we live so far from them, and the latter part of Dec. can be very treacherous for driving here...it will remain to be seen if they make it this year. Thanksgiving has been our time with them ever since the first one was born, and she knows my stand on Christmas....just another case of her showing her true colors. Thank goodness Tim plans on bringing them this Friday for the weekend. I won't fix another Thanksgiving dinner, but that's okay. I have been reading, and enjoying, all of the posts. I am happy for all the good news, and sad with you that have sad news. Woody, I want you to know that the B 12 shots have very definitely helped. I took one a week for 4 weeks, and will begin one a month this coming tuesday. I presume they will continue the rest of my life.... I took Nolon for a checkup with a differant Doc last Monday. His regular doctor has gone into some sort of rehab, and will not be back until spring. I am thinking he ( Nolon) will be getting more appropriate treatment now. With the new meds that this doc gave him, he has already cut down on the use of the nebulizer. I don't plan on his returning to the 'old' doctor. It is wintry here. We have had a couple of skifts of snow, and had some ice on things this morning. The roads were not icy, so we didn't miss AM services. We did stay home this evening. The weather was too iffy, and it was very foggy. I am sending more hugs to Chelone... Marian

Joopster, I'm down around Peoria area, and I grow 'CPM'. First off, you are going to need to need to select an area that is going to get at least 6-8 hours of sun. 'CPM' gets really big...mine is about 8' tall and 5' wide, so plant accordingly. Secondly, plant the graft (that bulby knob) about 4-5" deep to protect it from winter freeze. I then water the rose really well, and add the soil back up and around the rose; tamping it around the plant so no air holes remain. I use a mulch of hardwood chips around the base of my roses...nothing else for winter protection. 'CPM' has proven to be very cane hardy for me. I'm not a fan of cones....they just create a big mess of fungal infection. The oak leaves that blow in from neighboring trees are the nature's best protection, along with snow cover. I never lose any roses to Ole' Man Winter. Once established, 'CPM' is big enough to grow clematis throughout its big canes. Congratulations to you on selecting a beautiful rose!

Ellen, I have to tell you, the noise from that VitaMix is like unreal. Bud plugged his ears, I just winced. Dcarch sggested putting a 5 gallon bucket over top of it and plllog says she wears earplugs. I can certainly see why. Makayla's cookies were much like my chocolate chip cookie recipe, with one cup of mini chips and half a cup of sprinkles. They were chewy and soft in the middle, crunchy on the outside, just like a good chocolate chip cookie should be. Lars, we did use those long sprinkles that aren't so hard, I didn't think I'd like the crunchy little ones very well. They added more color than flavor or sweetness, but it did make them prettier. Ice is treacherous, so no matter where you are ice can bring things to a stand still. We can power through snow, but ice keeps you home. Choir is the only class Bud actually likes, other than science, so his teacher will be the only one that ever gets his homemade hummus, I think. Basil, thank you, I'm going to look for one of those. Annie

Colleen, I can post more than one picture, but not in a post when I'm starting a thread. That will only let me post a single picture, then I can post as many as I want in the follow up. It's just weird.... Yes, she grew up fast. She's about 6 inches taller than me and shops for Prom dresses and high heels and is saving money for a car. (sigh) Good thing I have the two little Apprentice Princesses to play with... Cathy, The Pane Bianco recipe came from King Arthur Flour. It's filled with sun dried tomatoes, basil and cheese, The Princess says it tastes a little like pizza. bragu, I told her she'd have to compete against me, she can only do the Junior entries until she's 18. That was originally 15 and then they changed it, I told her that I thought she secretly bribed the Fair Board to do that because she knew she couldn't beat me. LOL Jasdip, the monkey bread is little balls of dough, each one stuffed with chocolate and caramel chips, then drizzled with butter and baked, then frosted. I've never had one that isn't sweet, but I do have a recipe for a monkey bread with bacon. Sherri, the zucchini candy IS made of zucchini. Also koolaid and a ton of sugar, so a vegetable, but maybe not so healthy. (grin) It's kind of like gummy worms or fruit roll ups covered in sugar. Pam, it's good to "see" you here again. Heck, if you don't come around more, she's going to be graduating next time you see a picture! :-) She says she's going to go to college to be Dr. Pimple Popper.....um....I mean a dermatologist. I suppose she'll stop baking for the Fair then, she says she'll be too busy curing skin cancer. Yeah..... Annie