I'll be thinking of you all tomorrow. Our T-day is going to be on Friday this year, because of various travel schedules, not to mention the several people who wanted to have dinner at their in-laws AND wanted to have dinner at DD's. I'm actually pleased ~~ for once, I won't be rushing home from work to start the prep for all the veggie dishes. Five vegs this year: cream-cheese/chili corn, harvard beets, gingered carrots & pears, snap peas (a change from the spinach squares), and a broccoli/cauliflower dish that has a nutmeg/cheddar sauce. Tried this last year and it was a success. 1 big bag of baby carrots, thoroughly rinsed, and the fat ones cut in half lengthwise. Dump in big pot of lightly salted boiling water, let boil for 10 minutes. While the carrots are cooking, open and drain a can of sliced pears -- this year, I'll have to slice halves, no pre-sliced in stock at the store. Put about ½ cup of pear jelly [or pear jam or apple jelly] in a small bowl and nuke just until warm and mostly melted. Stir ½ teaspoon ground ginger OR 1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger into the melted jelly. Taste jelly and add more ginger if needed (you should be able to clearly taste the ginger). Depending on how many carrots, you may need to double the gingered jelly. Drain the carrots and dump into a large bowl. Pour the gingered jelly over and stir until all carrots are coated. Fold in the pear slices. For the dinner, it does very well on a warming tray, not going mushy. Have a good day, and may all your Thanksgiving dishes be wonderful.

Hi Everyone.. Got back late this afternoon and I'm so 'pooped'! The size this time was larger than last, with so much to see. Karen I LOVE that cat picture ... It says it all with 'No Words'... PM... I don't know where you are in upstate NY, but the Sale was on the Stormville Airport grounds - in Stormville, NY. Are you anywhere near there? They hold Flea Markets there (also huge), several times a year... and are also somthing to go to. My family and I have been doing that since it bagan...waaaaay back in the '70s. Magpie...Luvs...Candy....I'm going to post pictures later on a new thread...right now DH is preparing home made Pizza...and I've got to help out...like set the table!! lol jane They do it twice a year.

DH and I took a walk down the road...we were gone about 25 minutes...stopped and looked at some things, wandered in close to the pond that's on the property next to ours and wondered why anyone would throw trash there. We both hate litterers!!! Sally, The bobcats around here aren't as big as lions and tigers so they don't look as menacing, but I'm still staying away from them. That was twice this week we've seen them. We knew they were around and have seen them on occasion, but not like this. Rosa, Glad your sister wasn't hurt in the encounters with deer. I know it can get bad. My DH hit one when we lived in Indiana on his way to work one morning. It doesn't take long for those farmers to get the carcass off the road and in the freezer! We have a lot of birds, too. We used to have an owl that would come out every night and sit on the top of an old dead tree trunk...DH named him Cedric...he's still around, but not as much since a storm took the trunk down. Pileated woodpeckers are fun...we had a flock of Indigo Buntings last spring....beautiful with the sun shining on them. I love to see the egrets in the median as we drive around. DH is up from his nap, so I can run the sewing machine now. @:) KOKO

"I know everything" (c, Sandy Pruel's tatoo, "Golden Chain") no, really, I read too much of these articles, and I usually know ahead too, because of high end magazines etc. Complaints already began,and subway tile is going bye bye, and wood stain is back-but pretty, new wood (sorry Becky.,still taken with your different,new brass))..well nice wood is always nice, whenever if you ask me, and I have favorite wood stains that I prefer-which in darker camp would be walnut and teak, and in lighter camp, unstained cherry, maple and white oak (quarter sawn) They show quite a bit of plywood used lately-and I agree sometimes the beauty of material is being exactly what it is ,not trying to mimic anything. I'd love to have stained kitchen, and would have it under different circumstances. I also adore combo of wood plus color. I'm like that since I was 25 and saw it for the first time at some friends' house. was something made in Spain. I got hooked ever since. I have it too, just not in the kitchen. Kitchen was too small to be visually chopped too much. So the wood is floors. Of course I wanted to do butcherblock too. Didn't happen. And my tiles were supposed to be patterned but didn't happen. Well I have there plants and ceramics and whatnot so still it's a warm kitchen. The tones and colors will get richer-they already did. White already's out of big favor, but I love white anyway, when it's applied right, well I love all the colors-for me they just need to be on the warmer side, mostly. So no matter how many people will love navy and all sorts of blues-I'll admire it in other people's houses, but will keep my own blues to small quantities. Unless I find myself in a very cool teal house. Or something. I don't change whatever works, never ever-I adjust. If something beautiful and works with the house-it stays. Greige will still be in-how else folks will bridge between old and new? Most people simply can't afford it. Will be warmer greige. (thanks for that because all the listing with Tuscan tiles and cool gray walls seem so, so very sad. House looks like it's been beaten..against its will) Luckily for me because as you all know I'm a big lover of greige and taupe..they make me special calm kind of happy, they always did. I probably prefer all things a bit muddier and murkier. Though I do love scarlet, and cobalt, and emerald..but so much depends on the surface. Jewel tones beg for depth and richness. As if they were jewels. So yes, velvet..and glass..and very good paint..plants of course! ok I overexcited myself lol. Of course jewel tones are in. Again, for several years already. I love so many colors and have them all too, and the more colors one's got, the easier it is to sneak another one, so all their corals and terracottas and marigolds and greens-I have them all, and more. I do love certain pastels(pink!!), and I love red..I guess because they become me and uplift me-I color my hair red for the past ten years..and I love black and white,..and I like plants and books..and fabrics and prints..and wallpaper already is in again for years and they already say "no, actually we love wall murals better" like it can't be that person loves all of it. You can love everything-and it will whether work in your place or it won't. It's okay, one can love at a distance too. Or if to listen to them-one just has to choose between gallery wall and big art, like it's impossible to like every art in many forms..or one has to choose which plant to love-fig tree out, succulents out, some pampas grass in, like pampas grass is "fresher"-no, I love plants, they're living things, our contract with them is different, and it sounds mighty stupid to me when some are "in" and others are "out"..if it grows in my house under my care it's in. Same with art-I don't buy anything that I want to get rid of. And it takes me years to collect it. As for different tiles-I'm a huge tile lover, I'm a tile junkie you might say. Tile junkies have to pay..like, a lot. So it is what it is. Can't splurge everywhere. Even my compromises were costly enough. And I like handmade tiles. And backyard hardscaping still awaits me. Will be thousands even if I severely restrict myself. It also depends on a house of course, and ours is styled Spanish Ranch, so I have this element of "noblesse oblige" when I decide on tiles. Would it be mcm-I'd choose different tiles-and have huge fun too. In short, everything that they say is now in-it's already in, and it's been in, it's just they didn't proclaim it before, and not everybody's paying close attention, or looks everywhere for inspiration, etc. Terazzo is in(thanks goodness. even though I've nowhere to apply it. brings back happy memories), and many cool things. I swear that was supposed to be a very short post..don't know what happenned. Maybe coffee. Ah. I love coffee color too. I drink mine with cream. Lots of it. So that's a happy color to me. A result of strong coffee plus lots of cream. Maybe it's tan?