Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...

A relaxing evening at home, just the two of us...oh, and the ghosts...who seemed to have set the mantle on fire....

Pretty Puffy Clouds

So, do I take the big risk and hang out my laundry, not knowing if these clouds mean rain or just beauty? I'm going for it!

Fall Comes to Tempe & Vinedo Lane

Fall on Mill Avenue -- the suburban version of Mill Avenue...not the ASU version...we're a little later than the rest of the country in getting fall, and all of our trees don't turn, but we do get some beautiful color...

And, fall has arrived on our little Vinedo Lane....such pretty colors in our own front yard...

OUR FIRST DEEP-FRIED TURKEY

First, you hang the Hawaiian marinade-injected
turkey in a tree, using a clothes hanger
converted into a "turkey tree hanger".

You use this turkey in a tree to measure the height of the grandsons...first Jake...

then Scot...

Next, you get help from the oldest grandson in lighting the heater to boil the oil...

Now using the turkey tree hanger as a turkey

dipping hanger, you put the turkey into the boiling cottonseed oil (because it was cheaper than peanut oil!)...

Hang the cooked turkey back in the tree (its home away from home) to cool...

Voila! Burned on the outside, yummy on the

inside (Note to Self: Sugar burns upon contact

with boiling oil, thus, maple syrup was not a

good choice for coating the turkey.)

Veterans Day

Veterans Day makes me think of my daddy -- I can still hear his soft, southern voice in my head -- he was so kind and loving when he wasn't drinking -- I never doubted that he loved me, he was just a tortured soul....who drank to forget and drank to relieve the pain....but I still remember him and that voice.... Happy Veterans Day, Daddy!

Sale, Devils Fall Short, Fun With The Shaw Boys

I wrote this blog before and my computer blew up, so let's see if I can recreate it -- it might even be better this time!

Scot, showing me his mouth is empty and he needs MORE CANDY!!

Friday we worked again cleaning stuff out, and about 6 p.m., we decided what the heck, why not have a sale on Sat. from 7 a.m. to noon? No reason to delay the inevitable, so I ran to the bank and got change, we went to Home Depot to get signs, and I colored in the arrows that Ray drew...

Happy Scot got more candy...

Saturday we were up at 5 a.m. -- YIKES! -- I was putting stuff out while Ray took the signs around...some guy arrived at 6 a.m. -- it was still DARK out, what was he thinking??! Sale was okay -- didn't sell as much as I wanted to get rid of, but we will have another one in 2 weeks and get more out of here... Our wonderful neighbor Marc saved us by helping us put things away and getting us Subway for lunch -- thank you, Marc! Oh, yeah, Marc is a pilot and his window got hit with something at 14,000 feet while flying from Detroit to Philly -- shattered the window, but it stayed in place and he was not hit by flying glass -- if they'd been a little higher, he said he would have been on the 6 o'clock news -- scary!

Yes, Scot loves his Nana for giving him candy!

We rushed off to the Sun Devil game on Saturday evening -- they played USC, so I wasn't thinking we would do very well, but I was surprised -- the Devils played their best given the coaching and play-calling -- the coach actually put in a freshman quarterback who did quite well with what he was given....please coach, get a clue!

Jake is having a nutritious Skittles breakfast...

Sunday was a great day at The Shaw Boys' home, playing "How much candy can you eat before Mom gets home?" Hey, Nana is supposed to spoil them, right? -- so they had Skittles and M's (code word for M and M's) for breakfast! They are so much fun....see the pictures....

Jake with his mischievous grin, and relaxing in the big chair...

and Scot, well, this is not something I can even begin to explain -- a 2-year-old eating his big toe -- but see it for yourselves, folks, he actually gets his big toe in his mouth!!

Nana, Jake & Scot watching the Cardinals/Bears game on TV, looking for Daddy in the crowd -- we didn't find him, but the Cardinals found the end zone often and won big!

My Mom & Papa John (my step-dad) came over today for the second Thursday in a row to help me sort and price things for our eventual yard sale. They are so loving and giving and I'm very lucky to have them -- and their help! This would be an insurmountable task without them....we are just about ready to have the sale -- maybe on Saturday if Ray gets just a few more piles sorted -- how exciting! After watching "Clean House", I'm anxious to see just how much money we can make -- and how much we can get rid of.....photos to come....