Rain!

Alas, it barely wet the ground, but, wow, it's really cooled off here in the desert.  Michelle, my dear friend from Chicago, is making us a baked chicken with veggies and tarragon and white wine.  Jon is making a potato terrine with Yukon Golds.  I made a huge pot of rice.  :D  Fear not, I have the coolest Zojirushi rice maker on the planet, so no labor involved.  I adore rice.  We actually use a mix of Texmati, Red Rice, Barley and Rye.  Gotta get those grains, folks. :)

Both Michelle and I love to use watercolors in any way, shape, or form.  I really enjoy using watercolor pencils, but Michelle gave me a tray of watercolor crayons, and seeing as how one of my favorite Hibiscus is in bloom, I decided I would paint it and try out the crayons.  What fun!  I've got a bit more work to do on it, but I'll post it here when I am done.  There is something very serene about the application of the wet brush to the laid out watercolor; watching the interplay of the colors and knowing there is no way you can ruin your work.  It's yours.  If you think it's great, then it must be. :D

Three days of radiation this week, and then Thanksgiving.  I have always loved Thanksgiving; Auntie would get up really early to get a HUGE bird in the oven.  We'd search the stores for the biggest, because we actually would need it.  There was no telling who would be over for dinner on Thanksgiving.  We expected a crowd, and we usually got it.  Of course, there were parts of the meal that were not my favorite:  oyster stuffing.  Oh gods.  But I guess my dad liked it. ;)

There would always be those creepy canned cranberry dishes.. not one of my faves, you can tell, but Auntie would have made her pumpkin pies.  Very little sugar in those pies, but they were the most heavenly thing on earth.  Some years, I'd get a couple of Bean Pies from the Shabazz folks on Martin Luther King Boulevard.  Oh, those were awesome.  I think mashed potatoes were the order of the day for Thanksgiving, so my mom was happy.  Give that woman a potato, and you made her day.  Must be that Irish in her. :)

Now, to go off on a tangent, just let me tell Cee that I have started reading 'The Shack', and I am enjoying it.  I love you, big sis. :)

Hugs and kisses to all... keep warm and ... GIVE MORE HUGS!