Happy Thanksgiving!

I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. We had all the girls here this year except for my niece Brenna and her baby. I wish she could have made it, but I will see her soon. I have a nasty cold, but I still got the pies made.



Here is my Jack-O-Lantern Pie. Little did poor Jack know when he was sitting on my porch under the Halloween moon, that he would end up in my pie! Yummy, yummy!

Jack-O-Lantern Pie Recipe
1 Jack-O-Lantern cut in half, seeds and fibers scooped out and baked in 350 degree oven on greased baking sheet for an hour and 45 minutes or until very tender. Scoop flesh from rind and puree in food processor. You can package in 2 cup amounts and store in freezer for about 1 year.

4 cups Jack-o-Lantern puree
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 to 1 cup packed brown sugar (taste the pumpkin to see how bitter it is and add to taste)
1 teas salt
1 teas gr. ginger
1/2 teas gr. cloves
2 teas gr. cinnamon
1/2 teas gr. nutmeg
2 can evaporated milk
4 extra large eggs
2 pie crusts for 9 inch deep dish pie pans, or 10 inch pie pans (seriously, don't try the regular 9 inch)

Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Stir together the sugars and spices and add to the eggs. Stir in the pumpkin puree. Gradually add in the evaporated milk. Pour into the pie shells. Bake in preheated 450 degree oven for 15 minutes. Lower temperature to 350 and bake another 40 to 55 minutes or until a knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool. Serve with ice cream!




My daughter Keirnath brought her bunny marshmallow and her dog Luke. they played in the front yard with our dogs Fern and Howie. It was like a menagerie, LOL.




Keirnath reads to her nieces Chloe and Moiren.




Here Moiren is caught red-handed getting into the bag of chips!




Dinner was a success as seen by how little was left after the ravaging horde hit it!

It was such a beautiful day. I wish I could have had more photos, but we were so busy laughing and talking and cooking and eating that we really didn't think about the camera. Oh well, we still have memories.

Fall Fell

Yes, Fall fell in just one day. All the leaves, in one fell swoop.


The cats were a bit unnerved by this phenomenon. I am sure they felt it was a conspiracy against them.


My youngest granddaughter, however was completely thrilled. She wanted to run in the crinkly leaves and throw them in the air.


Her delight is completely evident in her posture.

My husband however could only think of all the raking and sweeping he has to do now.
I think I will go roll in the leaves with Moiren. It sounds like more fun :)

Strike It Up

My husband's company is in contract negotiations right now and there are rumblings of a strike. The company wants to take a lot of things away from the workers because they say the economy has been so bad and business is down. Now that is true business is down, but they forget to say that they are STILL making a very nice profit. Borax is still needed world wide. There are only three mines in the entire world. So why should they ask they workers to take it in the back? It they were in the red or even just breaking even I might understand. But they are making a profit! This makes no sense to me. They want to take away retirement. Sick leave. Increase our medical contribution from 20% to 25%. We don't even know how much the company is actually spending on our policy since they have not disclosed this to the union even after it was requested. They want to take away seniority and many other things. My husband asked me to go with him to the union hall with him on Tuesday as a show of support. I am seriously tempted to dress as a suffragette. Of course the irony of that may be lost on people. It is a toss up between that and a 1950's housewife. I am into sarcasm as well *grin*

Twenty Mule Team Days

This weekend was Twenty Mule Team Days. This is a pretty big event in our town. It has been going on for years and we have been going for the 17 years we have lived in Boron. It starts with the parade in the morning and then everyone goes to the park were there are game booths, merchant booths and food booths. A stage with live music and sometimes pony rides for the children. I really look forward to the Chinese food booth. Orange chicken and Teryiaki chicken on a stick, YUM! Since we don't have a Chinese food place in town it is a real treat. There was also a food booth with funnel cakes. Chloe and Moiren shared one. They ate it so quickly I didn't get a picture!


One of the booths did free face painting. Moiren had a heart painted on her cheek.


Chloe with her gorgeous smile.


Moiren and Chloe on the playground.

I wished I had taken more pictures, but we were having so much fun the camera was forgotten about most of the time. Oh well. I still have the memories. *smile*

Highland War Babies

I am finally writing about the wonderful time I had with my granddaughters at Highland War. My job as Nana was to keep them occupied so their mom and dad could have some fun.




This meant spending quite a bit of time at the playground (the event was at a park) or shopping Merchant's Row. Needless to say the little minxes bled me dry of money!



Not that I mind really. They have me wrapped around their fingers!




It was really nice to be at an SCA event and for once not to have to be working. I usually merchant and it is tough! I never get out to see anything. This time I got to see the late night bardic events and the tourneys. I also got to shop, albeit it mostly was for the girls and not for me *grin*. I got to see some of the battle that my son-in-law fought in. He is in the red tunic in the photo.



I chatted with friends I had not seen since last year and even saw quite a few people wearing garb I had made over the years. It was quite satisfying.



Everyone is now trying to talk me into going out to Great Western War, even if it is for just a day. I am thinking about it. I do miss the medieval/renaissance life!

The Tea Party

My daughter Tarah is an awesome cook so when she decided to make an angelfood cake what choice did I have but to declare it a Tea Party Day! Tarah made some tea sandwiches and cut the cake and filled some slices with lemon glaze and blueberries and some with Nutella, yum! I made lemonade and passionfruit tea and made a call to my other daughter Tabitha to come over with her daughters Moiren and Chloe.




Of course what would a tea party be without HATS! We all wore hats and ate cucumber, ham and turkey sandwiches along with cake until we were bursting!




I poured out. It was certainly delicious tea! Moiren decided she needed a bit of sweetening. Well maybe more than a bit!




By the end of the day the entire sugar bowl was in her cup!

Then we had party crashers! Tom, my husband, even stole Moiren's hat!




Nebbie the cat thought she could snag a sandwich!




Nebbie then tried some lemonade, but it was not to her taste!

All in all it was a wonderful day! We will have to do it again some time soon.

Trampolines and Sunny Days

We have been having such beautiful weather out here in the desert. In fact it has been almost unseasonably cool! Temps in the mid 90's nice breezes and only a bit of humidity now and again. Just the weather to take a walk or go out and jump on the trampoline. Recently I had been seeing some suspicious footprints on the trampoline and wondered when they came from. The cats? But they were pretty big. Phineas has big feet, but somehow I did not think it was him. So I looked out the window yesterday after letting the dogs out and saw Fern jump up onto the trampoline! That little minx! So I ran out and started jumping on it with her. Instead of being afraid of it like I thought she would be, she liked it! So I ran and got my camera to record it. She definitely had a great time and has a lot more stamina than I do, LOL! I think I will have to add jumping everyday to my exercise routine. I think Fern will approve.