Purling Oaks

Hunting update 2011

Four deer harvested as of this typing (driving to the farm for breakfast and more cutting/packing). We were skunked opening day but Dan and Dr. E were successful on Sunday. Since Monday am we have been working on getting it all into the freezers.

It was a bit chilly but not bad if you're dressed right.

I guess this hat will see action in the Next season!

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

Friday quick notes

Just a quick note or three.......

• I found a salsa verde that I really like.  Mmmmm.
• I'm taking a break from preping/packing for our annual deer hunting venture.
• I better not take too long of a break.....
• DB Eric is in the state and ready for anything.
• I've been listening to Nathan Lowell's Trader Tales serialized podiobooks lately.  I just listened to the first episode of Full Share, which is third in the serier.  I have also purchased the first three books in electronic format.  Mr. Lowell narrates his books and is very easy to listen to.  I got the audio free via iTunes but they are also available free from another site, which I am too busy to link to.  
• I'll be in my tree tomorrow enjoying the pre-dawn, dawn, morning, mid-morning, etc.  Wish us luck.
• If I can get a signal, I'll try to post an update.
• The internets were down at my house last night but that got fixed.
• Unplugging and hitting the reset button several times does so work.
• White Dot is recovering from being his alter-ego, Fight Dot.  He's looking much better now.  
• Fighty got to visit the vet earlier this week, though.
• Mean ol' boogie cat!

Have a safe and happy hunting season all you hunters and a happy Thanksgiving.

Some Warm Pink, some cold White, and a Dot

There was a cardboard box in my mailbox when I got home yesterday.  Here's what was in that lovely box:

Here's a closer look:

And one more:

It was knit by our Cookie!  For me!!!  Thank you, Cookie.  We shall not mention whether or not there were chocolates.  

Pattern: Sweet Jazz

Yarn:  Handspun BFL from Denise

The scarf is lovely and soft and it will keep me warm and draft-free since the winter season is starting a bit early.  (See the white stuff in the first photo?)

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This is also the first snowfall for the cats this season.  White Dot was attempting a crossing of the yard when I caught him on video.  (Yes, I was having a telephone conversation with Cookie.  What?  You don't pick up your camera when you're on the 'phone?!)

 

 

The story had a happy ending--I yelled at the intruder cat who ran away.  White Dot started after him but I was able to catch up with him because of his slow progress across the snow.  :D  (He already has a face scratch that *just* missed his eye that he obtained last night.)  Cookie was long-distance witness to my crazy cat-mom duties.  Why yes, I can continue a conversation and grab a cat at the same time........

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Last night, Dan made fried scallops with garlic mashed potatoes for dinner.  Tonight, he is preparing lamb meatballs with a sauce and rice.  I love my birthday week meals.  Tomorrow is shrimp de jonge, baby peas, mandarin oranges, and carrot cake if Mom sticks to the traditional birthday menu.  It has been a low-key week since I was out of town for my birthday; although, my cousin Kim brought over some chocolate cake Tuesday.  Yum.  I made my black turtle bean soup today in preparation for deer hunting that starts next Saturday.  It is very nice to have several meals prepared in advance when you've been in a tree all day.  

Have a super weekend!

Lists, Tuesday, and Books

This morning I'm drinking coffee and making my lists for the weekend.  Let's see...groceries:  black beans for some black bean soup, mixed bean soup for some, well, mixed bean soup.   Looks like a theme of fall is here, to me!  The plumber is here to fix the toilet that has been slow for longer than I want to say..check!  Bedding in the laundry...check!  I need to expand my work wardrobe with more business attire so I've got go clothes shopping on the errands list, too.  

Tuesday was a good day.   I met up with Vicki in Appleton for dinner and coffee with knitting!  I really enjoyed seeing some of Vicki's recent projects and to see the results of her dye pots in finished form.  She really has a great eye for color.  

We rarely remember to document our meet-ups with photos but Tuesday we both pulled out our phones for the barista.

There!  Documented meet-up with friendly blogger...check!  :D

Next on the list is waiting to have our annual boiler inspection this morning and to finish up the laundry.  I'll probably have to slip some work-work into the morning, as well, since life will be smoother for the next week or so if I get this project finished.

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 I've been reading a lot lately.  Admittedly, it is one of the ways I use to escape stress.  No matter what, reading is always a pleasure.  I've been reading quite a bit with my iPad Kindle app but also a few "real" paperbacks.  The titles have been heavily weighted lately in the urban fantasy/werewolves & vampires genres:  I've read through ALL of Ilona Andrews' books and a good portion of Jeaniene Frost's.  I like both Andrews and Frost.  Andrews builds strong worlds and has a pleasant writing style.  Frost builds good stories but is not as strong a writer--although still very readable.  For Frost's writing, I mean that sometimes I'm "bumped" out of my reading trance by illogical sentence structure or some odd construction from a technical sense.  That happened less frequently as I read the series so perhaps her editor is paying closer attention.  I'm currently on the fourth (hmm, maybe make that the sixth) (Amazon link) book in the Kitty Norville series by Carrie Vaughn.  I read Kitty Goes to Washington a while ago (yes, while I was working in DC) and recently decided to read the whole series.  I was surprised by the turn of events in the third book; Ms. Vaughn is not formulaic in her writing and, obviously, I'm pleasantly entertained since I'm so far into the series.  

 I've also been reading Vicki Pettersson's Zodiac series.  When we were in Columbus, Georgia, we stopped* at The Book House and I purchased the first two books in this series.  Ms. Pettersson's story line is original - to me at least - and I'm enjoying the stories.  I don't always like the heroine as she is so self-centered and, at times, immature, but I think that is also an essential component and keeps me reading to see if this girl will break-out.  Perhaps this heroine is just a bit more "real" compared to my typical expectations of a fictional character. I definitely recommend reading this series....at least through book three which is where I've put myself on hold to give my Amazon account a breather.  

On the more serious side, I've been reading this version of Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson.  I finished it last night and I'm thinking of reading it again, soon.  I recommend it.

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Mid-way through typing this post I noticed the sun was high enough to turn the frost on the outbuildings into vapor.  Beautiful.  (That is vapor, isn't it?)  :D

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Have a lovely weekend everyone!

 

*As a traveler, I have the opportunity to sample a lot of things and one of them is used book stores.  This Georgia book store offered a very nice, yet new to me, selection of used books.  I wonder if I happen to visit there again, would have the same experience?  There were a LOT of new to me fantasy/sci-fi books on the shelves of this store.  Do readers in Columbus read and trade different books than those in Madison, Wisconsin?  Hmmm, probably just a happy circumstance....