Christmas Upon Us

Sheboygan Falls is grey and brown today. Brown food, grey outside, including the ridiculously large turkeys. Even the cats match.
The rain is making it cozy.

But delicious! (not the turkeys) "Fried mush," as Mom used to say (Bob's Mill 10-grain cereal), pears, and an aig. Because one egg is un oeuf.

haha

I made split pea soup last night, with adaptations due to the mother of invention. My mother's recipe, however, was in Idaho, so it ended up thinner than I like. But very edible and warming! With cornbread.

that's the food world today

Travel-wise, we are in our usual Wisconsin 10 days, with the unusual addition of Muncie, Indiana, at the front end! We saw Joshua & Sophie, I ran with Karen, saw a couple other friends - oh, and Mark led a strategic planning session with a CDC there. Good planning on his part. :)

After returning to Idaho next week, and hopefully making it up our newly-snowed-upon driveway, Christmas prep is in full gear. Woo hoo!

October almost end

Ahh hahaha! Just realized I posted this in a different blog six weeks ago. No wonder I couldn't find it!

Friday night, Mark and I had our first gathering of non-natives at Golden Eagle. Non-native to Idaho, and non-family people. I made WAY too much food, so today (days later....) I am still happily eating salad (kale, brussels, roasted butternut squash & onions & garlic, pomegranate seeds, chevre, a cider-maple dressing) and mushroom strata. I thiiiink I can get one more day out of the salad before it is too squishy.
Eyew.

I also made a lot of apple/pear/blackberry cobbler (with creme de cassis in it); we have had no problem taking care of that leftover, either. Sorry, Charlie.

It's pie and cobbler weather here, clearly. We tried some out in Stanley, Idaho, yesterday afternoon, as we explored east and north of us. Stanley itself is nothing to see (63 residents who seem to run a wood-built downtown for hikers, hunters, and other outdoor enthusiasts mostly April through October). The drive was worth doing, if you have most of the day, and the Sawtooth Valley is a wide beautiful one with what look to be sheep ranches, with the Sawtooths running along the west side.

If I were looking for a destination at the end of a long drive, McCall is definitely the winner. If I just wanted to drive half the day and get a feel for Idaho and its varieties of landscape, either would be good! Don't take anyone prone to carsickness on the Stanley road, though.

We're obviously really loving the scenery right here at home, whether looking north or south in the valley, morning, noon, or night, or any other direction or time.

We have been heating with wood for the last week or so and are very impressed with the heat retention of the house! It's very cozy.

Mark is off to an overnight near Chicago tonight, and Wednesday he takes me to the airport for a few days playing with babies in Seattle! Then we go together Sunday to Carlsbad, for Design Group partner meetings. Back here for a day, and on to Wisconsin. And Memphis! And turkey on the table as well as in the yard!