Guest Post by Hardscrabble Farmer
I was up earlier than usual this morning, a cross between the full moon I suppose and the difficulty I had breathing throughout the night. A couple of days ago while we were slaughtering and dressing turkeys I slipped on an icy step coming out of the sugar house and face-planted into the frozen woodchips. I never got a chance to put out my hands, just a sudden loss of balance and the ground rising up to meet me with a solid crack. I knew my nose was broken the second it happened and almost as soon as I could gather my thoughts I ran my tongue across my teeth to make sure they were all there. Check, at least no dentist in my near future.
The blood was everywhere, a misty spray of it every time I exhaled and when I was able to get to my feet again I felt my face to make sure I hadn’t done any other more serious damage than I had to my nose. There was a flap of skin hanging loose from the tip and as I made my way to the hydrant to wash off with ice cold water, the shock allowed me to keep my focus against the pain. I staunched the flow of blood with paper towels and headed back to the house to get a better look at the damage and after a couple of bandages and trying my best to clean up the ruin I’d left in the sink, I headed back out to finish plucking turkeys.
Some days you just have to suck it up and drive on- bad weather, a minor injury, head cold whatever- there are obligations and expectations and the only way to accomplish them is to focus on the task at hand. I had people who were counting on their turkey for Thanksgiving and they weren’t going to pluck themselves so I put the mishap behind me and kept at it. The birds were extremely big this year, a mixture of factors I suppose. Autumn was warmer than usual, and with it a heavy crop of fruit and grass for them to graze on.
They were a good set of birds to begin with and by the time the job was done we had not one under 15 pounds and two massive toms that finished at over forty pounds a piece. The rest were in the 20’s to 30’s and a few of the customers looked shocked when they came to pick them up. Raising animals is not an exact science and it’s hard to tell what a bird will finish up at when they’re covered in feathers, but like my daughter is so fond of saying, you get what you get and you don’t get upset. Only one customer backed out so I gave that bird to a couple of college students that were trying to run a small vegetable operation in the village. They didn’t seem at all bothered by the size and thanked us profusely.
I came downstairs in the darkness and could hear the labored panting of the Aussie in the mudroom. We’d set up a whelping box for her and kept a close check the night before. She was in labor before we went to bed, but it was her first litter so we couldn’t be sure when they’d arrive. I let her out of the house and the other dogs approached her in the cold air and she trotted off to the side of the barn to do her business. I ground up my coffee beans and put on the water to boil. When I checked on the dogs they were nowhere to be seen, so I took a lantern and slipped on a pair of muck boots and went out into the dooryard still in my pajamas.
It was a bracing kind of cold and the moon, even behind the veil of clouds cast a pale glow over the fields. I could see the dogs on the edge of the slope headed back my way and I let them in for a couple of biscuits. The Aussie went straight back to her spot and curled up, panting hard and shivering and on the stove you could hear the sound of the water coming to a boil.
There is something deeply comforting to being awake in a house while your loved ones sleep. I went out again and got the steel pot from the side porch where I’d been brining the turkey and brought it back into the kitchen. I part the bird up into breasts and hind quarters. The tom we’d chosen was a big one and each breast weighed a little over eight pounds a piece. I dried off the pieces and placed them in glass baking dishes, salted them liberally and covered the tops with foil. The dark meat went into the lower oven at 200 degrees where it would slowly cook for the next seven hours. The breasts I planned on roasting at a higher heat a couple of hours before dinner so I set them back outdoors, up high enough that the dogs wouldn’t be tempted.
By the time I took my first sip of coffee the panting in the mudroom had dropped off and I could hear the soft whine of a new puppy emanating from the dark. Looking in the mother had rolled over and was licking her firstborn clean. A male, he was the spitting image of his sire a two year old Border Collie a natural with herds and a loving guardian of the family. I called him in so he could get a glimpse and he stood at the dutch door with his cocked liked the RCA mascot at the sound inside. I opened the door just a little and he touched noses with the mother, then looked with curiosity at the newest addition, sniffing the air. I pulled the door back close and let him back outside once more, then sat back down to enjoy my coffee in the dark.
Yesterday I emailed an old friend of mine. He is a minister in upstate New York and while we haven’t seen each other in a long time we stay in touch to share stories about our families and our lives because we have gone through a lot together over the years. He had been a stock broker before he got his calling and resigned to attend the seminary, and I had been a businessman before my own awakening and deciding to become a farmer. Our wives were very close, all of our children spaced equally apart in age, and we had attended the same church for years before heading off to new lives.
We had those things in common, but there was something else besides, a kind of like mindedness in the way we went about our lives, each of us trying to follow where we felt we had been called even though it meant a decline in our standard of living- at least in economic terms. For both of us those changes gave us richer, more fulfilling lives and more time with our families so the trade off was a trade up and we made sure to remind each other whenever we spoke or wrote that those changes were worth it. I gave him a few details about the Fall, about the family, about life in general, but mostly I just wanted to give him thanks for being there even though it was so far away because it’s important to remember just how fortunate we are for the people in our lives who care about us and be grateful for it.
And I am grateful, for everything that life has brought me; for the healthy litter of new puppies and how happy the children will be when they wake up and see them, for not knocking out any of my teeth the other day even if my nose is a wreck, for the nutritious and well-earned meal that we’ll share with our family and friends today in a safe place far removed from the troubles that seem to plague the world these days and for having the sense to recognize just how blessed, how truly fortunate we are to have this time even when it seems to be so trying and oppressive. When I look back over the past year it unfolds like a tapestry of beautiful memories and proud accomplishments and all of the failures and disappointments, the fears and pains of a thousand minor cuts and bruises that attend every life are nothing more than a hum in the distance. I can hear the cock crowing outside, and as I write this the Sun is filling the room with an early morning glow that gives the moonlight a run for its money and I realize how truly thankful I am.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving HS. Congratulations on the newest members of the family!!!
I feel your pain HSF, I’ve had a shattered nose on a few occasions. I’ve found it always helps to have had a few beers over the limit , before the adjustment occurs.. And, thanks for the heartfelt Thanksgiving message .To often out of desire for more, we overlook the bounty we have already received.
Happy Thanksgiving one and all , as we count our blessings remember , but for the grace of God.
Help Me Thanksgiving Day Prayer
O God, when I have food,
help me to remember the hungry;
When I have work,
help me to remember the jobless;
When I have a home,
help me to remember those who have no home at all;
When I am without pain,
help me to remember those who suffer,
And remembering,
help me to destroy my complacency;
bestir my compassion,
and be concerned enough to help;
By word and deed,
those who cry out for what we take for granted.
Amen.
-Samuel F. Pugh
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Who were the first Americans?
Something else to ponder while your digestive system tries to accommodate the overindulgence our minds seems to crave.
Solutreans Are Indigenous Americans
I have a lot of points that sure as hell look like the Solutrean lithics. Makes perfect sense to me, but then again, the science is settled.
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If at fisrt you don’t succeed…
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Thank you for all of your post’s there is nothing quite like them.
Happy Thanksgiving Marc.
Thank you for all the homespun wisdom you have provided me and the rest of the TBP community. Your writing is beautiful and haunting.
You casually dealt with two situations in the last day that would freak out the average person in our society today. There would be a frantic trip to the emergency room and the veterinarian in 99% of American households. You are the 1%.
We’ll be headed to my wife’s sisters house (she’s one of nine) for our annual Thanksgiving festivities. All the men will congregate in the living room watching football and insulting each other about how fat and bald we’ve all become. The beer will be in coolers outside. The women will sit around the dining room table and chit chat for hours. My one brother-in-law who is a prison guard will talk to me about the blog and our declining society. He sees it up close and personal. No one else will want to talk about serious stuff. That’s cool with me. I’ll just fill myself with tasty turkey and stuffing, while watching the Phila Turkeys (aka Eagles) lose to the Lions.
Everyone have a happy Thanksgiving, because I’m almost finished the last 3 parts of my Fourth Turning article and it is sure to depress everyone.
HSF,
A lovely message, thank you. I envy you the puppies,
and the children’s response. Happy Thanksgiving.
Awful you fell and smashed your nose. Thank God
your teeth are intact!
(the Mr broke his nose 9x, 5x were rugby hits. He
just said, “sure” when I asked about skin flap/torn
skin) Susanne RN say be careful with the open
area. Neosporin cream w/ analgesic. Mr said he
never got his nose fixed. Once it was way crooked
“but the next time it got hit, it straightened out.”
Have a great day with your new pups.
Administrator,
Happy Thanksgiving.
I eagerly await your Fourth Turning article.
It is a sad time for many in our world.
It is better to know and understand than
otherwise.
Flash,
Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you for the
poem and the movie.
………………….HOW THANKSGIVING GOT STARTED…………………
Two turkeys were walking on a road.
One turkey said, ” I’m hungry”, and the other one said “Me, too”.
The first turkey said, ” Let’s get some food from that guy over there
with an axe.
What HF left out ……. he tripped and fell because he was looking up at contrails.
HSF writes:
“There is something deeply comforting to being awake in a house while your loved ones sleep.”
Very true.
My wife thinks I’m crazy when it comes to this. There are mornings when I have no work obligations outside our home when I get up hours before the rest of the crew. I’ll brew coffee the same way you do and sit and write or read (usually your column). It has always given me a deep sense of satisfaction to sit quietly in the dark at this time – still in my sweats – sipping my coffee and watching the sun come up over the mountains while my brood is still fast asleep upstairs. I think it is genetic – a sort of throw back to our ancestral blood lines – perhaps having to do with a deep desire to herd and protect. My dad was the same way. I always used to give him a hard time when we were kids, “Why do you get up so early??” I’d ask him. He would respond: “You’ll see when you get older.” I’d scoff at this of course – not knowing that “Loves austere and lonely offices” laid in wait for me as well.
Thanks for what you do HS – have a great thanksgiving. You have a lot to be thankful for.
Francis
Dear admin,
None of my sibs/inlaws will talk about anything serious either. They think I’m crazy. I’m thankful for the beer in the cooler outside my sis’ kitchen door.
Fourth turning? Bring the squalor as well…
Thanks HF for sharing serious writing.
I also read Psalm 40:5 this morning. A friend recommended it.
As I have grown older (I am 73), I have become increasingly grateful. To Providence, if you will. It just sorta happened. I am certain that I have been quietly guided by some intangible goodness, that I have benefited by acknowledging and finally overcoming most of my mistakes and by altering trajectories as suggested by conditions. My life has been more fulfilling than not.
I do wonder if I have done as much good in the world as I should, but all one can really do is attempt the right thing day-to-day by doing right by oneself, those he loves and those around him. This is where I think Hardscrabble shines.
I am aware due to my age, as I think few others are, that we in the US have experienced extraordinary post-WWII prosperity simply because we were late to the war and the last industrial nation left standing, and due to result that the world’s monetary system was anchored to the Dollar. I am very grateful for it, but I don’t think many other beneficiaries even realize it.
Now I think that prosperity is near an end but I am not fearful for myself, although I do have concerns for my adult kids and especially my grandkids. I have taken pains to educate my kids as to what the US has become and what’s coming. I hope I’m wrong but am rather sure that I am not. Maybe I won’t experience much of it, but in any event will take life as it comes. Life has been good for the present, so I express my gratitude. But I also do know that death is a transition, not an end, and that I will eventually be allowed greater understanding. Life is school, I believe, and we are only in the intermediate grades. Materialism rules. For now. We learn slowly.
Best to all this Thanksgiving at The Burning Platform. Thanks for being here.
Damn, reading HSF is like stepping into another time or a Norman Rockwell painting. Wonderful stuff, as usual. Hope you nose heals up fast.
Flash, very touching picture of the homeless guy and his dog.
Phaedrus, good words about what the US once was, and what it may become. Maybe this Thanksgiving is a good time to reflect on that and ponder the future of this once great nation.
Below is a cut/paste from an e-mail I got today–I’d change most of the names but it’s someone’s dream:
THE PERFECT DAY – January 20, 2017
1. President Marco Rubio and Vice President Carly Fiorina are sworn into office.
2. In a rare event on inauguration day, Congress convenes for an emergency meeting to repeal the illegal and unconstitutional Socialist healthcare farce known as Obamacare. The new Director of Health and Social Services Dr. Ben Carson announces that an independent group of healthcare management professionals is hired to handle healthcare services for poor and low income people. They are also assigned the duty of eliminating Medicare and Medicaid fraud. Government’s costs for public healthcare are reduced by 90%. Healthcare insurance premiums for working Americans are reduced by 50%. The move saves billions of taxpayer paid dollars. Healthcare service in the U.S improves 100%.
3. Newly appointed department of Homeland Security Chief Donald Trump announces the immediate deployment of Troops to the U.S. Mexico border to control illegal immigration and the immediate deportation of illegals with criminal records or links to terrorist groups. New bio-encrypted Social Security ID’s are required by every American citizen. Birthright is abolished. All immigration from countries that represent a threat to the safety of American citizens is terminated indefinitely. The move saves American taxpayers billions of dollars. Several prisons are closed.
4. Newly appointed Secretary of Business and Economic Development Ted Cruz eliminates more than half of the Government agencies operating under the Obama administration saving taxpayers billions of dollars. Stocks rise 100%.
5. Newly appointed Director of Government Finance Rand Paul announces the abolition of the IRS and displays a copy of the new Federal Tax Return form. It consists of one page. The instructions consist of two pages. The Federal Reserve is audited. The move saves American Taxpayers billions of dollars and increases tax revenue.
6. Hillary Clinton is in jail, where she belongs. Her cell is directly across from Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton who are serving time for ‘Hate Crimes”. She bitches at them constantly from behind the bars of her cell in what some might call cruel and unusual punishment.
7. Bernie Sanders is in the nuthouse, where he belongs. His room is directly across from Nancy Pelosi, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Chris Matthews and Al Franken. They meet for tea every day at ten and discuss the success and benefits of Communism and Socialism throughout the world. They also wonder when the “Mothership” is going to pick them up and return them to their home planets.
8. Windows 12 is released. It is designed for humans, doesn’t try to satisfy the needs of every person on the planet, doesn’t require a degree in nuclear physics to operate and looks just like Windows 7 except it is easier to use.
9. Barack Obama flees the United States under cover of darkness and returns to his homeland of Kenya before his trial for treason begins. He deplanes on a remote jungle airstrip. It was reported that he was last seen wandering through the jungle singing “Hakuna Matata” with a chimp named Commie.
10. Oscar Meyer announces the introduction of a new cholesterol and fat free pepperoni that tastes just like regular pepperoni.
12. A committee is not established to determine what is causing global cooling. Billions of taxpayer dollars are saved.
14. Dead people are no longer allowed to vote in Chicago, a huge blow for the Democrat Party in the State of Illinois.
And this my friends constitutes THE PERFECT DAY!!!!!!
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Hardscrabble
Your Thanksgiving reflection made me cry. I hope the rest of your day is as rich as its beginning.
I’m blessed to be celebrating with 20+ people from extended family, and my role is to supply the pumpkin, pecan, and cranapple pies.
Let us turn away from the gloom today and pierce the darkness by counting blessings. Have you ever tried to actually grasp all of your blessings? It is impossible to do because they are infinite, fully present in each instant of time as it emerges from the future and rolls over to the past. A loving Creator provides riches beyond comprehension. The Pilgrims knew this and it must have carried them through the hardships they endured. May it be so for us.
Thank you Admin and everybody else for TBP. It’s a blessing.
This is one of LLPOH’s favorite two days of the year. The other is Andrew Jackson’s birthday. 🙂
Happy Thanks Gs to everyone.
This place is just like home, thanks to all who contribute, and comment.
PS, had my nose broke twice by my little bro early in life,
went to the same doc (ear,nose,throat) for both fixes, (excellent procedure, they use pharmaceutical cocaine to numb the entire shnazola, before they poke it with a huge needle to numb it even more)
then they pick out these custom chrome rods, and slide them all the way up each nostril until they can’t go no further.
the nurse holds your head, and the doc uses both hands on both rods to re adjust your face, you can hear and feel the bone move.
He then tells me on the 2nd occasion “you probably should not fight your brother any more”
Peace to all.
Phaedrus–73 you say? I guess I’ll call you the Kid.
So, Phaedrus, you’re grateful for all that you have wrenched from the world and lament that your children and grandkids won’t have the same living as you. Thank God for the ‘dollar standard’, for the US armada making the world safe for the flow of resources and goods from less developed and less militarized countries to the ‘good ole’ USA. Life is good! For us anyway and that is what counts. Maybe not for the ‘unwashed many’ in under developed countries whose leaders sold out their populations for printed pieces of green paper for valuable non replaceable resources, paper stacked high in central banks, never to be redeemed for anything of value. It was a great Con and the world bought it, hook, line, and sinker. Like all Cons, it’s coming to an end as all Cons do and you fear for your grandkids. For the life that they will live in a world of diminishing resources and of hunger and privation.
Let me ask you, Phaedrus, did you think about your grandkids and their kids when you were living a pretty good life? What were the circumstances of your good fortune and the consequences of your accumulation of material goods? Whether others suffered to provide you with the stuff that you took for granted? I doubt it. Did you take proactive steps to limit your consumption so that future generations would be better off than your generation? I doubt it. Did you even think about your actions with a moral perspective in mind? I doubt it.
Your, our generation, will be the first generation that has done better than the next generation. That has robbed the Millennials and their future kids of a better life. This is the first time in our history that a future generation has been worse off that the previous generation.
We have created over 1/2 a Quadrillion dollars of debt world wide. We have brought the future forward and squandered it. That’s what debt is. It creates consumption today for a reduction in consumption tomorrow. You have saddled your grandkids and their kids with debt, with reduced consumption in their lives, so that you have the good life, today.
Phaedrus, I bet you are drawing Social Security, Medicare, prescription drug benefits, etc. never making the moral connection that you are stealing from the younger generation. The money you get represents the life energy of those who contribute to your well being. You think that you are getting money from the government, but in reality, you are stealing from the younger generation their life’s energy and their time. How is that moral???
This Thanksgiving you can be thankful for the good life you lead. For me, every morning when I wake up, before I even get out of bed, I thank God for another day and I ask that I might be a blessing for those that meet.
Although, we celebrate Thanksgiving one day of the year, I try and celebrate it every day of the year.
Homer, I think you misunderstand my circumstances, my message and my intent. But that’s life.
I vote Homer for the grinch that stole thanksgiving.
Phaedrus–I wasn’t picking a bone with you. Just that you fit in to the diatribe I wanted to present.
My beef is with our generation and the evil that we will experience as a result of our selfish, selfish, self indulgence.
Actions have consequences. Not thinking long term and only for our immediate gratification leads to patch work remedies upon patch work remedies to fix bad decisions that should never have been made.
When you don’t have a moral compass in which to judge one’s actions every decision seems like a good one.
Homer.
The response from Phaedrus is what we call a class act.
Few and far between on the ole BP
Rise Up–I like Thanksgiving, I especially like Christmas. Thanksgiving is a time when family and friends get together. It reinforces familial bonding, a sense of belonging to something bigger than one’s self. I believe that the family is the basis of civilization. Although the government thinks that it is the basis of civilization, I remind you that family was here first.
Although, I will be celebrating Thanksgiving alone as my family will be visiting relative in another city, I will take pleasure in the holiday. (Someone has to take care of the farm. The animals have to be fed.)
I took two Cornish Game Hens out of the freezer and will bake up some sweet potatoes, maybe a pie and be thankful for this site and to all the people who post here, who give expression to ideas.
All the great things in life began with an idea that someone had. Sharing those with others is a blessing.
So as you gaze upon the people at you dinner table and at all the fixin’s, remember which is truly the most important. It should be easy to decide.
The nose. God’s facial energy-absorbing bumper.
God bless all of you burning platformites.
Thank you HF for your inspirational essays. [img
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The image didnt work..apologies. I offer this instead
We should have let the pilgrims starve. Too bad the comanche were not from a he NE or we would never be in this mess. We would now celebrate thanksgiving with roast pilgrims rather than turkeys.
Oh well. To the victor and all that.
Olde Virginian says: The nose. God’s facial energy-absorbing bumper.
Quite true. I pulled a flash once and the only thing that saved my teeth was my schnoz.
Happy TG all.
Lost more than one relative to falls on ice. Cerebral bleedouts. Good thing HSF hit face first. The other direction can be fatal fast. Glad he is ok.
I agree LLPOH. If people had listened to Franklin, Tom2 and I would be on the flag and everybody would be eating bald eagles today.
Just finished lunch with my mom and of course little bb.That picture with the guy holding his dog warms my heart. A good pet can make a big difference in your life.
We do have much to be thankful for.Even with so much doom heading our way it’s good to have gratitude.In everything give thanks:for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.1Thess 5:18
Notice in ….in everything give thanks…
Happy Thanksgiving HSF and to the rest of the TBP regulars, even BB.
Thanks, Westy for the bb shout out. BB and I like kittens.
You poor bastards having to go outside to a cooler to grab a wet beer really deserve better and I mean that. These are some random pictures I pulled off the web that approximate what my kegerator looks like. Having your own draft beer on tap is a real pleasure. I homebrew some and take empty, sanitized kegs on road trips to have filled at various breweries on my route. Just drop them off while outbound and pick them up on the way home.
Mine has six Perlick, rear sealing taps or faucets in the front door and I added a small enclosed compartment to the side of the fridge to hold the CO2 tank and regulator. There is also a drip tray under the faucets. Cold glasses are in the top and we use the extra freezer space for meat and bread. Whether you want a couple of swigs or a full pint, it’s always available.
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The interior is nearly identical to the one below. I made the lower shelf out of plastic and the door shelves were removed and replaced by a brushed stainless steel panel to increase the capacity to eight, five gallon (sixth barrel) corny kegs plus numerous bottles. Oh yeah, mine is CLEAN and neat both inside and out because it sits in the corner of the dining room and I’m a bit of a neat freak.
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Commiserations on the beak HSF. I’ve never broke mine……yet. Robert S. Finnegan threatened to break it for me but he never showed up.
Congratulations on the litter of pups. T4C is right….I LOVE puppies!
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I intentionally left this for the final read of the day: The best for last. I’ve had a wonderful day. I’m sure my first attempt at my own turkey was not as savory as yours, but it was splendid.
The target practice with rifles and pistols was cut short by rain, but since we needed some it wasn’t a bad interruption. My son is still the best shot of us all with the Berrettas, but not nearly the expert with long guns that his father is.
I prefer revolvers, 22 rifles and shotguns, because the loud noises make me cringe, even with earplugs. I am a good shot, but the boys are competitive, so each outshoots me.
I plan to adopt a lady Pyrenese in the future, just to have her bred and have pups. Both our males are neutered, but both love to play with puppies after they are old enough to play.
We are getting there, HSF. As we said our thanks and reminisced on the year – our first on the land – we counted our blessings and realized our dreams came true.
I hope others realize the same about your lives today.
Broke down and got two of these not long ago (boerboels):
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Which will grow into these:
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Each will be around 150 to 175 pounds for watching over the doomstead and folks therein. The claim is that they are the only dogs ever bred exclusively for the purpose of watching over/guarding the family.
Nothing quite says “go away” like a very large dog (or two) with an unfriendly attitude toward strangers.
Best call ahead before visiting so I can introduce you.
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Wow llpoh! Two puppies? I can only dream of that! Gonna take a lot of work and patience to get them raised up but it’ll be worth it! Our adult dog is in remarkably good health but despite running and bouncing around like a puppy she is in the sunset of her life. Within a year of her passing we’ll have a new pup as a companion for our two year old pup. I still don’t want to lose her even if it means I can get a new puppy.
Happy Thanksgiving llpoh. I’d love to see some pics of your doomstead if you’re ever inclined to share.
IndenturedServant–My definition of a good woman is one who lays down on the floor in the morning when you get so your feet don’t touch the cold floor and one who goes out on the cold deck and fetches you a beer.
Women, God bless them. I never understood them and probably never will. But then I never understood Quantum Mechanics either.
At my age, I still get excited when the Misses bend down to take the turkey out of the oven.
Homer, if I tried that with my wife she’d be the one to break my beak! 🙂
@LLPOH We have two male Pyrenese that are 130 lb range (the vet suggested they needed to lose 10 to 15 to limit problems with hips, so they have trimmed down quite a bit here in the hills) and they are wonderful guardians of our chickens and land, including the deer, who they’ve adopted as a herd. (Luckily, they don’t realize the leg bones they got last week are from the herd.)
Anyway, they are extremely possessive and protective, but once they “meet” a friend, they will always allow them entry if we are home. I was surprised, but delighted, to learn that my cousins, who visit and pet the dogs regularly, came over when we were away and thought they would pop in to use the facilities. (We share information about where the spare key to our homes is hidden.) However, even though the dogs were happy to see them drive up and let them come into the yard, they said that the second that they stepped onto the stairs leading up to the porch, both dogs growled and blocked their way. They said that the dogs were obviously NOT comfortable with them entering without us home.
It was good to know.
wish to second much that has been said, thanks to all for a wonderful place to visit
Flash,
Could you please repost in this thread the picture frames of the kids learning survival skills/it mentioned the juicy tree apples? I cant find it and want to send to my brother. I appreciate any help!
Had a nice Thanksgiving day with the family, HSF. Hope you and the others out there did also.
https://youtu.be/Ef9KvEus6zM
Homer says: At my age, I still get excited when the Misses bend down to take the turkey out of the oven.
Are you Mormon?