Happy Thanksgiving!

Old Cottonwood

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We are waiting for our son, Shaun to drive down from Albuquerque today, so we are going to have our turkey on Friday.  Yes, I can roast a turkey in our roaster oven.  I can also bake Croissants in it.  It is electric and it can sit outside on the picnic table while it is roasting.  Later, the oven can be my warming oven.  I'm using a crockpot for our mashed potatoes.

I'll probably get most of the dinner prepared while waiting for Shaun to get here.  Small space so I have to do some careful planning and I might be able to make two dishes at a time - depending on what is involved.

Here are some pictures I have taken since we settled into our winter home - Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve.  One morning I took a walk with frost on the ground.  The birds seem a lot busier in the mornings.  Flying all over the fields, but I managed to catch one resting before he realized I was taking his photo.

Good Morning Sunshine!

 There is a resident Western-Screech Owl living in one of the tall Cottonwood trees.  He was catching some morning sunshine when I stopped by to take his photo.  He is the first Owl I have ever seen.

Western-Screech Owl

Yes, I am keeping one eye on you

 They have a walking trail that is about 2 miles long depending which loops are taken.  I plan to walk as much as possible while here.  I have been so lazy about exercising lately.  So, this seems like the perfect place to start getting back into shape.

Tarantula - one of many 

Sonoita Creek

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Excellent book!  Now you are probably wondering how I finished another book so fast.  Well, I was listening to this one on my iPod.  (Yes, while reading the other book.)  There are four narrators which is quite different from most audio books with one or two narrators.  Their southern accents were perfect.

Most of you probably know the story already thanks to the movie being released.  I hear it is very good too.  I can't wait to see it, but I'll wait until the DVD is available.  I prefer to sew while watching a movie.

There are three main characters.  There is Skeeter, a young white woman raised by and closer to a black maid then by her mother.  She has a college education, but is not encouraged to find a job half as much as she is encouraged to find herself a man to marry.

There is Aibilene, an older, very experienced, and very observant black maid with a big heart.  She helped raise 17 white children.

And there is Minny, a younger black maid always getting herself in trouble just because she speaks her mind.

These three women give you a walk-in-my-shoes view of what the South was like living in the 1960s during the Civil Rights movement. A troubling time not just for the Southern Blacks, but for any Southern White person willing to agree that it was time to change.

I'm not doing a plug and I am not getting anything for telling you this.  My brother told me about this great membership club to help me save money on audible books.

Audible.com is a great source for finding audible books for a decent price and they are affiliated with Amazon.com.  Instead of paying $25 and up, as a member, you only pay a monthly fee $14.95.  In return, you receive 1 Credit and with the 1 Credit you can download 1 book to my iTunes.  So for $14.95, you can download a book.  They often have special deals for their members.  Such as getting 3 Credits for under $11.  Or getting a $10 reward if you buy 4 books within a month's time.  Not bad for the new releases and over 10,000 books to enjoy.

I use my iPod to listen to my books.  I haven't tried burning a disc, but I'm sure that too can be done if you are wanting to listen to a book in your car.  iTunes, of course, saves everything so I never have to worry about losing my books if my computer crashes....Knock on Wood!