It’s a special occasion any time I get to see my Gkids now, whether it’s Thanksgiving or not.  But this incredible meal prepared by my older Gdaughter D. and friend V. elevated the visit to new culinary heights!  They really outdid themselves.  All in all it was a good evening of playing, talking, eating, more playing, cleanup, collapsing, and just being a family.  It will have to hold me for a while.    [Grandkid photo alert!]

I’m not going to subject you to my annual Turkey Day Genocide rant, though I can think it!

Instead, we’ve been busy baking bread (by E), finishing up our modest holiday shopping, and roasting a turkey to take to my son’s, where we’ll get to see the kids, who are visiting.  Somewhere in there yesterday, we grabbed lunch at Smoky Mountain Brewery, where I tested a couple of their good craft brews.  Here are some scenes, including rare selfies, inspired by beer.

I give thanks for our getting to spend any time with my small TN family, for having enough to eat with some to share, and for those of us who continue to resist the hate-fueled trump agenda.

It was 65° and beautiful out, so I got some puttering done, and also some colorful shots.  No telling when it will return to these mild temps, so I get it while I can.

Yesterday was a beautiful 60°-ish day out, so I planted the rest of the trees from my son’s, and did some more fall cleanup.  Camo-Cat was supervising every step of the way.  Even after all the freezes, it still looks like this.

It’s erev, so my son is here working, sharing our meal, napping, and otherwise hanging out, i.e. my favorite day of the week.

Last night it was so cold, everything froze.  Avdi couldn’t even get up his driveway, he had to park and hike it.  I hear it’s like a blizzard up north, while in California, catastrophic wildfires continue to leave a desolate wasteland in their wake.  So I can’t complain on this pleasant sunny 50° day, headed for ~60 later in the week.

Here’s E puttering with her antique 1901-ish Singer, which she used to sew up some drapes for the grandkids’ rooms, and Avdi working in the office.  It’s so domestic.

Here are some of the last of the flowers and colorful leaves.

And here is kitty doing what she does best.

We’ve been so busy I haven’t had a chance to update.

The other day we did the dreaded holiday shopping in one fell swoop.  After one store after another, I was done in, but mission accomplished.  This antique shop cat had the right idea–sleep through the feeding frenzy.

Yesterday we headed up the hill to Avdi’s to work on the project of repairing, installing, and cleaning before the kids’ visit.  The foothills were shrouded in mist, and the leaves were in full color and falling all over in the continuing rain.

It’s a work in progress, but we made a big dent, and discussed future installments and color schemes.

Here is one of Avdi’s cats supervising, and enjoying all the attention.

Unending rain and low 40s seem to be our lot for the foreseeable future, so may as well make the most of it.  Even WaterCat has been spending more time lounging indoors, because she’s no dummy.  I myself took these rainy photos from inside (while baking cornbread to go with my homemade navy bean soup).  I’m a proud HiberNation member, after all.

It was a balmy 56°, and fearless jungle kitty was prowling the tree canopy.  She’s totally at home up there.  After effortlessly descending from the heights, she and “Joey” the blobcat [sic] had a typical howl-down on the deck.  It’s all bluster and no bite.

Talking about weather in TN may not be the default boring conversation topic it is elsewhere.  The meteorological graphs read like a roller coaster.  You might call it “The Meteor”.

When I stepped outside this frosty morning at a frigid 28° and broke some serious ice, I was curious to see how low it had dropped overnight.  It turns out (for all you meteorology nerds) it was a steady 30° all night and early morning, until at 5AM it literally took a sudden nosedive to 27° and then inched up a degree to where I found it just after sunrise.  It’s like with no warning it weirdly fell off a cliff.

Similarly, the trees have two setting here: green and dump.  After that cold deluge we had, all the leaves are finally falling steadily like colorful snow.

Even OutdoorsKitty took a couple of double takes before she got up the nerve to go out there.  She’s no fool.

It’s strange in this cold to think of the horrific wildfires raging out of control right now in California, displacing thousands of people.  Most officials and experts agree it’s due to climate change, unlike our idiot-in-chief, who blames mismanagement or whatever crap he concocts to misdirect his minions.  But I digress…back to the weather.

That is, back to going dormant, which is what all sane lifeforms do this time of year.  If I had a banner or coat of arms, my emblem would have to be the salamander, who comes out in warm rain and hibernates when it’s cold, like a sensible person.  Also something legendary about fire-fighting, but I’ll leave medieval myths to trump where they belong.

[Photo credit to Tami Gingrich of Herping Ohio for her great salamander image.]

There was a thin sheet of ice on outdoor water surfaces this morning.  However, the cold doesn’t stop this kitty from running out there and positioning her mouth below the bird feeders!