Did You See The Game?

The invasion of the Beavers

What a gorgeous evening sky!

What a fun Saturday night at the Stanford stadium.

That is, unless you are an Oregon State fan.
Those beavers just couldn't gnaw into any kind of a groove.

I sat next to this brave fan..

Who dressed as beaver and

Sat in a sea of Cardinal red.
Oh those Cardinals ...
Boy did they shine...

In spite of a day of cloudy skies and rainy weather.

Thirty eight zip.
And what better way to celebrate the night...

Than to dance to the tunes of the band and with a tree.

Pic courtesy of my sistah.

These are random people ...I have no clue who they are. Just wanted a pic of the adorable tree.

10 Favorites The Day After

What a wonderful turkey day.

Here are my top 10 faves ...

The No. 1 favorite is being with my family. No question about it. They are THE BEST.

No. 2 is the turkey. This is the one and only day I love to eat turkey... like off the bone. The turkey sandwiches I eat all year long where the meat is processed and sliced thin doesn't really count.

No. 3 is the jello. I grew up eating jello, especially for our Sunday dinner. Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners are pretty much the only time I eat jello now. Love the layered jello with lots of fruit and decadent stuff mixed in.

No. 4 is the dessert. Pumpkin pie is the numero uno dessert for Thanksgiving. It would not quite be Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie. It was scrumptious. We had a bonus dessert from my oldest sister...a spice bundt cake. The two together were out of this world.

No. 5 is the stuffing...a most particular recipe prepared by my brother. Cornbread with sausage and all sorts delish ingredients. Mmmmm good.

No. 6 is the homemade parker house rolls. We make rolls from scratch in my family. The only true way to have rolls. My most favorite recipe is found in the Lion House Cookbook. I've tried them all, and I like this one the best. Check out the rolls from last night here.

No. 7 is the yams. My mother makes the perfect yams...or are they sweet potatoes? Not sure what the difference is. But they were scrumptious.

No. 8 is the autumnal (first time I heard that word was from Martha Stewart) colors. My sister picked up flowers from the farmer's market and I picked foilage from my backyard. Put the two together and produced this.

No. 9 is eating the leftovers. Had this for lunch....was almost as good as last night.

No. 10 Getting up early in the am to join the crowds to take advantage of the door buster deals. Went to Walmart...that crazy suffocating place...to see if I could pick up a tv for 98 bucks. They were long gone. I guess I saved myself some $.

T - Day Decor

T-Day decorations are up at the Z household.

Made these "Amish" Pilgrims 15 years ago and they join us every year at this time.

Mr. and Mrs. Pilgrim adorning the fireplace mantel.

Two medicine brown bottles were fetched at an antique store in SF.

Got the heart shaped bottle from an estate...it is from "Paul Masson Winery"

which has been gone for over 20 years (so it is OLD).

Now all we need is the turkey!

Saturday Morning

It rained all night long.
Heard the drops on the skylight above.

Will we or won't we hike this am?
Took a peak out the window.
Clouds with blue sky peaking through. Good.
Stepped out the front door.
Ah, fresh crisp air..must don the fleece.
Picked up my sister.
And we headed up the hill.

Check out who we saw munching along the trail ...

followed by the Mrs.



Reached the top.
Incredible view of the bay...
clear, crisp and chilly with threatening rain.
Still have shadows on the ground.

Passed by the resident flock of wild turkeys on our way down.

How cool is that ?

Especially during this Thanksgiving week.


And some lovely green moss on a log.


And some colorful fall foliage..ginkgo, Chinese pistasch and maple.
Yes we still have leaves on some of our trees.


So wonderful to live around such loveliness.
What a way to start the day.

White

The old rule is ...white is put away the day after Labor Day.

Not so fast I say...

coming from one who loves white.

Why can't I continue my white passion all year long?

white.....the achromatic color of maximum lightness?

white, the antagonist of black?

white, that which contrasts so well with all other colors?

white, the best reflector of light?

white, that pure, clean, light, chalky, bone, colorless, without hue, milky, clear color?

Look around...look inside and outside at white.

white parchment-like flowers...

white pottery vases found at estate sales...

white puffy towels, neatly folded and stacked...

white shirts, ironed stiff with starch...

white marble tile & sinks, shiny and squeaky clean

a white wedding dress with a white flowing bouquet ...

Just a few white things that I love.

ahh..... white...pure and sweet.

Waxing Gibbous Moon

While swimming laps last night,

there it was...

framed in the crook of my elbow...

as I turned my head to take a breath

before I sliced my arm through the water...

a most beautiful waxing gibbous moon...

with the bright planet Jupiter nearby.

Wow, what a wonderful sight on a warm clear night.

So, are you wondering, "What is a waxing gibbous moon?

I know most of you already know, but for those who don't..

it is a moon that:

* rises during the hours between noon and sunset

*sets in the hours after midnight

*is easy to see in daytime because, a large fraction of the moon's day side is facing our way

*is more noticeable than a crescent moon

*appears more than half lit

* and is less than full which gives it a "hump back"

If you missed it,

poke your head out the window tonight.

Go ahead, check it out.

Hurry up before this phase of the moon is no longer.

Twelve Glads

1. Glad I can walk.

2. Glad I can see.

3. Glad I can hear.

4. Glad for my "semiworking" brain.

5. Glad I am a woman, a mom and soon to be grandma.

6. Glad I married my man (DZ).

7. Glad for my hands, to create and to serve others.

8. Glad for good health.

9. Glad for my religion.

10. Glad for my wonderful friends.

11. Glad for my family.

12. Glad I live in this country, this state, and this town.

Oh so very

Two Trees

The leaves on the maple tree by my front door

continue to hang on...

continue their green color..

and continue to provide shade.

But the leaves on the ginkgo tree in my back yard

have turned a bright yellow....

have started to fall....

and cause me to smile.

Such loveliness at this time of year.

Veteran's Day

Two of my favorite veterans:

My dad, on the left, in Chicago (with his friend Glen Wade)...

and my uncle Elden in Michigan.

Both circa World War II

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!

Beautiful Sunrise

Look at what you missed yesterday

at 6:30 in the morning.

What a treat to my barely opened eyes

on my way to the gym..

Ahh...

so grateful for this beautiful world....

especially at such an early hour.

Football Fanatics

Check out this stadium...
Located smack dab in the center of the campus at University of Tennessee.
Can you imagine a river of 100,000 orange and black clad fans
They fill it up!
It doesn't matter if the team is winning or not
(UT isn't winning right now)
wind, rain,sun or snow.
They come.
Where they park, I have no idea.

On the other hand.
Check out the snap of the first floor of the school's bookstore:

The entire first floor is filled to the brim with
orange or black.
Can you believe it...no books in sight?
Odd...why is it called a bookstore?
Went downstairs and did find some books buried deep in the basement..
But there were lots of empty shelves too.

Something is wrong with this picture.
At a university...
books should come before balls.
But of course, balls make money and books not so much.

Go figure.

10 Tantalizing Tenneseean Treats

Here are the top ten tantalizing treats from my first visit to .....

One.

Traveling and being with my dad for a whole week while he attended an IEEE conference.

Isn't he just adorable? (some say I take after him)

You should see him maneuver in and out of airports,

getting to and from the hotel and walking the city streets.

I've seen people half his age hobbling with canes and being pushed in chairs.

Not him...no siree!

Two.

While my dad is working away at the membership desk, I get to go touring.

First up was the Biltmore Estate...one of the largest homes in the US.

In spite the immense square footage...I could imagine people actually living here.

After touring the estate, we had lunch in what was once the cow's birthing barn..

now converted to a restaurant.

Three
Both edges of the spectrum are found in Tennessee...

...more people lived the simple cabin life.

I understand most people in the hills did not have electricity until the late 1950's.

Four.

The people and their "accent".

Do you know the proper way to say Appalachian?

(apple (like the fruit) -ahh (like when the doctor asks you to stick out your tongue)-chin (like on your face)

Happened upon a farmer's market in the old town square on Saturday.

Check out the handmade berry hats.

Five.

The music.

I have two videos I am trying to post...

(check out my Flickr site later after I upload them from my camera)

Six.

The caverns five hundred feet below the earth's surface.

This formation is called "the Drapes".

Seven.
The Great Smoky Mountains. What a view at 6,000 feet!

Eight.

Hiking a portion of the Appalachian Trail,

even though it was only a quarter mile!

Nine.
The architecture.

Lots of brick. This is a building on the UT campus.
Look at the painted advertisements on the old brick factory building in the Old City.

Ten.

The Tennessean fall colors. OOOLALA.

I'd like to add one more...

the simple food...

the grits, the sweet potato casserole, and the chick pea soup, the bread...

scrumptious.

Had so much fun traveling to and exploring new places.

Up Up and Away

We had a three and one half hour layover in Chicago yesterday.

My dad used to work on the electronics of this F4F Wildcat

(not this exact plane, but this model)

when he was in the Navy during the war.

I am one lucky girl.

Over the past several years, I have had the chance to travel with my dad to several IEEE conferences. Some of the places we've travelled to are Rome, Vancouver, Banff, Orlando, Norfolk, and Hawaii among others..

This week we are in.....

Never been to this part of the country. So fun to explore new places.
Love the accent, the friendly and helpful people and the old brick architecture.
I am now off to check out the University of Tennessee ("UT" to the locals).

On a different note....
those Giants...such a terrific game last night. One more to go. Go Giants.