Fall ends Advent begins

S&P brought great Chinese food from their favorite restaurant , Best Wok. My fortune said the same as always - Help, I am being held prisoner in a 

Chinese bakery! 

2017 Punkin Chunkin began after lunch. 

I got to go first. The biggest one so it would be the hardest to fall. 

Sophie went next 

The guys threw theirs as far as possible. Apparently distance matters. 

Truffles had her eye on the prize. 

It was worth the wait. 

The gully was properly littered. A buffet for squirrels and dogs. 

Some had theirs delivered. 

Decided to go pretty minimal this year. 

May not even have a tree! Ed and I are in a dispute over real vs artificial. He worries about new wood floor and a real tree. I don’t like fake ones. 

Our Thanksgiving

A small band of McNeils gathered at the Wolf’s. 

They greeted us with Julia Reed’s recipe for Red Roosters....

...and a cheese ball. I haven’t had that in a long time. MG came later with spinach dip. 

The table was set. 

Everything was beautiful. 

The girl has an eye !

The house looked amazing. 

Her LaRita Smith looks great. 

One more shot. 

No people pics. Dang. 

I just got a little of everything but I was still stuffed. 

Just a little preview. The victims await. 

Truffles saw me bringing the pumpkins to the backyard for Punkin Chunkin and was on point ready to chase. So I threw one early one for her. Tune in later for the real event. 

Thanksgiving stuff

Ok let’s start this with the perfect duo ...egg nog and Chex mix. At MG’s watching her cook (such a Mom’s pleasure) on Wednesday.  

She made Smokey Oats too. Sophie came by to enjoy as well.  Be still my heart. 

Then this happened on Thanksgiving Day. 

Whoever came up with this is a genius. 

Precut onion and celery!!

Tommy may not like it! He always loved the fact that my mom’s dressing did not have green chunks in it. Oops!

Ok.  And this is so wrong.  

Ed put a little heater in the den. Toby parked right in front of it. 

Junior was getting close to the fire. 

Ellis Thanksgiving 1961

At aunt Irene and uncle Cecil’s. I’m the baby at the end. 

After lunch we gathered at the piano where an Ellis INLAW played   Hee hee   Look at me sucking my thumb. 

The camellias (susanquas?) have been gorgeous everywhere this season. Bought some cool new vases to use at client’s events. 

I guess it’s worth it to venture into AtHome. 

Can’t get enough of the white pumpkins this year. When I went to change to the traditional cornucopia tableau, it just seemed right. 

See the bundle of wheat? I’ve been wanting to have some of those for years. They would look great with one in every window I think. 

Since Priscilla couldn’t host this month so we gathered at my house again for a bit of a potluck. Spent time discussing 2018 plans. 

Went back for another LaRita Smith painting. Couldn’t get a good shot of it with the glare.  I love the cypress tree. Ed said unfortunately it looked like the creepy tree from the TV show Stranger Things. 😬

It finished out my wall. 

Jan brought me some shrimp from her recent trip to the coast. She shared a recipe that Cherry made. It’s s one pan baked version of a shrimp boil. So easy. 

Mom’s yearly Christmas ornament that she makes for 50 of her closest friends at St C’s. 

The cutest little Holy Family you will see!

Had a professional photographer come to take publicity photos of Clinton PS. 

Did you guess who? Sophie is so good. She really has an eye.  

The restaurant looked so good as it got dark. The place was buzzing with job interviews tonight. 

Everything is ready. 

Even our custom paper holders. That is a safe deposit box top as the shelf. 

Paper towel holders