Of turkey (and other birds)

Thanksgiving was at our house this year. We had my parents and my dad's two sisters over for a yummy turkey dinner... mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, mixed vegetables, corn muffins, pumpkin bread, fruit espuma, and cream cheese pumpkin pie with homemade vanilla ice cream for dessert. This is the famous pie of the great pie disaster mentioned in the previous post - every one of them since that first one has turned out great, and it is delicious, especially with the homemade vanilla. While everyone was over we got to see lunch time happen at the bird feeders. Dottie was very excited. She had a GREAT thanksgiving - my aunts are cat people, so of course Dottie got her fair share of turkey. We let her have some leftovers the next day, too. Cat heaven. By the way, there is a new Thanksgiving-themed Dottie poem in the right column!

"Black Friday" was a time of getting things for our Sponsor a Family gifts. It was crazy at times (do NOT go to Toys R Us on Black Friday) but very successful. We got everything we wanted to give this family from their wish list and stayed within the price limits given by the charity. They request that we spend no more than $65 per person, which may seem challenging when what most of these people want is winter coats, comforters, pots and pans... Not inexpensive things. And no used items allowed. And the charity requests at least two gifts per family member. So I always trust that God will direct us to the right places at the right times to find these things... One year we found an expensive coat from a plus-size specialty shop (because that was the only place we could get a coat in the right size) for about $50. This year we were buying for a family of four, and our total savings on everything we got them was over $500.

The bird feeders are very busy a little while after the sun comes up for birdie breakfast. Then they have other mealtimes throughout the day when suddenly the place is packed. One of our most unique birds is the red-bellied woodpecker, who looks like he has a red mohawk. Dottie loves the juncos - they are ground feeders, so I think they seem more accessible to her. Stalk stalk stalk. We also see cardinals, blue jays, downy woodpeckers, hairy woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees, goldfinches, and various other finches.