"Come upstairs with me," said the Husband when he came back from a trip to the gas station. "You've got to see something." "Is it snow?" I asked. I was in the kitchen prepping garlic for lumpia filling. "You'll see." Snow! This is the first of the season. No wonder it was cold this morning. Well worth it. I'm heading over to ABC Wednesday . Come join me, if you like. :-) Happy Thanksgiving, Dear Friends!

The other morning I went through the last of Mama's clothes hanging in the closet. Hanging at the back of the closet was a little girl's red coat with matching red bonnet.  The outfit is in pristine shape, as if it had been bought yesterday. It was, about 64 years ago, at least.  Most likely I wore the jacket a few times. I was a fast grower in my early years, both in height and girth. See how cute the hat is on the camel in this collage. Yes, that little girl being directed to look at the camera was me sporting the red hat. Mama must've just put it on me because in another photo with only Big Brother and me, the bonnet was perched limply on the top of my head, as if Mama said to Daddy, "Put the hat on Susie's head." Snap.  I'm thinking about cutting the red coat apart, along with a few other things I found in Mama's closet: her wool black dress, a blue tweed jumper Mama made for me in 7th grade, and a blue wool skirt I bought during my early

1. I'm hoping we won't need to turn on the furnace until December 1. 2. Right now we're doing fine with wearing heavy long-sleeved tops and long, warm pants, snuggling beneath blankets on the couch, and turning on the space heater. 3. I baked the first apple pie of the season. 4. Baking warms up the house. 5. We have a gas furnace. It would be more efficient if the majority of the heater vents weren't next to windows. What kind of design is that? 6. I need to renew my driver's license very soon. So, today, I checked out what I needed to do. Make an appointment so I don't have to wait forever in line, I thought. Ha! The next appointment is in January. Way too late. 7. I'll apply for the Real ID, too. That one may be a hoot to navigate. 8. Someone screwed up my name royally on my birth certificate. My last name is misspelled. Instead of showing Mama's maiden surname as my middle name, the certificate has Gusman . Mama's middle name before she marrie

"Let's make cards," I said, practically pulling the Husband down on the seat next to me. That's what happens when he follows me around a holiday festival that has free arts and crafts workshops.  I thought about telling him to go ahead, I'll catch up with him, but I remembered we were just talking about making Christmas cards this year. Once he knew that the idea was to make a collage card, he enjoyed himself. Any remorse, I'm sure of sitting down at a table with colorful papers and cut-outs, was gone. This, below, is his card. My card is the picture at the top of the post. Did the giraffe surprise you? While we were admiring our cards, again, at home, the giraffe invited me to draw her. So, I did. Then, she asked to be colored. Fortunately for us, the watercolor pencils were on the table. Before I knew it, Juliana the Giraffe came to life. I wonder if she knows Ghandi the Giraffe . Mosaic Monday , hosted by Angie of Letting Go of the Bay Leaf

Usually my paintings and drawings end up being a wilderness landscape such as the scene I painted on the box, which I'll use as a planter in the backyard. The Husband noticed the running theme, too. He wondered if it's somewhere that I want to be. I certainly do. The Husband says he'd like to be there, too. I backpacked a regular bit from my 20s to 40s. Desolation Wilderness in the Sierra Nevada, mostly. I rarely carried a camera on my trips because the beauty of the land did not translate in my photos. Now, look at me. The essence of what I experienced in the wilderness way back then is pouring out through paints, pastels, and pencils. Yippieee! Off I go to All Seasons , a weekly meme hosted by Jesh at The Jesh Studio . Come chcck out the other participants with me.

It certainly has been awhile since I've peeped my sweet peepers out of my not-so-dark hole in the ground. I love the way you say things, Jeana, of The Ched Curtain . You, too, Widders, of Widdershins Worlds . Thank you very much for wondering outloud if I was still kicking.  :-) So, what was I doing while silent crickets and frogs took over the blog? I've thought about things such as why girls couldn't also be made up of "snips of snails and puppy-dog tails", and wondering if anyone has coined future fossil fuels yet. I've raked at least two years worth of dried leaves from beneath the flowers and plants in the front yard.  Not to say, learning yet again that I, no, we need to rake leaves right after they've fallen.  Also prune brittle and drying branches. Deadhead the flowers, too. And, pick up the fallen fruit sooner rather than later. It certainly has been a long time since I've strung sentences together for fun. I am simply dancing with