Yellow Bellied Sapsucker

Our morning breakfast routine includes watching the birds at the feeder outside our dining room patio doors. This morning we spotted this Yellow Bellied Sapsucker. The sun was not high enough to brighten the picture but we don't see this bird often so I snapped while the snapping was good.

 

This bird is a relative of the wood peckers. While the wood peckers

peck holes in the bark of trees to extricate wood boring insects. The

Yellow Bellied Sapsucker creates holes then flies away. He comes

back later to eat the sap that has oozed out of the holes and any insects

that have

Thanksgiving

We had a great meal today.  In addition to the traditional fare of  turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, hot rolls, green beans (from our summer garden), candied yams, broccoli-rice casserole, Dorothy also tried something new with the desserts.

This corn pudding consisted of corn, goat cheese, basil, cheddar

cheese, onions, eggs.

 

 

This apple tart was drizzled with butterscotch sauce

before serving.

 

Regular pumpkin bread on the left, pumpkin, hazelnut spread,

 and chocolate swirl on the right.

 

Kelly and her family spent the day at Burk's parents house in Little Rock. We know we have

to share them on holidays, but they were greatly missed. 

 

After the meal I collapsed into my recliner and spent the afternoon in a tryptophan stupor.

 

 

Tara

Last night we had the family over for tacos to celebrate Tara's 26th birthday.

Always ready for a party, Gracen showed up in

her snazzy duds.

 

 

Christina and Zack in the foreground. Background l-r: Dorothy,

Samantha, Kelly, Tara, Burk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jenna anticipates the big blow.

 

 

 

 

Gracen doesn't like people to sing as you can tell when we began

"Happy Birthday to You"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quote of the Day

It is a mistake to regard age as a downhill grade toward dissolution. The reverse is true. As one grows older, one climbs with surprising strides.
 

George Sand

Midweek Photos

Gracen and Jenna peruse the American Girl catalogue.

Rachel and Brad sailed to the British Virgin Islands to

have their boat hauled out of the water for wome work

that needed to be done.

 

 

So they have to hang out at places like this until the work is done.

 

 

Quote of the Day

The facts are simple enough. If we had left the olive groves and the cotton fields and the oil wells of this region alone, we might not have had to worry about this equilibrium--at least not yet. But we have not left them alone. We have sent our ideas and our ideals, and our motion pictures and our radio programs, our engineers and our businessmen, and our pilots and our soldiers into Middle East; and we cannot now escape the result.
--Wendell L. Willkie, One World, 1943

Midweek Photos

That's Hunter at the wheel. He has been driving the Suburban

out in the pasture.

 

Gracen prepares to cook

 

 

This Cardinal is one of the first birds to arrive at the feeder this year.

 

 

Quote of the Day

Democracy forever teases us with the contrast between its ideals and its realities, between its heroic possibilities and its sorry achievements.

--Agnes Repplier

Midweek Photos

 

 

 

 

 

A Chill in the Air; The Leaves are Falling

Today we went with Glenn and Laura Palone to the Arkansas Ozarks

to see the fall foliage.

 

 

Our destination was the Cliff House, a restaurant perched

on the edge of a ridge on Hwy 7 south of Jasper AR. As we

approached the restaurant in was evident that there were no places

to park. We squeezed into the lot and waited a long time for

a space to open up but finally gave up and drove to Harrison

and ate at an all you can eat buffet. Although we were unable to

get a taste of the catfish and chicken fried steak we were longing for

we did enjoy the scenery.