Aren't we artsy?

Dale and I went to Final Friday tonight, the first time in a couple of years. We bought a great porcelain bowl at one show, and admired this at Fisch Haus gallery. I'm not typically a great fan of Patrick Duguew, but I thought this large piece was stunning. It's better in person, but this is the best I could do...

Night light

All roads leading into my hometown of Great Bend impart, unfortunately, a mostly unfavorable impression of the town. But going in from the south the other night offered this lovely image. At least at Christmas, at night, the town looks all right. I love this lighted-up church....

... and the lights around the Court House square are pretty elegant too, considering.

Quivira

I spent a peaceful couple of hours Tuesday afternoon at Quivira Wildlife Refuge near Great Bend. When it comes to photos, I'm no Travis Heying. Really. So, here's the best I can offer from the day...Some kind of white birds on the small Salt Lake Marsh...

The best shot of deer that my little Elf camera could get...

And, of course, a Kansas sunset.

Snow dog

It wasn't much of a snow, but plenty to get this dog even more excited than usual about taking a walk.
Barney savoring the experience...




Making a bee-line for a tree...

Where's Barney? He's under the boughs of this tree, defacing nature, sorry to say.


Our humble abode in the snow.

Farewell to Duane

Tonight, a few of us got together at Side Pockets to say goodbye to Duane Frazier, who's been at the Eagle for 26 years. Duane is among the funniest and most decent people you'll ever meet, and we're all sorry to see him go , but we know he'll be happy and successful at Hawker Beechcraft. For all my fellow bloggers who know him, here are a few pics from the evening...Duane and Bob Lutz, who gave him a nice farewell toast.


Brian Corn and his wife and Tom Shine were among those who wished Duane well.

Duane and his wife, Sherry.

So. Very. Full.

Ahhh, red wine and a huge meal at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. It's pretty much a recipe for spending the rest of the day on the couch....

Here's a closeup of our meal, which turned out perfect, I don't mind saying. I'm always worried about the gravy, but this was the best I've ever made. And the brining seemed to work. I thought the turkey was just about perfect -- very moist and flavorful.

Unfortunately, we were in such a rush to eat I failed to take a photo of the turkey before we tore into it. Oh well. The carcass (I love that word) will have to do...


The apple pie also was delish. A little rustic-looking, perhaps, but enjoyed by all nonetheless. And I hate to say it, but right now I'm thinking about leftovers...

Leave him alone

While I spent three to four hours in the kitchen preparing our Thanksgiving meal, Dale spent the entire time clearing our front yard of massive amounts of leaves. He'll feel it tomorrow...




A before photo...


And after....

Pre-turkey day prep

Ewww. Does this look appetizing? Well, hopefully, it will end up as a delicious turkey stock for my Thanksgiving Day gravy. I put the turkey giblets in with onion, carrot and celery, plus a little seasoning, and let it simmer for a couple of hours. It smelled wonderful, but it doesn't look all that great.
I also made the pastry for my apple pie....

And as I was cleaning the kitchen Dale brought up all of these tomatoes from the basement. He put them down there, covered with newspaper, to ripen, and they are now ready to be processed. So, thanks Dale, for more work for me! (Actually, I love to have frozen tomatoes on hand during the winter for chili, soup, etc....)

I also made my stuffing tonight and it is ready to pop into the oven. I'm trying a new recipe but have high hopes for it. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Shoe-fiti?

Had to capture this image of what look like a new pair of Nikes slung over power lines near Maple and Ridge.
Wikipedia and other sites say this is known as shoe-flinging or shoefiti.
Various theories are that people sling shoes over power lines to:
1) advertise a local crack house nearby
2) commemorate a gang-related murder or death of a gang member
3) mark the end of a school year
4) for a member of the military, mark the completion of basic training or leaving the service.
5) demonstrate a form of bullying.
But others say that it's just a way of getting rid of old shoes, or shoes that don't fit anymore.
Anyway, I just thought it was funny. My theory is that someone got drunk and right now is really regretting that decision to show off their shoe-slinging skillz.

Thanksgiving plans

It will be just Dale and I on Thanksgiving Day. His son and family are going to visit his mother, and neither Dale nor I want to drive to Great Bend and back in one day to spend the day with my family. (We both have to work on Friday.)

But that doesn't mean we won't have a traditional Thanksgiving Day. I plan to roast a turkey, after brining it first. The rest of my menu includes stuffing with sausage and chestnuts, mashed sweet potatoes with fresh rosemary and white cheddar cheese (a recipe my friend Marty introduced me to), fresh steamed asparagus and cranberry salad. With Dale's blessing, I plan to make apple pie instead of pumpkin, and like my colleague and fellow blogger Theresa I'm going the whole nine yards by making my own crust.

I'm also going to make gravy although I've read that brining your turkey first can make the drippings too salty for gravy. So, just in case, I plan to have some jarred gravy handy. (Really, the Boston Market brand is not too bad, although I'm hoping I won't have to go that route.)

I'm sure the rest of our day will include a brisk walk (the high is supposed to be in the 40s) and then catching up on our shows. (Wow, did I just say that?) I have to leave plenty of time for my other Thanksgiving culinary tradition, which is to make turkey stock from the carcass. I like to simmer the stock for at least three hours. Once I've strained it, I pick through the carcrass carefully to get the meat. Then I'll use the stock and turkey meat later. I usually will make turkey noodle soup the weekend after Thanksgiving.

So, I'm looking forward to the day. Even better, I have to work just one day after that before I'm off for a whole week of vacation.

Birthday bash

Carrie Rengers and Joe Stumpe threw a surprise birthday party/dinner Friday to celebrate Denise's 35th. Here are a few pics from the night, which got pretty raucous for those who stayed until the bitter end (as you will see at the bottom...)

The birthday girl savoring a delicious glass of champagne provided by Bonnie Bing...

Dick Honeyman looking smashing as always in a sweater vet.

Jaime and her adorable beau, Carter.

Joe and Carter are fascinated by Bonnie's champagne cocktail, which included placing a sweetened hibiscus flower in each glass. I didn't eat the flower but those who did said it tasted like candy.
Teresa and Travis, doing his best GQ imitation.

Nick and Molly at the beginning of the evening, before much wine had been consumed by most of us.

Dick, Mike McMillin and Teresa.

Denise holds court and ties one on....


Our host and hostess in an intimate moment.
An end-of-the-night spectacle.

Dueling bloggers

Our Friday night outing to a surprise birthday party for our friend, Tina, and dinner later at Sabor included a brief battle for blogging rights to the night. Here, Nick feebly tries to get the shot but, obviously, but he was outwitted, outmanned and out-Elfed by me. Nice try, you two.
Here are a few other snaps of the evening....


Carrie REALLY likes the margaritas at Margaritas, where the party for Tina was held.

Molly and friends.

Dale, in his crazy party-dude mode!