|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
dernwyn
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Fri, 4:57pm
Post #1 of 17
(147 views)
Shortcut
|
|
*gets keys, unlocks door* It's Friday, time for Fiesta!
|
Can't Post
|
|
Welcome, all and sundry, to Fiesta Friday! Our barmistress, Altaira, is off yet again on a fantastic Adventure, so I shall be your host.
The bar is stocked, the table is filled with Thanksgiving leftovers of turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, etc. And pies! There's pumpkin, apple, pecan, and others. What is your favorite pie?
Here in the States we're recuperating from our annual day of feasting and family-gathering, and in the midst of "Black Friday", although that seems to be less of a madhouse-at-the-stores than it used to be, fortunately. Now we're getting into the holiday season, today I'll be setting up our small tree and hanging the variety of ornaments on it. And getting a large wreath for our front porch, we have a wren couple who have been in the habit of roosting in one during the cold weather, and have been anxiously waiting for us to hang one up.
I'm pouring myself a mug of hot mulled cider. What would you like? And let us know what your week's been like, and what you've planned for the weekend!
*puts quarters on jukebox* Would you like to play some music for the season?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
|
|
|
DwellerInDale
Nargothrond
Fri, 6:13pm
Post #2 of 17
(131 views)
Shortcut
|
Hot cider sounds fine, as last night saw the first real freezing temperatures in our area. In a bit of deja vu from my post on February 14th, this morning my female cardinal Henrietta was a bit miffed that the birdbath was frozen over. At least she's looking fattened up, ready for winter.
Don't mess with my favorite female elves.
|
|
|
dernwyn
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Fri, 6:59pm
Post #3 of 17
(126 views)
Shortcut
|
*pours mug of cider, adds cinnamon stick*
Cardinal couples are delightful to have around! Yep, that tends to be an issue with birdbaths. If it only dipped into the freezing range during the night, I can pop off the frozen skim then refill with warm water. But once the real cold hits, you'd need to have one of those electrically-heated birdbaths!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
|
|
|
Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Fri, 7:14pm
Post #4 of 17
(122 views)
Shortcut
|
|
That's so cute about the wren couple.
[In reply to]
|
Can't Post
|
|
What do you do about getting in and out of your house while the wrens are in residence? Do you avoid using that door, or are the wrens blasé about their regular human visitors?
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Fantasy novel - The Arcanist's Tattoo
My LOTR fan-fiction
(This post was edited by Ataahua on Fri, 7:15pm)
|
|
|
Annael
Elvenhome
Fri, 7:55pm
Post #5 of 17
(116 views)
Shortcut
|
I overdid it yesterday. Was being pretty reasonable until all the desserts came out . . . well, and I did have more than one cup of eggnog . . .
Had an absolutely fabulous Thanksgiving despite one of the turkeys catching on fire. Our host had one in the oven and one on the grill, which he hasn't cleaned in a while; somehow it burst into flame! Charred the turkey good, but when he cut into it, the inside was just fine and we ate it!
I'm going to start decorating today as well. I've been envisioning a chaotic light display--all kinds of lights hanging randomly in my porch area, instead of my usual roofline lights. I'm getting a real tree this year too, which I haven't done in a long time. I have a fake birch tree that's very pretty, I hang lots of glass icicles on it, but I miss the smell of a real tree. I don't need a big one; I'm thinking 4 feet (by about 4 feet - a plump little tree).
It's been warmish for the time of year but that ends tonight, temps are dropping to near freezing at night, so I need to wrap up my more tender plants.
Have a good weekend all! We'll be seeing Wicked for Good next week.
I am a dreamer of words, of written words.
-- Gaston Bachelard
* * * * * * * * * *
NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
(This post was edited by Annael on Fri, 7:56pm)
|
|
|
dernwyn
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Fri, 7:57pm
Post #6 of 17
(115 views)
Shortcut
|
a covered front porch that's about 3 m long, with the door at the right side and wall on the left (with a glider bench in front), and we can fit a wreath up to .8 m wide on that wall. So no need to worry the birds with door movement, and they seem to not mind when the motion-sensitive light goes on.
We do put a small swag on the door, but they don't go in that.
What's funny is that I put a very small Fall-themed wreath on the door this year, and my son got hit on the forehead by a wren swooping out of it in alarm - we'd never had them try to roost in that artificial wreath!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
|
|
|
dernwyn
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Fri, 8:10pm
Post #7 of 17
(112 views)
Shortcut
|
Oh gosh, that must have freaked everyone out! I wonder if that quick-cooking of the skin acted like deep-frying, so the meat inside stayed tender?
Our tree is also 4 feet tall, just small enough to sit on my grandmother's hexagonal table. I cheat, and burn a balsam candle!  It's a good, manageable height. I like that idea of a chaotic light display.
Which plants will need to be wrapped?
And enjoy [i[Wicket for Good, that's the big movie around here right now!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
|
|
|
dernwyn
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Sat, 2:53am
Post #9 of 17
(95 views)
Shortcut
|
|
Oh, neither of those, of course!
[In reply to]
|
Can't Post
|
|
Rustic style, definitely made by Hobbits!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
|
|
|
grammaboodawg
Elvenhome
Sat, 2:39pm
Post #10 of 17
(46 views)
Shortcut
|
What a shocker for your son... and for the wren! ;) Is the artificial wreath made with a Styrofoam ring? Could the composition retain warmth better? You'll have to try a wreath variation throughout the year and see if they're not just Christmas (and now Fall) residents.
We have been there and back again.
TIME Google Calendar
|
|
|
grammaboodawg
Elvenhome
Sat, 2:58pm
Post #11 of 17
(48 views)
Shortcut
|
Thank you so much for serving such a magnificent spread, dernwyn!!! And for grabbing the keys to the pub. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family.
I'm meeting myself coming and going nowadays. My local daughter signed for her new home on Monday!!!! :D A lifetime of longing for her own home to share with her son has finally become real! :D We've been back n' forth getting things lined up and preparing for a move within the next 30 days. SO... at the latest, we'll be relocating them between Christmas and New Year's Day. In the winter. Perfect time to move ;) But it's been a challenge for them to get their heads around what it has happened. After years of so much uncertainty (and frankly impossibility), it's finally happening!!!! They seem to be waiting for the other shoe to drop ;)
Balti daughter is steadily healing from her surgery and getting stronger every day. Hubby is getting a bit tired since he went back to work a week ago (2am-10:30am shift); but you'll never hear word-one of complaint from him. He's been a brilliant and loving care-giver for his very best friend... his wife (my baby) :)
So I have so very much to be thankful for on this special year of (for us) miracles of healing of body and soul.
Thanks again for taking such great care of us, dernwyn :) *grabs large eggnog* Have a great weekend everyone! :D
We have been there and back again.
TIME Google Calendar
|
|
|
dernwyn
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Sat, 8:16pm
Post #12 of 17
(35 views)
Shortcut
|
We've had it up in previous years, and no bird ever landed in it, as far as we know.
The all-natural one is in place now, just waiting for its winter guests! 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
|
|
|
dernwyn
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Sat, 8:22pm
Post #13 of 17
(34 views)
Shortcut
|
"Oh great glory and splendour", as Sam would say! But everything has been falling into place? They'll be in by New Year's? What a hectic, hectic week that will be, but oh, the happiness when everything is over there!
And your Balti daughter and her loving family are doing better and better! Yes, this has been an incredibly special year for all of you!
Now...before I sprinkle nutmeg on top, might you like a bit of rum or brandy in that eggnog? 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
|
|
|
Kimi
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Sat, 10:34pm
Post #14 of 17
(38 views)
Shortcut
|
after a busy few this week. My new book is ready at last! It's just gone up for pre-orders, and there's been some running around organising all the associated tasks. In spectacularly bad timing on my part, I completely forgot about Thanksgiving - fortunately when I needed to contact one of the US-based distributors, a staff member of theirs who's currently working in the UK who was very helpful.
So it's appeared on all the usual sites, and now it's sit back and wait (the actual release day is 21 Dec) to see how things go. And catching up on the long list of other tasks that have been left undone in recent weeks - I ticked off several just today, which was very satisfying.
After some hot, sunny days (28 C is very warm for us in November), this afternoon we're likely to see a good fall of rain - to be welcomed by all my newish vege plants. We do have sprinklers, but there's nothing like actual rain. We had the shearer around on Thursday, and the sheep are looking much more comfortable (and respectable) - just in time for the hot weather.
Those pies look good! Given the huge (virtual) choice available, I think I'll go for blackberry and apple.
Wishing everyone a pleasant week.
The Passing of Mistress Rose
My historical novels
Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there?
- A Room With a View
(This post was edited by Kimi on 12:48am)
|
|
|
Kimi
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Sat, 10:37pm
Post #15 of 17
(33 views)
Shortcut
|
How exciting for her to have a house of her very own. A whirlwind of a time to move, but a very happy whirlwind, I'm sure. It's also great to hear that Balti daughter is healing - what a lovely man she shares her life with.
The Passing of Mistress Rose
My historical novels
Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there?
- A Room With a View
|
|
|
dernwyn
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
12:07am
Post #16 of 17
(27 views)
Shortcut
|
That's a tasty combination, blackberry and apple!
Congratulations on completing your latest book, that's been a huge task! Will you be doing things like book signings?
And it must be looking very green in the garden - anything ready for picking yet?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
|
|
|
Kimi
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
12:37am
Post #17 of 17
(24 views)
Shortcut
|
(a huge job, that is)
Most of my readers are in the US, followed by the UK (then Canada, then Australia, then finally Aotearoa), so a bit far for book signings :)
Yes, very green and lush - we haven't had a spring flush for a couple of years, as it's been dry in spring, but this year we very much do. Strawberries and redcurrants are pickable, along with asparagus and courgettes. The early plums shouldn't be too far off.
The Passing of Mistress Rose
My historical novels
Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there?
- A Room With a View
|
|
|
|
|
