Around OakMeadows

Around OakMeadows

Well, here we are, not even Thanksgiving and we've already had some freezing nights.  I saw a Weather Channel map showing the Jet Stream looping all the way down to just above us.  I have read that as the Arctic warms, the Jet Stream becomes more unstable. Anyway, it's been cold.  The good thing about the cold weather is that the kittens have become very affectionate.  Everyone wants to nap on a warm lap. 

I have about decided that I will quilt the monster queen sized quilt myself. But I will violate my cardinal rule and start my next baby quilt before finishing my current project. That means I will have to get JMM to layer and pin the blasted thing so that I can baste it and then quilt it. Never, ever, ever again will I get carried away and make a big quilt! Never!

I've been cooking cold weather food-- Cassoulet and cornbread, Potato-Leek Soup, and banana nut bread. It is nice to not sweat while cooking.  And besides cold weather soups and stews make the house smell so nice and cozy. 

I am still plowing through The Fall of the House of Dixie by Bruce Levine. It is really good; I had never realized the opposition to the war within the Southern states. Good to know that not everyone wanted to go sacrifice so that the rich planters could continue with their slaves and entitlements. Well written, I will write a review after I finish it. At the other end of the spectrum was Stitches by Anne Lamott. Her first book was really good but it has been downhill after that.  Stitches had absolutely no point, no cohesion, no organization, and finally nothing to say. I read it in a day and a half thinking there must surely be some point somewhere, there wasn't.  I've just started The Last Kashmiri Rose by Barbara Cleverly. It is set in the last days of the Indian Raj, a time and place I know nothing about. But her writing is so clear and descriptive that I feel like I'm there in the heat and smelling the smells. Excellent so far. 

We went to the Houston Symphony last week. They have a Sugar Land Series where they perform at Sugar Land Baptist Church and we have tickets for the series of 3 performances. This was the first and was Beethoven's Fifth Symphony preceded by two other pieces. Excellent. Next month we will go to the Symphony and Chorale as they perform Handel's Messiah. I am looking forward to that. 

I haven't been contacted by GB again about our committee to find our member of BHS Class of 1965 since he showed me the shared data base. I am still in shock over Janie Clark's death. What a beautiful, sweet girl she was!

We were supposed to meet P&W&C&B for lunch at DiBella's in Galveston tomorrow but Paul has a full court docket tomorrow morning. So we will meet at Gringo's on Friday instead. 

All is quiet around OakMeadows.  Most of the birds have left and the goldfinches haven't arrived. JMM took the last hummingbird feeder down. But the raccoons, possums, and deer are still plentiful. I suspect we have an armadillo that is responsible for rooting up my path around the birdbaths and feeders.  The mockingbirds still have plenty of beauty berries and pyracantha to feast on. JMM said he saw a kestrel the other day. 

That's all the news from OakMeadows where the women are all retired, the men are busy with stamps, and the cats are all above average affectionately.