Dirty Chicken

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The most coveted of the dirty Santa gifts this year, a metal chicken on a spring.

A Will And A Christmas Way

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The JIS Holiday Christmas party 2024. Complete with a surprise visit from Will (front, red shirt), who has been very ill and put in for retirement so we did not expect him to come back to work. From left to right, Amber, Muna (our current intern), me, Tracy, Michael, Joe, Jerry, Edward, Will, Nathalie, Gary, Butch, Wes, Christian, Matt and Dan. With a few not present.

Lit Up Large

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition to having the eaves done this year, I got our standard lights up as well. I have mixed feelings about the the two hues of white. I'm not sure if they matched more it would be too washed out so the contrast is good or bad? Good? I think? Anyway, over all I know it looks good!

WOTM

Though worries loom in the future, for this month it's all about Christmas joy.

Homeward

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We're taking Mackenzie to meet her mom in Chattanooga today, the time sure does fly by. She had just enough time this morning to get the cast of Encanto properly placed in the Christmas Village.

Gone Hollywood

 

 

 

Ready for Moana's second adventure.

Island Bound

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mari and Mackenzie are getting ready to go see Moana 2 in the theater.

Thankful

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have a good group here.

Turkey Table

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mari always sets the perfect holiday table.

Sleighing It

 

 

 

And of course, the big finish!

Float Fave

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mackenzie's favorite float this year. Gabby's Dollhouse.

Native Rep

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

America and the holiday of Thanksgiving  have a complex relationship with Native Americans. Right after Tom went by a group of Native American dancers from Indigenous Enterprise put on a performance. I enjoyed it and I hope people appreciate and respect that complex heritage.

Turkey Time

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The parade itself kicked off as always with Mr. Tom Turkey.

Cop Talk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of our favorite traditions, the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. It started with a fun chat with some of the police working the parade and what they enjoyed about it and were thankful for.

Ready For Turkey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mackenzie has her turkey day fit going on.

Glasses Half Full

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A little relaxing after a long day of playing games and decorating the house.

Christmas Is Here (Early)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Normally the Christmas explosion doesn't start until after Thanksgiving, but since we have a special helper this week we busted it out early.

Quality Time

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grandmother and granddaughter getting to spend time together.

G Mak

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mackenzie is here to stay Thanksgiving week and help decorate for Christmas.

A Random Simpson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We did a whole house, every nook and cranny clean out and in the bottom of a storage bin I found this picture. It's a guy named Steve Simpson who I worked with way back at Access Family TV when I first moved to Nashville in 1999. That predates the blog which started in 2008. I have no idea why I have his picture or why he autographed it, but I figured I would save it for digital posterity and ditch the hard copy. So. Here it is.

Early Light

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the first time we had a service come do our Christmas lights, they were reasonably priced and I would never get up on a ladder to do the roofline. They did a good job! Now I must figure out if I will still do my traditional bush net lights as well. Decisions, decisions.

Honor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ghost of Tsushima is an open world samurai epic action game set on a fictional island off Japan called Tsushima that is invaded. Great story, excellent voice acting and the gameplay for the first 2/3 was really fun but by the end was getting a little repetitive and the enemies more annoying than fun. Still it's really hard to nail keeping certain mechanics from getting old throughout an entire game, so I give it a pass and really enjoyed it. Here's hoping for a sequel. 

Lion Lift

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is Danny, a big stuffed lion I have had as far back as my memory goes. Lately he's been a little deflated, I wish I had a before picture. Mari surprised me by adding more stuffing and stitching up some the holes in him. He looks properly regal again!

Pin Pupil

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I took the class too, here's my tree.

Pin Interest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mari taught a class on making fabric over styrofoam form Christmas trees at this years Sue Greer Fabric Circle. It seemed to be a big hit!

WTF

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 2024 election in summary.

Sometimes I just don't understand this fucking country.

Cooper's Town

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This handsome fella (or gal) was hanging out on the fence today. We're pretty sure it's a Cooper's Hawk since those are the most common around here.

Hot Stuff

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My beautiful wife, just a couple of years ago.

Brit Bounty

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crackers (the explosive kind), biscuits and tea. What could be better?

Brit Box

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas goodness has arrived from over the sea! As great as the stuff inside is, F&M's packaging and art style is always such a fun mix of classy and whimsical.

WOTM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And so, here we are. 5 days until the defining election of my life. We've thrown time, money, deep stress and a lot prayers at this thing. Let's hope, hope, hope for President Harris and Vice President Walz.

Dynamic Duo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ending a busy Halloween day with my favorite treat, the Katcup.

Dinomite

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year we had a herd of dinosaurs wandering the neighborhood. I wanted a better picture but you know dinosaurs, they never stay still when you want them to.

Still Weenin' II

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe next year we'll do something different. You never know!

Still Weenin'

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another year another Halloween, pretty much the same setup just not as cold as last year.

New Room Old Meeting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year's meeting was held in a new room, but the events were the same as always. Hard to believe I've been to 14 of these things now. Time she do fly.

No Tie Policy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's time once again for our yearly Policy Committee meeting, and the necessity to dress for said event. In a move I am extremely grateful for, this is year we were told ties are no longer required. Mari took this picture and did the color edit on her phone. Not bad for an old man.

Space Wolf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In honor of upcoming Halloween, I give you the Dark Wolf Nebula.This celestial lycanthrope brought to you by the aptly named VLT in Northern Chile. VLT stands for Very Large Telescope.

Tangerine Lepidoptera

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spied a new, striking butterfly on the bush today. We looked it up and he's called a Gulf Fritillary. The butterfly bush is a gift that keeps on giving.

Valrunner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Val Adams had another metal sculpture on display as well. I really like a lot of his work. He's a local artist and Air Force vet who runs many of Monthaven's "Healing Arts" programs, his focusing on veterans.

War Weave III

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Living with a bunch of quilters I have learned a bit about the technique that go into it. While I liked the eagle quilt I know the center is just a panel, while from a skill standpoint this pieced quilt took far more time and effort.

War Weave II

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of my favorites from the quilt display.

War Weave

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The secondary display was a few quilts from the Quilts of Valor organization.

War Water

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The main display was the water color paintings of Vietnam era Army veteran Gerald Morgan.

Fair To Cold

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The BBQ started with perfect weather but as the night went on got pretty cold, still I'd rather be cold than sweltering in the southern summer.

BBQ3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went to our third Veteran Arts BBQ at Monthaven. The first one was not the best, the second was better and this one was really good, but in the end its all about supporting veteran arts programs. Somehow even Magats can do good things now and then.

Dump Trump (Again)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Biden put him down once, Harris will again and hopefully that will be the end of his shameful blip in American history.

Time Well Spent

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mari, Dad and I went to early vote today. The line was long but not ridiculously so and the time seemed to pass quickly with nice people around us and friendly poll workers. Most of them were probably Magats but it shows if you keep religion and politics out of most things people are just people. In the end it took about 2 hours to vote.

Good Floor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello brand new, shiny, pretty floors that are the same throughout!

Bad Floor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The old, original floor from 1998 plus the cheap parquet I put in are on the way out! Goodby gouges, scratches, sun bleaching and stains.