Another new

 So Thursday we had the old furnace taken out.

 Here's the new one in the back of the truck.

Here's the new one installed in the garage; it's nice to have it in and working.

Always a First

 I guess I shouldn't be surprised, it's been a little windy.  I'm not sure if that's the cause or what but the other day the dang SNOWMEN pooped all over my front lawn!!!!

Happy Birthday

 Here I am at 6 months: just got done mowing the lawn and taking a little break.

 At one year old,  just before my first hair cut; it was a golden blonde color.

I'm almost two years old, heading out to help heard the cows.

 I'm taking out the pig food at two and a half.

 Cleaning out the sheep pen at almost five years old.

 Here I am at seven.  The truck in the background is the one I learned to drive in and had driven since I was 3.

4th grade, almost 10.   Happy Birthday!

Decorating the Tree

 Decorating the tree was a little different this year; it seems the last couple of years I never get around to bringing the tree home 'til later in the month.  By the time I get the stand on it and get it in the house it's pretty late in the month when we get it decorated  By then Marie or some of the others are already home. But this year we got the tree Saturday morning; later that day I put the stand on and moved it. On.Sunday Jeff straightened it out and put the lights on with a few helpers and watchers.

 Then others got involved with the ornaments,

 and still others some got a kick out of the dates on some of the ornaments.

 and more.  Then the gang all gathered for a final photo op.

A Couple of Pictures to Share

 So I have been off work the last couple of days due to a swollen knee. So Friday I transplanted all the little strawberry plants that I could and then gave the last of them away.

 Then today mom went to Coach Pat's funeral and then to the temple.  It was quite windy so no garage sales to hit here.  I picked almost a dozen berries and tomatoes; not bad for the 3rd of December.

I took the dog for a walk and enjoyed seeing that the backstop was trying to do its job and stop the leaves.

My latest project

 So I took my old hand plow and sanded it down to get rid of all the rust.

 Then gave it a new paint job and highlighted its features.

Trips to the beach

I was able to put a third bike together so on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday Marie, Mary and myself made trips to the beach.  The weather was nice and the view was clear as you can see the Islands in the back.

 We watched some sea lions play on the buoy.

 Watching the waves and surfers from the pier

and just resting the backside for a few minutes.

An easier job this year.

The day after Thanksgiving I was going to put up the Christmas lights.  It ended up that I had lots of help.  It went a lot easier than the last few years  besides being a lot earlier than the last few years.
Here's the official light tester.

Official light licker.

The officeal light installer.

Not sure what this person is doing; my guess is that she is the official overseer.

The finished product with one new added fixture.

Thanksgiving Dinner

 Thursday Mom, Marie, and myself had dinner at Grandma Mike's house with Lloyd and his friend.
Lloyd said that was the first dinner he'd been to with the Becks that there was only three of them.
Then Saturday we had dinner at our house.
Here are the preparers of dinner hard at work.

 The set table

 The official watcher, clean up crew, and taste tester.
Could not believe that I had a senior moment and forgot to take a picture with everyone around the table of delicous food.

But here's most of the gang at Nik's football game later that evening.

Thanksgiving Week

 Well, I know you guys were expecting this to happen soon.  Now it's official: I HAVE GONE INSANE.    Mom and I  made our Thaksgiving turkeys.

 I had to have a two-sided turkey: a John Deere side and a regular side.
Mom was in book form:*my faith and the faith of those before me; *that my childern are wonderful people; *for my beautiful home that we can share; *for bike rides and walks with John  (Not sure who that guy is.)
Dad's J.D. side: *heritage; *immediate and extended family; * spouse; *lifes lessons.  Reg. side: *bike rides, *walks at park and beach; *garage sales, *antiquing and collecting.

 So some of my thoughts and stories as Thanksgiving is coming: I always remember as the days  approached that it was always good that most of the farmwork was done.  You would always hope that the snow held off so that you could feed with the truck and not have to take the time to hook up the horses 'cause we could be home sooner to enjoy all the great aromas of cooking and vists of family.

So it's  fun now to think I can just sit back and watch my strawberries grow.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYONE!!

Our last trip out

 So this past Saturday I was off work so we hit the road, checked out some garage sales, then headed for Woodland Hills.  We stopped in Calabasas and checked out the colorful trees (Yeah, they have colorful trees in California, too.)

 Then we went to an Arts and Crafts fair in a park at Woodland Hills. We saw some awesome things and paintings; we then checked out the antique stores.   We rode on their bike path for an hour, went to dinner and back home.( My bad; I didn't take pictures at the art fair or downtown; just Mom on the bike path.)

Another Saturday Adventure

 On Saturday after a day of garage sales we went to the beach off 5th Street and parked and unloaded the bikes.

 We rode to Channel Island Harbor and walked out to the end of the harbor.

 Watched the sail boats as they were heading out; it was nice weather and a beautiful sight.

 We got a big kick out of this lady pedaling by on her surf board with her dog (waiting to see Sid, Shaun or Bella on one)

Then we rode back, had lunch at Mrs. Olsen's and made it back to the truck where mom tried out our purchase at a garage sale for a dollar while I loaded the bikes.  Then we went to Nik's game and took all out for ice cream and called it a day.