IT'S ALL ABOUT THE FOOD

Chase gets his hugs in with Jill before dinner...

Setting up the buffet table with good stuff. Where's the ham? Must have shot this before I got it on the table.

Serving up the pumpkin pie at the end of another holiday meal.

Family & friends gathered around the table just finishing the ham and salads in anticipation of the pie!

BEST BUDS

Here we are...the Carolyn & Kathy show ramping up for another year of fun-filled activities like having coffee at Starbucks, grunting and groaning at Baxter Fitness, having the occasional lunch out and trading books to read. Well, maybe not exciting but darn good times.
This coming year we vow to make time to have coffee more often, take a get away trip maybe as far as Ashland or Jacksonville for lunch and browsing, and who knows what other kinds of trouble we'll find. So stay tuned for more episodes.

CHRISTMAS IS ALL ABOUT THE KIDS!

And it turns out that it doesn't matter how old they get, they are still lots of fun to shop for!

Susan is posing for a photo of her new Coldwater Creek jacket...black wash denim with studs on the back yoke.

Chris discovering some handy little screw holding tools that Mr. A found for him at Medford Tool.
We also got them a big bag of treats from the Harry& David Country Store located in Medford.

PIE CRUST IDEA

I've no photo yet...I was just gonna make this and we got a call from our realtor that a showing was eminent within the half hour, so I had to put everything away for now!
I've been making pie crust and crostada crust in the food processor for ages, but never have I made them with an egg before.It's supposed to make the crust flakier.

So here's the recipe:
2 cups all purpose or pastry flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tablespoon + 1 tsp sugar
1 stick+ 2 tsp cold butter ( I usually cube it and put it in the freezer to chill)
1 extra large egg yolk with 3 Tablespoons cold water
additional cold water if needed

Combine flour, salt, sugar and butter in processor bowl and pulse until flaky
With processor running, add egg/water mixture and process until dough forms a ball. You can add more cold water (a bit at a time if the dough looks too crumbly but don't over do it).
Wrap dough in plastic wrap or put in plastic bag. Refrigerate at least 1/2 hour.
You can freeze this dough also.

THE HEAT IS ON!

Here is the "little space heater that could."



Yet another new circuit board installed in the furnace.


An Ashcraft special cover over the circuit board to protect it from condensation so it won't short out again.

Bedtime in the studio last night. We hauled in the mattress from the guest bedroom and spent the night tossing and turning but warm. The little space heater that could...did keep our studio at 68 degrees while the rest of the house was at 58. Luckily it warmed up a bit during the night because of a warm front and a rainstorm. The house didn't lose any heat overnight.

Chase and Izzy were confused about this sleeping arrangement and were very restless all night. Good Times!
The furnace is on and valiantly trying to heat up our 1900 sq ft of 58 degree air back to 70 degrees. So tonight we'll be back in our own bed. The pets will be happy. It's good to be warm!

MONK TRYOUTS

GOT MONKS?
It's 32 degrees outside and a balmy 58 degrees inside here on Grey Eagle Drive. So we are bundled up in polar fleece and terrycloth robes, huddled by the computers...with all the equipment on, the studio is the warmest place in the house.

Turns out that our furnace crapped out AGAIN...we just spend $450 to repair it last month, but the same problem has occurred once again. The circuit board gets condensation on it and shorts out, leaving us without heat. So it's been 36 hours without heat. The house was probably at 70 degrees when it quit. By the time we got the technician out, it was down to 64 degrees. Once the problem was diagnosed, no one in the Rogue Valley had the proper circuit board in stock, so we had to get it from Portland. We are hoping that it will show up today and maybe, just maybe we'll get it installed.
We went out to breakfast this morning to warm up...helped our attitude a bit and the furnace out in the shop still works so if all else fails we can move our mattress out there with the cars and sleep tonite. The high today is only supposed to be in the 40's so we can't expect any solar gain through the windows.
Hot coffee and Irish whiskey is in order today! BURRRRRRR!

I'M GETTING CRABBY!

ONE OF THE FEW SEASONAL TREATS IN LATE FALL IS OREGON CRAB!
WE MORTGAGED OURSELVES AND BOUGHT A 6 OZ TUB AT FREDDIES ON SALE FOR A WOPPING $7.99...THAT WORKS OUT TO ABOUT $21.00 A POUND...
SO I MIXED IT WITH CHOPPED ONIONS, GARLIC, MUSHROOMS AND CUBED CHEDDAR CHEESE AND A BIT OF MAYO (JUST ENOUGH TO HOLD IT TOGETHER) PILED IT ON ROSEMARY POTATO FRENCH BREAD AND STUCK IT UNDER THE BROILER.

GOOD STUFF, MAYNARD.
THE CRAB FLEET WAS LATE GOING OUT THIS YEAR BECAUSE THEY OVER-TRAPPED LAST YEAR AND THIS YEAR'S CROP WAS TOO SMALL TO BE LEGAL.
WE HOPE FOR MORE CRAB AND A BIT LOWER PRICE BEFORE CHRISTMAS.

IT HAD TO HAPPEN

Retirement starts with choices. Some fun, some not so much.
Our choice is to sell our big home and find a smaller one that we can cash out and afford to live in! That takes a new mindset which doesn't happen overnight. We decided that have been delaying our decision long enough. Sure, it's not a great time...but while our home is worth less, so are all the homes that we might want to buy.

Claudette and Jack put up the sign on December 7...hopefully NOT "a day that will live in infamy" for us. We've known Claudette for over 20 years...we met when she was an account rep for KTVL here in Medford and we did the advertising for Crater Lake Ford. She went on to real estate, luckily for lots of happy sellers and buyers through the years.

I've known Claudette from Soroptimists also. We roomed together at the regional conference in Kalispel back in 1989 or so. She is always full of enthusiasm for any project she tackles.
So here we go again embarking on yet another new adventure. We're hoping for a clean, quick sale and finding a nice place here in SW Medford.

TREED

I was all set to put up the BIG Christmas tree this year...one of those 8' Costco jobs that we've had stored in the attic for 3 or so years, since the last time we felt like going "whole hog" at Christmas. After all, Chris and Susan will be up so we want to have the place look festive. But then we remembered...right after Chase chewed up one sleeve on my pajamas..."Gee," we said, "maybe a big tree that would have to sit on the floor isn't such a good idea...do you think?" It's not easy having a puppy again...how soon we forget! Chase never saw anything that he wouldn't chew, if given the opportunity...

So we found a small "entryway" style tree and set it up on the marble topped sideboard. With the mirror behind it, the light from it fills the room with enough "festive-ness" we think. The Izzie can still get up there and bat around a few things, but so far so goooood.