FOOD WEEK

 Good morning, everybody, and welcome to the week all eaters welcome every year.

Yes, it's the beginning of the dining season with a holiday that turkeys dread coming up in just a few days.

Actually I suppose one could say the season begins with all that leftover Halloween candy but I like to believe that Thanksgiving (in the U.S.A.) is the big day.

Here at the Taylor manse, turkey is not on the menu as the resident head chef doesn't care for it.

And there's a reason she's known as SWMBO, or She Who Must Be Obeyed.

But food there will be for the classic day as she has an autumnal beef stew planned.

Being done in a slow cooker, the air will be filled with wonderful aromas for hours to whet the appetite.

I hadn't thought of it 'til just now but I kicked off the week by making our favorite waffles and warming some ham for our breakfast yesterday.

Then I launched into making an Apple Crumble, which turned out pretty darned good, if I must say so myself.

(To be honest, Judy peeled and sliced the apples for me.)

But I can say, with a little whipped topping, it's just as good for breakfast as it was yesterday afternoon.

For those of you who might think that's "gilding the lily", you could substitute some yogurt for that creamy concoction and thereby claim it to be healthy.

But for some of us, there can be no such thing as "too much".

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 Gentle Readers, Friends, Enemies, Frenemies, Lurkers and Poor Souls Just Thirsting for Humor . . . GREETINGS!

Once again we have gained a foothold on the weekend and reached the near end of another week.

I hope your week has been a good one.

Mine has been . . . . . meh.

But that's better than bad though not as good as sensational.

So let me try to turn things up and see if we can all reach nirvana together, okay?

Fasten your seat belts!

Technically, those are the jokes, folks.

Or would that be "trek-nically"?

Well I'm not going to dwell on that.

I'm just going to ask you all to soar into a stratospherically fantastic weekend.

And, please, always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . oh, I know that stunt . . )

THROWBACK THURSDAY

 This was a homemade birthday card given to me by my friends Tommy Terrific of the Light Breezes blog, and his artistic wife Lana back in 1987.

 

While we were about to move to Mexico for four and a half years, you can see my friends share my sense of humor.

And no, I wasn't wanted by the FBI.  😄

SKYVIEW

 

And a less-cropped version.

I remember a while back a neighbor of ours standing at the edge of his roof with a long pole and some kind of chopper device at the end of it, lopping branches off that "tree" in the lower left of the above photo.

I remember thinking, "that crazy fool is going to fall off that roof!"

But he didn't, just leaving the scars of his work on that growth.

Speaking of which, you might be pleased to hear that Judy is progressing fairly well, though she may not think so.

But she said yesterday she was able to put some weight on the leg in which she had a knee replacement surgery one week before.

And do it without pain!

Then she went for her first PT session, had a rough night last night and is taking it much easier today.

But she's moving better and, take it from me, progress is definitely being made.

As a reward, I'm baking a loaf of her favorite whole wheat bread with dried cranberry pieces embedded in it.

Well actually the bread machine is doing most of the work.

But I got it started!

HONOR THE VETS

 

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

Wow!

I don't know how it's been in your world but this has been a week to behold.

Not to live through again, just to look at it and ask ourselves "How did we (she) ever get through that?"

I won't bore you with details except to say that SWMBO went yesterday (Thursday) to her first Physical Therapy appointment since her surgery (Monday).

Seems to me that's faster than moms get back into the swing of things after having a baby.

With less pain.

Okay, okay, don't jump on me, I may be wrong about that.

But after all that, you'd think no-one around these here parts would have a sense of humor, or humour.

Well . . . you'd be wrong!

Oh, I love those guys.

Really, I do.

Well that's about it for my sense of humor for the week.

I hope you had fun and that you'll have a fun-derful weekend full of joy and cornfields and trying to find the very best turkey.

This turkey has some advice for you: always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . uh, no, kitty, not there, please . . )

SHE'S HOME! (Updated)

The Mistress of the House, She Who Must Be Obeyed, my Beloved Spouse, aka Judy, has returned.

With one arm bandaged where they yanked the i.v. tube out, with a walker close at hand and with her loving companion, Sweetie Pie, come to sniff those awful hospital smells.

I saw her, SP, go into Judy's room several times this afternoon and look around, seemingly confused by the absence of her friend.

And once Judy got into her chair she came up to the arm to joyously greet her and celebrate her return.

Judy had a total knee transplant Monday afternoon and spent about 48 hours in the good care of the hospital staff.

OOPS: As commenter Barbara Anne pointed out below, Judy had a total knee REPLACEMENT, not a transplant. Please excuse this error by a tired but happy Catalyst.

But she was getting stir crazy today and anxious to come home.

Tomorrow she goes to her first Physical Therapy session.

But tonight she is back home and because of the drugs she is taking for pain she can't even have a cocktail.

Never mind.

I'll make up for her.