Over the Hills

Yeah, yeah, a day late and a dollar short, as always, but I hope that you had a happy and safe holiday.

So how did I spend Thanksgiving Day? At Wally World. Where else? And why does this post begin with "Over the Hills?" Because my day included going over the hills, over the Forked Deer River, through the woods, and to the great city of Dyersburg. My childhood memory kicked in, incorrectly, and I hummed the tune as I sped up 51 to their Walmart to pick up meat trays for an employee lunch. The real title is "Over the River." I'm 60, for goodness sake, so I can be forgiven for not remembering the complete title or lyrics. It did bring back faint memories of elementary school classes at B.K. Bruce, though. Anyway...the 20+ mile drive is a pleasant one, with rolling hills, and groves of trees, in autumn colors, in the distance.

Got there to find out that 13 meat trays had been ordered. 13! The Dyersburg store only ordered 4 for their staff and their facility is nearly twice the size of ours. Took two carts to get them to the checkout and into the car. Thank goodness for a big car. Rolled back to Ripley to find that most of the staff had checked out early. A good thought but not well-planned. Seems that the person responsible for obtaining the trays had a change in hours so that meant someone had to be drafted because she was now coming in on a later shift. No problem. Mileage reimbursement and a full tank of gas made it possible. But 13 meat trays...no cheese...no desert? If you're going to do it...do it right. And, of course, the person doing the planning was off and left no instructions. Hmmm...wonder who that could have been? RLMAO.

So home to Miz Cindy and our Thanksgiving meal. Cooked up a storm on Wednesday. The stove didn't know how to act. Using the oven and the stove top? What? Actually, it wasn't a fabulous meal with loads of goodies because it is only me. The difference is that my cooking usually consists of the crock pot, the electric grill, and the microwave. Works fine for me. Now, we're baking a turkey breast, chopping cabbage, sweet potatoes, apples. Going full steam. The house smelled lovely. Was going to make my cheesecake but there was no sense in going overboard. I'll do that over the weekend. Mrs. Smith's apple pie worked just as well.

Tried a new recipe for the sweet potatoes which included the use of apples and apple cider. Had to doctor that one up a bit. Being from the old school, sweet potatoes must have a thick sauce. This one didn't so a little thickening helped it out just right. Really good taste. Wasn't hot on the turkey breast. It was mushy. Cindy loved her's. No...she didn't get a full serving; just what I didn't eat.

Wally was selling turkeys at 35 cents a pound (comping with surrounding stores) on Tuesday. People were walking out with cart loads. If I'd had a larger freezer, I might have picked up one myself. But I'd purchased the turkey breast, thinking I was saving, and wound up spending more money than buying the whole turkey at $5 and $6 dollars. What a deal. Soon came to a halt, however, and people were ticked. Well, good grief, how long did you think that it was going to last?

The weather was downright balmy on both Wednesday and Thursday. Decided that I needed to gather some of the pecans from under the leaves to send to my peeps. The key words being from under the leaves. Raking and bending to retrieve the pecans soon got old. Now I understand why this man, who came through the line on Tuesday, was talking about the money he'd made crawling on the ground. I asked why was he crawling on the ground and he explained that he "shakes pecan trees" for people and has a waiting list of twenty people. Good grief! People make money doing that? Well, I don't need him to shake my tree. Most of them have fallen (along with the leaves) and I'm not paying anyone to pick them up for me. I s'pect that I'll have them all picked up by next spring...at least those that my squirrel and groundhog don't eat. Oh, and can't leave out Cindy. She's been seen eating a pecan or two, as well.

Got a fantastic package from cousin Jay on Wednesday. Complete with newspapers and magazines re Obama's win. You know that stuff doesn't exist in Lauderdale County. Guess you have to take out mail order subscriptions. Even Wally doesn't carry Time or Newsweek. And, she found the rolls of wallpaper border I'd given her for her powder room--which is the same paper I used in the renovated bathroom here. You won't be surprised when I tell you that I was half-a-roll short. Jay and I share a lot of things in common, including being a pack rat. And, she included a hand-written note which brought me to tears. Thanks, Jay. Love ya!

I'm wrapping it up because Wally calls. The store manager is leaving, next week, for a larger store closer to his home in Nashville. He's been grinning, as my mother used to say, "like a jackass biting on a bumble bee" ever since he received word. I didn't think the young boy had a smile in him. Wishing him well.

And wishing you well, too. Be safe; be blessed.