Laying Low and They're So Fat!

We had to have one of our ash trees taken down. Vineland Tree Care came out a few months ago to trim our trees and they noticed that one of them was failing due to a split in its trunk. They said we could try and support it with a metal strap around it but that it may still die. We opted to have them remove the tree instead. I went out in the morning before they arrived to spend a few minutes in its presence. Yes, that's kind of who I am. I will miss it. We're considering putting a white pine in its place next spring.

Winter has been teasing us with some sizeable snowfalls the past few weeks but it's still too early for the snow to stay around long. I thought I'd put my golf clubs away for the year a few weeks ago but Steve and I managed to find an open course (CreeksBend near Elko) last Thursday for one last round.

I'm in a bit of a lull, somewhere between being done with fall riding and waiting for winter fat-bike riding to begin. I've spent some time on my indoor trainer but mostly I'm content with taking a break and working on some stained glass projects. It's been nice to be back down in my shop again. There's something about being creative that feeds my soul. I lose myself in my projects much the way I do when I'm out riding and I need that. 

Cotton is doing really well living with us and Charlie has been good about having her here. He doesn't seem at all phased by her quiet presence—I suppose it helps that she's not competing for his toys or his food. It's funny because she loves to follow me around the house but mostly she's by Tammy's side. They have some history together. We had her in for some major dental work when we first brought her home. She had to have 12 teeth removed. I'm not sure how many teeth she has left but she does fine with the refrigerated food we have for Charlie. It's soft.  

I had a request for a business card a few days ago from someone who made a stained glass purchase from my Etsy site. Embarrassingly I told her that I didn't have a business card. That was enough of a prompt for me to spend some time yesterday working on designing one. Rachel offered some nice suggestions and with her help, this is what we came up with. I'll occasionally pimp my site here and on Facebook and that's been enough for me. I've never intended for it to grow into something more than a winter hobby but having a business card seems like a good idea. 

We're laying low for Thanksgiving this year with the pandemic still looming out there. Bryan has arranged for us all to meet on Zoom later in the day. Rachel and Drew won't be in range of a wifi or cell connection so we'll miss seeing them. I look forward to our time together with whoever shows up on Zoom.

Tammy ordered us a vegan Thanksgiving dinner from The Herbivorous Butcher in Minneapolis and it arrived today. Yes, we're still on our vegan/vegetarian/cheat-a-little diets and it's going well. About the only meat I've had in the past 8 or 9 months (or however long it's been) is pepperoni on pizza, which is once every week or two. The meat substitutes that are out there make it a nearly seamless transition away from a diet based on various real meats. 

I wonder if the guy in the video below also has a dozen hummingbirds continually at his feeder in the summer? I'm guessing he does. The raccoons, they're so fat!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

That's all I've got.

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