Thanksgiving

This year's Thanksgiving was full of much yummy food and family and friends.  I would have loved for it to include more family than it did but the company I had was quite enjoyable.

The past few years Thanksgiving was held at our house but this year my mother-in-law wanted to move it back to her house.  In all honesty, it was quite the relief for my husband who is the cook in our family.  Even with help and other people bringing dishes of food, it is quite the work to get a big meal together.

What are your favorite foods for Thanksgiving dinner?  My favorites include turkey, rolls, breads, sweet potatoes with or without marshmallows on top and cranberry sauce.  You may not agree but the cranberry sauce has to be the smooth kind from the can - it's the only way to go with cranberry sauce.

Anyway, moving on to Christmas!  It will be here soon...I have created some handmade items and have a few more to go.  Unfortunately, I can't post any photos here until after Christmas, they might be seen!  I really like what I've done though and am looking forward to giving them!

In case, you are looking to give some handmade items for gifts this year and are looking for others to do the handmaking - the 32nd Annual Beyond the Unicorn Craft Fair will be held this coming Saturday, December 3rd.  It is held at Riverside Middle School in Springfield, VT and there will be sooo many crafters!  Free admission and there will be foods available for purchase as well as a 50/50 raffle and prize raffle!  The prize raffle is made of donations from the crafters that are at the fair.  So, feel free to come by and check everything out!!

Outdoor Cat Condo

A very handsome black and white cat arrived at our house several months ago.  He was obviously trapped and dropped near us because he won't let us anywhere near him and we are located in the middle of nowhere.  This isn't a really great photo of him but, you get the idea.  He has been named 'Mystery', as in, it's a mystery where he came from.

I started feeding him as soon as I saw him because I wanted to try to earn his trust.  Well, if any trust had accumulated at all, then it was erased as soon as I trapped him and got him fixed last month. Oh, well, what can I do? Getting him fixed was very necessary.

He has been coming around and eating since early summer.  I have no idea where he spends most of his time nor where he sleeps.  With the current chilly nights and even colder weather coming, I wanted to create a shelter for him as an option.  So, I designed a kitty condo that my father-in-law built, I painted and my husband shingled the roof.

Here is the front:

The right side:

The back:

The left side:

The inside:

The walls and the floor are all insulated to help with cat heat retention.

And painted:

 The front side is tucked under our porch so that if there's a bunch of snow and he's sleeping in it, he won't be trapped in it.

And opposite the front, under the porch, we have bales of hay acting as a wind blocker.

I have no idea if the cat is actually using it but hopefully he is or will soon!!