Thankful for my Blog Friends.....

It is a cool gray day today.  We are having scattered rain conditions.  I never know when I take the little dog outside if I will get wet or not.  There are scant snow piles left but in the most part all the snow is gone. We are staying home today and the weather forecasters seem to think rain and ice is a possibility for Iowa.

I have been seeing many a pecan pie on the blogs these past two days.  I have an entry to the pie photos of my wife's mince meat pie.  I was raised on mince meat as a kid from my grandma's pies to my mom's pies.  My wife does make the best.  The older pies were full of beef, sometimes that was leftover meat.  Today the meat has left the recipe and all the different raisins and apples are a big part of the pie.

We were at a pie place yesterday and there were mobs of people picking up pies.  The customers had to ask for an appointed time and appear at the time to assist in getting the large group of customers through the line.  French silk has become the newer generations' traditional pie at this time of the year. We had a pumpkin supreme at the place and that was a new and different version of pumpkin pie.

This blurry squirrel shown here is at work already gleaning a good amount of seed to eat for then and later. I have to move into the focus photo again from the dining room window but so far I have just been taking quick shots.

 
I shared the downy on my photo a day blog today.  It is nice to see a woodpecker back at the feeder.  When we get a good snow cover more kinds will be showing up at the free food center.

The neighbor girls were out riding bikes in the cold and doing some skate board work.  I am sure the parents were glad to have them outside for a while.  I think someone else was let outside by the girls.  She doesn't seem to like the cold so she does head back home quickly after she has been out for a while.

Our family is growing right now as we speak.  Our kids in Chicago area are expecting another child.  AJ has grown fast and he will be 3 in February.  He will have a little sister or brother in May.  I haven't shared this for a while as it takes time to realize what is really happening.  We are thankful for our kids in the Chicago area and our kids in Maine.  They will be having their Thanksgiving in Bucksport, Maine at grandma's.  The others will be at AJ's grandma's with a large family get together in southern Chicago area.  We are glad to be home today as we are in severe weather warnings starting at noon. The storm itself won't stay inside the lines that they have drawn but it looks like rain, ice and snow are going to be joining us today and stay for 12 hours.

I wish all of you a great day and thank you for stopping by today.  Save room for dessert as you go through your day.