The Annual Christmas Outdoor Light Extravaganza!

The amazing Christmas Light Extravaganza is up and running this year! Click on the photo for a larger version!

Winter Knocking on the door.

Chardon Ohio got its first good winter storm of the year over thanksgiving. Mom said it was 17 degrees outside and a strong 40 mph wind blowing on Thanksgiving. She sent a snow picture a few days later and informed me it was going to 70 degrees in the next day or so. Now I remember why I had all those colds and sneezes when I lived in Ohio with that crazy mid-west weather they get.


















Seattle got a little taste of winter last night as the south sound was dusted with an inch or two of slushy wet snow...here north of Seattle we had cold mushy rain...not even cold enough for slush at 36 degrees. My son Ian was hoping for a snow day but he woke up to a rainy windy day. I had just finished the annual Christmas Outdoor Light Extravaganza yesterday and was hoping for a nice dusting of snow to set off the lighting. Well, I still have all of December for snow.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

Ok, you know you have been waiting with baited breath for Christmas and Santa and Presents! At last the season is upon us, (..I guess it was here around Halloween , but I am a traditional kind a girl and the official Christmas Season begins after Thanksgiving!) so getting in the spirit of the Christmas season I am posting a wonderful little link for Christmas fun!

The Official NORAD Tracks Santa Web Site!

Pick yer Language and have at it! Only one month till Santa blows down your chimney with his goodie bag filled with goodies! (what else!!?)
















So in the meantime, bundle up by the warm fire and Let it Snow!!

The Real Story of the First Thanksgiving

The Real Story of the First Thanksgiving
By Benjamin Franklin (1785)

“There is a tradition that in the planting of New England, the first settlers met with many difficulties and hardships, as is generally the case when a civiliz’d people attempt to establish themselves in a wilderness country. Being so piously dispos’d, they sought relief from heaven by laying their wants and distresses before the Lord in frequent set days of fasting and prayer. Constant meditation and discourse on these subjects kept their minds gloomy and discontented, and like the children of Israel there were many dispos’d to return to the Egypt which persecution had induc’d them to abandon.

“At length, when it was proposed in the Assembly to proclaim another fast, a farmer of plain sense rose and remark’d that the inconveniences they suffer’d, and concerning which they had so often weary’d heaven with their complaints, were not so great as they might have expected, and were diminishing every day as the colony strengthen’d; that the earth began to reward their labour and furnish liberally for their subsistence; that their seas and rivers were full of fish, the air sweet, the climate healthy, and above all, they were in the full enjoyment of liberty, civil and religious.

“He therefore thought that reflecting and conversing on these subjects would be more comfortable and lead more to make them contented with their situation; and that it would be more becoming the gratitude they ow’d to the divine being, if instead of a fast they should proclaim a thanksgiving. His advice was taken, and from that day to this, they have in every year observ’d circumstances of public felicity sufficient to furnish employment for a Thanksgiving Day, which is therefore constantly ordered and religiously observed.”
By Benjamin Franklin (1785)

“There is a tradition that in the planting of New England, the first settlers met with many difficulties and hardships, as is generally the case when a civiliz’d people attempt to establish themselves in a wilderness country. Being so piously dispos’d, they sought relief from heaven by laying their wants and distresses before the Lord in frequent set days of fasting and prayer. Constant meditation and discourse on these subjects kept their minds gloomy and discontented, and like the children of Israel there were many dispos’d to return to the Egypt which persecution had induc’d them to abandon.

“At length, when it was proposed in the Assembly to proclaim another fast, a farmer of plain sense rose and remark’d that the inconveniences they suffer’d, and concerning which they had so often weary’d heaven with their complaints, were not so great as they might have expected, and were diminishing every day as the colony strengthen’d; that the earth began to reward their labour and furnish liberally for their subsistence; that their seas and rivers were full of fish, the air sweet, the climate healthy, and above all, they were in the full enjoyment of liberty, civil and religious.

“He therefore thought that reflecting and conversing on these subjects would be more comfortable and lead more to make them contented with their situation; and that it would be more becoming the gratitude they ow’d to the divine being, if instead of a fast they should proclaim a thanksgiving. His advice was taken, and from that day to this, they have in every year observ’d circumstances of public felicity sufficient to furnish employment for a Thanksgiving Day, which is therefore constantly ordered and religiously observed.”

Red Alert on Greenies

Dog Treat May Carry Danger

Wayne Havrelly
KIRO 7 Consumer Investigator

UPDATED: 9:01 am PST November 15, 2005

A KIRO 7 Consumer Investigation exposes a potentially deadly problem involving one of the most popular dog treats on the market.Millions of dogs chew on the treats every day, and there's a good chance your pooch is one of them.Consumer Investigator Wayne Havrelly discovered the danger.These dog treats are called "Greenies."

They're sold in stores everywhere.But our investigation found Greenies and products like them can pose a real danger to dogs.Matthew Balkman of Issaquah uses cheese to reward his dog "Beau."He used to use Greenies, a doggie treat designed to clean teeth and freshen doggie breath."The dogs do like 'em. They're tasty; he liked eating them," Balkman said.But last May, Beau acted started acting sluggish after eating one."He wasn't eating at all," Balkman said. "I took him to the vet, the vet monitored him for a day and said there was something obstructing his bowel, 'We need to go in and operate.'"Dr. Jayne Jensen performed the operation and removed a large green lump from Beau's intestine."She handed it to me, asked me if I knew what this is, and I said, 'Yes, that's a Greenie,'" Balkman said.The package says Greenies are "100 percent edible" but a company spokeswoman told us they are "85 percent digestible.""That was not 85 percent digestible," Jensen said. "That was not digestible.

"Constance Odle's dog Berkley is recovering from the same emergency surgery. But instead of a Greenie, a similar product was blocking the dogs intestine."At first, I thought he ate a piece of a toy and when the vet told me what it was, I felt terrible guilt because I was the one who gave it to him," Odle said. Berkley is the
latest of several dogs Dr. Jennifer McBride has operated on after eating teeth cleaning products, mostly Greenies.

"We will see things in abdomens that will dissolve like bones and over time, they will dissolve and go away. But these are mostly indisolvable, so they tend to get stuck more often," McBride said.Our investigation discovered the results are sometimes fatal."I tried to revive her," said Gilbert Wright.Wright lost his prized show dog, "Pompey of the Desert" after feeding him a petite size greenies treat. He feels an overwhelming sense of guilt."And I will feel that ways for the rest of my life!" Wright said.During our investigation we tracked down nine people who claim their dogs died after eating greenies.

We passed that information on to the company.A warning on the Greenies label says to make sure you're giving the right size Greenie for your breed of dog. It also cautions you to "monitor your dog to ensure the treat is adequately chewed"."They don't chew. They don't even have the muscles to chew. I mean, we chew, we do that. Dogs don't do that," said Jensen."They also say on their Web site to avoid gulping or sloppy eating but heck people can't even train their children not to do that," said Gilbert Wright.Company officials with Greenies declined our request for an on-camera interview.

They sent us a statement expressing sadness over all the dogs in our investigation. They say "millions of Greenies are sold and enjoyed by dogs, every week without incident."And "though injurious incidents are rare, more often than not, the pet is not fed according to our feeding directions."Gilbert Wright just got a new Pompey, but his heart will always be with the show champion original who won countless awards for agility.Beau has recovered from surgery and Mathew Balkman feels lucky."I'm saddened for the people that have actually lost their pets because we came very close."Vets say nearly all dog treats, chews and toys can make your pets sick.They say it's important to keep a close eye on them.

Happy Thanksgivng....for these guys

These Turkeys knew what time of year it is!
Live Turkeys Fall Off Truck in New Jersey
Nov 18 4:06 PM US/Eastern
By WAYNE PARRY
Associated Press Writer

Maybe they knew what was coming.

Two dozen live turkeys bound for Thanksgiving tables fell off a truck Friday on the New Jersey Turnpike, briefly snarling traffic near Newark Liberty International Airport.

"I think we should be investigating this as an escape attempt," said Joseph Orlando, a spokesman for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.

The two crates fell as a truck was leaving the highway, and a toll booth supervisor who spotted them contacted authorities. The birds, which survived the fall, will presumably be returned to the trucker _ if the driver notices they're missing, Orlando said.

And I thought having Raccoons in the yard was bad..

A bull moose jumps a fence after browsing in a garden near downtown Anchorage, Alaska earlier this month/AP Photo/Anchorage Daily News by Bill Roth.

Ht. Huckleberries Online

Get me my Horse and my Bright Hair!

Rohirrim


To which race of Middle Earth do you belong?
brought to you by Quizilla

I'm from Ohio

Comedian Jeff Foxworthy on Ohio

You may be from Ohio (pronounced "ah-hi-uh") if:

You think all Pro football teams are supposed to wear orange.

You know all the 4 seasons: winter, still winter, almost winter and
construction.

You live less than 30 miles from some college or university.

You know what a "buckeye" really is, and have a recipe for candy ones.

"Toward the lake" means "North" and "toward the river" means "South."

You know if other Ohioans are from southern or northern Ohio as soon as they open their mouths.

You know how to correctly spell Cincinnati.

"Vacation" means spending a day at Cedar Point in the summer and deer
hunting in the fall.

You measure distance in minutes.

Your school classes were canceled because of cold.
Your school classes were canceled because of heat.

You've had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day.

You end your sentences with an unnecessary preposition. Example:
"Where's my coat at?"

You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both
unlocked.

You think of the major four food groups as beef, pork, beer, and Jell-O salad with marshmallows.

You carry jumper cables in your car.

You know what "pop" is.

You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.

Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with
snow.

You think sexy lingerie is tube socks and a flannel nightgown.

The local paper covers national and international headlines on one page but requires six pages for sports.

If someone says something you don't understand or hear, you say
"Please?"

You call it Krogers even though it is Kroger.

If you actually understand these (and we know you do!).! .. Pass them on to your Ohio friends!

I Know

I know I have been neglecting you....