Thanksgiving with Brandon Hatcher, Ody, Krystal, Rick and I, AND Suzanne & Ray's accident

This year Rick and I were invited to Brandon & Krystal's home for Thanksgiving dinner.  Krystal must have cooked all morning and half the day.  The meal was delicious and of course I over-ate especially when it came to desserts.  I love sweets and Krystal made the most delicious Watergate salad and of course I pigged out.

Ody entertained us with his antics and his cuteness.  He stayed close by and wasn't a bit of trouble.  He played quietly around us and carried the Little Golden Book that I had brought over for him.  It was The Night Before Christmas, and I'm hoping that he will allow either his daddy Brandon or his mommy Krystal to read it to him.  He amazed me when he climbed up into a chair that his daddy had been sitting in and opened up the book and began gently turning each page very carefully as if he was reading the book himself, but then Brandon walked up to Ody and said, "Son, it might be better if you turn it this way," then Brandon turned the book right side up.  Ody continued to look at the pictures uninterrupted just as before.  Ody is two and a half years old, but still very much a baby.  He's a very snuggly baby and every now and then he had to get snuggles from his daddy while his mommy was busy in the kitchen.

Brandon and Krystal had their Christmas tree up and decorated with vintage ornaments from her youth.  Ornaments she had made as a child that her mother and sister had saved, and now that they are both gone Krystal is carrying on the family tradition of putting up the Christmas tree for the Thanksgiving meal.  Krystal and Brandon's parents are gone, so holidays are hard for both of them, and for me as well.  But now that they have Ody they do their best to make holidays joyful events for Ody.  I am the only grandparent that Ody has and I am his great-grandmother.

Spending the afternoon and evening with my grandson Brandon, Krystal & Ody was lots of fun.   We told stories of things present and of course re-lived the past as well.  We laughed and had the best time, but the evening ended very abruptly when my son-in-law Ray called to tell us that him and my daughter Suzanne had been involved in an automobile accident that totaled their car.  

They got knocked around, went airborne, and were blinded by all the explosions of the airbags before they came to a safe stop.  It seems that an oncoming truck hit a large deer, sent it flying over two lanes into the path of Ray & Suzanne who ran over it.  Ray received a large scraping wound to his lower leg which was caused by one of the airbags.  He was taken to the hospital which determined that he didn't break his leg, but the doctors were more concerned about his elevated heart rate, b.p. and possible damage to his four aneurysms.  Suzanne didn't want to get checked out, but now she is frightened by airbags.  Ray's leg is all swelled and bruised and he's limping around, and Suzanne is just shook up and without a car for the moment.

I'm so thankful and blessed.  My children, grandchildren and great grandchildren are all fine and healthy.  God was watching out over Ray & Suzanne.  God is always watching out and taking good care of my family.

I'm so proud of Jybow

This morning was a morning full of wildlife. It was a cool crisp rain soaked morning and everything seemed to come out from their hiding places once the sun appeared and the clouds disappeared.

Jimmy left the house at the crack of dawn to go feed a few of our grandpets, and as he approached their house he was happily surprised by the sight of four doe's who were nibbling on green little sprouts or left over garden plants. They didn't seen at all alarmed to see him, but once he stepped out of the car the closest one moved several feet away to let him pass. He stood outside on the long front porch and watched the four deer feed for awhile but then realized why he was there and went inside to greet the grandpets who, by this time, were all anxiously waiting to go outside for a little morning run followed by breakfast. Of course the dogs spotted the deer right away and chased them into the forest, and this gave Jimmy time to feed the cats & to prepare the dogs individual food dishes. It wasn't long at all before the three hungry pups reappeared wanting their breakfast. I don't know how three big dogs can lose such big deer, but Jimmy says that the deer are smart...
I say the deer just ran really, really fast.

After we had eaten our breakfast at home I was putting my coffee cup into the sink when I spotted a squirrel in the tree closest to our house...The tree with all the bird feeders hanging from it. The squirrel had apparently been dangling from our newest feeder that we got for Christmas and had spilled most of the sunflower seeds on the ground and Jybow had frightened the squirrel high up into the tree. Jybow & I watched the squirrel...me safely inside from my window and Jybow crouched down 15 feet from the tree's trunk...when that brave little squirrel rushed down the trunk of the tree and down on the ground to the waiting pile of sunflower seeds. The little gray squirrel sat there and ate for at least 30 minutes...I watching from the window and Jybow from 10 feet away. I was so amazed at the restraint of that cat...watching and not moving a muscle...no tail twitching, whisker movement, just eyes focused on the squirrel in amazement. When the squirrel finally finished he went back to the trunk and that's when Jybow finally ran to where the squirrel had sat and smelled the area and then searched the tree for the squirrel. The squirrel climbed to the tree top, sat there for a moment and then came back down to one of the lowest branches and used it to jump into the neighboring large sycamore tree. And from there he made his way back to the creek where it lives.

I've always been afraid that Jybow might try to catch one of the squirrels and both cat & squirrel would end up hurt. They both have great big teeth and claws and could do harm to each other, but I'm now assured that Jybow merely wants to watch, and that pleases me. For several months Jybow has been disappearing to the creek to watch the squirrels feed on field corn that Jimmy feeds them everyday. Jimmy & Jybow both go back to mount the corn in a squirrel feeder and they both come back to the house together, but then Jybow disappears to the creek and we know what she's doing, but now thankfully I know that she is just watching. I am so proud of my big kitty for not trying to kill our little squirrels.

Jybow (and that's Daisy in the background)

How can you hide when you're orange anyway?
And especially when Jimmy rakes up all the pretty yellow,
brown & orange fall colored leaves.
And what incentive is there to eat a squirrel
or a bird when you're well fed.
Or is it because Jybow has always been by our side
as Jimmy & I have fed & watched the wildlife around us.
We have chased strange large dogs from our yard,
fearing that they might harm one of our cats.
And guess who also chases big dogs from our yard?
Yes...the one and only Jybow.
And that scares me more than anything.