I honestly do not know where the time goes. Last Monday, Roger and I together made ham loaf to put into the freezer to have for easy to prepare meals. Friday we discovered that our sons do not like ham loaf. Sigh
It would have been nice if they had told us when we brought home the ham and pork to make it.

Friday Roger and I made banana bread together. We already knew that our sons are not particularly fond of it but we made it anyway because we like it. I made the first loaf with Roger watching closely and giving a little help when asked. Actually I was showing him how to bake from a recipe. The second loaf, he made with just a little help from me. The banana breads both turned out well.

We both thought that it would be a good idea for Roger to learn how to make banana bread because he likes to buy "day old" bananas at the grocery store. Actually, they pack the bananas that are for one reason or another unattractive to customers in large plastic bags. They load the bags of bananas into a grocery cart and offer them to customers at a very low price. When we bring a bag home, Roger sorts out the ones he will eat and then suggests that I make banana bread. More recently he has suggested that we could make banana bread together. We did and it worked well. I think that he will be making more banana bread by himself.

We also like cinnamon bread, a yeast bread. Roger has occasionally asked me to make cinnamon bread but recently suggested that we could make it together. I think this togetherness project might work.

Yesterday I finished making all of the project bags that I intended to make. They are primarily for gifts. As I finish making the rest of the components of each gift, I will take pictures to show you. I have a few more items to go. Friday I picked up the lovely blue and white floral paper that was out of stock; I wanted it to line the inside of a fabric covered box. In the afternoon, I finished the box. I still need to practice my techniques but the box does look reasonably well.

I hope that you are enjoying these roses. I especially like their antique mauve color. They lasted very well in the house; I think it is because we have been keeping the temperature low. I wonder if they traveled to us via the Amsterdam flower market.

Yesterday afternoon we began our tutoring program. Jose is my tutoree; he is in the third grade. He seems to be having some difficulty knowing what sounds the letters make. Perhaps our curriculum advisor will have some helpful ideas for us.

November is making up for the cold weather we had in October. If the month ended today, this would be the second warmest November on record. I wonder if this is an example of global warming. The day looks gray and foggy but it is warm for November.

Yes, I finished the cat yesterday and I feel so very good to have done it. It is a special kind of satisfaction that I feel when I finish something that has been unfinished for so very long. I am not certain that it is a very good representation of a Siamese cat so I just hope my friend likes it.

There was so much else that I did yesterday. I participate in a tutoring program in St. Paul. It is sponsored by a church in a low to low moderate income area. We work with third grade children and tutor them in reading, math, and writing. I have enjoyed the children very much. Three times during the school year we have a family dinner for the children, their families, and the tutors and tutor's families. Last night was one of the dinners. Generally I make and bring in the dessert and the church members prepare the rest of the dinner.

For things like this, my philosophy is to calculate how much I need and then double it. I came home with the equivalent of one and a half cakes. I could have done well bringing two cakes but it would have been so embarrassing if we did not have enough.

Here is a series of six pictures of the yearlings that came into our yard on Sunday. The deer are shy. If we had opened the door or a window, they would have run from the yard in less time that it takes to blink your eye. It would have been the same with the buck that was in our yard two years ago. The pictures of the deer in the yard now show the same clothesline pole and the same fences that were in the picture of the buck. Unfortunately, we were able to get pictures of only one of the two deer in the yard. The other pictures are of both deer in the park behind our home.

The deer come into the yards on a fairly regular basis. Generally it is not in daylight hours. According to our neighbor, they are frequently in the yards between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. There is no way that we are going to be up to see that so I have to take the neighbor's word for it. They like to eat what is in the yards and gardens. In our case, in the fall, they are eating apples that have dropped from the trees. Both apple trees are in the garden behind the fence along which the deer is standing. You may be able to see the trunk of one.

In 2001 and 2002, a new bridge was built across the interstate highway that is to the northeast of where we live. The deer on both sides of the freeway walked around the incomplete bridge during construction. I assume that the deer on both sides of the freeway have now interbred.

Last night, I finished stitching the cat. It has been so long since I started it that I washed it before I took a picture of it. I also wanted to show you a picture of the deer, two yearlings, that visited our yard yesterday. But I cannot find them. I did find a picture of the buck that visited our yard two years ago. Unfortunately part of the clothesline shows on the right side.

As promised here is the picture of the whimsical Siamese cat. I am hoping to complete it by Thursday morning as I will see my friend then. As you can see there was quite a bit done when I set it down all those years ago. Right now, it seems to be on track. :-)

The seasons and year march right along. In the mornings it is quite silent except for traffic noise. There are no birds calling out; although we are on Standard Time, it is still dark. The insects have been quiet since our first heavy frost last month. Last week had beautiful weather. Yesterday and Friday were not quite as nice but the clouds were supposed to have cleared during the night. Sunrise still has not come so I cannot say how accurate the prediction is.

Yesterday when I took the picture of the ornament, I went out to an evergreen tree in the park. A squirrel was running through the trees overhead. A blue jay flew into the tree and scolded me for trespassing in its territory. During the day a cardinal flew in and out of the trees in our yard and even spent some time in the garden.

Earlier in the morning, when I went to the post office to have the postage metered on the packet, a woman was standing beside her car which had some serious front end damage. Not too far away was a dead deer. She appeared to be waiting, probably for the local police for help. On my return home, the police had arrived but it was difficult to determine who was doing what. Later in the afternoon we went to the grocery store to pick up something we decided we just had to have. All traces of the accident had been removed. At this time of year, we must be very careful because the deer are very active. It fortunately is not a problem for those who live further into the city. For us, it is always an issue and we must be very vigilant as we cannot predict what a deer might do.

This morning I posted some stitching that I just finished for someone else. It is a gigantic relief to know that it is returning to its owner. I am sorry that I cannot show it to you now; it might be possible to show it to you during the first part of 2010.

Meanwhile, I want to show you this little pear shaped ornament. It was a gift to me in an ornament exchange. If you scroll down through the previous postings, you will find a little sampler type ornament, Glad Tidings. I made it for this exchange.

Earlier this month, I found a not so little ornament like design that I had started more than ten years ago and then set aside. It is an amusing cat design. The cat is designed to be an orange and white tabby but I changed it to more closely resemble a friend's Siamese. After starting, I got stuck and then set it aside. When I found it earlier this month, my first thought was, "I know what I can do to finish this." Now I have the time to work on it. Tomorrow, I will show you a picture of it and you can follow me as I work on it.