Monday Stuff On the Way to Other Stuff: And So It Begins

     It has been really, really cold here. And a bit snowy. 

Life is pretty quiet. Why do I get the feeling that most people are just hunkered down and waiting for Thanksgiving? 

     We are.

There are still chores, plus the fifth-wheel to winterize. And I have reports to finish up, plus some restoration to do. We sleep snugly, thanks to the down comforter the Brick found at a thrift outlet. But we're not sleeping through the night -- we both still wake up around sunrise. Not sure why, either. 

Michigan (barely) beat Illinois today in football; a field goal 9 seconds from the end of the game clinched the victory. What does that mean for next week's game against Ohio State... I'm scared to ask. 

So on with the week. Here we go.

Not this year...

A cornucopia for Thanksgiving. 

Potato string bean salad. You might want to sub this for the heavier green bean casserole. (I'd add a little bacon, too...)

Simple, tasty stuffing. 

Chocolate-covered strawberry turkeys!  This concept sounds weird...but the results look wonderful!

The Nord Stream pipe explosion WAS sabotage, based on explosives found on-site. Ya think?!?

Steak -- cooked in a toaster. I am not making this up. (Don't do it, by the way.)

Is this mystery painter Banksy??

LeBeau has passed on.  I loved the work of Robert Clary on Hogan's Heroes -- but he was much, much more than that -- including a survivor of Auchwitz, the only one of his family. 

Banksy created seven new paintings -- on rubble-torn walls in Ukraine.

Old-time celebrities --what they looked like then... and now.

A 600-year-old gold coin found on the coast of Newfoundland: a 'Henry VI quarter-noble,' minted between 1422-1427. Whaaaa? Archeologists are saying it must have been brought there long after it was 'out of circulation,' but I wonder...

pictured with a modern Canadian quarter, for size.

Also intriguing: further research on a rock crystal jar found in the Galloway Hoard.

Hawaiian rolls you can make yourself!

More than 800 thousand pounds (British) in gold coins -- found hidden until a kitchen floor in Yorkshire! Speaking of big $$...

An old worn-out pair of Birkenstocks belonging to Steve Jobs sold for $218,000 at auction.  (No, I can' t figure it out, either. Even the pre-auction estimate of $60,000-80,000 sounds zany.)

The chef who turned brunch into a verrrryyyyy sexy thang.

I finished a REALLY good book:  Jenny Colgan's The Christmas Bookshop. I've read a few of her other books, and didn't care for them. But this one hit a sympathetic chord...and included a welcome visit to Edinburgh, Scotland, as well as a good-sized dose of Christmas cheer. You'll like it.

Should (very) early Andy Warhol paintings be valued just as reverentially as his more mature work? Two are going up for auction soon -- we'll find out. (I realize I'm suggesting that Warhol's "mature" work is actually mature -- instead of swiped from others' designs and photos. I've never been comfortable with this.)

Saving $$ for Thanksgiving.  A classic from yours truly.  Another Thanksgiving-related classic:

Mayflower Memories. 

LIving on a really low income:

Some of the worst mistakes you could make, when packing for a cruise. Some of these are a bit zany -- people really do this?? On the other hand, I remember a woman who went on a missions trip with us who packed one pair of underwear for every day -- which she threw away, rather than wear again, And yes, there was a washing machine on board. (But we didn't know that when we started.)

Up for auction:  a card-shark's passenger list on the Titanic, carefully noted for wealthy 'marks.' (One was listed as 'millionaire.') Will you be surprised that the gambler survived -- and his victims generally did not? (He was 'hard at work' when the iceberg hit, and ended up sneaking into a lifeboat with Bruce Ismay. Figures.)

Poodle attack! (Plus their owner...go figure.) Boy, you don't hear this very often...

Have a good week.