The Season Is Here!

The Thanksgiving decorations are packed away and the porch is now decorated for Christmas.

Hold on! The Christmas holiday will be here in a microsecond!

Helpers

Last week I removed the Fall decorations from the front porch. I took the artificial leaves in the living room in order that I could pack them until next year. I looked up and guess who was "helping" with this task?

Flooding

This stream in our backyard was flowing nicely on Tuesday, November 22, 2011. The rain continued throughout the night.


On Tuesday night and on Wednesday, the National Weather Service issued a flood warning for our county. The ball field on Van Horn always is the first to fill with waters from the Little Kanawha River.


Our friends in Brooklyn were trapped for a short period. We were fortunate that the rains stopped Wednesday morning. Flood stage for the Little Kanawha River at Glenville is 23 feet. At 27 feet the waters start collecting under the stoplight. At 30 feet the water enters the Go-Mart. In 1985, the flood stage was 36 feet and was devastating to the businesses and homes.


Glenville dodged another bullet this time.

Canaan Log 5

If you recall last year, we took a family photo and we all had donned plaid red PJs. Before bed on Saturday we took another photo. I was the only one wearing the red plaid pj bottoms. Someone has to keep tradition alive!

It was raining and foggy when we awoke on Sunday. We checked out of the Cedar Creek house at 10:00 A.M., had lunch in Elkins at Bob Evans Restaurant, and arrived home in early afternoon.

It was another great gathering of our family! Thank you all for checking in on our family's blog.

Canaan Log 4

The spring above is located just outside of Davis. It is a popular watering hole for residents and tourists. Brother-in-law Bill said that he was told that the spring is actually just a pipe that is tapped into the water tank located at the top of the hill. Guess this rumor is untrue. The locals say this is a true spring that runs throughout the year. They say that the water is never tested, but supplies drinking water to a plethora of folks.

On Saturday morning, Bill and Jeff went to Elkins to play a round of golf. Judy and I took a trip into Davis. (That is when we took the picture of the spring and the Canaan Golf course below..)


Around 3 in the afternoon, we had our Turkey dinner. After a prayer, expressing our appreciation for all of our blessings, .....



...it was time to carve the bird.


Sarah prepared a new recipe. It was a compote that complemented the turkey. The compote as made of dried fruits cooked in red sweet wine. Twas wonderful and the recipe is, indeed, a keeper.

We always have an abundance of wonderful food. Sour cream mashed potatoes, green beans, ham, rolls, and sweet potato casserole were added to the turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, and fruit compote.


I have to mention the desserts. We had a variety of pumpkin rolls, pecan pies, and apple pies. We did throw away the cremated pumpkin pies!


To complete the evening, the kids had a talent show and we sang hymns and other songs. Was a great day!
Tomorrow - The Canaan Experience ends.

Canaan Log 3
Happy Thanksgiving to our Blog Family

The spaghetti dinner on Friday evening was yummy. The time had arrived for Lucy's party. Before the birthday party started, Judy had to prepare the turkey. No, she was not giving the turkey a proctological exam, but removing the quills from the tail.

Miss Lucy is now five years old. I know there are 11 candles! With sister and the cousins looking on, Lucy blew out the burning stakes and was then time to....


..open the presents.


I believe Lucy had some help from the cousins.

After we all had our fill of birthday cake and even some of Dale Hawkin's coconut tart that Sarah and Jeff brought to share.



Tomorrow - Turkey Day for us in Canaan!

Canaan Log 2

By supper time, all the other family campers had arrived. Dinner was an Italian meal of spaghetti, garlic bread and salad. PROBLEM- sister Judy baked two pumpkin pies and forgot them. Yes, they were toast, well charred pumpkin with crust! Those had to be discarded.

Bill helped in serving the portions of pasta.

It is always exciting to see the kids eat spaghetti and meatballs. The adults can be messy. but...

... only one person earned the title of the King of Mess.

I present King Nate!

After supper, it was time to celebrate Lucy's 5th birthday.

Tomorrow- the party.

Canaan Log 1

Last Thursday we headed to Timberline Resort in Canaan Valley. This is the third year that all of our family has gathered at Cedar Creek 35 in the Winterset area of Timberline. We use this weekend to celebrate our family Thanksgiving. We had snow upon our arrival.

Judy and I arrived at the house first. Bill, sister Judy, and Grandma Great showed up about an hour later. Sarah and Nate were the last to settle into the house. Nate was wearing his Indian accoutrements that he had made in nursery school.


The snow was short lived. Rachael, John, and the girls were to come on Friday. Jeff and Sam were also coming the next day after Sammy was out of school.

Typical of the valley, the deer were plentiful. These shots were taken as we drove through Canaan Valley State Park.

The buck was trying to impress the does.

Construction has started on the new rooms at the lodge. There are 3 old lodging units that currently have not been demolished. The steel is up for the two four story sections that are located beside the current lodge. This lodging update has been sorely needed for years.

A yummy meal of meatloaf with all fixings was prepared. We visited in the evening and went to bed early to prepare for the next day's activity.

Portraits

Judy and I traveled to Spencer several weeks ago to meet Mom, sister Judy, and brother-in-law Bill for a photo session at the St. Johns Methodist Church. I thought I would share a few shots with you folks.

Look - Snappy is ORANGE!

The Herald Sun is a morning tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia. I am posting this neat article about a crocodile named Snappy.

At first glance, it looks like "Snappy" has tanned up.

But the cranky chameleon has no one to blame but himself for changing color - after apparently biting off more than he could chew.

Owner Tracey Sandstrom, who runs Roaming Reptiles, said Snappy made a meal out of the filter in his water tank.

"I think it caused the pH levels in his water to soar which has led to the change in color."

She was stunned when her prized pet turned bright orange.

"Snappy's pretty territorial and he attacked the filter one day and a few weeks after that, I noticed he was orange," she said.

The 2.5m croc stays warm at night in his heated indoor tank before moving outside through his "croc flap" to bask in sunshine by day.

"It doesn't seem to have affected him at all. He's still got a healthy appetite, is normally aggro and doing everything he always does," Ms Sandstrom said.

Darwin croc expert Grahame Webb examined the Herald Sun photos and confirmed Snappy was a picture of health.

Professor Webb said he had seen crocs with stained skin and teeth before, usually caused by tannins in their water.

"Our guess is that it is something in the water such as iron or tannins from leaves or some red algae that oxidizes when it dries," Professor Webb said.

"It seemed significant to us that the tongue was not colored, or the inside of the angle of the jaw, which are more likely not to dry, whereas the skin would dry when they bask."

Professor Webb some some foods could possibly also cause an animal to go a reddish color.

"That happens evidently if they have high concentrations of beta carotene, but it would be unusual to use such foods. Snappy certainly seems OK."

Dress

The dress above is over 100 years old. Sister Judy gave us two dresses that have been in the family for many years. We decided to display this one on a dress form in the living room by the piano. This dress was worn by my great grandmother who was a chiropractor. Just thought I would share this garment with my blog buddies.

Aye-aye

I was sitting here thinking of all the pets we have had throughout our lives. I wonder what my weirdest pet would be if I had a chance to select a beast? The first critter that came to mind was the Aye-aye.

The Aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) is a strepsirrhine native to Madagascar that combines rodent-like teeth with a long, thin middle finger to fill the same ecological niche as a woodpecker. It is the world's largest nocturnal primate, and is characterized by its unique method of finding food; it taps on trees to find grubs, then gnaws holes in the wood and inserts its elongated middle finger to pull the grubs out.

Daubentonia is the only genus in the family Daubentoniidae and infraorder Chiromyiformes. The Aye-aye is the only extant member of the genus (although it is currently an endangered species); a second species (Daubentonia robusta) was exterminated over the last few centuries.

What a strange animal - looks like a combination of ET and a bat!

A Sad Goodbye

The Western Black Rhino of Africa was declared officially extinct Thursday (11/10/11) by a leading conservation group.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature said that two other subspecies of rhinoceros were close to meeting the same fate.

The Northern White Rhino of central Africa is now "possibly extinct" in the wild and the Javan Rhino "probably extinct" in Vietnam, after poachers killed the last animal there in 2010.

A small but declining population survives on the Indonesian island of Java.

IUCN said Thursday that a quarter of all mammals are at risk of extinction, according to its updated Red List of endangered species.