Thursday Thirteen

1.  I am grateful I still have my mom and my husband still has his dad. I miss my dad every day, and I know he misses his mom.

2.  I'm thankful for all of my family!

3.  I'm so grateful that I was able to retire last December.

4.  I appreciate my eyes. I would hate to miss all the beauty in our world.

5.  I'm grateful I have things like a home, food, a vehicle, things that many other people struggle with.  I have a comfortable life.

6.  I'm grateful for my cat, Lacy.  A pet's love is unconditional.

7.  I'm blessed to be able to read.  I can take adventures or solve crimes without even leaving my house.

8.  I'm glad I have hobbies to feed my creativity:  scrapbooking, sewing, coloring, taking pictures.

 

9.  I'm thankful for hugs!  They're good for the soul.

10. I'm so glad to live in this country where I am FREE to be ME.

11. I am grateful for the people who make our lives safer and better:  doctors, nurses, farmers, delivery drivers, police, firemen (and women), military, and so on.

12.  I'm thankful for the best meal of the YEAR!  Turkey, gravy, cornbread dressing, and cranberry sauce.

13. I'm so thankful for Jesus Christ.  Even when I have troubles, I make it through due to my faith.

Find more lists at Thursday Thirteen.

Photo Wednesday

 Robinson Park, Seabrook, Texas, November 21, 2020.  It was a beautiful day!

I'm linking up with image-in-ing and Wordless Wednesday.  Come join the fun!

Random Happy Tuesday

 I'm linking up with Stacy and Sandee.

Last week I made a recipe I had made two weeks prior, and it was delicious!  Chicken with artichokes, mushrooms, and parmesan. However, this time I had stomach problems shortly after dinner and on into the night.  I guess it could have been the spinach I sautéed.  My son had some issues, but my husband didn't, and we all ate the same thing.  Mine was worse than my son's.  Could  my age be the reason mine was worse than his? 

You probably don't care to hear any more about that.  But, speaking of food, my favorite meal of the year is coming up!  I love turkey, gravy, rolls, cornbread dressing, green bean casserole, and cranberry sauce - the jellied kind, not the berried kind.  My mom lives alone, and since neither my family nor my husband's are having large gatherings, I decided to purchase a family meal from Cracker Barrel.  My son and I will take it to my mom's.  She lives alone, and I hate the thought of her being isolated on a holiday.

Moving right along...

Thought this was funny, and so me!

This!!!  Cracks me up!

And last, but not least...

Happy Thanksgiving and have a great week!

Sunday Synopsis

 

Through a Mother's Tears: The tragic true story of a mother who lost one daughter to a brutal murderer and another to a broken heart by Cathy Broomfield
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I think I downloaded this book because it was either a freebie or a 99 cent book offered through Bookbub. If you've never heard of it, it's a site that recommends books for free or very low priced. They don't sell the books. They just send you the deals that are available for whatever electronic device you use. I was using NOOK at first, but now I am using Kindle, and it was easy to change so I was getting the links to Amazon instead of Barnes and Noble. I get about one email a week with recommendations and personalized offers. Now, to the review...

True Crime is one of my favorite genres. That being said, my observation is that true crime is usually done well by an author who wasn't involved in the case. While this was a sad, yet interesting story written by the mother who experienced it, it was a little disjointed and repetitive. There was a little too much whining (and I would whine, too, if I were this mother), but it doesn't make for compelling literature.

That being said, it was a good story. Set in England, Cathy is a mother of three, divorced, but remarried. Kirsty, her youngest daughter, rushes into a hasty marriage with a man her family doesn't approve of. When she goes missing, her family prays she has gotten away from her abusive husband and will get in touch when she feels it is safe to do so. Then comes a knock at the door. It's the police. They have found Kirsty.

Justice is slow in coming, but when they finally go to trial, shameful secrets are revealed. In addition, Cathy's middle daughter Hailey has "learned" to cope by drowning her sorrows in liquor, which doesn't lead to anything good. This family is dealing with tragedy after tragedy, and it is truly heartbreaking. I just wish it were written better.

View all my reviews

Thursday Thirteen

 

I have had bison on the brain since visiting the Armand Bayou Nature Center where we observed some from a viewing platform (as well as from Guy's Grocery Games where chefs often cook with it).  I asked my husband if he knew the difference between a buffalo and a bison.  He didn't, so I decided to look it up.

1.  Well, guess what?  A buffalo is NOT a type of bison or vice versa!  Bison and buffalo are not interchangeable names.

2. The confusion likely stems from early European explorers that may have described bison using the French word boeuf, which means beef.  

3.  Buffalo never roamed the American plains.  They are native to Africa and Asia while bison are native to North America and Europe.

4.  The horns on buffalo and bison are very different.  Water buffalo have horns that resemble a handle-bar mustache. Cape buffalo have long crescent-shaped horns. Bison have short, sharp horns.

Image Credit

5.  They have thick coats that they shed in spring and summer.

6.  Bison have large humps at their shoulders as well as large heads.

7.  They also have beards.

Image Credit

8.  Bison are not endangered, but they are nearly at a threatened state.

9.   About 30,000 exist in conservation herds and another 500,000 are raised as livestock. (This makes me sad.)

10. Bison are the largest land animal in North America with males weighing up to 2,000 pounds and females up to 1,000 pounds.

Image Credit

11. Bison make grunting and snorting noises and bellows, but they don't moo like cows.

12. Bison are only aggressive if they feel threatened, and they can run up to 40 miles per hour.  They can also jump vertically up to six feet. But don't worry about them hunting you; they're herbivores.

13. They have excellent senses of hearing and smell, but they have poor eyesight.

Link up with Thursday Thirteen for more fun!

Thanks to these great sites for giving me great information about bison!

Smithsonian's National Zoo

National Wildlife Federation