The iceberg is a frozen Thanksgiving turkey weighing 21.55 pounds. My brother Steve, the family bargain hunter, was finally satisfied when pre-Thanksgiving turkey prices dipped to 27 cents a pound at one local grocery chain. I'm grateful that our family has a turkey when others do not, but it is quite suspenseful waiting to see what he's going to bring home. So far his picks haven't been too big to fit in the refrigerator or oven, but I'm glad that the Pilgrims didn't have a Thanksgiving elephant instead.

Not that the Democrats wouldn't have liked a Thanksgiving elephant given how they are taking the election results, but I'm also glad that the post-election snits haven't been too bad. The celebrities aren't leaving America wholesale, although Canada had so many inquiries about immigration policies that they had to warn that Americans had to stand in line with anyone else wanting to live in Canada. They may be waiting to see who ends up on the Supreme Court before fleeing for a liberal Promised Land.

I've got more immediate problems to deal with. I signed up for a new website for my ABWA chapter and didn't quite get it right. Instead of two separate sites, I've got two sites under the same membername, so I access both with the single login. Since the new site has a paid domain name which can't be moved, I'm going to have to move this site to a new one. I'm going to review my pages and see what can be revised before the move. I'll put information on my progress in straightening this out on the home page. At least I've got the new website up and mostly filled in.

The weather is turning more favorable for such indoor activities. We're getting the usual fall rains now with gray, foggy weather. The tomato plants have actually perked up but aren't setting more fruits in the chilly temperatures. They are dawdling along over their last fruits, slowly turning them a pale orange instead of the brilliant crimson of summer. An occasional tiny lemon or pinkish fruit ripens on the yellow or pink tomato plants, pretty well spent now. The red-fruited Better Boys are the ones still trying their best.

I'm shredding lots of paper to put onto the garden, getting ready for winter. It is helping to keep the soil evenly moist around the broccoli and cabbage plants, which are still flourishing in their favorite climate. The turnip greens are in a spurt now, and I hope to get a few meals from the last of them before hard frost.

The cats are not nearly as happy as the plants. The nights have gotten cold and damp enough that we are trying to keep them indoors so they won't catch cold. They are old enough that they aren't the tough outdoor cats they used to be, but they are grumpy old men who won't listen to reason. Mom is especially determined to keep them in since her older brother passed away last week. That reminder of our mutual mortality has her insistent on keeping the "babies" safe from harm.

I'm feeling unsettled about it all right now. I was too sick from a stomach virus to go to the funeral. While the rest of the family was remembering cousins and finding out who was still here and who was gone, I spent the time watching the cats and wondering if I might be next. I'm feeling better now, but it was still a strange feeling to be ill while my uncle was in his final days and the family was preparing for his death. I've got enough chronic medical problems that it isn't something I can take lightly.

The crafting didn't get much done because of the new website taking so much time when I could sit up at the computer. I did get one side of the latest child's sweater finished and the other side started. I've got more ideas than ever waiting to be done after the earlier ideas get dredged up from the organizer memo list. Fabric.com has lots of new fabrics that I have drooled over, and I am particularly tempted by several of them. Only the usual crunch of things to do is holding back a flood of purchases.

I need to decide on Christmas presents soon. It's hard to believe that the holidays are upon us again. My ideas for making Christmas presents are pretty well recycled for next year. I will never get to them in time for this year. I haven't even gotten the Christmas centerpiece started, even though all the materials are gathered for it from last year.

Fortunately the mail order catalogs are flooding in loaded with lots of goodies, and the internet sites are filling with holiday specials. I don't like to get out in the holiday crowds these days. I'm spoiled by dawdling over screens full of items where I can check prices before I make the final decision. I can play Santa late at night, cackling over the keyboard to myself as goodies are lined up for shipping without even a trace of illicit smoke wafting up from my well-used credit card. Then I only have to try to beat Steve to the door when the UPS and mail carriers show up with the suspicious packages. There really ought to be one (or more) from fabric.com for me, too!