Sue Ann (Suna) Kendall

My Hair Scared Me

[First off, my apologies for another post full of pictures of me, but it’s hard to get photos of my hair without me in them. However…]

My Red Period, and a picture of me that I don’t cringe at. I am perfect the way I am! Repeat after me!

As you lovely readers know, I keep changing my hair color, because I love the Overtone color/conditioner. I’m not sure why I, a Certified Tomboy, keep coloring my hair weird colors and getting my nails done, but, that’s just me, I guess. This week, however, I got a hair scare, and people kept commenting on it!

For the past couple of months (starting in mid-October), my hair has been RED. The color of a stop sign, not a ginger person’s hair. When it’s first done, and after the first wash, it’s pretty spectacular and looks good with my complexion. I really enjoyed my Red Period, which is the name of the photo at right.

The problem started when I was unable to replenish the color after three washes, which is what I normally do, since the temporary color washes out.

Over the weekend, I noticed my hair was not at all red. In fact it was quite the Thanksgiving/autumn orange. It almost looked…gasp…NATURAL! What the heck?

Building Things: Floats, Chicken Coops, More

Hiya hiya (a brand of knitting needles), everyone. I’ve been trying to write this all day, but I can’t complain, because my lunch hour, when I often write, was pleasantly filled with a nice conversation and lunch with my friend Melissa. We had one of our usual hour-long regurgitation of the highs and lows of our lives since we last saw each other, which was way more fun than sitting at my desk typing!

Harvey supervises the painting of our giant wooden Hermann house.

Yesterday was an equally full day. Kathleen and Chris made it to Cameron Saturday evening, so we set out to do on Sunday all the things we’d originally planned to do over the whole Thanksgiving week. Not everything got done, but we sure did a LOT. We’re really grateful to Chris for how hard he worked.

Saturday we started out working on our float the the Cameron Christmas Parade. The good news is that we already have a truck and a trailer, so yay. And another good thing is that a marvelous invention, the battery-operated Christmas light, has enabled us to light the float without putting a big ole generator on the back of the pickup.

Vlassic is dubious about the quality of my tree construction. Hey, it’s worth every penny of the $30 they paid for it.

What Do You Hear?

The past couple of days we’ve seen waves and waves of sandhill cranes fly over. I got some pretty photos.

What’s really been fun in that they keep flying by after dark. We’ve been working on projects in the garage for the past two evenings, and it’s been a true joy to listen to their clacking sounds.

When the cranes stop, the owls take over. On a crisp evening like tonight, with all the stars out, it’s great to be in Central Texas.

Texas Weather Weirdness AND Trouble in Kindness Land

This holiday weekend has had some rough weather all over the US, and I am grateful to have had nothing worse than fog and light rain. But still, I got quite a weather surprise last night. All day it had been damp, a bit chilly, and breezy. I was glad to have my coat on for horsing around and walking with the dogs.

I heard a lot about Lego creativity from Mandi’s youngest son last night. He is really funny and clever.

So, around 7:30 or so, I went over to Mandi’s house to look for rattlesnakes…um, no, to watch her make pies and talk to her kids. I put on the same coat I’d worn all day, and stepped onto the porch. WHAT?? It was HOT outside! Yes, after sunset it had warmed up at least ten degrees, maybe more. Now, that is NOT a usual weather pattern! It appears that the front that had stalled over the state had moved back to the north and brought sauna-like conditions. That’s a new one! And right now it’s almost 80 degrees, on the last day of November!

Kindness Land

I realize I could have made two posts, but since no one’s really reading this stuff this weekend, I’ll just combine topics.

You see, I have been struggling with kindness in some areas of my life. Since being kind is important to me, I’m trying to build new patterns and attitudes toward people I come across. To be honest, there are always people we find hard to be kind to, whether it’s someone who treats us or another person rudely, the person whose driving puts you in danger, or a coworker with no boundaries (made-up examples; please don’t worry if I am referring to you).

Damp and Dreary Can Be Cheery

Today started out bathed in fog, and as the sun sets it’s still drizzling. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful day. You can find beauty anywhere if you just look around! Just look at all these beautiful water droplets!

Anita stayed over last night, sleeping on my gradually softening air bed. Shoot, that was a GOOD air bed. We had the nicest discussion, just Anita, Lee, and me, as we drank our hot beverages and finished cleaning up after last night’s delicious Thanksgiving dinner. I felt so relaxed, with Carlton curled up in my lap, and the fog draped over the trees outside.

I got Anita to walk the dogs with me and pose like she is out on the misty moors. It was fun to walk through all the tiny air droplets. It wasn’t too cold, so it was good walking weather.

Thanksgiving Hello

If you’re in the USA I hope you’re reflecting on what you’re grateful for today. Right now I’m grateful that USUALLY Facebook works great out here. Today I can’t greet anyone!

I’m grateful for whoever shows up today to eat with me.

So far, it’s rainy, and some of our guests may not make it. I hope that 29-pound turkey wasn’t a mistake! But I’ll just enjoy the day!

My wish for you is that you cherish what is good in your life and learn from the challenges. I’m grateful for friends and family who’ve reached out to me already…my stepmom, my step sister, my brother, a couple of Cameron friends, the book club, and even my favorite undergrad professor. Wow. Love is everywhere.

Be safe, eat well, and hug someone who likes to be hugged.

Hugs-giving OR What Are Your Traditions?

Apparently the DOG tradition is “Thankstuffing” according to the Bark Box people, who sent us a nice stuffed turkey toy for Vlassic to destroy.

Admittedly, I am one of those people really uncomfortable with the traditional US Thanksgiving origin story, especially since I have ancestors who were there on both sides of that particular piece of history. Probably most of us who are descended from the early settlers in the US are like that, since the settlers and the people who were already there seemed to hook up a lot when they weren’t attacking each other. As with most historical eras, I have a feeling that there were people who were good to each other and those who were not. Anyway…

The cactus in the kitchen window also wants to celebrate. Ooh, Aah.

…what I do like about Thanksgiving is the idea of an entire day to remember to be thankful for the abundance you have, your family, and your friends. That’s what I celebrate every year…that and delicious food, especially my oyster cornbread dressing and my orange/ginger cranberry sauce. I could probably get through the day with just those and a baked sweet potato.

Recipe: Cranberry Orange Sauce with Ginger Bits

Here’s the sauce I insist on making every year, whether people want it or not. Since I could eat it all myself, that’s no problem. It’s simple and delicious. (I will add a photo when I find one.)

Ingredients

1 bag of cranberries (regular size, not the huge ones)
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice, with some orange pieces if desired
1 cup sugar (I have used Stevia or Splenda when serving diabetics)
1/4 cups candied ginger, cut into small bits (or some fresh ginger; don’t use powdered)

Method

In a sturdy, medium-sized pan, combine all ingredients. Cook on high, stirring to mix in the sugar well, until the cranberries start to pop. Lower the heat and cook until the sauce begins to thicken, 5 minutes or so.

Let the sauce sit a while to cool off, then pour into a bowl and put in the refrigerator. The sauce will thicken more as it cools.

Serve in a beautiful dish, which it so rightly deserves.

My Health Is MY Business; Yours Is Your Business

[Skip this if you have food triggers. Thank you.]

I figure it’s a good time to update on my intention to eat in a more healthy way and nip that triglyceride issue in the bud.

(At the same time I am demonstrating that you can post to this blog in columns.)

I’m feeling really good lately, and quite positive about everything. That’s probably why I am not in the least upset to pass by a dinner roll or a piece of pie. It has occurred to me that, just because a piece of food exists, I don’t have to eat it unless I want to.

So, even with going to New Orleans and all those other trips, I’ve been eating reasonable portions of mostly healthy food. I don’t weigh myself much, but my jeans tell me I’ve at least slimmed down a little. This is mainly good, because I don’t want to buy new clothing.

I’ve walked a LOT and have been hitting my exercise goal more often the past month or two. I actually have come to crave movement and don’t like just sitting around for a long time. I just get up and walk! It can’t hurt.

So, my health seems good. It’s how I like it. That’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it.

And YOU?

After listening to people tell each other over and over again that they “should” be “doing keto” or cutting carbs, or fasting, or eating what your body tells you to…I sure am tired of people thinking they know what’s right for someone else.

I have friends of all shapes and sizes, as well as exercise lovers and haters. You know what? If you have thought about it long and hard and are happy with how you eat and the amount of movement you get in, well, it’s not my job to tell you otherwise.

If you ASK me what I do to keep healthy, then, sure, I’ll tell you how I am a big fan of moderation in everything, but that I’ve cut back on sugar and carbs lately for health reasons. But do I think you have to do that because I do? Nope.

What I would appreciate, though, would be for people who know I have reasons for my food choices trying to get me to change them. “Oh it’s just one cookie.” Yeah, but right now I don’t want one. I’ll have one later.

Gallery of Me

Well, Here I Go Again

I think I’m on a big kick of telling you how I handle issues that bug me. I’m like the happy curmudgeon, telling people to get off my lawn, but kindly and with good intent. Thanks to everyone who puts up with these blog posts. Thanks to the few of you who read my odes to my horses, too.

PS: All these pictures of me make me feel a little vain, but the idea is to show I am happy, at least in photos, however I’m doing in the eating department.

Who’s Lee? Does He Say Anything?

Lee as the cover of a romance novel for middle-aged women.

Lee is my spouse! I’ve mentioned him before, I just know it. Oh, I can be funny.

We will have been married 11 years on Friday. He’s a hermit. But he does right a lot. You’ve perhaps seen some of his posts on our Hermit Haus Redevelopment blog or the new Hearts, Homes and Hands blog. Still, he told me he wondered why no one seems to come across his personal blog, while I get a reasonable number of hits.

I told him no one’s going to just stumble over it; they have to know it’s there. I share.

Now I will share Lee!

If you’d like to learn a little bit about him, head over to The Hermitage, a blog he’s been keeping since I met him. There he gets to control all his HTML and format all his pictures exactly how he likes it, and that makes him happy.

None of this WordPress hand-holding for him! Right now, he’s sharing what he’s grateful for, and I’m happy to be one of those things.

I’m grateful for my spousal unit, too. He’s really kind, generous, stubborn, and occasionally grumpy. Other times, he’s funny and sweet. In other words, he’s human!

One thing that makes us a fun couple is how different we are. Go see him and find out for yourself! Give him a comment or follow him on Blogger.