On October 1st, Allen's Tang Soo Do class had a special celebration for his teacher, Master Miller. The adult class and the student class had a combined class to celebrate Master Miller's 50th birthday. After a good workout, the students surprised Mr. Miller with a certificate in honor of becoming an adoptive parent to Brave Spirit, the eagle pictured above. Mr. Miller loves eagles, so this was a very special gift. What a wonderful evening it was.

The eagle gift is from the American Eagle Foundation. Take a minute and click on the name to see some beautiful pictures.

Today I bought some freshly picked watercress from our mennonite friend, Ronald. I lightly sauteed it, but for some reason it had a bitter taste. Next time I will snip off the stems. I have made delicious watercress soup, but the watercress I got today looked like arugula. I googled some pictures of both, and some of the pictures look the same!

I also made a very weird but tasty dish called Georgia Cracker Salad. I found this recipe on Paula Deen's website. It sounded intriguing, so I had to try it. Here's the recipe:

Georgia Cracker Salad

Ingredients:
1 sleeve saltine crackers (we used 1 bag oyster crackers)
1 large tomato, finely chopped (I used 2)
3 green onions, finely chopped
1 1/2 cup mayonnaise (I used 2/3 cup)
1 hard boiled egg, finely chopped

Because we are allergic to egg whites, I used 3 egg yolks. Delicious!

Tomorrow, Sarah and Anna are going with my Dad to Padre Island, Texas for 10 days. Lizzie was planning on going, but finally decided she didn't want to leave her mama...and her pets. She gets too homesick. That's okay by me. The weather this week in Texas is in the 90s, but the normal is in the low to mid 80s. How I wish I were going!
This past summer I bought this beautiful, brown, ceramic cornucopia at the thrift shop. Now that autumn is here, we had fun filling it with indian corn and gourds for our centerpiece. This summer was the 24th coolest summer on record (in 125 years), but this autumn is the most beautiful that I ever remember. Perfect weather...but we could use a bit of rain.

I am exhausted from all the running around today. Mike went with Maggie to her chiropractor appt so he could learn how to massage her arm/neck, but the Dr was running late, so they have to go back on Thursday.

Maggie was hurting after her occupational therapy today, so she's been enjoying watching a young Steve McQueen in Wanted: Dead or Alive. If you enjoy westerns that have no bad language, you may enjoy these. This series has 94 episodes that are only 20+ minutes each. I like any westerns where the hero is a cowboy who lives by the cowboy code: honesty, integrity, and charity.

Ruthie gets an x-ray of her arm tomorrow, so we'll see how she's doing. Lizzie and Allen mowed the field and the yard...hopefully for the winter. Sarah and Anna are packing. And I'm calling it quits for the day. Many blessings ~ Kathie