Meanwhile in Texoma........

[neonzx]

The big mall in our previous TX city has been completely knocked down. A friend sent us video of the now flat landscape.

That mall was a frequent destination for us during the over 30 years we lived there. Had all the big stores JC Penney, Sears, Wards, Macy's, Dillards, Foley's, Mervyn's, etc. Restaurants, a food court, book stores, shoe stores and more.

It was where we got our girls photos taken with Santa. Where we went to the movies. Sigh.

Don't know what the plans are now for the site.

I don't mean to hijack your thread, but dead malls are fascinating to me.

There is a mall I used to visit on occasion in North Randall, OH (a far east burb of Cleveland). For a time, when it opened in the early 70s, it was the largest mall in the world.

It completely shut in the early 2010s and sat for years just disintegrating and vandalized. You can find abandoned mall hunters on youtube who visit such. Randall Park Mail was finally demolished several years ago.

Vids

► Show Spoiler

What was the first new build on the big property? A huge Amazon Distribution warehouse. A certain irony in that.

[Volkonski]

Greetings from Knoxville.

This city is most famous for being halfway between the North Fork and Texoma.

[Volkonski]

Last night on the road in Bryant Arkansas.

Today was our longest day. Over 8 hours of driving.

Tomorrow only 6 hours of driving to reach home.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

The Kid's Lady Wife is from Bryant.

[Volkonski]

Got home yesterday about 3 pm with no problems.

[Foggy]

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

[AndyinPA]

[Volkonski]

While we were on the North Fork our son in law put in a new WiFi system which is faster and more powerful.

It also has a different name and password.

In this modern world that meant that over the last few days I spent quite a bit of time changing the WiFi settings on-

2 PCs
2 smartphones
4 Google Home devices
a refrigerator
a dishwasher
a smart TV
a minivan
3 Rokus

I fear there may be more devices I have overlooked.

[Volkonski]

Still very close to water use restrictions.

Lake levels drop slightly

https://www.timesrecordnews.com/story/n ... 627279007/

As of Monday, Lake Arrowhead was 68.8 percent full while Lake Kickapoo was at 58.7 percent of capacity. The joint capacity of the city's two primary reservoirs was 66.3 percent. That's a 0.4 percent drop from the previous week when rain had bolstered the lakes by nearly one percent.

Lake Kemp, whose water can also be used, stood at 53.4 percent capacity on Monday.

If the combined level of lakes Arrowhead and Kickapoo were to drop to 65 percent, stricter water-use restrictions would kick in.

Although the National Weather Service predicted thunderstorms over the weekend, Wichita Falls officially received just .03-inch of rain. Wichita Falls had received 15.69 inches of rain in 2022 as of Monday compared to normal rainfall of 25.15 inches.

[Volkonski]

Mrs. V. has gone down to Dallas to visit our younger daughter and take her to today's Dallas Symphony performance of the Verdi Requiem. Mrs. V. is also delivering our daughter's North Fork purchases from the summer.

Then they will stay in an hotel together overnight (our daughter's apartment does not have a lot of room for guests) and go out to dinner. Our SIL gets to stay home and take care of the cats and rats. I only have our two cats to take care of.

When we got back here a week ago high temperatures were in the 70s but things have gotten colder with highs in the low 50s and lows below freezing.

We may get some rain tomorrow which we very much need. Northern Texoma (the part in OK) might get snow.

[Volkonski]

Our city's reservoirs have dropped below 66% full despite the tenth of an inch of rain we got yesterday. With no rain in the forecast it is certain that they will drop below 65% which will trigger another round of water use restrictions.

[Volkonski]

Mrs. V. is out doing some preliminary shopping for Thanksgiving. Our SIL's family are coming here from Colorado and our younger daughter will be coming up from Dallas so we will have a full house.

Food preparation duties have been assigned. I am doing 2 kinds of stuffing and whole berry cranberry sauce. I will also help with the turkey.

This weekend Mrs. V will attend the Texas Falls Toot with many other recorder players. She is driving down with another attendee and they will pick up one of the Toot leaders from California at DFW Airport on the way.

So for the second weekend in a row I am without a car.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

My Mom went to the Texas Toot!!!!!!!!

[Volkonski]

Yesterday our daughter spent most of the day ordering Thanksgiving groceries for pick up at Walmart and Market Street (like a Whole Foods). Mrs. V previously got a 20 pound Butterball at Aldi's before she left for the Texas Toot.

Some items were already hard to find. The vegan turkey substitute at Walmart was almost sold out but she got one. The vegan dinner rolls were already gone at both stores. Had to get an off brand of sweet potatoes instead of Sugary Sam's but did get vegan marshmallows.

She started quizzing me on what ingredients I needed at about 10 AM and finally picked up her orders at about 7 PM.

Our daughter's MIL is bringing home made pumpkin and cherry pies but our daughter got a pre-Thanksgiving pumpkin pie to tide us over until that side of the family gets here.

Gherkin pickles were sold out so she got smallish pickles which we will cut down in size. Olives we already had.

Both our SIL and I need dry sherry for some of our dishes. Our daughter and SIL had 2/3rds of a bottles of sherry but she got a bottle of cooking sherry just to be sure.

Liquor store run will be Monday. Our martini-loving daughter is short of vermouth and we have neither rum nor brandy for the eggnog. Our daughter did get Corona Beer for the refried bean soup.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

So, Volkonski, what time shall we arrive for the feast? Ima bringing champagne.

[bill_g]

Vegan marshmallows?

[RTH10260]

Vegan marshmallows?

likely made without animal gelatine.

[bill_g]

Vegan marshmallows?

likely made without animal gelatine.

Yeah. I read up on that. Seaweed based gelatin agar agar. Thankfully I was never a fan of plain old marshmallows. So, if I were to ever pursue a vegan diet, that's one substitute I won't need.

[pipistrelle]

Vegan marshmallows?

Yeah, they're not as fluffy and when they get hard they get really hard. And at least around here they're pricey.

[AndyinPA]

Gummies are off the food list because of the gelatin for my grandkids. My granddaughter doesn't mind cheating for them.

[Volkonski]

Wichita Falls area lakes continue to drop in level.

[Volkonski]

All Water Users

The City of Wichita Falls enforces the following year-round watering restrictions:

No watering with sprinklers from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm.
No operation of irrigation (watering) systems that have broken components or leaks.
Spray irrigation cannot run down the curb for more than 50 feet.
Bubbler, drip, or soaker irrigation cannot run down the curb for more than five (5) feet.
If washing vehicles at home, the hose must have a positive shutoff nozzle.
Hand watering can be done at any time.

Business and Water Restrictions

The following requirements apply to businesses year-round:

Commercial car washes must use nozzles that discharge <3.0 gpm
Restaurants cannot serve water unless asked for by the customer.
Restaurants cannot use pre-rinse nozzles that discharge more than 1.6 gpm.
Restaurants must have a positive shutoff on the pre-rinse nozzles.
Ice machines cannot be single-pass or water-cooled.
Hotels/Motels/Short term lodging must offer customers a linen reuse option that is displayed in all rooms.

[Kriselda Gray]

Vegan marshmallows?

likely made without animal gelatine.

Yeah. I read up on that. Seaweed based gelatin agar agar. Thankfully I was never a fan of plain old marshmallows. So, if I were to ever pursue a vegan diet, that's one substitute I won't need.

Well, then, you won't need to know this, but imlearned from the Great British Bake Off that if you use vegetarian gelatin, it *has* to be boiled or it won't set up at all.

[Volkonski]

Our Thanksgiving plans have been upended. Our SIL's mother has tested positive for Covid 19 so she and her husband won't be coming.

Whether SIL's brother and brother's wife will be coming is uncertain at this point. They don't live with the parents but they live in the same city and see a lot of them.

So instead of 9 for Thanksgiving we are definitely down to 7 and might be down to 5. If that happens Mrs. V and I will be the only turkey eaters. We have a 20 lb turkey. Time to look up recipes for leftover turkey.