Quiet Day

I did not get one decent Thanksgiving photo but we had a great time.  It rained but it was nearly 65° outside. Here are the remains of the day.

The best news is my newly married Grand-girl came with her spouse.  Her mother to put it mildly did not want her to get married and they have hardly spoken since.  But us grandmothers are hard to manage.  So they were invited and we made them welcome.  I don't see reconciliation at this point in her Mom, who I love dearly, but maybe signs of acceptance.  

In spite of my vows to ignore Black Friday I did go home that night and log onto my laptop and ordered a different version of the shirt I got for my youngest son last year.  He asked for another one and whoopee, I got it for less than half of what I paid last year.  Went on to find winter hiking boots for my eldest, just like the ones he loved and just wore out last year. 

Then Friday we did make our annual trek to D&B Supply in Pendleton, Oregon. It's a farm supply/mercantile store and they have a Smartwool sock sale each Thanksgiving week. By then the sun was out. The 40 mile drive is through rolling wheat fields on one side and still green foothills of the Blue Mountains on the other.  Very little traffic and lots of horses and few cattle galumphing about enjoying themselves.

Tonight is another gathering of family from out of town before they return home.  I've enjoyed myself but honestly three days in a row and I feel my inner hermit looking for a book and a corner to hide in.  Hope your holiday was good. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Norman Rockwell made several of my favorite Thanksgiving scenes.  This one reminds me of my Grandmother Laura. Our Grandpa didn't wear a suit but Grandma Laura would have been in her dress, stockings and "sensible" heels. Dinner was served on a round oak table in the kitchen.  The kid's table was a card table(s) in the living room. It was a tiny house filled with love and excellent food. How all of us managed to squeeze in still baffles me, sometimes all four of their kids were there with all 13 of us cousins. Loud and happy. I wish you all this kind of joy.

'Tis the Season Almost

The season for many things. In the last 10 days we've had  two 60° days and an a few overnight night lows of 30°.  The fall winds made driving in the newer round-about trickier than usual.  Those are the biggest tumbleweeds I have ever seen here.  Apparently everything didn't burn up this year. And it is windy and flat here.

Then there's the impending holiday season.  I ordered myself a comfy, red cable knit sweater for winter from from Landsend with a 40% off coupon.  Hooray for me. and I can also wear it Christmas morning. HOWEVER I got five Landsend Catalogs in the mail in soon after; four of them came in one day, right after the sweater.  I can't think our mail guy really liked that.  How can they afford to send all those fat glossy print catalogs?

Here comes Thanksgiving. It's my favorite family holiday. We've sorted the menu by text.  There are still 22+ linked by family and marriages gathering although new babies and new in-laws have rearranged the who is coming list. I'm bringing old favorites from my original family including celery sticks stuffed with cream cheese and nuts, as well as many, many deviled eggs and much fruit salad built on a variation of a Waldorf salad with mandarin oranges and vanilla/yogurt dressing.  Two years ago I put guacamole in some of the deviled eggs wondering if anyone would eat those green eggs (no ham).  But they disappeared even the grandkids ate them.

I have much to be thankful this year.  Not least of all pumpkin pie with real whipping cream. That makes my heart go pittypat the most. Grandkids? Them too, but pumpkin pie!! What's your favorite Thanksgiving dish? 

Cooking Again

I haven't been posting here much for quite awhile. Seem to have lost my muse.  

I've engineered more grandchild company.  Since I live in a smallish condo I plan something to get the kids out and moving. It has gotten me moving again too and cooking again. So besides the company I'm eating better and getting outside more.

Every Tuesday I still have the two home schooled eleven year-olds and I make breakfast and lunch for them. Breakfast varies but always has a bacon side for them, I don't eat it anymore (sigh). Yesterday we had applesauce pancakes.  Yesterday was sunny and after visiting the library we went up to the lake for a picnic. We got half way done and a big, cold wind came up so we went back to the car (with the view pictured above), played music on the radio finished lunch and read in the car for about half an hour. It was lovely.

The youngest set of grandkids are now coming one at a time for Friday overnights. Their Uncle Chris comes over and we play games and have dinner. Since Chris lives only three blocks away we invite him back for breakfast Saturday morning. They love him and he'll watch cartoons with them. I just realized even though I'm good on my own I miss having some family in the house. If the weather stinks we're all book people so we enjoy reading in each other's faces. The two youngest are just learning to read so I got some beginning books they read to me alternated with me reading to them from my pile of kid's books.

Thanksgiving looms and I'm going to make some things I haven't in awhile, a chocolate sour cream cheesecake for one, and gallons of fruit salad with a nice light vanilla yogurt dressing and sliced almonds and mandarin oranges, and it must be time for breakfast.