Thanksgiving and the days leading up to it

It’s been a busy week. While we have gathered at my daughter’s house for Thanksgiving for at least fifteen years, either in the city or here in the country, this year everyone is coming here again, same as last year. Grocery shopping done and housecleaning started on Monday, food prep and more house cleaning on Tuesday, more food prep and house cleaning and cranberry sauce and pie making on Wednesday. I made a chocolate fudge pecan pie, having been inspired by Mary Moon. I dug out my Aunt Mimi’s heritage very basic seven ingredient recipe with minimal instructions and no sister to ask about it, my first time to make this pie. It turned out a little over cooked even though I set the timer for the lower end of the cooking time, and then at dinner I learned from my daughter, who has made it before and did ask her aunt about how to make it, that I was supposed to melt the butter and sugar and chocolate together, not just the butter and chocolate, which I didn’t do. It was still fudgey and rich if a little sugary crunchy against the pie crust. Oh well, next time.

Yesterday I put together and baked the dressing and the butternut squash and cranberry casserole. 

Sarah will bring the rest of the food; turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, broccoli rice casserole, green beans, mashed potatoes with a small vegan version, brussels sprouts, eggplant; Autumn will make and bring the dinner rolls.

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We were expecting 10 adults and one three year old but Robin and her boyfriend got delayed at his mother’s house and Audra and Paisleigh were stuck in Arkansas where she had gone to visit her family last weekend and Mikey elected not to join us. It ended up being just the six of us; Marc and I, Sarah and Mike, and Jade and Autumn who came from Austin, and way too much food. It was a fun evening sitting around the table eating way too much with no drama.

After four full days, I’m being a couch potato today. I'll get back out in the yard tomorrow.

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I have a correction on my object #3 post. Marc reminded me that my father not only co-signed the loan papers, he loaned me the 10% down payment so the loan was for $17,100 plus interest. Still an astronomical amount to me at the time. He never asked me to pay that money back but it all worked out later when my siblings and I bailed our parents out of a financial bind many decades later that they never paid back. Also, an addition. I forgot to add that Marc and I got married in that house, a quick little ceremony by a friend and then a big party.

indecision and preparation

I'm no closer to deciding what to do about the shadow boxes than I was a week ago.

I pulled out the four stains I have and stained wood samples,

pine

red oak

I found a small black frame I haven't used yet and held the glass over it,

I painted a piece of trim white,

I painted a piece of plywood and trim black.

In the past I have always framed my work for hanging with black frames, custom made for each piece, as it sets the colors and luminosity of the glass off nicely though most just show a 1/4” edge of black around the work.

There are a few exceptions like this blue jay feather for which I bought a cheap commercially available frame

and the shadow boxes my brother made for the feathers.

I suppose I could try one of the stains and then paint it if I didn't like it.

Any decision will have to wait for another day or so. I spent yesterday making the cranberry sauce and all the prep work for the dressing which I need to get in the kitchen shortly to put it all together and get it cooking for our family gathering later today for Thanksgiving at our daughter's house.

Also yesterday I trimmed and cleaned up the mold of the luna moth that Marc made on Tuesday and did my volume measure and repaired some pretty deep holes where bubbles didn't rise up or got caught.

While my glass blowing friends Dick and Kathy opted not to do the open house again this year for various reasons, they and our friend Gene who does fused glass and myself are going in together for a booth space for a one day Artisan's Market show the first Saturday in December so I need to figure out which pieces I'll take and what I can fit on my display board as I'll only be using half my regular set up. I don't think I'll actually sell anything as my price point is mostly out of reach for this particular market but I'll enjoy hanging out with my friends whom I haven't seen in two years.

Wishing everyone a loving gathering with family and friends today be it small or large.

Thanksgiving in the year of the virus

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Despite the current situation, we do all have plenty to be thankful for. Number 1 on my list is Trump did not get re-elected.

We didn't do Thanksgiving at my house growing up. My mother said she wasn't doing all that food if she just had to do it again a month later for Christmas. The irony is that I don't ever remember her cooking our Christmas dinner, the maid did and another couple (who had their dinner on Christmas Day) came and served it and cleaned up afterwards, though she must have early on I suppose, and then when I was 12 my parents bought a lot in Sea Isle on Galveston's west end and built a beach house and forever after Thanksgiving weekend was spent there along with every other weekend and summers until I grew up and left home. After I married and the kids were young we would go to Marc's mother's house for a very laid back casual Thanksgiving except for the times we hosted it all formal like (had to use all that china and silver sometime) and even later as we all got older it became a smaller more casual affair at our house or later still when Sarah and her family were living next door, at her house or both houses. After our son got married the first time he abandoned us for his in-laws big gathering, the only time he got to see some of them whom he liked. We even joined them one year. Later still our son and his new real wife hosted Thanksgiving their first year of marriage, their one and only time to do that. After we bought the country house we would have it mostly out here. Since 2014 when we sold our city property and Sarah and her family moved into a bigger house she has been hosting it in the city. Until this year. Sarah and Mike moved out here on their land last January into a small manufactured home and so Thanksgiving was once again going to be moved to our house and then the virus hit.

Because Zoom Thanksgiving is better than ICU Christmas, the plan was that we would each still do our part of the cooking and share but eat at our respective homes. The grandgirls were coming in from three different cities (the grandboy going to Arkansas with his girlfriend) and even though they are all very careful, not going out and wearing masks when they do, we opted to follow the advice of the health care professionals. It's just one year after all out of many and considering the sacrifices and rationing our parents' and grandparents' generation endured during WWII to ensure that the war effort had all they needed, it seems a small effort to skip the big family gathering in order to insure that we are all here next year.

That was the plan. And then Sarah texted on Tuesday that one of her asymptomatic co-workers tested positive. The co-worker's father was planning to come in so she and her brother went and got tested just in case and, surprise!, she tested positive. My daughter got tested Wednesday morning but won't have the results for 2 – 4 days. Two of the grandgirls have opted to stay home, last minute ideas were tossed around but ultimately we decided not to do the massive amount of cooking and just skip that whole thing. Well, not skip the whole thing, Sarah got a turkey breast and is fixing small amounts of the traditional meal for her and Mike and Autumn. Marc and I are blowing it off altogether. We will have a meal, just the two of us, it just won't be turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, etc. but there will be dessert, that is if I get in the kitchen and make it.

We have no idea how long her co-worker was at work shedding virus. There's only 9 of them, all feeling well, all wearing masks at work, disinfecting surfaces every day, the building has an excellent ventilation system because of all the machines. Sarah has been going to yoga with us and a week ago last Wednesday was the last time she was in close quarters in the car with Pam and I, no masks. Both Pam and I feel fine and surely a week is long enough for us to feel ill if Sarah was shedding virus then and exposed us. Regardless, I cautioned all the neighbors I encountered when I walked the dog yesterday to stay far back while we chatted. Sarah feels confident her test will come back negative but even so the family decided to act as if she is positive. If her test does come back positive, then I'll get tested but like her, I don't think I've been infected. So for now it's just a wait and see.

From Thanksgivings past...

2018

2013

2016

2014

2017

2017

(Don't know what the fuck is up with blogger but it would not accept the first two years in my chosen font no matter how many times I tried to fix it.)