Lazy Sunday in Paradise

All the ‘mob intimacy’ here last night was wonderful, but I am dragging today, much deserved.  And did I take one photo of the buffet table?  Of course not, I was too busy…but Haley did, so y’all go look right here and salivate just a little.

Our day began with getting the ham and turkey in the smoker at o’dark thirty when it was about 26 outside.  They both smoked to perfection.  Note to self:  get a smaller turkey next year…and cook less food!  We have enough leftovers to feed a small army again today.  Small army in the form of kids and grandkids will be arriving later to help consume all that good stuff.

 

So while I am inside in the kitchen, Dick is outside working on the zip line, replacing his original one and moving the destination to a different tree.  Whatever.  Then comes the keg test.  Check.  Successful.  Next, Dick tried it…so I heard AFTER the fact.  Successful.  Good.  I’m too young to be a widow.

And then Jason had to give it a try, but Dick first gave me a shout out so that I could snap a photo as he went whizzing by.  Sorry it is a bit blurry, but he couldn’t exactly stop to pose for me. 

He made it safely across the cove to the end, and was none the worse for wear.  That dark spot is Dick waiting for Jason’s arrival.  The other dark spot is Jason still on the line. 

See, there is hardly any water in our cove, but that is normal for this time of the year, so it is OK.  It would still be wet and cold if anyone fell in it.  No thank you!

Boys and their toys and their adventures!  What’s next?

Life is good…and we count our blessings!

Gobble, gobble, wobble…

So the ham and turkey are outside cooking in the smoker.  The ham goes on the top rack, and the juices continually baste the bird.  Help me Rhonda, that is quite a combination that Dick discovered quite by accident.  That bird winds up being so moist and tender that we almost don’t want to bother eating the ham…but we do.  And declare them both GOOD.

Here is a list of what is expected on the menu later today:

stuffing, gravy
cranberry relish
corn pudding
Vidalia onion casserole
glazed carrots and parsnips
sweet potato casserole
mashed potatoes
steamed broccoli
marinated Roma tomatoes
zucchini with Parmesan cheese
rolls, butter
pumpkin cheesecake
pecan pie
apple pound cake

Hmm, what am I leaving out???  Oh yes, cranberry nut bread.  I think this is enough to make us all wobble just a bit when we are done!  And tomorrow?  Those bones will be turned into turkey soup.  Yeah, baby…love that!

Check out dyerdining for some of the above recipes…if you are interested.  That site is continually updated as Haley and I go through our recipe files, so go visit any time, and be surprised at what you might find.  Yumm…

Life is definitely GOOD, y’all!

Black Friday? Nope, not here!

It's more like Gray Friday--overcast, NO shopping, well, except for one last trip to the grocery store, but that doesn't count as 'real' shopping.

My Blackberry died during the process of installing the software on the new puter:(  More on that another day.  Got an iPhone 4, so now I have to go through all that setting up, and the learning curve.  Sheesh.  I don't have time for that right now.

So today is also T minus 1 for our Thanksgiving Day, which is why I need to go finish up at the market and come back home to peel, pare and chop.  We expect around 20 for dinner tomorrow.  We're having some good stuff!  Stop by if you are in the neighborhood.  There's always room for one or two more folks around our table.

Happy Friday, y'all!  Life is good...gotta run meet the stained glass lady at church.  A new panel is getting installed.  Woohoo!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Thanksgiving is an emotional holiday. People travel thousands of miles to be with the people they only see once a year. And then discover, once a year is way too often." - Johnny Carson

"Thanksgiving dinner takes 18 hours to prepare. They are consumed in 12 minutes. Half-time takes 12 minutes. This is not coincidence." - Emma Bombeck

"God gave us our relatives; thank God we can choose our friends." - Ethel Watts Mumford

"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it."  ~William Arthur Ward

May you join me in giving THANKS for all our blessings on this special day.

Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus - Must See!

This will put some HAPPY in your day for sure!

I am thankful for eyes to see, and ears to hear...for family, friends and our freedom.

Today involves only a little prep work in the kitchen.  We will actually celebrate our Thanksgiving Day on Saturday. It's a movable feast in our busy world, so Friday and Saturday will both be mighty busy.  And no, I am not partaking of "Black Friday."  No thank you!

Do you have a particular Thanksgiving tradition in your household?  What are you cooking?

Charleston and flying

Sarge was having a high flying adventure in my dreams this morning.  I don’t know what we were in or where we were, but Sarge was busy doing some fancy maneuvering to get away from someone hot on our tail.  Dick was in the R seat navigating, and I was in the backseat helping to look for our annoying traffic.  (That was where I sat on the flight to/from Charleston, so that part was very accurate.)  We safely landed; Sarge was having a fine time; all was well, and then I woke up.  That Sarge fella sure gets around…and always manages to have fun.

Do y’all dream in color?  I always do.  I read somewhere that only about a quarter of the folks dream in color.  Interesting.

So the Griswolds thoroughly enjoyed Charleston and want to go back.  We parked at the Battery and walked toward town, enjoying seeing splendid architecture all along the route.  Many of these homes have three different types of columns on their homes…making use of ionic, Doric and Corinthian styles, one type per level.  Just because they can, I guess.

I happened to look north and spied the most famous smokestack in the world, which we discovered was the Carnival Fantasy docked right there in downtown Charleston.  Folks could just walk off the ship and visit the old slave market (no slaves were SOLD there—it was used by the slaves to sell their wares and is still a neat market today).

 

Vendors sell a variety of items, especially the Sweet Grass baskets that are well known in Charleston.  Beautiful, but pricey.  I managed to resist buying one.  Faith found some interesting gift items, and Dick bought a new leather wallet to replace the one that went through the washing machine…unsuccessfully.

A visit to Charleston isn’t complete without a carriage ride.  We learned lots of history from our (retired teacher) guide, and saw many beautiful buildings with all manner of architectural details. We saw lots of gas lights still functioning with gas.  Many of them have been converted to electric lights, but not all.

 

 

And of course the very expensive Rainbow Row homes are a must see…

 

 

 

Did you know that Charleston suffered a serious earthquake?  Many buildings had to have earthquake cables installed to stabilize the structure.  Those end caps are decorative on this building…some are left plain ole end caps…but there is a cable  that goes from wall to wall with a turn buckle inside to tighten it.  A few buildings just run the cables outside, which isn’t quite so attractive.

And ole Dan did a fine job of pulling us all around downtown:

Lunch followed, with a coloring contest between Dick and Haley, and even a few games of tic tac toe.  Both children were good sports.

 

 

 

And we had to at least go SEE the beach and let Haley get her feet wet and collect a few shells.  There weren’t many folks out actually IN the water.  Even Charleston gets chilly in late November.

 

 

And then we had to go get cleaned up and ready for the party.  More to follow…

Fable of the Porcupine

It was the coldest winter ever.  Many animals died because of  the cold.  The porcupines, realizing the situation, decided to group  together.  This way they covered and protected themselves; but the quills  of each one wounded their closest companions even though they gave off  heat to each other.

After awhile, they decided to distance themselves  one from the other and they began to die, alone and frozen.  So they had
to make a choice: either accept the quills of their companions or
disappear from the Earth.  Wisely, they decided to go back to being  together.  This way they learned to live with the little wounds that were  caused by the close relationship with their companion, but the most important part of it, was the heat that came from the others.  This way they were able to survive.

Moral of the story:   The best relationship is not the one that
brings together perfect people, but the best is when each individual learns to live with the imperfections of others, and can admire the other person's good qualities.

Modern Moral of the story..........LEARN TO LOVE THE PRICKS IN
YOUR LIFE!