Thanksgiving Blessings

Yesterday morning dawned foggy, drippy and cold. But still, it was beautiful. Or maybe because it was still, it was beautiful.

Inside, though, things weren't still at all. Pies were made, the turkey got roasted, and the hot water pipe broke.

Talk about excitement! I've never witnessed a broken hot water pipe before, but it's a steamy affair, I can tell you. We scrambled around trying to get the water off. The new valves on the new hot water heater didn't work--that would have been too easy, after all. So Larry shut off the main water valve, meaning we had no water in the house at all. That was okay, though--the cooking was almost done any way. He made a quick trip to Wal-Mart for glue and the turkey was just done when he got back. While I made gravy and got the table set, he fixed the break. We let the glue set while we ate, and we toasted Larry's successful repair.

I did not make mashed potatoes this year. Instead, I used Jessica's recipe for roasted vegetables. I tried it a few weeks ago and loved it; I thought it was a great change from the norm, and it lowered our carbs for the day too. I mixed cauliflower, turnips, potatoes, carrots, celery and onion, tossed the cut up veggies with rosemary oil, herbs and some seasoned salt, spread on a cookie sheet and roasted them in the oven. Delicious, especially with gravy.

 It was good to spend some quiet time with Tommy, too. He's in college so we don't see him as often as we like. (He's our bodybuilder son--but maybe you could already see that)

Me and my baby!

Today we finished dressing out the turkeys. We did 5 on Wednesday, and had 5 more to do. The turkeys did not do as well this year. We started with 20 but lost eight as chicks before realizing that hay was not a good choice for bedding. Two more died later on for reasons we have yet to learn. I think they must be like sheep. My son's friend used to have sheep and he said they often died of the mysterious disease called DSS. I think turkeys get DTS. There was no other explanation. Still 10 birds will keep us quite well for the coming year.

For the rest of this day: 

1. Start putting away my summer clothes. Late! But you know, it has been so warm I haven't felt any rush to get this chore done. Today it's been warm enough to have the door open. We may find snow coming on the heels of this warmth, but I like having roses peeking in my kitchen window on Thanksgiving.

2. Make some more rosemary oil for gifts. No shopping for me today; Black Friday has managed without me for years. This year all our gifts to family will be something we have made or grown. I've asked them to do the same. We have plenty of stuff, and so do they; we'll see how this goes. I worry a little about the grandkids who might be disappointed but as we continue to adjust to retirement income (or lack thereof!) there are some changes that just need to be made. And this is one I think will be a keeper. I just hope the grandkids understand and appreciate the reasons for the change.

If you shopped today, I hope you found bargains and had a great time. If you don't want to go out, check my eBay sales page. Maybe you'll see the perfect gift there :)