Thanksgiving

I agree, Pea, time for a Thanksgiving post. We had a very cozy, perfect thanksgiving. Layne arrived on Friday afternoon. We headed straight for the wood pile at Bell Pole to get 2 loads of wood before they closed. Layne was most generous to let us use his beautiful new truck to do that. After the aforementioned burnt pizza dinner he and Dean indeed went out to practise. They got home very late - I was asleep. The next day we all slept in - especially Layne as he had only a couple of hours the night before. I got up and went shopping to get the stuff to make a brunch. We had pancakes, bacon, orange juice, a fresh pineapple and cinnamon buns - yum. I went with him to run a couple of errands and then we got munchies and a bunch of movies and cocooned for the rest of the day with the whole family. Erin and Justin came over as well. I made fresh salsa - I LOVE that - I could eat it straight with a spoon. And it is so easy. Why don't I make it more often?! We watched Million Dollar Baby and the a quirky british one - Once Upon a Time in the Midlands. Dean loves those kind of movies.

The next day we lazed around watching more movies and Layne helped me fix some things on the computer. While watching movies we began work on the apple pies. We sat and peeled and cut and cored. Then I made the crusts (Dean helped). Once they were baked, we headed over to Eddie (singer in the band)'s parents place in Enderby. Eddie's older brother, Mike (Dean's good friend) was in town with his partner and son so they organized a pot luck get together for all Mike's friends. So we all went - Dean and I, Layne and the kids (except Erin, of course). It was a really nice evening - Mike has really great friends - great, stimulating conversations. And good music, too. Eddie's dad is a pianist - taught music in the school. He has a gorgeous grand piano. Layne sat down and played and played - great sound filled up the whole place. The singing could barely be heard above the piano. We got home around midnight.

So at midnight, I started the preparations for our own thanksgiving dinner that was to happen the next day (today) while Dean and Layne watched a Saturday Night Live dvd they had rented - Will Farrel - very funny. We needed to have our turkey by noon today for Layne to leave on time to get into Nanaimo in time to sleep to recover fromt his week end... So I cut up the potatoes and put them in water, made a greek salad and cut up the bread for the stuffing and stuff like that, that could be done ahead of time.

This morning I set my alarm for 7am (after getting to bed after 1am). I got up and made the stuffing and stuffed the turkey and put it in the oven by 8am. The sun was coming up and it was a great sunrise - very beautiful - yellow sunlight spilling onto red and yellow leaves. Then Layne and I went for a bike ride. He rode my old bike and I rode my new one. He was worried I was going to go too fast - but he has monster muscles in his legs and just powered up those hills. It was a beautiful morning. We rode down to the lake and sat on the sand and visited for awhile. The water was so still. We could see fish jumping and ducks foraging. We could see the yellow leaves of the deciduous trees against the dark green of the evergreens down the shores of the lake. (We were at the north head of lake Okanagan). We rode home and it was showtime. Now all the last minute things that all happen at once no matter how well you are prepared. The turkey was cooked on time and was delicious (although I have had moister turkeys). The stuffing was perfect - just the right mixture of crunchy and soft. We had brocolli and cheese, the salad, mashed potatoes (Dean does the mashing) and yams. Dean's parents arrived right at 12:00 with a pumpkin pie and a strawberry rhubarb one and some ice cream. We said a thanksgiving blessing and at a great meal with cranberry and gingerale to drink.

Layne left - we were all sad to see him go. And that is it. Thanksgiving is over. I had a nap - but not long enough! I'm still tired. (and full)