I Love To Go A Gardening
Growing Our Life in Northern Michigan
Thanksgiving
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Two days too late, I know, but I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Well, those of you who live in the USA anyway. I hope those outside the USA had a wonderful week.
This last week has been so busy for us, but it was a very good busy.
Earlier this week JJ came home with “Just Because” gifts for us. He had seen A Christmas Story mug filled with a package of hot chocolate at his store and he just had to buy it for his Dad. JJ didn’t want me to feel left out so he bought me a cup with hot chocolate too. He said he couldn’t find a gift that was as unique to me as his Dad’s cup was to him. I told him that I won’t ever feel hurt if he gets his Dad a gift and not me, and that any gift he gives is special to me. My cup was an elegant plain black and the package said, “Chalk up some Holiday Cheer.” I showed JJ that a piece of chalk had come with the gift which I thought was a little weird but I figure it was part of a sales gimmick. JJ suddenly exclaimed, “Oh! Your cup is like a chalkboard and you can write on it with the chalk! Your gift is very special after all!” I agreed. I’ve been having fun writing on the cup every time I use it.
Wednesday morning I made three pies for Thanksgiving. I was only going to make two pumpkin pies–the canned pumpkin makes enough for two pies–but I accidentally made too much pie dough so I also made a mincemeat pie. My guys didn’t mind my mistake.
JJ didn’t have to work on Wednesday so as soon as the pies were cooked and EJ left for work, we took a trip to Joann Fabrics in the Emerald City so I could buy some brown crochet thread for some of the items I am making. There were a lot of Thanksgiving sales at the store, but I am being careful with my money and only bought what I needed. Actually, JJ bought it. He bought himself a santa hat to wear at work and he offered to buy my item too since it didn’t cost that much. That was nice. Then we went to the new grocery store because I needed a few items. JJ wore his new santa hat into the store. We had a lot of fun together.
One of EJ’s sisters invited us to spend Thanksgiving with her and her husband, but JJ had to work and we didn’t want him to spend the day alone so we decided to stay home. We invited his sister and hubby to join us at our house, but they wanted to have a quiet day at home so it was just EJ, JJ, and me for Thanksgiving dinner. We didn’t mind. For the last week or two we have constantly declared how thankful we are to live in the Enchanted Forest, and how we love this beautiful area, and how we love our house. One day when JJ and I drove home from the store, JJ looked at the snow-covered world and said, “This is what it looked like when I first came up North. It is beautiful here, and I love living here!” With so much thankfulness pouring out of us, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day celebration.
Every Thanksgiving EJ is in charge of the turkey while I make everything else. I put a tablecloth on our table and set the table nicely. Everything was delicious, if I do say so myself. We had Apple Glogg to drink, which was a nonalcoholic mulled wine with cinnamon and other spices. It was so very delicious!
When JJ came home from work, he said it had been absolutely crazy. There were crowds of customers at the store. Because he had a helpful, cheerful attitude, most of his customers were nice.
EJ and I absolutely despise the busyness and nastiness of Black Friday–the day after Thanksgiving when there are huge sales at the stores–and we try to stay away from stores on that day. However, we really needed to get a meat grinder to grind our deer into ground venison and EJ had seen that there was a good sale at Gander Mountain, a sporting goods store, so we bravely left home in the afternoon. Fortunately, most of the insane crowds were gone by the time we went to the stores. The clerk at Gander Mountain said that the store had been open for 16 hours on Thanksgiving Day and the grinders were quickly sold. The only ones left were very expensive ones. So we went on to Lowes and Home Depot but neither store had any. We finally found one–the very last one on the shelf–at Meijer. We bought it and then stayed up until almost 2 a.m. grinding venison. EJ ground the meat while I packaged it and put it in the freezer. It was fun.
This morning Danny wanted outside as soon as I got up. We went outside and I could see that he was alertly sniffing something so I prepared to grab him if he chased the whatever-it-was. I didn’t even see the deer that had been standing in the yard. I only got a glimpse of its tail as it leaped over the hill and disappeared into the forest. However, I did see the pileated woodpecker that was in our trees earlier in the week. I watched it for about ten minutes before it flew off over our house. I know they cause a lot of damage to trees, but I think they are amazing and I’m glad one lives in our Enchanted Forest.
Thanks to El Nino, this year has been very mild in the North with very little snow. We live in an area that usually gets tons of snow dumped on it, so I have been nervous because we don’t yet have a way to plow out our long driveway. Because we had to fix our driveway last summer, we don’t really have much money to spend on a plow or big enough snowblower. The big enough snowblowers in the stores are $1,000 and up. Yikes. Then EJ’s friend told him that his cousin is selling a snowblower for much less. We wouldn’t be able to find such a good snowblower for such a low price so today we drove through the beautiful northern forests to the other side of the state to buy it. It really is a wonderful snowblower. It is in like-new condition and even has a plastic “cab.” I think it is appropriate that the cousin had bought it from a library. Now I feel more prepared for winter snow.
EJ’s friend was also at his cousin’s house and we had a nice chat before driving back home. All our family and friends tell us that we all look so much happier and healthier now that we have moved to the North.
Oh, on the way to get the snowblower, we saw Scooby Doo’s Mystery Machine parked in a parking lot. At my request, EJ drove into the parking lot so I could get a picture. So cool. EJ reminded me of his theory that Shaggy and Scooby often got high in that van, which is why they were always giggling and always had the munchies. EJ has totally twisted the children’s cartoon for me.
When we got home, I made a homemade turkey pot pie from Thanksgiving leftovers. I made a lot of filling, but I am tired so I only cooked one pie and I will make others tomorrow.
I Love To Go A Gardening 
Happy to see you had such a wonderful time and thanksgiving. You sound a lot happier and I’m glad. Enjoy the coming week and I hope everything that gives stress will just went away and leave you in peace and quiet. You need that all three of you. ❤
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And happy thanksgiving back to you and your familyTJ. We too had a blessed day with the grandkids wanting to come to our place. They range from 38 down to 9 mo. so the chatter was contagious for a full 12 hrs. and Bob and I were exhausted. He would come up missing and I would find him in our sitting room in his favorite chair for a short time to regroup, that I did not get, so when all left except for our 2 over night visitors we grabbed our kindles and got some quiet time. Tell the men in your life that we have them also in our thoughts and prayers and keep enjoying.
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It’s sounds like your Thanksgiving Day was very special, Linda! I will pass your message on to my guys. We love you both!
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