Thanksgiving Day and after

Wow! What a couple of days! Yesterday, Thanksgiving Day, was a lovely day. We went to Katie & Savannah's, and were joined there by Tye, and then later, Karen and Brian, friends of K&S (and us too), who came just for dessert. We had the traditional meal: crudites, turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potato, squash, cranberry sauce, and Ellen brought three pies: pumpkin, apple and pecan. It was a feast. We wished we could rent an extra stomach just for the day. I tried not to overeat, and I think I did it just right. Earlier in the day I made some calls to people to send greetings, and I got a text from Rob and Katie. We sang some thanksgiving hymns. We heard from Karen and Brian about the wedding of their daughter in August, which took place in Italy, and saw an album of photos from the event, including many beautiful pictures of Rome and Florence. We got home pretty late but it was a good day. I wasn't too busy with the camera, but here are some shots:

Turkey out of the oven. Katie does the turkey up just like her mother did, including the strips of old bedsheet.

Platter of crudites - quite a work of art!

Ellen making gravy - boy, was it good!

Waiting for guests!

Getting started****************************************************** What I haven't mentioned is that before we went to K&S's, the wood stove was really acting up - it has been acting up for some time, actually. Every time you would open the door to put wood in, smoke would pour out into the room, setting off the smoke alarm. We had made a date for the chimney to be cleaned, but it wasn't until Dec. 13th. It seemed particularly bad and when we got home, I had to build up the fire, and it was again, particularly bad. When I went to bed, the air quality seemed very poor, and I finally got up and opened the back door to get fresh air. I slept poorly, and while I was awake I decided I was going to have to shut down the wood stove. It just seemed dangerous. I was afraid the flue was obstructed to the extent that gases were coming into the house. So this morning, Friday, I did not rekindle the fire. This is hard because we are also without the use of our propane fireplace insert. The burner needs to be replaced (accordig to our propane supplier, Cota & Cota) and we have been waiting for weeks for parts to arrive. So we are down to our electric baseboard heat. Which is ok, and we are fortunate to have it, but it is very expensive and not cozy like the wood stove or the propane stove. I called the Chimney Doctor, Ian Conway, and told him the situation and said that if he could come earlier than the 13th to clean the flue, that would be very much appreciated. Today, I was scheduled to get my COVID booster shot at 1:30 at the hospital. I was concerned I might not feel too well afterward and maybe shouldn't go alone, so Ellen agreed to come with me, and drive. So I got my shot, and all went well. But when I came out to come home, Ellen went to start the car- dead battery. She realized to her chagrin she had been sitting in the parking lot for 10-15 minutes with the headlights on and the key in the ignition. The battery was weak already - we've been saying for weeks, "we need a new battery" - but never had gotten around to doing anything about it. So there we were; dead in the water, so to speak. We decided to call Peter Amidon, who lives near the hospital, and he came right over to give us a jump start. But when he hooked everything up and Ellen tried the starter - nothing. Just clicks. We waited, tried again, no luck. After several tries, we gave up, and Peter went home. So we called AAA. They said they would be there in an hour. OK - longer than usual, but we had no choice. But an hour went by, no AAA. So I called back - and now things got frustrating. Our cell phone coverage was so poor, the connection kept breaking. When I finally got through, they said the "technician" hadn't left yet. They didn't know when they could get there. It got to be two hours - we were getting chilled. I went inside the hospital but the phone didn't work inside at all. So I had to stay outside, standing in light rain. You get the picture. Finally, a woman asked me what the trouble was. I told her and she asked if I needed a jump start. I thought - "Why not," and said, "Yes!!" She hooked up her cables and "Bingo!" the car started. Then, wouldn't you know - a minute later we got a text saying the guy from AAA was on the way! So I called and cancelled that. But somewhere along the way, I forget just when, we got a message from the Chimney Doctor saying he was on his way to our house! I had not expected THAT! So here we were stuck at the hospital and not able to get home to clear everyting out of the way so he could do his job. But we got back to him and he said it was ok - he was used to moving stuff. So after were able to drive the car, we said, "Let's get a new battery right now." So we did. Advanced Auto Parts put one in for us. And when we got home, the flue was all cleaned out, everything was back in place, and a note with an invoice was on the stove. The problem - creosote had obstructed the lid on the flue, and when he cleaned it, he found the creosote had corroded the connections to the extent that the lid just came off. So I guess we'll have to replace that. But the stove is working great again. Then we realized we had a date with the Ragle's to see a movie at their place tonight. We had postponed once already, so we decided to go; Ellen whipped up a bite to eat from yesterday's leftovers and off we went with a new, dependable battery! We ended up watching a very intense film - three consecutive episodes of Masterpiece actually, titled The Miniaturist. It was set in 17th century Amsterdam. A very dark film, but a fascinating one. So that's our story. What a time! Fortunately, I'm doing ok so far with my booster shot. We're going to have a meal tomorrow with John & Cynthia. Hope I'll feel ok for that! May it be a quiet, peaceful day! We're getting too old for all this!