Well we are celebrating two turkey days as we ate with Bobby and his family plus the Ross Family in Brandon last evening and then again today here with the Ross Family and Betsy's Family. Seems because of the blended families it makes it difficult getting together so the kiddos can be together and they had a great time last evening at Bobby's.
The day started with my usual 6'ish roll out. I did my routines that started with the cup of hot tea laced with turmeric while I posted this ramble and then spent a few quiet moments with my Creator. The update on GG is still promising as she continues to rehab; more so than I would have ever given her a chance especially at her advanced age. We are hoping she will be able to walk again unassisted but time will tell as she has other issues besides just being mostly bed ridden since last May. Paw Paw went through a period much like that and he is now living on his own, going up and down the stairs several times a day and once again driving during the day time only. So we are hopeful for GG as he is a year or so older.
I reflect back to my teenage years on the farm where every Thanksgiving Day we butchered 4 to 5 hogs for our meat for the winter and the coming year. I always enjoyed that day as the fresh meat was awesome plus the adventure of the killing, scalding, scraping the hair off, hanging the whole hogs on tripod poles for gutting and then the cutting of the meat in separate parts. The smell of the fires under the kettles that cooked the meat and rendered down the fat into a liquid that later became solid for our lard and then fresh liver fried for our meal instead of turkey. It was usually cold and sometimes snowed while this event lasted all day and into the late evening before all of the meat was prepared for hanging in the smoke house and curing, some for canning and some frozen. The fresh cracklings were awesome which were the side meat pieces cut up with the skin on while they cooked in a large black kettle to render the fat into a liquid which we later used for shortening or grease. The stuff you buy in the store called pork rinds were the equivalate of the pressed cakes called cracklings but usually there was some meat that was cooked onto the rind. Oh so good when heated on top of the wood stove on a cold day as they melted and puffed up. Anyhow they would keep for ages in the smoke house and cold temps. Such memories and it occurred each Thanksgiving Day until I left home in '64.
Well I got in two really good hours of pickle ball with 4 other A players and never sat down for the morning. My tail was dragging by 10'ish so I pedaled home to piddle around and feed the seedlings in my garden with some Miracle Grow to get them started. I noticed lots of earthworms starting to multiple who make the best fertilizer ever called casings. I have lots of greens ready for harvesting to add to fresh salads. I moved up a couple more volunteer tomato seedlings so with the seeds I bought I should have close to a dozen or so plants to bear fruit. I need to purchase new carrot and sugar pea seeds as my old ones never germinated. I now have radishes up as well as some more kale seedlings. I took some of our Mexican neighbors a bag of the hot peppers which are so plentiful but a little too hot for me. I can use one chopped up on baked tater but need lots of sour cream to help with the heat. They are very hot and come from Thailand.
After a lite lunch of a PBJ sandwich I read for an hour or so before getting ready to head to Brandon around 3'ish. Yikes the traffic was backed up for miles trying to get on the toll road which is supposed to ease the traffic from the interstates. I can't imagine how backed up those roads were. It seems the snowbirds are back in full force and I don't blame them as the weather has been very nice for November. We had the usually fare at Bobby's for the occasion. Amy brought two different kinds of pies and we were stuffed after eating. The kiddos ran and played until 9'ish before we headed out for home which is close to an hours drive. The traffic had thinned out but there where still more cars on the road than we saw all summer in the mountains.
We tuned into the Lightning hockey game and they were down two goals when we left Brandon. We caught the last 10 minutes or so and they came back with three unanswered goals to beat Chicago in overtime. We are still the best team in the NHL so far. It wasn't long after the game ended I hit the sack around 10:30. We have to do the big turkey day meal again today so I know the spare tire will inflate, LATER
