Happy Thanksgiving!

There is sad news on the animal front during this holiday week. Mr. Hoggetts has gone missing and is presumed to be in that great chicken coop in the sky. The hens had a rough couple days, looking around for him and being extra cautious in their meanderings around the yard. The Younger Pea is very sad, but did manage to get a few minutes of him performing his tricks on video, which will be edited into a tribute to her rooster friend.

On to the holiday. Preparations started on Wednesday. The Peas came over and helped with cleaning and food prep, so a lot of the work was done before Thursday. It's really the only way to go, get as much done ahead of time as possible, then you reduce the stress and panic during that last busy hour before sitting down to eat.

Thursday morning the neighbors from across the street brought over some cornbread, and it was very good. PopPop has been craving cornbread lately, so their timing was perfect.

Speaking of perfect, the weather was amazing - it must have hit 70F here today, sunny and breezy, not a late November day at all. With oil at $3/gallon, we'll take it!

The D's and Peas arrived at about 11:30am with pies and a cheesy baked broccoli dish. DamCat made her usual delicious pecan pie, a yummy chocolate pie, and a really tasty apple pie. Dawg and Fluffy got here close to 1pm, and actually got to spend some time here, since Fluffy didn't have to go back to work in the afternoon! They brought some very nice white wines and a passel of beer, Mike's Lemonade and Twisted Tea.

Queenee had a big turkey, cooked to perfection, which PopPop carved and served. There were the usual accompaniments: stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, squash, turnip, carrots and parsnips, green beans, broccoli, cranberry sauce...I've probably left something out, but it was lots of food and all wonderful. We sat down at 2pm to eat, which worked out really well, it gave us time to relax and rest up before tackling dessert. Deacon, Dawg and the Peas went for a walk (something we all could have used) after dinner. Danny and Joanne stopped by to say hello. Football on the tube, good food, good drink, good company - what more could you ask for? It was a fine Thanksgiving!

Today, I'm observing Buy Nothing Day. Not exactly a big deal for me, since I'm not a shopaholic anyway, but the thought is there.