THANKSGIVING 2014

A Tribute To My Mom 

Elizabeth "Betty" Kaemerer

1918-2005

Elizabeth "Betty" Kaemerer

1918-2005

Mom sat down at the antique piano 

 in the parlor of the Schminck Memorial Museum 

and began playing Bach, Beethoven, Chopin. 

The same music I heard many nights when I was young as she played after the kids were in bed 

and waiting for my Dad to come home from his midnight job.

Afterwards, Sherrain, the curator, dressed us in period clothing... worn long ago

by mothers and daughters from a time long gone by.

The same songs are playing on my Kindle as I consider what to prepare for 

Thanksgiving 2014 feast in a couple of days.

Mmmmmm ... nice warm memory of one day in our lives.

Thanksgiving memories:

Mom preparing for Thanksgiving days in advance:  chopping, dicing, baking,

stuffing and a little "tiddly" close at hand and ever present cigarette dangling from her lips. 

Thanksgiving feast almost ready .... only waiting for one last tradition.

With cigarette always at hand while stirring and basting

the ash grew

and grew

and at just the right moment

the ash fell

SPLAT

into the gravy.

"Dinner's ready!"  

with Mom's long awaited 

Ash Gravy stirred to perfection.

"More gravy Howard?" I seem to remember her saying.

Whenever we were with her for Thanksgiving she gave the honors

to Eldon to add the final touch of the ash from his cigarette to her Ash Gravy.

......................................................................................................

Colorful leaves are just about done falling .... 

drifting off to nurture the earth for next spring.

Another Fall celebration is at hand.

Thanksgiving 2014

And I'm going to have company for Thanksgiving 2014.

Jill and Gary will be my guests!

They had an early Thanksgiving with their family

last weekend

with a gigantic turkey and all the trimmings.

Hmmmmm ....

what can I fix that will be equally feasty and scrumptous? And just the right amount for only three people?

First thing that comes to mind is

applesauce.

APPLESAUCE?

 you might ask.

Yeah! Made with fresh apples from my friend Lorrie's tree.

...........................

"Did you hear that Ducky and Pheasant  .....

she's not fixing a Turkey for Thanksgiving this year!

I wonder how Turkey feels about that!"

"Well ....." Turkey said in a wee voice,

"I'm curious to hear about that!"

"But what will she cook instead?

Perhaps a 

duck

or goose

or swan

or quail ......

or a bucket of small birds ....."

"Definitely not a CHICKEN .... we taste like turkey......

pardon me, Turkey, for saying so ... chicken is more tender. But much smaller!"

"I agree," peeped Long Neck Chicken. "And our 

necks are too skinny."

"Did you hear the news Ducky? 

Monica isn't fixing a turkey for 

Thanksgiving this year," Swan echoed the rumor.

"Smart of her not to fix Duck .... we're very dry and not much meat on our bones," agreed Ducky.

"Get the giblets out of your beaks ....

speak UP .... I barely can hear you

off here in the bathroom," hollered

Sally Swan.

mumble.... grumble.... gripe gripe gripe

"I always hear the news last .... so far away from the kitchen!"

"Peep ... peep ... chirp .... chirp....Did you hear that Mother Bird?"

Father Bird asked. "Monica isn't fixing a turkey this year ..."

"Yes dear ... I heard. Surely she won't fix a bucket of tiny birds instead!"

"Let's not panic ...... but watch what she's about to do," 

 Turkey said calmly from her perch above the sink.

And they did.

"Looks like apples to me," said Big Red Hen. "Maybe

she's going to stuff the apples into the dressing ....

but what will she stuff the apple dressing into?"

CUT .... CUT ... PEEL ....PEEL ... CORE ....CORE  

PLOP PLOP

BOIL BOIL

SMOOSH ...... SMASH .....POUND AND STIR

ADD SOME SUGAR AND CINNAMON

AND IT'S DONE!

And that is home made applesauce at its best!

To be served with

homemade cranberry sauce

baked beans

scalloped potatoes

vegetables and rolls

and 

dessert

(Jill and Gary are bringing the dessert)

Oh .... I almost forgot!

Served with a baked 

tenderloin pork roast!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Memories

Thank you God for our blessings!

(no Ash Gravy this year .... nobody in our family smokes anymore!) 

PHOTO PROBLEMS SOLVED! 

 November 15, 2014

And my readers weren't even aware there was a problem

downloading photos to my blog!

I don't share EVERYTHING with you!

But I have three 

go-to helpers 

who are always here to

help and encourage me because  

I am a 

Technically Challenged Blogger

and need all the help I can get when something doesn't work as it should.

Me .....

  Myself .....

and     I

And Google helps out when 

Me, Myself, and I

are at a loss to solve the problem when there is a glitch in my blogpost site.

I switched from

Internet Explorer to Google as my browser 

and that fixed the photo download problem.

 Why?

I'll have to ask Me, Myself or I if they know the answer to that question.

And it snowed last night which gave me a reason to stay indoors and add a new post to my blog.

But for the life of me ..

I don't have anything to write about. 

So I'll just let my fingers do the walking and we'll all be surprised at what I write about.

I know!!!!  I'll post snow photos ....

I love winter.

I love snow.

It covers all the fall weather outdoor chores I neglected to do.

.........

Winter 2007

The first Thanksgiving we were in our new house

we spent it with our children in Seattle area ... 

we hadn't had snow yet ...

just cold cold weather.

Eldon said he was looking forward to seeing the 

first snow and view of the mountains ...

but warm and cozy inside our cute little red house at the top of the hill. 

But it had snowed while we were gone.

We were so disappointed.

Snowflakes

falling

drifting

covering

erasing

white

and we missed it.

It was cold

and stayed cold and we shoveled snow ....

it soon became not so much fun!

So he bought an old, old Ford tractor - he called it Old Red - and practiced driving it

with any helper who wanted a ride..... Conner.

And he built a barn...... Missy helped.

She assured him that she knew how to build stuff

because she took woodshop in school.

And he added a workshop and stalls on either side ...

with Dean and Neal offering advice and

driving nails,

and sawing wood

and drinking beer!

And when it was finished

he drove Old Red into the barn.

When it got very cold ......

very, very cold,

he built a fire in the sturdy

woodstove a friend built for the shop.

Eldon and Perro stayed warm and cozy

no matter how much it stormed and snowed.

He was a happy man ...

a very happy man.

But changes were just over the horizon ......

 Old Red was

old .... and kind of cranky .... difficult to steer and stop,

 load and unload, shovel and dump.

So he bought a new tractor.

Big Blue.

Power steering .... and lots of bells and whistles, he used to say.

Let it snow

let it snow

let it snow!

He was a happy man .....

yes, a very happy man.

And he tried to teach me how to operate Big Blue. 

Hm mmm! 

One time I almost lost control and was sliding down the icy driveway! He yelled and ran after me and Big Blue 

shouting something about the brake .... hit the brake! 

"If I knew how I wouldn't be sliding!" I yelled.

Happy ending to THAT adventure. 

He loved us...... 

loved the three of us .....

Me

Myself

and 

I.

For this I am most thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving!