A Windy And Cold Morning On Chautauqua Lake

Thanksgiving Moon Hanging Over Long Point

Halle, Drew, And Hayden (Coco and Daisy)

It's 7:25 and I hear stirring upstairs; the dogs have already run down, then back upstairs, so I assume Drew is up, certainly not our granddaughters who tend to sleep.  I have been up since before 6:00, listening to the wind chimes, the wind, watching daylight slowly appear, and waiting for the sun to rise above Tom's Point.  I have already heard gunshots, most likely duck hunters.  And I could see a large orange globe through the trees of Tom's Point, ready to rise but clouds have just arrived, obscuring any semblance of a great sunrise. 

7:18

Yesterday was a day for family and it was good to know that we were together with Jill and Drew's family and Tom and Mary were in Dallas with Beth and Ramiro's family.  No one, fortunately, was home alone.  We had a long morning coffee time as first I was up, then Jill and Drew, then Evie and finally, after lots of encouragement, the girls.  By 10:30, we were hungry and Jill volunteered to make avocado toasts, something new to me.  So she mashed a couple of avocados, added tomatoes, toasted bread and fried some eggs.  She then spread the avocados mixture on toast, topped it with fried eggs, and we had a tasty and healthy and relatively easy breakfast.  This may be my new go-to breakfast. When the girls woke up, around 11:30, Evie decided to make them crepes, so they were happy girls, enjoying their crepes with sugar and lemon, our favorite way to eat them.

Walking Out To Long Point

Hanging Out

Drew and I wanted to get in a walk so we talked the girls into going with us, promising we would bring the dogs.  So we drove over to Long Point State Park, parked our car down near the marina and walked out to the tip of Long Point where we took some photographs and texted Evie to take a photo of us from our front porch on Woodlawn.  The dogs seemed to love being out despite the temperatures in the teens and I will admit to it being cold enough that I was happy to get back to the warm car.  We were the only crazies out for a walk as far as I could see.  While we were gone, Jill put together her special sausage stuffing and Evie got the turkey ready to roast in the oven. 

Long Point

When we arrived home, the house was toasty warm.  Unfortunately, Coco had rolled in some goose droppings, so the girls put him in the tub and washed him with shampoo and conditioner.  We then had some lunch, either Evie's veggie soup or corn chowder, perfect for after our brisk walk. 

Our Virginia Family

We then watched some football, napped, or just hung out until it was time for appetizers and libations, around 4:00.  Evie got out the shrimp, cocktail sauce and some cheese and crackers and we opened a bottle of wine.  None of us wanted to eat too much because we knew a turkey dinner was coming up. 

A Sign Of Thanksgiving

Around 5:00, I carved up the turkey, Evie roasted the Brussel sprouts and Jill made the salad and we had dinner pretty well done.  The mashed potatoes were made ahead of time, so we did not have much fuss before dinner.  Everything was great, especially the stuffing, and the turkey was moist and tender. 

Dinner With Our Family

Like most Thanksgiving dinners, we got full quicker than we would have liked,  The good news is we have enough leftovers for the next few days.  We were not sure what to do after dinner, having tired of watching some football, so at Jill's suggestion, we watched a film, CRAZY, RICH ASIANS, a feel-good romance.  It poked fun at the super-rich Chinese in Singapore, their dislike for their son's girlfriend because she was a Chinese American.  It was fun to watch.  We then watched a little football before everyone went up to bed around 10:30.