November – December 2013 Catch Up

November – December 2013 Catch Up

Once again, time really got past me once it got close to Thanksgiving. We hosted our very first Thanksgiving and cooked our very first turkey. It gave us a bit of trouble in the morning as the darn thing wasn’t completely thawed, even though I gave it an extra twelve hours on top of what the package said. Grrrr…. We did a Martha Stewart recipe and everyone said Martha came through. I wouldn’t know – after handling the raw thing and getting its neck out of its body cavity, there was no way I was eating it. No loss as I don’t like turkey anyway. I got a picture of it after JR started carving, but here he/she is

Sid succumbed to a combination of tryptophan and a great nap-inducing blanket

The day after Thanksgiving, JR and I drove to Spokane, Washington for a Pearljam concert. We got tickets last minute and were told they were “obstructed view.” We were a bit concerned until we got there. Our view was only obstructed by the stage! Not sure why they said obstructed. Great seats, great show as usual.

McCready!

Eddie pouring wine

Set List

It did nothing but rain in Spokane so we didn’t get to do much sightseeing. We did have two really great breakfasts. One was in this old train car.

Frank’s Diner

We look forward to heading back that way in the summertime to visit Coeur d’Alene and Wallace, Idaho. Wallace is a cute little town that is completely underneath the interstate. Interesting. We drove through all two miles of it and wanted to stop, but we were trying to beat the snow heading our way so onward we went. We made it back just in time. Friends of our’s were returning from Portland the day after us, and it took them five hours longer that it should have. We lucked out on our timing.

We originally thought our neighbors were going to keep an eye on Scarlett for us, but that didn’t work out. Luckily, the Laurel vet had space for her. The place where they take the dogs out for “day camp” has the best name ever. Are you ready? The dogs go to Wiggly Field. Oh my goodness, I just love saying that. Scarlett loved Wiggly Field. She can’t wait to go back to Wiggly Field. I can’t wait to take her back to Wiggly Field so I get to say she’s at Wiggly Field again!

“Eats well” and “likes to be petted” Yes, they have the right dog.

Once we were back at home, the weather turned. It snowed at least 24 inches. Our neighbors went on vacation to Arizona (smart neighbors) and left JR to plow. Boy, did he have to plow. I think I already mentioned it, but he spent at least sixteen hours in the plow, plus time spent repairing the thing. If you ask me, nothing is meant to work in -25 degree temps. We weren’t supposed to have to feed the neighbor’s horses, but the person who was supposed to do it couldn’t get out to the house most of the time. So, that left us to drag huge bales of hay through two feet of snow out to the horses in minus zero degree temperatures. And, the hungry beasts were “bitey” come mealtime. Needless to say, we were happy to have our neighbors back home.

We had some regular guests during the storm. The mule deer and the white tail deer came in shifts throughout the day. They were beautiful to watch, but JR was very concerned about the sod! So, we got some sunflower seeds to put out for them. I kept telling JR he owed them that grass and seed since he murdered their dear ‘ole dad (who I named) Bo. I’ll let JR tell you about that in a guest post.