Thanksgiving dinner, 2006

Yeah, I know I said TG dinner, but first an update on hunting season. The highlight of the season here was a visit from Chris and Hailee!! Here Pa is taking a break and Hailee is making use of the time to play with dad...



And, of course, Granny spent most of the weekend in long conver- sations with Hailee. I guess they were conversing, but I didn't understand a word of it. Hailee is walking pretty well these days, but unsteady enough that she can't get too far away with out noticing...........







Back to dinner. I had decided to make a dinner even thought Rose and Bryn were unable to be here for it. I had gotten groceries on Thursday after flying and Friday mid-morning I started in. Here the chicken and onions are ready for the oven.



I did the sweet potatoes next. I know, they look a little anemic. But they are "California Sweet Potatoes", and I was assured by the produce mangaer that they taste the same as normal, red-orange sweet potatoes. They just are white.... I was skeptical, but they turned out scrumptiously, if that's a word?



Next I went to work on the Russets for the mashed spuds. In my book, this is the most critical dinner ingredient. Without good mash, what's the use of eating?



I had asked Peggy to fix up the dining room table even though it was just the two of us. We could dine at opposite ends of the table, like the classy upper crusters do. So she found a suitable cloth, set the places and then she was off to the store in Prentice for the marshmallows that I forgot the day before, and a few other last minute items.



While Peg was gone, I realized that it was now 11:00, and it seemed appropriate that I now opened the bottle of Merlot that was waiting on the counter. Yram, please note that just after finishing the last swallow of a good, strong cup of coffee, the first taste of Merlot is like golden magic..... unparalleled.



Note to self: get an electric mixer or a potatoe ricer!!!!

With most items nearly ready, I was thinking that this was going to be a breeze to finish. Peg was going to put some French, I mean Freedom cut green beans in with the mushroom soup and Durkee's deep fried onions, and I only had the "brown and serve" rolls to do. The chicken was on a platter in tin foil, the mash was staying warm on the back of the stove, and I was awaiting the marshmallows to finish off the sweet potatoes.



This is about when Peg gets back from the store and announces that there are three people sitting at the picnic table in Johnson's yard next door. Brian Johnson and two others. We hadn't seen them since they moved to Illinois in late summer, so I asked Peg is she thought we had enought food for three more. She said "I think so!" So she went next door and invited them to lunch, they said sure!, they were just talking about going to town for lunch. Now the pressure was on to get the food all done, keep it warm while the rolls baked and avoid burning the sweet potatoe dish!!

Soon in walked Brian and his stepson, Brice, and Brian's dad Lloyd. I hadn't seen Lloyd for years, so we all had a good visit while eating most of the food. We had bought a 'store made' pumpkin pie, so we all had pie and ice cream for dessert. I guess the visitors were here for about three hours, talking and drinking coffee. Then they headed out for a couple of hours of sitting in the woods until evening.




The aftermath of the meal left a table looking quite different from the humble start of two place settings. And then there was the usual mess in the kithchen. It seems that no matter how controlled things start out to be, when you get to the end of the preparations, neatness goes out the window as all things get done at once.

A nice afternoon, and an unexpected visit.

Movin' Lucy......

Well, it took a while to get to this one.... Moving to Milwaukee was a big step for Lucy to take. But she decided to go, found an apartment in the same building that Kate lives in, and then the work started. Lots of things in the house at Ogema to go through and decide what to keep, what to move to Milwaukee, etc.



Margaret spent quite a bit of time here helping ma sort and pack. As we unpacked things in Milwaukee, we kept finding notes to the 'unpackers' written on paper towels. That helped some when things were getting frustrating or tense. We would find another note and all laugh.... Muriel also spent a bunch of time helping Lucy at Ogema. Probably others that I'm missing here, but you know who you are and what went on.



Mary and John spent Friday evening prior to the move packing and sorting at Ogema. John wrapped up all the art work, all of which survived the U-haul truck ride. In this pic we see the 'yellow room' with just the necessaries for a last sleep in Ogema for Lucy. Everything else was in the truck outside.



Many trips up the ramp with loading dollys. Lot's of grunting and groaning to get some of the big items into the truck, and lots of ropes tieing things securely into place. It was a bigger truck than I anticipated, a 24 footer. But it was good to have the extra space, not quite so much stacking to do that way.




Saturday morning found the house pretty empty. We gathered up the last of the items to be loaded, got everything set and Lucy and I got into the truck and headed South. John and Mary and Peggy finished up the last of the tasks around the house, then Peggy spent the bulk of the remaining weekend hauling most of her belongings to Ogema. When I returned on Sunday night, the house looked lived in again, with couch and chairs and bookcases, etc. What a change from the empty house I had left the day before.



Anyway, here is the U-haul in front of the house on Saturday morning. Ma and I had an uneventful trip to Milwaukee. The weather was pleasant, the truck went 72 mph down the highway like all the rest of the traffic...... we stopped in Stevens Point for lunch and then drove nonstop to the Shorecrest Hotel. We had an unloading crew at that location, Liz and Dennis, Paul and Candace and kids, Jenny, Kate and me.



Things start filling Lucy's new abode....
Candace had prepared some exquisite food for the crew, which we ate in Kate's appartment. Super. Jenny was not quite up to here usual levels, as her knee was in tough shape from the weekend before. She hurt it at Peg's and my wedding!! I didn't even know that had happened.



So we unloaded box afer box after box of stuff, which all went up to the third floor via a slightly small elevator. There was a little trouble with some of the larger items, like the sofa, a large cabinet for dishes and computer, and the sideboard from the dining room at Ogema. None of these things would fit in the elevator, so they were forced up the stairs by Dennis and Paul, and some help on the last one from me. The first flight of stairs is acutally about 1.25 floors up, four turns on the stairway, down a haulway and up to the third floor. This was an even tighter stairwell, but only three turns...... that was an interesting time!!



Liz had the unenviable task of receiving all the boxes and things in the apartment, trying to find a place to put everything and making room for more at the door. I'm glad all I had to do was unload the truck. We managed to get the unloading task done in just under four hours. Pretty good, considering the moving distance and the small elevator. We parked the truck in the designated spot, ate a good meal and then Lucy and I headed back to her apartment. We opened a few things, moved a few things around, got Ma's TV hooked up in her bedroom. I moved enough things around so I had a clear spot on the couch to lay down for the night. Slept well.....



On Sunday morning Muriel and Linda and Debbie showed up to help with the setting up of the household. They also brought some really good chili and some yummy goodies for all to share. They pretty much did all the unpacking of kitchen and dining area things and got the sideboard and dining area all straightened away. It was starting to look pretty nice in there.



Rosie and Bryn had driven to Milwaukee Sunday morning (they were my ride back to Ogema!) and helped get things in order. We all had a really nice lunch of chili and bread and other goodies, and Ma's apartment was really shaping up. As you can see in some of the photos, there are quite alot of windows in this apartment and it's nice and bright.



Here's a good shot of the sideboard, loaded up with all the usual crystal and coffee cups and all the familiar items. The old clock survived the trip and looks right at home, and the dining table and chairs look great in their new surroundings



Tim had splurged and gotten Ma a new TV for her new apartment, a really big plasma screen something or other. It looks really big and impressive, and I guess once the cable guys got it hooked up, it plays really well. Lis and Dennis had picked up a nice cabinet to set it on, and Dennis and I had fun putting it together..... it has some space for the vcr/dvd player and it will work well.



Couldn't resist this photo of the finished TV installation with the nice little green decoration on top of the TV. Or it might be an ashtray. Or it might be something else, I don't know.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>



You'll have to ask Tim for the answer to that question!










The big move for Lucy was on October 21st. Peg and I have since moved MOST of Peg's stuff to Ogema(what she didn't get done while I was gone), still picking up something from her place every few days...... today, Nov. 25th, we spent most of the day moving Rosie's "to big for the car" items. She and Bryn are going to be sharing an apartment in Wausau, where Bryn is going to resume her school classes in January and also work at an assisted living facility. Rose is continuing her work and her classes in preparation for a nursing program so she can earn her RN status. Tomorrow we move Bryn's things from Westboro to Wausau, then so some shopping for some needed household items for our place. Busy, busy.
We were at home alone on Thanksgiving, I went flying for a couple hours, then changed oil in the plane. I stopped at the IGA on the way home and got ingredients for Thanksgiving dinner, which was to be on Friday. But that's another story....
I gotta go, Carlo

Just a Sunday night whim.

Here is a pic of Yram's place. Seems like they always end up in an interesting location. This house is right on lake Michigan (Green Bay, I guess) and I need to get over there soon to see it!!



The next two pics are of the same place, I guess, only different times of day. They are from Yram and I assume they are taken by their new house.



Pretty cool......


So guess who finally showed up for a ride in the airplane????? I thought it would never happen. We didn't have much time, but got up for just under an hour on Sunday afternoon two weeks ago.






Just a couple of pics from around the place. This is the white pine by the chicken coop. I remember it being just about as tall as me when I was 12 or so....


This must be where the sun goes to sleep. I never knew it spent the night in a pine tree by Ottertail Spring, but it must be so.



Cool looking sky one morning as we were leaving for work. Reminded me of the hunging season pics that were on here last year. Speaking of hunting, I mangaged to get out for a while Saturday afternoon. Saw no deer. I was going to head out to Ivan's hunting camp for a while on Saturday evening, but was a little under the weather Saturday late and Sunday. Never got out in the woods at all on Sunday, but am feeling quite a bit better tonight. Must have been one of those 24 hour bugs, eh??
I gotta go, Carlo

The party, 4th installment.....

The party, 3rd installment.....