Thanksgiving weekend at the lake

Peggy and Susie at the airport as she was leaving to return to Manchester, New Hampshire, on Friday afternoon.
Susie and Bob at the airport.
We arrived at the lake around 2 in the afternoon. Bob set right out to fill the hot tub. The water is 46ºF coming out of the well. When there was sufficient water to surround the stove, he fired it up to start heating the water. When the tub was filled, Bob pulled out the water hose and put it away. B U T, it became apparent that the water level was decreasing! The plug came out accidentally when the hose was withdrawn. Bob got out of his clothes and jumped in the 46º water to replace the plug!! When the plug was firmly in place (it took two tries!) he hustled into the house for a hot shower. Here he is in his parka and hat, sipping a hot toddy before we went to dinner at the County Line Tav.

All this manuevering paid off on Saturday night when we enjoyed a soak in the hot tub with our friends, Colleen and Rich. It was a clear night with a full moon---spectacular setting even though the temperature was around 25º with a pretty swift breeze.

Thanksgiving in Minneapolis

First thing in the morning, Bob's got the bird stuffed, stitched and ready for the oven.
Susie starts the squash soup.
Bob's dressing is going in the oven.Susie finishes up the soup and it tastes darned good.
The table is set.
Guests start arriving: Susie and Susan
Sam and Serena pose for a photo. Sam and Ethan arrived sporting mohawk hairdos.
Bob basting the bird.
Ethan, Susie, and Sam make the punch.
Ethan, Susie and Sam showing off the lime punch.
Bacha (Shirley's grandma moniker) found a new board game, "You Gotta Be Kidding," to try out. It was a lot of laughs and provided a lot of entertainment. Figuring out how to play it was pretty entertaining in itself. Susan, Peggy, Serena, and Grandpa Bill are looking it over.
Bob with the roasted turkey. He made the gravy for the mashed potatoes and stuffing. Uncle/Grandpa Bill made the traditional chicken pot pie. There was also Shirl's creamed onions, Susan's green beans in a spicy yogurt sauce, Bob's brown-sugared baked and mashed yams. Shirley brought a Parisian green salad and Susie found sour dough bread to accompany it.
Bill and Tom tackled the first bunch of dishes to make room for the dessert to follow.
For the beginning of dessert, Ray, Joe, Ethan and Sam presented Peggy's birthday cake.
Mary and Shirley start serving the pies, cakes, whipped cream, and ice cream for dessert. Bill and Serena made pumpkin and pecan pies and brought a big box of cookies with icing. The cookies looked like turkeys and cornocopias. Tom and Mary arrived with pumpkin pie, carrot cake and whipped cream. Hmmm...it's a good thing there are some sweet teeth among us!
Bingo 5 is another new game introduced today. This is the dessert session. Bob is calling in the lower right. Peggy is observing and eating delicious pecan pie. The players are Ethan, Joey, Tom, Serena, Sam, Bacha, Ray, and Bill.
Sam was down to one card three times. Here he is hoping to win. Finally, in the 7th round he did it! Everyone was happy for him.
Bingo 5 players: Ethan, Joey, Tom, Serena, Sam, Mary, Bacha, Ray, and Bill.
Bill, Susie, and Bob: Distributing leftovers, forgotten items, etc, on Friday morning.

At my mom's

Eldon and Joyce picked me up at the Sacramento airport. When we arrived in Auburn, Joyce unpacked a picnic lunch which we ate with Mom in her apartment.
Bingo 10 is a Wednesday night favorite of residents and guests alike. Here are two groups of players. Mom, Bill, Dorothy and I (my chair is empty!) are in the foreground. Jean, Mary, and friends are at the other end.
Mom and Bill. Bill and Dorothy join Mom on Wednesday evenings for a little bingo fun.
Jay calls the cards while Jeanne, Carter, and friends play the game.
Jay is an expert caller. He was a regular bridge partner of Mom's and Dad's.
Jean wins a round.
Mom was another winner. In fact, six of us at the table won.
Mom and me.
Here's Mom & Hien. Hien took me to the airport and I headed home on Saturday afternoon.

Winter is beginning

We took a quick, mid-week trip to the lake to do some pre-winter jobs. Bob and Jan added stuff to Aubergine's bed so that it can go to the land fill on Saturday. Quite a collection of odds and ends.


Bob cleared off the leaves from the deck and the yard. A few chores will keep us busy this weekend: putting the remaining deck chairs in the basement; covering the screened porch furniture; putting up the icycle lights on the deck railing; connecting the lights on the spruce.



All that is missing from this winter scene is snow. Looked like we might get some and then the temperatures have risen to the 40s so it will not be here as soon as we had thought it would. After a walk in the woods, it's great to return inside and read a good book.


As we headed south to Minneapolis, we saw all these Canada geese flocked at the south end of the lake. I suppose they're on their way south too.