Summer has come and gone and we are well into Fall. As much as I love summer I do love the sights and smells of fall.
With this past summer being so dry we weren't allowed any fires all fires were banned. Finally this past week the fire bans were lifted and back yard burning is now allowed. There is something about the smell of an outdoor fire. The burning of the leaves and brush.....it just brings back memories....the raking of leaves.....the gathering and stacking of wood for the upcoming winter. Ah yes fall.
We just celebrated Thanksgiving this past weekend and what a full weekend it was.
Friday evening was a great start to our weekend. Hubby and I went to our local Legion for a little social. They were having a meat draw. I don't know how many of you have ever been to a meat draw. They are quite popular for places like the Legion as they are a good fundraiser. Anyhow at the meat draw you buy tickets, there is a table full of a variety of different types of meat and cuts. If you are fortunate enough to have your ticket drawn you go up to the table and pick out what meat you want. Well wouldn't you know one of my tickets was drawn. So up to the table I went. There was a beautiful pork roast, some steaks, and chicken. I am not a red meat eater but when I saw the steaks I thought of my hubby and how much he would appreciate having a nice steak. So that is what I picked. As the winner you have to draw the next number....so I put my hand in the tickets bucket mixed the tickets about turned my head and drew out a ticket and gave it to the announcer. I had just made it back to my table when he called the number.....guess what.....it was my number....what were the chances of that....A little sheepish I went up to claim my prize. This time I picked the huge pork roast that I had eyed the first time I was up there! Yippee.
There was way to much meat for us so I invited some friends for Saturday night dinner.
Saturday was a busy day. Hubby had to go to work, so I busied myself preparing for my guests arrival. I was a woman on a mission. Not only was I preparing for dinner but I had to bake desserts for Saturday and to take with us for Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday. I started my preparation by cooking and canning a dozen jars of pickled beets. I know I know what was I thinking doing that along with everything else .....ah well....I just did.
After the beets were done it was onto the baking. First I baked some pumpkin cookies with butter orange icing....after that I made the pumpkin pecan pie.....and finally I made the blueberry apple crumble for Saturday nights dinner.
Desserts were cooked it was now time to start preparing the veggies and appetizers for dinner. While things were baking in the oven I cleaned the house prepared the table....and being the candle crazy woman that I am I ensured my candles were are ready to go....you know ambiance....hubby got the wood and the fire was lit....the guests arrived and we enjoyed a lovely evening of laughter. My friend brought her youngest daughter who is eight. I wondered what I had in the house that might entertain her....then it hit me.....my craft room. So I took her up to my room and asked her what she would like to do...would she like to draw, make cards, or jewelry. She opted to make jewelry...so out came the beads and the string and we took it all downstairs so she could be close with us and I set her up at the table. There she busied herself making earrings and necklaces....it was rather entertaining as she decided that she was making an earring for both my husband and her dad.....and yes they were good sports and wore the earring....well at least while she was around.
Along came Sunday. As I had already prepared the dessert the day before all I had to do was make the appetizer. This time I made a stuffed brie with cranberries roasted pecans and maple syrup wrapped in phyillo pastry.....along with that hubby had just recently made some smoked salmon so we took that with some herbed goat cheese.....I am drooling just thinking about it.
Anyhow we had lots of time to spare before we had to go for dinner. So hubby decided that he wanted to take me on an adventure. Somewhere he has wanted to take me to for a long time. It's called Mount Arrowsmith....I think I have shared photos of this mountain with you in the past. Anyhow if and when you make it to the top....you truly feel like you are on top of the world. There are a lot of logging roads and switchbacks and it is very easy to miss a turn. Which I think happened to us....but that didn't matter.....in one day we saw both the west and east side of the island....it was spectacular. On one of our missed turns...which I will call a fork in the road to adventure we came to a dead end. That was ok as it provided us with a most spectacular view of a river below and nothing but mountains.....looking up in an area that had been logged we noticed a most interesting site....it was like someone had made planks and formed them into 12' by 8' flat and leaned it up against two huge tree stumps...it just look so odd. I was
curious and really wanted to get a closer look. Well what a mistake....as I started my climb I didn't realize how almost vertical this was....hubby said it was about a 25 - 30% incline....it was crazy...all I knew was that is was far more challenging than I ever thought.....it gave me a great respect for the loggers who transverse these mountains caring their chainsaws and ropes. Anyhow, I got to about 100yards of this thing when I had to take a break and sit down....whilst sitting down I looked out and realized how high I was.....I was WAY to high for my liking....it dawned on me that I would have to make my way back down....and believe me.....going up is much easier than the climb down. My hubby was down on the road by the truck....he occasionally would look up at me to make sure I was ok. At one point I tried to shout for him...but he couldn't hear me...then I attempted to whistle....he still couldn't hear me......I knew then that I had gone to far....if he couldn't hear me and if anything should happen I would be in trouble....that sealed the idea for me that I should start heading back. I finally made it back down to the truck...a little sore and scratched...but I made it. By this time we had to be heading home in order to make it for dinner on time. Remember when I talked about those switch back roads....well I think we took a left when we should have taken a right. Yes we got a tad lost....well not lost...let's say we just extended our adventure for longer than anticipated. Funny thing was that when we managed to make it back to civilization what should cross the street in front of us but a big black bear!Yes it was a full weekend of fun, social gatherings and adventures.
I hope you had a enjoyable weekend as well!
