Author: Liz

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The agony of defeat

That is the snowthrower in that trailer. It is going off to Big John’s.

The auger stopped augering on Thanksgiving Eve. I had a spare auger belt. The directions didn’t look bad and I have tools, can read, have done plenty of repairing/servicing of stuff. But, in recent years, Big John’s has been my go to place for home equipment as they pick up, service and deliver for a price so low it is hard to understand how they are making any money. But…it was Thanksgiving and snowing and forecast to snow more and I had all I needed so I began.

My first hurdle was getting the new belt on. I finally realized that at 15F, a rubber belt was going to have less give than normal and maybe warming it up would help. Also, it was getting dark. The belt spent the night in the house.

Friday, I got the belt on. I fired up the thrower. It started marching out of the garage on its own. I didn’t try the auger.

I have a work deadline to meet. I already had a couple of hours in the thrower. Discretion…valor, etc. – I made the call to Big John’s. Adding to the agony, I had to include a note about working on it. The good news is that it may be the source of amusement to whoever draws my thrower to work on. Laughter is good for the soul!

Meantime, the temperature rose above freezing. Three – four more inches of heavy wet snow has fallen. The snow and needles have come down off the trees in shuddering avalanches – sometimes on the roof of the house sounding a bit like the entire tree came with. It is a mess. It does this every year!…a VERY cold spell, a foot of snow and then a warm up.

Now, it is forecast to get cold again and more snow on top of slush that will freeze. Somehow it works out and looks beautiful again but at the moment not so much.

Although some long days this week on this project push, it has been a very good week. Hope yours has been as well – Happy Friday!

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Happy Thanksgiving from the Front Porch!

I love to cook and I love to cook Thanksgiving dinner, but this year decided to do things differently. Work and Karl and typical weather (which we GOT!) all made me decide some time ago that this year’s holiday celebrations would be celebrated at home – the three of us.

I recently read something on the order of there are people who get energy from being around others and people who get energy from solitude. I definitely fall in the solitude camp and find it exhausting to do much of the “people” thing. I know…it explains a lot :)!!

So, this year, the fambly Summers Thanksgiving Day will not only be intimate but I also decided to depart from the usual turkey dinner.

We are not departing from a cozy fire in the woodstove, though – Bob would never allow that to happen!

On top of the TV is my Thanksgiving bread on the rise – it is Broa, a Portuguese corn bread according to the recipe. Not southern cake-like cornbread, it is a crusty – chewy bread made with some cornmeal. And I’m adding the recipe’s Thanksgiving variation which includes dried cranberries and orange zest. I think it will go perfectly with the pumpkin stew that will be simmering on the stove this afternoon. A green salad and some fizzy apple cider will round out my dinner with Nantucket Cranberry Pie for dessert.

There will be leftovers, just like the usual turkey dinner, as I find it impossible, no matter what my intention, to make a small pot of soup or stew…

A large gift box of the Meyer Lemons arrived last week and some of them will join the cranberries to become cranberry-lemon marmalade. Meyer Lemons are a hybrid lemon-mandarin orange (might be something else from the orange family) cross – slightly sweeter than a regular lemon, thinner skinned and rounder. And fresh off the tree – beautifully fragrant…a wonderful gift!

A little snowthrower maintenance is also on the “menu” – rats! My own fault as I decided to do some cleanup in the dark, hit a few rocks and the auger belt broke. Also, it needs an oil change. I’d have it picked up and serviced except it is snowing…

..kind of constantly and supposed to keep going and another storm so will see if I can get all in working order today.

Karl in his closet looking concerned that I am in there as well AND pointing the camera at him. It is the last weekend of hunting season and the guns were on the loud side this morning. Both he and Bob will join me at the table when the food is ready. No one misses a meal at this house!

Seriously, Thanksgiving – I have so much to be thankful for – Karl and Bob, this warm and comfortable house, good food to fix and enjoy, good work, friends and family – all is good and well.

Happy Thanksgiving from Karl, Bob and I to all.

***EDIT*** And I’m thankful for my neighbors, Mike and Nancy. And I’m REALLY thankful for their backhoe :)! I had just hit Publish for this post when Mike and their backhoe headed up my driveway…takes the pressure off the snowthrower repair.

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Bear and Beardog

That is a bear. That is a black bear. I think it is a yearling cub. It is not Karl.

It is not Karl, because Karl is next to me and the black bear is down there…

Karl was just in front of the front porch, noshing on a treat as I was unloading groceries from the Jeep. The Jeep was also just in front of the front porch…to the south of Karl.

Karl suddenly jumped up, did his scent gulp thing and started the bear bark alternating with nose in the air scent gulp thing.

I grabbed Karl’s leash and went back out. I think that Karl knows that he is not 100%…he waited. I leashed him. The cub was still there. I dashed back for pepper spray and camera and we went to the edge of the ravine…watching for Mama.

Karl kept up the bear bark. Once I was there for backup, he strained at the leash. I took the photos. We came inside.

A black bear, although exciting, was not the only adventure of the day.

A nap for Karl, a glass of wine for me.

Bob??? He is in front of the woodstove – the woodstove which has a small fire crackling merrily… Our Saturday…partly!