Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a bit different this year, of course. Eric, Glen, and I had Dad Perazzo over for dinner. There was plenty of traditional food offerings (including Aunt Margaret's orange sweet potatoes--my favorite), but not the lively get-together we are used to. And no games at the Jamieson's. :( But we are very grateful for all that we have and it was a wonderful day.

Glen made the pies this year--a dutch apple and a layered cream cheese, pumpkin, and pecan pie (which I thought was okay, but Glen and Eric really liked it). So, here is the link to the new recipe and the recipe for Aunt Margaret's Orange Sweet Potatoes if you are interested:

https://www.food.com/recipe/pumpkin-cream-cheese-layer-pie-331692

Aunt Margaret's Orange Sweet Potatoes (adapted from Oregon Extension Service Recipe in 1962)

1-2 (2 oz) cans of cut sweet potatoes, drained

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon butter

1 cup orange juice (I use 1/4 cup orange juice concentrate and 1/4 cup water)

salt to taste

Combine dry ingredients. Add juice slowly; add butter. Stir well. Cook over low heat until boiling. Boil at least one minute. (this can be done the day before cooking the sweet potatoes)

Pour sauce over drained canned sweet potatoes. Bake at least 45 minutes to an hour at 325 degrees. Can also be placed in an electric fry pan to cook. Baste with sauce several times. The longer it cooks, the thicker the sauce becomes and the better the flavor.

Leftovers can be reheated and/or frozen and reheated later.

Much of my time this week was spent making the sashing to a Christmas quilt. It's part of a year-long project hosted by our local museum. Each month we go and get the material and instructions for a new part of the quilt so that by the end of the year we have a completed quilt top (I still have last year's quilt top that needs to be turned into a quilt...which is on my list of things to do soon). I am a few blocks behind in this year's quilt, but I hope that I will be caught up by the end of the week. Then I have until next Christmas to actually quilt it, right?

On Friday, Glen got to be an emergency milker as the farm was short-handed. After helping in the milking parlor, Glen then got to help Eric take care of the baby calves. I sewed. It was a good day. It was a good week.

AM, Eric, Christmas decorating, and chasing the Mayflower (unsuccessfully)

Aunt Margaret (or AM as we affectionately called her) was laid to rest on Wednesday, a beautiful fall day. We did not have a funeral as there will be a memorial service at some point later, but I'm so glad that all 11 of us who live in Fallon were able to be there. My brother-in-law, Gary, took some great photos, which I have "stolen" from his facebook page to post here. 

Friday was Eric's 29th birthday. When asked what kind of cake and ice cream he wanted, he requested vanilla ice cream and then a red velvet and carrot layered cake. It actually tasted pretty good. Happy Birthday, Eric!

I prepared the baking pans--Glen did all the rest

I don't think I have ever decorated for Christmas before Thanksgiving before, but that's what I did yesterday. And we only put up 2 trees-- the main tree in what I call the middle room and a little one in the living room so when I'm crafting on my wonderful new table, I can have some Christmas cheer there. 

Last year, I decorated the main tree in silver and gold and loved it. This year, I opted for red and gold, and I love it, too! I still have some other decorating to do, but I'm mainly done and keeping it simpler this year.

My childhood was spent in New England. I grew up on Mayflower stories in school and I wished I was a Mayflower and/or Native American descendant.

My dad's roots go back to New England in the mid-1600s...but no Mayflower. And my mom is of French Canadian descent...possible Native American ancestry there, but it's not proven.

Then one of the programs we use for genealogy told me that I had a Mayflower ancestor--Moses Fletchter! So I went to investigate. He died that first winter without children here, but he had left children in England. I investigated further.

Hopes dashed. Someone had said that Moses was the father of John who was the father of my Rev. William Fletcher...only John would have been 9 years old when William was born... they had attached William to the wrong father, so no Mayflower connection. :(

Glen, however, is a descendant of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins, so John and Priscilla are my children's 11th great-grandparents. I guess that's good enough for me. for now. still hoping to find a connection... 

Joy is 3! Aunt Margaret, link to Alex's facebook video, raku pieces

Today was Joy's 3rd birthday. Here's a picture Andrew posted on facebook today:

Andrew and Joy on her 3rd birthday

infant Joy

Henry, me, and Joy February 2018

Aunt Margaret, who has been sick for years, passed away on Friday. Her spirit is finally free of her limited body and we hope she is having a wonderful reunion with Uncle Jim and other loved ones. Good-bye for now, Aunt Margaret, we love you!

Alex and his companion made a video based on some of their experiences as missionaries:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=733856307225893&id=100562925060328

Some of us in my pottery group have been working on raku pieces. We were supposed to get together for the special firing at our teacher's house, but weather prevented us from meeting. She and her husband fired the pieces afterwards and I just got my pieces back and I love how they turned out.

crafting table, conchas, snow...

Glen and I see a lot more of each other now that he has retired. He still is very busy and has many projects going on. One of his projects was making this huge table (about 10' x 4') for me. It is awesome because there's plenty of room to lay out projects...and then they don't need to be cleaned up because dinner is ready. I'm still scanning my dad's slides. I did all the slides from Germany (about 170 of them)...I think there's almost 700 more slides to go.

A few of the photos that I like that Dad took in Germany (they look better as slides, though):

Last Sunday, Angeles made conchas in honor of El Dia de los Muertos. They are a dry, sweet bread, and they were delicious! On Monday, Ryan and Angeles drove to their new place in Rexburg. They have settled in and seem to really like their new home.

My ceramic piece that I worked on for a while finally was able to come home. The background color is darker than I expected/wanted, but I still really like it.

fired and ready for the glaze

glazed and ready for the 2nd firing

all done

Snowed last night--first of the season. Fallon recorded 0.5" and it only took an hour or two to melt, but that's okay. It was fun just having a little bit on the ground.