Thanksgiving trip

 First trip to the beach on Thanksgiving morning--it was warm but windy, with big surf.  Poor Tess and Treasure had to stay on their leashes (our new policy).  Treasure ran across my mother's road on Weds., scaring me something fierce.  There's not too much traffic on the road but cars drive fast, so we were very lucky that she wasn't hit.  I freaked out, and kept her on a leash ever after that.

The table, set and ready for the turkey.  I took the turkey with me, bought it here.  It was a good one, a 12-lb. Butterball.  Liza did most of the cooking the whole time I was there, except for the lobsters and clams that I cooked.  She likes to be in charge of the kitchen, which is fine with me.  She cooks dinner for Mark every night, keeping her busy.

Liza and Mark at the beach, watching the surfers.  It was a nice day, warm enough but still windy.  The surf was unusually big, and there were about 20 people surfing in wetsuits.  It was fun to watch them.

Surfin' USA.  When I was young, in Illinois, I really wanted to be a surfer girl.  I had pictures of surfers on my walls, and listened endlessly to the Beach Boys (none of whom ever surfed).  I wanted to go to college in Calif., though that idea evaporated when I fell in love with someone from Yale.

The beach.  We had it to ourselves for a while.

The whole visit was nice.  We had lots of good visiting and spent a lot of time reading.  I took Liza shopping several times.  Since she doesn't drive anymore, Mark takes her wherever she needs to go and she doesn't like that much.  I don't mind taking her anywhere she wants to go.  We went to the grocery store several times, and did some Christmas shopping as well.  The weather was good, it was cold one day, rained one day but mostly was warm and pleasant.  Mark and I walked the dogs on the beach on Thanksgiving, then later in the week we walked them at the Univ. of RI's botanical garden on campus (my alma mater).  That was very pleasant but again the poor dogs were never off their leashes.  Tough luck, sweeties.

My trips down and back were fine, uneventful and easy.  I traveled on weekdays and avoided the holiday rush, which was my intention.  I made good time both ways, under the usual 6 hours it takes.  Hmmmm.  I'm always trying to beat my best time, without taking any chances or driving too fast.

I'll go back for Christmas, will probably spend a week there.  I worried about my house this trip, as I always do.  Nothing to worry about, though it was 7 the morning I returned.  I left the heat on, had the heater in the cellar to keep the pump warm, and all was just fine.  Maybe the best thing about my Thanksgiving was that the Holts stacked ALL of my firewood, putting it in the wood shed under cover.  YAY.  Not only did they do that for me, they tidied up outside and did a DUMP RUN in Annie's truck.  I had a mini-dump of crap that I collected in anticipation of a dump run, but I didn't expect them to do it.  That was really, really nice.  What a relief.

I went to lunch with Julie in Plattsburgh today--we've been eating at the new Japanese restaurant for the past several weeks, a switch from our usual Thai meals.  I ran errands while I was in town, got some Christmas shopping done plus hit the grocery store big time.  I guess I haven't done a big buy in a while.  Always a shock how much we spend on food.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to get back to my 3-things-a-day routine.  I'd like to spray foam in the cellar to plug the holes in the walls and insulation.  Ugh.  I also want to wrap the pipes in the laundry room, which freeze and burst pretty much every year.  That will be a trick, getting behind the washing machine.  What a difference that should make!

Life continues to be good for me.  My house is warm and dry.  It's raining outside, due to turn to snow tonight.  Nothing dramatic, just a few inches.  It's about time.