We’re ready! Turkeys are in the oven and the kitchen is clean. Wine is cooling. Drippings standing by to be made into gravy. Tablecloths have been ironed and the pumpkins are looking cheerful, as they always do.
We wish you all, our family and our friends, a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. May it be filled with great food, friend, family, laughter, joy and lots of leftovers.
Love,
More Pie and Banjo Man
I’ve received the Funny Grandson’s Christmas wish list and, as expected, it’s all about Dallas Cowboys football and football jerseys. He owns a Dak Prescott jersey and would really, really like another team member’s, too.
The kid just finished up his “flag football” season and hopes to play in a winter league. Apparently he’s a quarterback.
Oh, my goodness.
My French Friend Janou brought the hardest jigsaw puzzle I’ve ever seen with her to Rhode Island.
No straight edges or corners!
We spent several lazy mornings–and afternoons–patiently putting the pieces together. Our wolf is gorgeous.
We finished it! Let’s take a picture!
I’ve never seen such unusually-shaped puzzle pieces, but we loved the challenge…especially while drinking coffee and chatting. It has been a brutal year for both of us in very different ways and it was good to be together as we took a lot of deep breaths and wondered what the future would hold.
Another adventure was a stop at Denny’s for a late breakfast after my ultrasound in Providence.
Check out the mugs:
MFFJ also enjoyed trips to Aldi’s, Job Lot and several beaches. Sometimes I stayed in the car so I wouldn’t slow her down. She went home with a suitcase full of Christmas presents, a handful of smooth white rocks and half a clam shell!
Our biggest jaunt was to Foxwoods Casino, the largest gambling casino in North America.
First we had to remember where to park, as the valet parking was unfortunately unavailable.
Good advice.
Daughter Nancy kept an eye on us.
Taking a selfie is never easy.
None of us won any money that morning and the highlight of the day was lunch.
As it should be.
I hadn’t been to Foxwoods in thirty years and it will most likely be another thirty before I go again. But it was fun to see something new and we felt as if we were in a foreign country. And only 42 minutes from the house.
Our typical evening routine: couch, wine, fireplace, tv and comfy clothes.
So today Banjo Man and I are talking about Thanksgiving and waiting for the big game at 4:30 this afternoon. The Patriots play the Dallas Cowboys and it should be a great game. The rain is pouring down with no sign of stopping until later tonight. The ball will be wet. The field will be slippery. Which means a lot of crazy things can happen.
I will be on the couch stitching “sleeves” onto the backs of two quilts that I hope to have hung before Thanksgiving. It’s time to add some color to blank white walls. I’ve hung antique quilts before but never my own, but Banjo Man says it’s time they came out of the closets.
We’ve been listening to a New Orleans Christmas cd (I know you’re groaning that it’s too early for that) and we might have even done some dancing together in the living room this morning. Who can resist, “It’s Christmas Time in New Orleans”?
Not us, apparently.
My oldest child is 47 today.
47.
He had a play pen, wore cloth diapers and watched Captain Kangaroo on television.
Today is my chance to dig up old photos of him and relive those early years, if just for a few moments.
Here is Birthday #2, shared with his Grandma Winslow and Banjo Man (sporting the fancy facial hair–good Lord!).
Age 1: sharing a giggle with Uncle George.
Age 3: enjoying the loot from Halloween.
So Happy Birthday, Ben! As you enjoy your own family, know that your parents are thinking of you all day today and remembering the joy of having you for a son–yesterday, today and always.
“The older I get the more wisdom I find in the ancient rule of taking first things first – a process which often reduces the most complex human problem to a manageable proportion.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Speaking of manageable proportions…
Three days ago My French Friend Janou extolled the advantages of owning a leaf blower to Banjo Man.
He put down his rake and listened. Then he drove to town the next morning to buy himself one of these magical pieces of equipment.
With his new tool, he has cleared the driveway and the back patio and has moved onto the lawns. In just a few hours.
We had never understood the principle behind a leaf blower. Aren’t you just blowing leaves into the street or into someone else’s yard? Maybe. But we live in the woods. There is no street, no neighbor’s yard to consider.
It’s just us. And a bazillion leaves to remove from the gardens and the lawns.
The task of raking leaves had become more and more daunting each year. Banjo Man would fill 100 garbage cans with leaves and haul them to the “leaf hole” in the woods to decompose.
Now I realize that leaf removal isn’t one of those problems Dwight Eisenhower would consider “complex”, but it is an annual nuisance and a pretty big chore even though Banjo Man loves being outside on chilly fall days.
I think he owes MFFJ a big thank you and a glass of wine. Or two.
I wonder what other “Ancient Rules” Dwight pondered.
Banjo Man and My French Friend Janou made dinner together. It was a beef soup of some kind and there were many differences of opinion as to what should go into the pot. So it was a rather hilarious thing to listen to from my spot on the couch.
I was so glad I was on the other side of the room and not remotely involved. Hey, I wasn’t even going to eat it! Since my No More Cancer medication I’d lost my appetite for beef. Give me a piece of cheese for dinner and I’m happy.
Yesterday Janou and I headed up to Providence for my ultrasound, which came out just fine but took forever. And then we stopped at Denny’s for a very late breakfast on the way home. Janou loved Denny’s.
Everyone loves Denny’s.
It was raining. I took a nap when we arrived home. And a few hours later Banjo Man and Janou were in the kitchen together.
Yes, it was hilarious.
Tonight Banjo Man is making scallop salad and baking salmon. I know Janou will help him. They will have a good time.
And I will be on the couch. I have more energy during the day but after about 4 pm I’m pretty much done and ready to put my feet up.
I don’t think anyone misses me in the kitchen.
Built in 1875 and lovingly protected and restored by the Friends of the Kingston Railroad Station. Not even a major fire and the threat of demolition could destroy this landmark.
I took the train to Boston yesterday to meet My French Friend Janou at Logan airport and bring her back to Rhode Island for a two-week visit.
Oh, we’re going to have a good time!
But first I had to retrieve her.
The train is always lovely and South Station in Boston is a bustling, interesting place in the center of the city. I decided not to brave the subway to the airport (I am not capable of learning new things at the moment), so I chickened out and took a taxi.
So easy.
What wasn’t easy was finding MFFJ at Terminal B! I’d assumed she’d have luggage, so I headed over to the luggage carousel to meet her as she grabbed her suitcase. Turns out she just had two carry-on bags and was looking for me at the terminal across the street.
We eventually found each other–oh, the joy of cell phones!!!–and popped back into a taxi to head back to South Station. We had time for a snack before our train was announced and we were heading south to Kingston Station.
An hour later and there was Banjo Man, waiting to pick us up. He had roast beef sandwiches and butternut squash soup waiting for us, the tired and hungry travelers.
Conversation and tequila in front of the fireplace would follow. As would an early bedtime.
Today the sun is shining. I think we’ll go for a ride and make sure the ocean is still there.
While waiting for Banjo Man to join me at the car for a trip to the dump yesterday afternoon, I looked up.
Oh, what a shade of blue!
I grabbed my phone and took a picture, of course, but the color isn’t as deep a blue in the photo as it was in the sky.
I tried again, using a filter.
Nope, not the right color either.
Are these better? Closer, yes. But the real thing was better. As it usually is.
So I leaned against the car, looked up at the sky and took many, many deep breaths. When Banjo Man finally stepped aside he asked me what I was doing.
“Inhaling blue,” was my response.
My favorite color.
First of all, let me shout out a “Happy Birthday” to my brother. Yes, his birthday is on Halloween. And yes, there was always a party before we went out trick-or-treating.
Six months old with his first Halloween ahead of him.
He looks very dapper in that hat!
Check out E.T.
1982. I made this incredibly intricate costume for my eldest son.
Last month I brought E.T. to Texas, just in case anyone there wanted it. And because Banjo Man had declared he was not going to store it for another 30 years. E.T. was so big he had his own suitcase.
I was so proud of this creation, but over the years Will figured he was being tortured. Gee, I wonder why! Do you think he’s scarred for life?
1987. Will had graduated from ladybugs to ghouls. And Nancy was some kind of pink fairy princess.
1982: Miss Piggy.
And then there’s 1985:
I was a witch–my “go to” costume for decades–but I don’t know what Banjo Man was. But his pants were pink-striped.
Don’t ask.
And here’s one more:
1982, in Hope. I still have the coffee table. Notice that Will is holding on to his “tail” while Ben is choking him.
Happy Halloween, everyone. I hope you enjoy the candy!
Fourth of July
Glen the Banjo Man
LIVE at the Dump
is there any more pie? 