I thought I was spending Thanksgiving alone this year, instead I had a very lovely day with cousins Brad, Rebecca, Jimmy and grandson Josh. Made possible by a last minute change in plans. The menu was simple enough for me to prepare and soft enough for Josh to chew: pureed kabocha squash soup, roast chicken, mashed potatoes, dressing, greens from my garden and pumpkin pie. I carved a whole chicken for the first time ever (thank you, YouTube) and Josh made the mashed potatoes, also for the first time ever, exactly the way Charlie made them: smooth, creamy and with lots of butter. He would have been very proud of his grandson’s first foray into cooking.
Since the temperature will drop below freezing tonight, building the enclosure for the lemon/calamondin trees was kind of urgent. Miles and Kate came, wrapped the trees with new (clear!) plastic, and set up the heater to come on when the interior temperature drops below 50. It looks kind of wonky, sort of like Bilbao, Frank Gehry, eat your heart out. BTW I harvested a total of 18 picture perfect lemons, last year, there were a whopping 48 of them. Amazing.
Miles also put air in the tires, so I no longer have to drive with the goofy orange exclamation point that looks like this: ( ! ) on the dashboard. I don’t know why but it drove me nuts. He also leveled the freezer after the repair guy came. Another thing that drives me nuts: things that are not level. Peace of mind restored.
Francesco came with a fabulous lunch of homemade lasagne and a beautiful lemon meringue tart. such a sweet way to spend the day after Thanksgiving.
Josh put Max on my TV so I can binge watch Succession, a show about family dynamics that is simultaneously interesting and very stressful.
I thought my very productive week dealing with house/car/garden was coming to an end but today I discovered that I have to replace the Water Wise filter system. Right after I buy a new bathroom faucet.