Shopping on Saturday

and Other Things

So Ward and I lost all of our common sense and went shopping Saturday afternoon. We knew it would be crowded and tried to get into the right frame of mind to handle that before we set out. And our expectations were met. There were people everywhere getting ready for Thanksgiving. Parking lots were full and check-out lines seemed to stretch for miles. Despite all of that, we were able to maneuver through the crowds with success. 

And why did we not choose a different time to go out? Well, we've been waiting for extended family to figure out whether or not they would be joining us for Thanksgiving dinner. There were many moving parts to consider before deciding that we won't have any extra guests for that day. So as soon as we knew how many we'll be feeding (4) and what our menu was, we headed out to shop before the shelves were empty.

Our menu started out featuring smoked ribs, but that got changed when Theo was given a big turkey at work. We are going to try a new-to-us cooking method for it. Basically, you heat the turkey for an hour at 500 degrees and then turn the oven off and let it sit in the warm oven for the next 5 or 6 hours. There is almost a cult following on the internet for this method. We'll see if we're able to produce the browned skin, meat falling off the bones everyone is raving about. I think the hardest part will be not opening the oven or lifting the lid on the turkey to see how it's doing.

Back on the homefront, we have had a few surprises in the yard. Our camellia tree is blooming! We planted it last spring and it is a variety that is supposed to bloom in the fall. However, we didn't expect it to bloom the first year, so when it hadn't shown any signs that way, we weren't surprised. But we were surprised when after several frosts, we saw our first bloom.

There are a couple of other things that are braving the cold weather and still flowering. What a treat for this time of year. 

Camellia

Spirea

Cosmos

Dianthus

Until next time...