Nov 2023

 

This blog is upside-down please go to the bottom and read your way up. Otherwise you will move through time in the wrong direction  and nobody wants that.

Finally I started my Christmas cards.

The end of the month brough the wind and rain that typically knocks the leaves down. It got cold and it stayed beautiful.

These are potato stuffed with cheese and glazed with a sweet savory sauce and some seaweed nori.

She saw them in an anime she loves and decided to try them. It took hours. They were great.

Most impressive to me though was Megan's attempt at Imo Mochi

They got a little over done as we were playing Mario kart when they finished and I refused to pull myself away in time.

I continued the cooking mode throughout the weekend and did some fair cinnamon rolls.

We got this picture from Dad and Mary of their Hawaii Thanksgiving and were duly impressed.

There were lots more foods and all of them this year were wonderful. We all ate till it hurt then rested and did it again.

I got dressed up in Thanksgiving finery. 

Mom made the traditional turkey.

We covered the dog crate with a blanket and desserts.

We put out the fancy plates and napkin rings.

I had a barstool to sit on and we filled up the oven.

and Kiernan's interpretation. 

Behold the snoopy inspiration.

Mom made some great brussel sprots.

Kiernan cooked so much.

On Wednesday night while i was doing pie and David was doing mashed potato prep Kiernan rendered a chicken and put it in some buttermilk to soak over night.

He made fried chicken Thursday mid morning with his own selection of spices.

While he was doing that he also made a black forest cake and an hilarious snoopy inspired platter.

Thursday morning I got up and watched the Macy's thanksgiving day parade.

I saw lots of funny things and listened to the kids clattering around in the kitchen.

It was probably the most relaxed Thanksgiving morning I have had as an adult

I made two pies and prepped all my vegetables Wednesday night.

My other pie was a dehydrated apple ring pie. I keep trying to reconstruct Elizabethan / Jacobian fruit pies. This one was rehydrated in cider (as usual) and then heavily spiced with clove and ginger and some of the leftover wineberries. It turned out pretty well.  

Poor Licia and Kathryn's mom got Covid so we didn't have Licia's great pecan pie to look forward to, I therefore tried to remember what she told me about making them when I was like 19 and made us one myself. It was pretty close as I have her same advantage of actual fresh pecans thanks to her uncles farm. Hers is still better.

Thursday was Thanksgiving.

I got my usual IV bruise and collapsed veins and was in a very tolerable amount of pain.

I skipped work on Monday because I couldn't hold my weight on my foot Although I did get my boot and bandages off and then I did a work from home on Tuesday. On Wednesdays I went back and spent the day in a rolly chair. I was pretty wiped by the end of it for sure

I had my foot elevated above my heart level and for the weekend. They always do this surgery on a Friday so that you can recover over the weekend.

I was tired and drugged and dazed for a few days after.

The most impactful event of the month was probably my foot surgery.

I finally bit the bullet and got it done.

This was a plantar fascia release surgery.

We got all sorts of fresh apples every weekend from a nearby orchard.

Also I made a few loaves of bread.

Megan used her birthday money for a cosplay outfit.

I used up our gallon bags of wineberries from the summer for compotes and crepes.

Some good fall style cooking happened. I made a cool set of mushroom and goat cheese strudels.

I'm keeping on with my Duolingo and my Spanish is improving bit by bit.

Our fig tree produced (sadly too late in the year) its very first fig.

I was super excited and dragged everyone I could find over to bask in its glory.

We had lots of guest over including some of his former coworkers.

90 is a big birthday and we were so glad to celebrate it with him.

Behold the guest of honor.

We got together at our place for Opa's birthday.

The weather tuned chilly all at once but it was beautiful.

Megan started using her birthday money for a fancy set of nails from the spa.

As the kids used the wagon for their Halloween bring-out-your-dead-fest I had it at easy access and was able to not touch the falling about mess of pumpkin disintegrate. 

I love how extra spooky they look as they fall apart.

The jack-o-lanterns died the disgusting death of warm weather and time.

They all went out back for the critters.

I've started an online course on leatherworking and am hoping to make some custom armor. It is a long course and I have a long way to  go but I am hopeful that it will go well and I wont space out and not finish it.

More beautiful leaves of November.

I got to the end of my Invisalign trays. My teeth are way straighter. There is now a gap. I am doing a refinement set starting on my birthday.

I noticed a brown area in the gap and was worried it was a cavity so I asked the orthodontist to put everything on hold until I had a dentist look at it. Happily it wasn't a cavity. Just an area that was previously inaccessible that needed extra cleaning.

The one thing the straightening has done is  make all the previously crossed over bits easier to clean. My dental hygienist was happily chirping about how much she could now get at as she yanked my head around by the teeth. hahaha

It is the main reason I did this, to improve my tooth lifespan.

Here is some music to enjoy while reading the rest of this entry.

The leaves were really beautiful in November.

My coolest crafting project (and nearly only one) of November was the customization of my blacksmithing hammer on the new laser at Haven.

I took my cheap Harbor Freight hammer and added a Celtic knot up the side. This will make it both more beautiful and more distinguishable for other peoples cheap harbor freight hammers.

Many thanks to Gene for the help with the new laser.