Here, at 48N, sunset is 4:40 p.m. and with the sun angle very south, it is dusk shortly after 4:00 p.m. Sunrise is after 8:00 a.m. Short days
Two weeks until the Winter Solstice and we turn around to longer days.
Daytime has not been exceptionally bright the last few days. The cloud deck is low. Temperature is a constant 27F day and night. The humidity from the low cloud deck makes it feel colder than 27F.
BUT! Emmett and I have returned to walking on the State Land behind my property. Hunting season is over. The bears are hopefully denned up but at any rate, the vegetation has died and I can see over the terrain.
It is wonderful to add more variety to our outings.
We get longer walks and more stuff to sniff!
Winter light.
***EDIT Especially for Margaret … so sorry … I returned the drone. It just was not the right time for it. One day!
But, the leading peloton of Vendee Globe 2020 sailors are there.
And the Southern Ocean has not been kind to several of them.
To be fair, the Atlantic had it’s go at some of them also.
Sam (Samantha) Davies and Seb (Sebastian) Simone suffering what is likely race-ending damage when they were both racing VERY well and then encountered UFO (unidentified floating object).
Simone (ARKEA PAPREC) went to the search zone of PRB’s Kevin Escoffier. Escoffier spent 11 hours in a life raft after his boat literally broke in 2. 5 racers (including Simone in ARKEA PAPREC) were sent to the zone and Kevin was rescued.
And then… Heart breaking as ARKEA PAPREC subsequently suffered damage from an UFO! Shortly after, Sam Davies on Initiatives Coeur also struck an object.
Meanwhile, here in the U.S. it is embarrassingly childish behavior by grown up people: from the President to local persons.
I choose to take refuge in the courage, persistence, athleticism and strength of the Vendee Globe sailors: their teams, their sponsors, the organization and the ocean sailing community.
But.
I live in NW Montana. A place I chose. And I don’t have aspirations to be an ocean sailor, but I do appreciate … so very much … this time of being able to go around the world with the Vendee Globe sailors.
So, some scenes from home…
Lovely stuff: Auggie, Emmett and my home…
But, my thoughts and prayers are with the courageous sailors that are now in the Southern Ocean: sail fast, sail safe and thank you to all of them who have shared so much on social media. The opportunity to go around the world with the best sailors in the world is an incredible privilege.
Apparently, my new Thanksgiving tradition is to have my Thanksgiving dinner on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Yes, it is Friday as I write this. I roasted the turkey (breast) today and it is sliced, sitting in au jus in the refrigerator. The bones are also in the refrigerator … they will be used to make bone broth later…
Wednesday, Thanksgiving Eve Day was full of electronic glitches … and then, when I came in with Emmett, from our before bedtime walk … water under the washer … gah! I mopped up the water and went to bed, hoping the problem would resolve itself.
Honestly! I have never known a “water leak” issue to resolve itself. I cannot believe I even had that thought.
Thursday morning: more water. I pulled out the washer and THANKFULLY, it was only an issue with the intake hose, which had burst. Easy fix. First, easy to shut off water to that hose, remove the hose and make plans to obtain a new hose on Friday (today). Which I did and have since installed, done a load of laundry and all is well: HURRAH!!!
Onward with Thanksgiving fun: Cranberry sauce, stuffing prep, pie crust…
The cranberry sauce!
While I was keeping an eye on the cranberry sauce, I worked on my afghan block. This was an especially fun block: 5 of 6 in my current order.
But, with the sauce and the block and after the relief that the plumbing issue was not a MAJOR plumbing issue… I ran out of steam for making “THE DINNER”.
I watched a lot of VendeeGlobe 2020 videos and some other sailing videos which I will share about in another post!
Wednesday’s electronic glitches were my Amazon Smart Plug/Alexa and new Bose noise cancelling headphone…
I don’t know if they were related, but I was not a fan of the headphone and so …
Return.
Meanwhile…
I keep laughing at Emmett peering around the corner to look for the squirrel… he waits and if it/one of them is there, he goes!!!
On our walk…
It was overcast, but gorgeous light!
So.
After returning the headphone, and after seeing a few videos from youTube people I follow:
I finally, after looking and watching and thinking and dreaming ….
ordered a drone:
That is not my hand … DJI image of DJI: Mini 2.
It should arrive 12/4 ish.
I have watched a number of “how to fly DJI Mini 2” videos. It might be 2021 before you see anything. We will see.
YIKES!!
As I write this, it is Friday, almost 3:00 p.m.
Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow: Saturday. My new Thanksgiving Tradition.
I’ve done holidays on my own for many years and for many reasons enjoy! So, this year, as many (hopefully most) are celebrating with the people they live with and thus are safe with, there are lots of articles, blog posts, videos with ideas for a small scale dinner without giving up the things we love … and we all have our must haves :) .
But this year, I’m going turkey, albeit, I bought a bone-in turkey breast vs a whole turkey. It is now thawing in the refrigerator.
Meanwhile, I saw this video by a favorite New York Times person: Melissa Clark: One-Pot, One Pan in under 3 hours!
There are a number of genius ideas in this video: boneless turkey breast wrapped in bacon so you get “crispy skin” with a boneless breast. I already had my bone in turkey breast, but will not forget this!!
Then she made dressing and it looked so good! I normally do not make dressing as I usually make a good roll or bread and dressing is a bit overkill. But it looked so good!!
So…
I made bread in order to dry it out and make dressing…
Sweet potatoes are kind of steamed, then roasted. I tried it along with a russet potato as well as with some brussels sprouts. WOW. I am sold on the technique. And although I will mash the russet and sweet potato, the method produces more flavor and better texture than boiling.
I mashed a bit of each as a test. The other bonus is that I can do the potatoes and some sprouts in 1 pan in the oven vs several stovetop. So, kind of a mash of Melissa Clark’s 1 pan/1 pot idea and Kristen’s technique and I am excited about getting all of the things I want for my dinner without getting every pot and pan that I own dirty!!
And about the videos … because of Covid-19, both Melissa and Kristen, are doing these videos in their home kitchens (as are many) … with husbands manning cameras and in Kristen’s case … her adorable daughter helping.
In addition to turkey, stuffing (that will go on the pan with sprouts to crisp up) potatoes, sprouts … there will be cranberry sauce (easy do ahead), gravy and … PIE!
It is gorgeous! I have learned so much from Erin and I thought I baked a good pie. Erin explains the why of pie: why certain things work, why certain things do not work, the good/bad/ugly and how to fix mistakes.
There are a variety of crust options, filling options, decorating options. Erin encourages mixing and matching depending on what you have, what you want and just for the sake of being creative.
Anyway, my Thanksgiving pie is going to be …
Black bottom pecan pie. ( I blurred the recipe for copyright reasons … the recipe is not mine to share)
I made one right after I got the book. YUM and easy and I decided it was what I wanted for Thanksgiving.
So, despite Covid-19 and the many goings on in the world that I will not mention … I am very much looking forward to my Thanksgiving Dinner!
There are so many things to be thankful for and gosh … in this time of the ability of virtual everything … we are so fortunate that we have the ability to connect with each other safely, to see and share experiences, to get ideas, to not be alone.
I feel so fortunate that I am able to work, to be outside with Emmett and Auggie in a beautiful place, to have the means to gather supplies via online stores or “click and collect” … And this year, it might not be “over the river and through the woods” to grandmother’s house, but instead … fire up the iPad or computer or phone and Zoom with everyone while enjoying pie and coffee :)
I am continuing to follow the Vendee Globe 2020: solo, around the world, no assistance, sailing race. For me, it is a wonderful respite from the “things that I will not mention”. I am following all of the skippers: videos, photos, news articles. Much is in French, but I am picking up some French, using some of the translator software available and some of the videos have English subtitles, so day by day, I feel like I “know” each skipper and their boat a bit more.
There have been some heartbreaking boat “breakages”. Heartbreaking because the skippers and their teams and sponsors have spent 4 years preparing … and then … some of the difficulties were from UFO’s!!! Unidentified Floating Objects. Who knew there was so much CRAP floating around the ocean … as in objects that would seriously damage a 60 foot boat. Most of the boats have infrared cameras at the top of the masts to try and detect things, but with the speed of the boats … it is a challenge.
One of the most interesting things is that with the videos and instagram posts, the skippers are posting downs as well as ups … how they are feeling, the challenges of being alone at sea for so long (we are 15 days into a 60-70-90-100 day race): time to rest, to eat, to relax, to shower … the boats are racing machines so they have bare minimum as far as comforts.
Another benefit of technology for the race, similar to us as we prepare for a holiday: the ability to share what is going on, to connect, to hear from all who are watching and cheering them on. They ALL have said how much comments and likes mean to them as they race.
The 2nd week recap video. Even if you do not sail, I think you might find this video captivating. It is a great compilation of some of the skipper’s videos and excellent narration as well as beautiful music.
Yes, so. It is Monday evening of Thanksgiving week and the prep … in all ways is full of JOY!
The “two” kind of one …. for Friday morning treat.
Meanwhile…
Emmett found the orange bandana – YEA! I thought I might have accidentally tossed it, but this morning, he found it below our walk path … YEA Emmett!!!
Emmett being sneaky … peering around the corner to check for THE SQUIRREL…
That’s it … the end of the work week before T-day week.
BUT, we are a bit behind work-wise so it will be a weekend of catch up.
No worries! We have all supplies for our T-Day and are looking forward to a wonderful Thanksgiving Day.
