#379 - A Day of Thanks and Work

Waking up at the cottage is always a nice surprise, mostly because I forget that’s where I am in the morning.

It was our turn to make everyone breakfast, and since we were having our Thanksgiving Dinner tonight, we thought it was best to eat early so we wouldn’t be full later.

We cooked up eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, potato pancakes and hashbrowns. My mother in  law purchased a new electric grill that was bigger than ours and had a tilting feature so you could drain bacon grease or keep it level for making eggs and pancakes.

I immediately loved the large size of the grill and the tilt function. I took a picture so I could order the same one down the road. After we were all full from breakfast we headed outside to help get the cottage ready for winter. There were some frames covered in clear vinyl to cover the screens of a teaching pavilion. Some of them were damaged and needed new plastic. We spent hours putting the panels in place and even longer repairing the panels that had been damaged. They had been stored lying flat with just a tarp on it outside and if they had been stored properly we wouldn’t have had to fix anything. It was a fun family project that we could all do together. Robyn and her sister painted the side of a Bunkie and we also cleared the side of it where good lumber had been piled and covered with a tarp. The the wood cleared and properly stored the painting could continue.

We also moved most of the Muskoka chairs into the pavilion for the winter and moved five to the back of the cottage to create a closer fire pit. No one wants to be down at the lake this time of year at night. It’s too cold and too far to walk. The new pit is just outside and close to the cottage if someone needs a drink or the facilities.

While we were doing all of that, my mother-in-law and kiddo #2 stayed indoors to cook the turkey and prepare the stuffing and vegetables for dinner. By the time we all crawled wearily up to the cottage we were treated with the wonderful smells of cooking food.

I sat in the sun on the deck, sliding into a Muskoka chair with a pineapple lime cider that I definitely earned.

After sitting for a moment, I went upstairs and cleaned up and then laid down on the bed for a rest. Eventually, I watched some YouTube and began to doze off. Around five or maybe it was six we were all called down for supper and seated ourselves at the long table. A beautiful turkey was served with gravy and mixed vegetables as well as a homemande stuffing and cabbage rolls. I devoured two plates because I’d worked up and appetite and because it was so good. We served apple crumble and pumpkin pie with fresh whipped cream for dessert.

My brother-in-law John made us all some Pisco Sours that came as a premade conncotions. All he had to do was add in some egg whites from a carton and shake to froth it up. With a few drops of bitters added to the froth it was as good as any other Pisco Sour I’d had at our favourite Peruvian restaurant.

Even kiddo #1 and kiddo #2 had enjoyed them. Which was fitting because they have Peruvian heritage in their blood from their father’s side of the family. I ended up consuming two of them and would have had more if they had been made. Pisco Sours are dangerous because they go down so easy. I had a Pisco Sour with my dinner and a glass of red wine, so it’s safe to say that by the end of dinner I was feeling no pain.

My brother-in-law John went to the new fire pit in the back and lit a roaring fire. We all got changed into sweaters and headed outside with the little kiddies to make Smore’s over the campfire. The wood was good and dry giving off the kind of smoke that smells great.

I stayed out with my mother-in-law chatting as we both stared into the fire, mesmerised by the flicker flames.

That took my until about nine thirty in the evening. Shannon and kiddo #2 were watching a movie in the sofa and everyone else had disappeared. I was feeling destroyed from the day and ready for bed. I had planned to stay up late and write my story, but there was no way that was going to happen. I climbed into bed with Robyn and listened to some of my audiobook until I realized I had missed section of it. I had been falling asleep intermittently.

It was maybe ten thirty at that point and I called it a night, giving in to the desire to sleep.

This of course created some issues with when I would be finishing my mentor assignment. I had given it some thought throughout the week, but nothing had really got me fired up enough to write about it.

There is a good chance that I might need to have Robyn drive the car home tomorrow night as I try to write something on the way home. But I guess that is a problem for tomorrow.

Until then.