Thanksgiving dinner ... lately

We started early. It was all reasonably predictable and well organized at the time ... a list of veg to prep, lovely bird sat in a light brine, and even a bit of a schedule stuck on the fridge so that we didn't forget to do something really important.

So, there we are, bustling about prepping veg, keeping the counters clear, got the potatoes parboiled.

Suddenly the sun's going over the yardarm!

Time for a break. Just a small one, mind. And a tiny splash of something to wet our whistles. "5.00pm - dinner" says the scrap of paper on the fridge. Loads of time til then.

SUCH a gorgeous day. We're sat in the garden, supping and gossiping. We talk about the bird from time to time. He's in our thoughts.

We run out of wine, Sis starts sneezing due to something in the air, bird goes in the oven rather late, dinner mates arrive early, send Fred off on his bike for replenishments. It all goes to hell for a bit, but we manage to get dinner just before 7pm.

My phone alarm goes off just gone 7pm. OH! Space Station's going over! So we all troop out the back door, into the dark. We turn a few circles, getting our bearings, and we argue about where's WSW and what's 71 degrees, and then the ISS appears WSW at 71 degrees, bang on time, passes over us at a rate of knots ... we go dead quiet ....

Then back to Thanksgiving dinner and a DQ ice cream cake for Fred's birthday.

Managed to salvage a few flowers from the garden for the table. Nerine, rose, dahlia, geranium, rudbekia, fuschia, arch angel, crocosmia .... and fern.