Giving Thanks

I am grateful for a great many blessings!  A slow internet connection and other to-dos have kept me from posting this sooner, but I had a fantastic Thanksgiving.  I am especially grateful for the time woodcutting with the guys.  We made a trip out on the Saturday before Thanksgiving and then on Thanksgiving morning.  Not because I am the token female, I have been the truck loader and get great exercise filling up some trucks with future firewood (and take the pictures).  

I say "future" because it won't be any time soon.  The storm that blew through in early November and left shingles and branches everywhere also took out a great number of living trees.  These green trees will make great firewood, but need to cure first.  All the same, when it's ready for the getting, we will take it!  Because it was so recently alive, the wood is incredibly dense.  It made for some low tailgates.

These pictures are from the Saturday trip.  We went to Clark's Fork, a new part of the camp for me.  Very pretty views.

 When I mention strong winds, these two green trees were felled at the roots.  The picture doesn't even capture the tops.  We didn't block it because it wasn't particularly close to the road for loading.

 My strong man blocking a tree...

Minus Pop, who was probably in the truck and ready to roll on home, my fellow crew.  I enjoy getting to help.  And on a night like tonight with a roaring fire in the cold, I appreciate that I had a hand in it.

We missed the Salas family on Thanksgiving, but had a feast all the same.  Mom made salmon for me...so sweet!  We brought the gravy and potatoes, a big loaf of focaccia bread, homemade whipped cream and pumpkin empanadas, and the green chile.  It was a heck of a feast, and it took us a whole week to eat up all our leftovers.  I really wanted to make a ridiculous post about how the gravy didn't turn out pink.  I tried an onion gravy recipe to please an onion lover who teases me about my "compost" gravy.  Anyhow, I thought it would be fun to use our purple onions and serve a pink gravy.  Six cups of onions for five cups of gravy, and with all those onions, it still came out beige.  We indulged and then crashed!  We are blessed, blessed, blessed!