Only four of our children got the virus. Amanda, Brandon, Bethany, Clint and I managed to escape it. It was really rough on those who had it though. It took four days to go through them, but they were each only sick from 12 hours to a little over 24 hours.
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving even though Clint and Brandon were both called into work. We found out late Wednesday afternoon and had our meal together Wednesday evening. I usually cook the day before, so we were pretty much ready. I roasted two turkeys which I rubbed with a herbal mix. They received rave reviews!
That was the first time our family was not together at once on a holiday, but that's alright. There are soldiers who are away from their country every year. There are families not together this year because someone died. I can rejoice in what I do have rather than complain about what I don't have.
Since I need to be off my broken heel, Amanda canned the turkey stock this year. I had made the stock, cleaned the jars and was ready to can when my heel started having a weird pain. I asked her if she could take over. She readily agreed and did a fantastic job! We now have 30 quarts of gourmet turkey stock on our pantry shelves. Our family cooks from "scratch" a lot. We use so much stock; it is easier to make the volume we need after roasting turkeys. I save peelings from vegetables for a few months to put into our stock which gives it a higher nutritional content and a better flavor. What is leftover after the stock is drained off is greedily gobbled up by our dogs. Waste not; want not!
I made a very good start on organizing the front shed. The main job left now is for me to sort our huge library of books, decide which will stay and get them organized on the shelves. We have many, many, many books due to our wide range in ages, interests, reading levels and our homeschooling. I am hoping to reduce it by half.
My birthday was very good! I feel very loved and appreciated. Thank you to everyone who contributed to make it a special day!
