Thanksgiving 2021

 Thanksgiving 2021

was relatively subdued this year.

Due to the HOA construction projects

  going on in our front yard, 

we were only able to put up Tom Samoset,

and a few of  our favorite 

scarecrows.

It was just enough color 

to keep the house look festive and welcoming.

 Due to COVID, we couldn't invite our family or friends

over for a big Thanksgiving get-together.

 But that did stop us from dressing  up the table with 

all of our Thanksgiving dishes.

And even though it was only the two of us eating, 

we prepared a  full traditional feast of:

 roast turkey, stuffing,  wild  rice,

 roasted broccoli and mangos,

  roasted sweet potatoes,

cranberry-orange sauce,

 and of course, homemade pumpkin pie.

Seventh Plague: Hail 4' 21

 

Hail proved to be one of the easier 10  Plagues to model for the diorama.  I  hung styrofoam balls attached to clear fishing from the ceiling lamps over the counter.  Then I made edible hail (from  rice crispy /marshmallow balls) to toss all over the Egyptian counter

After that every other food item we ate all day was round and hard and hot e.g. dinner was roasted chicken and lamb meatballs, baby baked potatoes and beets, and Brussels sprouts.

Thunderstorm of hail and fire: Ex. 9:13–35

This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me, or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. You still set yourself against my people and will not let them go. Therefore, at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded till now. Give an order now to bring your livestock and everything you have in the field to a place of shelter, because the hail will fall on every man and animal that has not been brought in and is still out in the field, and they will die. […] The LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed down to the ground. So the LORD rained hail on the land of Egypt; hail fell and lightning flashed back and forth. It was the worst storm in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation.

— Exodus 9:13–24

December 31st Beach Walk 12 '20

Ever since we moved to Pawleys's Island  

Bruce and I have made it a tradition to visit Pawleys Island Beach 

on the last and the first day of each year.

Most years, we take a long walk along the shoreline,

but today it's been raining hard all morning. 

 We counted ourselves lucky to catch a short break in the clouds

 which allowed us enough time to dash to the beach.

It was obvious from the dark clouds 

which were closing in from the west of us

that there wouldn't be enough time for us to take a walk on the beach 

this year.

And judging by the height of the tide on the marsh,

if we lingered too long,

we might even be at risk of  the high tide flooding the streets

 leaving us stuck on the island

until the tide receded.

 

So we contented ourselves 

with watching the

glow on the marsh magically change,

as the sun slipped in and out of the clouds.

By the time we got home, it was pouring again.  

We'll try again tomorrow to take a beach walk,

 but the next several days are predicted to have a high probability of precipitation, so we probably won't get to take our first 2021 beach walk

 until Monday, Jan 4, 2021, or later.

Tree's up: 12'20

 Our giant twinkly cat toy is now in place...

Now we wait to see which one of our two boys will be the first to climb it.

And now, it's Thanksgiving all over our Home: Nov '20

Bruce's Thanksgiving Turkey, Samoset,

has taken up residence 

in our front yard.

This year, Sam's been joined by 

a whole team of

scarecrows 

ready to welcome

visitors to our home 

and  now we are truly ready

to give thanks 

for our blessings.

And now it's Thanksgiving all over our Home.

Preparing for Thanksgiving: 11 '20

 

With  Halloween behind us, we have begun to turn our attention to Thanksgiving.

Bruce  unpacked the Thanksgiving Turkey he made for our yard last year

and has it ready to go on display in our front yard as soon as the wind dies down.

In the meanwhile, I packed away all the ghosts and goblins and other Halloween decorations but kept the all Fall foliage. 

The colors look really cheerful and very inviting with our Thanksgiving tableware. 

 

Outside Halloween Decor: 10 '20

 

I was a bit late in getting  all the Halloween decor set up in the yard this year,

but I finally have all of the Boo's and Ghouls

 installed in the front flower bed,

and little ghosts lining the walkways.

The front porch is festooned with 

creepy  characters,

and of course, there's always a black cat or two, waiting to greet you.

Chag Sameach: 10 ' 20

 "Chag Sameach", from Bruce and I on the last evening of Sukkot 2020. We wish you one last "Happy Holiday" .

Tonight we shook the lufah and etrog one last time for this year,

and had our last celebratory meal in our Sukkah.

Celebrating Day 6 of Sukkot: 10 '20

 Today was the 6th day of Sukkot

We are still celebrating this Jewish Holiday by eating all of our meals  inside our Sukkah, and reciting the traditional prayers in Hebrew*

Bruce has always told me I would love celebrating Sukkot.  I don't know what took me so long, but I wish I had listen to him sooner. Our Sukkah feel like such a sanctuary of  peace in these troubled  times.  Even our cats love hanging out within it's  tranquil walls.

* The book Bruce is holding is  notebook I made, called,

"The Book of Sukkot."  

It contains a lot of reference material I collected about the art, history, stories,  and  cultural traditions of Sukkot celebrations around our world, along with all of  the holiday's mandated prayers and  rituals.  

Bruce was using it to read the evening Blessings in Hebrew.

First Evening of Sukkot: 10 '20

It is the first evening of Sukkot, and dinner has been served

We are having lamb chop, a steamed artichoke, cous-cous with fresh herbs,  and a compote of spiced apples, raisins, and dates.

After the meal, Bruce did some  COVID safe socializing by emailing friends  his wishes for their having a  "Happy Sukkot" or "Chag Sameach!

Sukkot Preparations: 10 ' 20

 We have decided to have a full on  Sukkot celebration this year.  We had considered setting up a Sukkah ( Tent) in prior years,  but  have always felt constrained  from  doing so  by a myriad of HOA rules  prohibiting leaving personal items out of doors overnight.  Setting up a Sukkot for a week long holiday, even on our 2nd story deck, would almost certainly generate a CC&R violation notice.  As this year's Covid Pandemic  caused Jews everywhere to adjust their traditions to avoid outside social contac,  we began to see photos of Jewish people setting up their tents in their living rooms.  So Game on!

Bruce brought our patio umbrella indoors and set it up over

our living room's chairs day bed, and coffee stable.

I covered the umbrella with a large 

mosquito net giving us sides.

Then  we brought in some houseplants

from the sunporch,

and hung Star of David decorations inside and ouside the tent.

 To give the setting a bit more of an out-of-door vibe, other furnishings around the room were decorated  with the foliage of the four species: citron, myrtle, palm, and  willow.

The kitties absolutely love the sukkah and are busy marking anything

 and everything  on, or in it.

Unfortunately, that means the kitties interest in the project

that  means that we have had to make some adjustments.

They are sure that our Lulav and Etrog are new cat chew toys, 

so these traditional symbols have been moved  out of the sukkah

  and onto a side table.

Our cats know that getting on the dining room table is verboden, so that  table is being used as a clean staging area.  Once the food is ready to be served on the plates, we will move the  complete place settings into the table in the sukkah to eat.

Celebrating Rosh Hashanah Evening II: 9 '20

After spending the entire afternoon listening to prayers in Hebrew on a virtual Rosh Hashana service, Bruce was more than happu to participate a private celebration of Rosh Hashanah at home this evening. 

Today's celebration was similar to yesterday's

but with different foods.

I'd made a fresh loaf of Rosemary Challah

(which tasted wonderful with honey).

The main course was a Sephardic dish of chicken sofrito

( Roasted seasoned chicken thighs) )

Appertizers of Apples with honey, pomegranite, and gefilte fish,

and side dishes of 

rice with broccoli

and roasted varietal potatoes

( sweet, white and red potatoes)

Plus Apple pie for desert. 

If this High-Holiday lasted much longer,

we'd both be atoning for gluttony. 

Celebrating Rosh Hashanah 5780, First evening: 9 '20

This Friday evening marks the first night of the two day Jewish high-holiday of Rosh Hashanah 5780.   

We celebrated  the holiday with a review of the significance or its rituals,  followed by  traditional High holiday meal

I spent the day cooking traditional Jewish delicacies which included:

Apple Challah Bread 

and a loaf of  Braided Challah 

Quinioa stuffed tomatoes with goat cheese

Tzimmes

Which Bruce has  now decided is is favorite  root vegetable dish. 

( Link to recipe incuded at end of this post*)

and of course roasted lamb, honey, and and wine.

I informed Bruce that we should dress for the  evening

and he happily complied

Actually, thats not quite accurate,  

it's more like sorta complied

SIGH

Some people never change!) 

But, all things considered it was a beautiful and joyous evening.

*Tzimess recipe available at: 

 https://www.thespruceeats.com/roasted-simanim-tzimmes-4082889