Thanksgiving 2008

This year we had the entire immediate family for Thanksgiving (minus my Mom)...that's 9 adults and 9 grandchildren. The challenge this year was not cooking dinner which consisted of 24.6 lbs turkey, 10 lbs mashed potatoes (garlic and regular), 2 types of stuffing, gravy, green beans, sweet potatoes/yams, cornbread muffins, rolls, green salad, cranberry salad, 24 hour salad, herb butter, cranberries, deviled eggs, assorted relish tray, pumpkin pie, chocolate cream pie, carrot cake, punch, ice tea, and coffee. The real challenge was getting 9 grandchildren ranging in age from 7 months to 12 years old to sit still long enough, and facing the camera to get this picture.

Fireplace Mantel

This weekend we installed a new log mantel above our fireplace at the cabin. The builder of the cabin was suppose to install a split log but instead did nothing more than just a 2" x 6" and some 1" x 3" trim (it's a long story). I'd been toying with the idea of building a mantel myself but always fell short of coming up with a plan or design that would meet my standards of perfection. After about 5 years of living with the 2" x 6" mantel I did a search on eBay for a rustic mantel. I found a master craftsman in Augusta Georgia who makes furniture, including custom made to measure mantels using cedar logs. We communicated back and forth and finally came up with the perfect mantel. After about 5 weeks the mantel was delivered. Several attempts and a lot of help from Joyce to get it positioned just right, we finally got it just where we wanted it. Here are some before and after pictures. Hope you'll agree that the new mantel is a BIG improvement.