So Christmas went well. It started the night before with me attempting to get kids off to bed and presents brought out and placed under the tree. We watched the beginning of the 1960's cartoon of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer until it was time for Claire to head to bed. Once she was in bed we watched the 1954 version of White Christmas (starring Bing Crosby) with everyone. Once those activities were done Samantha went to work making cinnamon rolls and I began arranging presents and stockings. One of the things Samantha picked up was a set of wooden puzzles to put into the stockings. I was haphazardly holding the one for Ammon when it fell apart in my hands. After youtubing the answer, attempting multiple times to solve it, and swearing to myself to never do that again, I was able to successfully assemble it. We finally got to bed around midnight. At 2:40 am Claire came into the room asking if it was time to get up. This happened again at 6:15 and again at 6:40. When we finally managed to get ourselves out of bed Samantha headed downstairs to bake the homemade cinnamon rolls she made the previous night. The kids all arose and we went into the living room for the grand reveal. The kids began opening their presents and stockings and then we enjoyed the very unhealthy breakfast. It was "so choice" as Ferris Bueller would say. It seemed that after we were loaded with sugar and fat we all slept. Everyone kinda did their own thing and I decided it was as good a time as any to remove some weeds from my backyard. These are not just any weed. They are like angry dandelions. The actual name is "Scotch Thistle". It is the only plant that had me seriously consider setting my lawn on fire.
it starts off like this
And you think... no big deal. Just a weed.
Then it sprouts up looking like this
And you think.... I need to go get rid of that thing. It is completely covered with spikes.
If left neglected it can grow between 8-12 feet tall. These are images from a google search but do represent the craziness of the plant.
My home is close to some open land and there is an infestation there. The seeds blew to my property and I had some that were about 7 feet tall by my fence line at the back of my lot. Anyway - it is a place I don't frequent much so I decided to serve an eviction notice and remove these plants. The trick is how to remove them. The thistle is so sharp that they pierce leather gloves without any difficulty. So to address this, I have to use a 25 lb digging bar that is about 5 feet long to jab below the plant and loosen the soil. In this process I attempt to get below the plant and pry it up enough to grab the root (good luck) while not getting skewered. This took about 3-5 min per plant. I finally removed the plants and made a pile of them. I now have the challenge of trimming each one enough to get them in the trash can.
I walked into the house to the heavenly aroma of seafood gumbo. I don't know how to describe this but it seems that the smelling of certain foods can trigger fond memories. This smell reminded me of my grandparents home. Samantha was finishing up her family gumbo recipe and the kitchen smelled divine. After getting cleaned up after serving the eviction notice of the thistle, Samantha asked if I had a recipe for pecan pie. Before I attempted to find a recipe online I looked through a bunch of my Grandmother's church recipe books. The Methodist church she attended would collect recipes from all around the Czech community (Crosby, Tx) and publish them. My grandmother would gift these books to us as kids and I have many in the cupboard. Anyway - I found a recipe and was delighted to note that it is the recipe of my great aunt Ruby. Ha! Anyway - I think everyone liked it... today there are only two slices left. The gumbo didn't turn out like Samantha wanted but it was still good to me. She purchased a Honey Baked ham earlier in the week so the entire meal consisted of the ham, gumbo, potato casserole, french bread (that was buttered and toasted), and a salad. Everyone rolled away from the table when they were done!
Later in the evening we got a chance to video chat with Alex and Dylan at the same time. It was so good to see them. After getting caught up on things and spending time with the family we put Claire to bed on a spare mattress in my bedroom to make room for Emma and her family who where in route to our home. Shortly after this, Emma Jane and Spencer arrived with Hayes. That kid is so cute! We visited for a while and then everyone went to bed.
Today has been a lot of visiting. I enjoy catching up with them and have really enjoyed everyone being together. I wish Alex and Dylan were with us but they will be in the coming years.
Well - Until later -
