A belated happy Thanksgiving, and a Happy Chanukah, from my crazy family to you all!
Here's my hubby and son on midday Thanksgiving day, at our Adirondack 'camp' on Loon Lake; it was bitter cold and the lake surface was churning with the whipping icy wind. We (hubby, son, and myself) were outside for, like maybe 2 minutes before we gave up! Hubs looks cold doesn't he? But son's new hat was really warm! Here's our partially set mismatched Thanksgiving table, with a Chanukah menorah on it too!
After dinner and family fun, and after the company (stepdaughter, her husband, and two young boys) had left, the three of us spent the night at the lake, and when we woke in the morning, the lake looked like this:
The whole lake had frozen over during the cold night! But what is the strange message written in the ice? We have no idea where it came from, but it is frozen into the ice. Crazy, huh?
My husband used the kayak as a sled and rode down to the lake!!
The photo of my son below was taken through the window, from the warmth of the camp.
Today was LatkeFest, a fun, lighthearted cooking competition and fundraiser. There were 8 people who had signed on as latke chefs, each with totally unique recipes, and attendees got to taste-test them all and vote on their favorite! The winner receives the Golden Latke trophy, which is made by... drumroll please... ME! And there's a klezmer band, and dancing, and a dreidel competition for the kids, and more. Fun day!! Here's this year's trophy:
And here I am with all my creations:
Above are the previous two years' creations, and below is the one I made for this year. I already have a plan for next years' trophy!
So, tomorrow I plan to get back to posting about last week's wonderful conference, and another couple of workshops I taught. Till then, Happy Chanukah! And may your latkes always be golden!
Your "camp" is gorgeous, Phyl!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jan; though you really can't see much of it in these photos, it is, indeed, a lovely place! The whole story: the original camp, built by my husband's father, was little more than a rustic shack, but we loved it nonetheless. In July 1995 a powerful storm tore through the area. We had 13 trees on the roof, a cracked foundation, a cracked fireplace, and it was basically totalled; it looked like a funhouse. It took a couple of years, but my architect husband designed the replacement camp. It is very unique!
DeleteI really like this year's trophy -- especially the "floating" stars!! By the way, throughout your post I kept thinking "Surely she isn't going to take the kayak out on that icy lake!!" I know you have been known to brave the cold -- glad you restrained yourself!! LOL
ReplyDeleteHaha Christie! I didn't post the photo my son took of me - my very puffy warm jacket, a fuzzy scarf, a hat pulled down low AND a furry hood over, gloves, etc. And I was STILL cold. The kayaks are now put away for the winter. The lake is frozen HARD!
DeleteLOVE IT!! I had a request yesterday to have my jr high students make trophy's for a charity race that is coming up this summer. Seeing your post gave me such inspiration!!
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