Our English friend Chris had to go back home two days after Thanksgiving. That’s when we buckled down for pumpkin time. Daughter Lise adores pumpkin, which is something she doesn’t have in Denmark. We had pumpkin cheesecake for a big family dinner the weekend before the holiday. We brought the remains home and noshed on it for days. After Chris left, I baked Lise her own pie which she graciously shared with John and me. Come to think of it, I should have let her cut our slices. That pie was gone by the time we had Logan and his family over for dinner. (Logan comes first, because he is the one readers follow avidly.) Our dessert that evening was Pumpkin Pudding Crunch, a recipe printed in the October 2015 issue of Carolina Country magazine. It was an easy recipe calling for canned pumpkin and a yellow cake mix. You don’t want to know about the sugar and butter.
Our son John $ drops in on us regularly, but he spent several nights here to have more time with Lise. The weather was odd, warm enough that we had lunch on the porch one day and breakfast there the next. Our views were hazy with smoke from the forest fires, but we smelled burning wood only occasionally. I took a photograph of Lise at breakfast with the two horses behind her.
We were very happy to welcome the horses back a few days before Thanksgiving. They board next door, and we have the pleasure of giving them apples. $ is the one who seems to speak their language.
Being on the go for weeks, we missed chatting with the neighbors across the street. We also wanted to spend time with their daughter and her family, newly moved here from Istanbul. Logan was being very helpful, trying to get the baby to smile.
When Logan’s exuberance threatened to bring on punishment, Lise asked him to read to us. He opened the pop-up book and read Twas the Night Before Christmas smoothly from start to finish. He’s only six years old! He provided his own pronunciation for about five words but read the names of Santa’s reindeer flawlessly. He is amazing.
John went in the next room to play checkers with Logan while the rest of us chatted. They came back in the kitchen where John was preparing something for him, and the little toy camera caught Logan hanging on his elbows to watch. John said he was eyeing a candy dish which was practically under his nose. Reminder to self: move the candy before Logan comes over again.
All too soon it was time for everyone to go home. We took Lise to the airport and came home to follow her progress via texting. She changed planes in Atlanta, had a four-hour layover in Amsterdam, and landed in Manchester to stay for the weekend before flying to Copenhagen. The past two weeks were highly satisfying to me. We gave thanks for our many blessings with lots of dear relatives and friends. Who could ask for more?
Mehrling Muse 
You are the most gracious hostess!
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Thank you kindly, Kate. I love people.
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I admire you for that. As an introvert, I need significant alone time so I don’t make the most gracious hostess for people staying longer than a few hours! You inspire me!
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If you are an introvert, it might not work to try to change yourself. Maybe you need short bursts of people exposure. Could you tell them ahead of time when to leave? Like invite them for dinner from 6 to 8? If our guests stay too long, either John or I will begin to doze in our seats. I wonder what would happen if we both fell sound asleep?????
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It’s not the “day” guests. I am good for 4 to 5 (if it’s fun!) hours. All of my husbands’ relatives come from out of town so it’s always a 3 to 5 night stay that does me in.
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It looks like you all had a lovely time! Also, that pie dish, that is a work of art!
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Family and neighbors are an excellent combo. I have a matching pair of pie dishes, a very generous gift from a niece and nephew. I find an excuse to use them at least once a week.
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Anne
Was waiting for your post for ever so long- I am thankful that I have your delicious posts to look forward to and the pictures you post are a visual treat- wanted to come there and get a slice of that pie myself. What about the walks- did you keep up with them while you had visitors ?
Susie
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Thanks for reading my posts, Susie. I wish I could make a pie for you. Well, I could, but you are not here to eat it. Yes, we walked every day except Sundays and the one morning that it was raining. Many times our guests walk with us. John’s sister and husband and my brother and wife usually go with us. Lise went several times. She did very well, considering she had drastic foot surgery a few months ago. Our son, the mountain hiker, never goes with us. I think our walks are too tame for him.
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Anne,
I will be traveling next week, so I will not be able to read your posts but I will wait till I come back so I can read many of them altogether. I can’t wait.
Susie
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I don’t know that you will come home to more posts. I only write when the words begin to pile up in my head. Do you set goals for yourself as to when to blog?
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No, Anne. In the beginning I made a timetable that each day of the week, I would blog on this one topic and so on with a rest day of Sunday but later I thought I sort of ran out of words and topics and gave up. Now I just blog in spurts- when the feeling comes, I blog a few posts and then when it goes, I disappear.
Susie
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That pumpkin pie looks amazing. And I love the pie plate!
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