I looked from the kitchen to see why son John $pencer was snickering. He said Sadie’s tail was hanging off the chair. Sure enough, it was! I took a photo before walking around to see his view.

We had given Sadie an almost-empty peanut butter jar to lick. She worked on it for hours, trying to get her tongue to the bottom. She was so intent on her mission that she was unaware I walked around to get another shot of her peculiar pose. Later, daughter Lise felt sorry for the dog and dug out the remaining peanut butter with her fingers for her to lick.

I nominated long-armed Nathaniel to take our selfies as we hung out at the creek. The sun was playing with shadows, so it wasn’t the best shot. We’ll keep it to remind ourselves of the pleasure we had in walking together.

Nathaniel worked all day in the kitchen. He made a butter/herb mixture and put it under the skin of the turkey, ready to cook the next day. Eggnog was prepared, and dinner rolls were ready for baking. He and I put together our traditional cranberry-mince pie. I first used the recipe in 1975, when Nathaniel’s mother was four years old. I stirred together the filling, while he made the pastry. He used a mixture of butter and shortening, so I know this will be the best pie ever.

John drove Lise to her annual dental appointment several towns away. She had two-hour sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Despite that, she was game to eat barbecue with the rest of us. We felt that was a good reward after a long day. No hangups here!