Thanksgiving 2010

For many years we have gone to Jamestown on Thanksgiving while our turkey cooked and just allowed us time to enjoy the fresh air. This year, Arrick had to work so we stayed close to home and went to the beach!

                                                                  Ian, John and Eva

It was a peaceful morning on the beach.  It was a lovely way to spend the morning.  We made our way home and prepared our Thanksgiving feast and Arrick's arrival home from work!  By the way, Arrick says that working at a grocery store on Thanksgiving is nearly as bad as working Black Friday in retail!

Veterans Day

This year the Boy Scout Troop worked with their sponoring VFW and placed American Flags on all veteran graves.  It was truly awe inspiring to see how many veterans were in that cemetary.  So many men and women helped keep our country safe all these years.

 Ian using the tool to put a small hole in the ground so we could place the flag!

                                                   John and John and Bradly working together.

 We weren't alone in placing flags.  Some men and women from the USN and their families joined us.

 One of the cub scouts, helping out too!  A person is never too young to learn to appreciate our veterans!

                                                                           John and Bradly

                                                        Mr. Wes, our fearless leader!

I had the honor of placing a flag on the grave site of  one of my sorority sisters who inspired me in my sisterly ways in Beta Sigma Phi, her husband was veteran!

                 Members of our new cub scout pack and Boy Scout Troop and our leader, Mr. Wes!

What a wonderful opportunity for our scouts.  A big thank you to all of our veterans out there! 

Halloween 2010

John was home this Halloween so out came all the decorations to create our very own haunted cemetary!  This year we didn't get quite the amount of trick or treaters but we still saw quite a few 2 to 5 year olds who were absolutely adorable!

 We enjoyed some of John's mead while we distributed candy to all the kiddos in costume! Ian dressed up as an average American teenager who is college bound.  Enough to frighten any responsible parent!

 After we took up the Halloween decorations, we put out the Autumn decorations till it is time to decorate for Christmas!

John's nectar of the Gods!

Last year John decided that he wanted to embark on the art of making mead! What is mead you ask?


Well, the history of mead may go back more than 8,000 years. The oldest known meads were created on the Island of Crete. Wine had not yet been created. Mead was the drink of the Age of Gold, and the word for drunk in classical Greek remained "honey-intoxicated."

Basically, it's fermented honey. There are different flavors as different fruits can be added such as cinnamon or apples! It was the forbearer of ale and wine! John got back ...way back to his Anglo-Saxon roots!

He didn't embark on this path alone; he conscripted Ian and Arrick to help! This time, Ian was home and donned an apron to help his father bottle his liquor!

Ian helps prepare the bottles.

clean bottles ready for the nectar!

 I tried to get a good picture of how "honey" brown this mead was but I'm afraid I didn't succeed!

  

                                                       Transfering the mead into bottles. 

 The mead fills the bottles and is ready to be consumed.  I was the lucky one to try it.  I thought John had tried it before me otherwise I wouldn't have.  You see this is the second attempt for John.  The first batch of mead didn't taste good at all!  I was the first taste tester on that batch too!

Another attempt to capture the honey color of this mead!  It was quite good and light!  We shared it with many friends and now John is on to making other creations.  He made Irish cream, vanilla cream and banana liqeurs!  All very tasty!!