Friday, November 28, 2008

Spare ham, missing cheese and the traditional Thanksgiving Coop

I didn't chase the Snowy Owl the other day. And I am glad I didn't because there have been no further reports of it.
The reason I didn't chase: As I was getting ready to leave that morning, Geoff and I got into an argument. About cheese.


Yeah, I said cheese.



Two minutes before taking Lorelei to school, he said to me, " Remember the cheese. "

Me: "Cheese? For what?"

G: "Lorelei's class feast today. It was on the newsletter. We need to bring in a bag of mild cheddar cheese, cubed."

Me: "Is there a particular reason you waited until now to tell me?"

G: "I thought you knew about it."


Well, we didn't have any cheese. Cubed or otherwise.

I threw him a seriously dirty look and a few choice words, grabbed Lorelei and flew to the local convenient store and paid $4 for a block of cheese. The teacher could just cube it herself.

All the life-bird-chase was just wrung out of me, so I went to Armleder and walked.

Here's the kicker: When I picked up Lorelei from school, I asked if her class enjoyed the cheese. I was thinking, "They better have shouted to God and the World that it was the best damn cheese they have ever been given."

Lorelei said, "We didn't eat the cheese."
Me: "What?! Why?........wait a minute. Did you tell your teacher you had the cheese, like I told you to tell her?"
Lorelei: (sheepishly) "No."

I looked in her bag. No cheese. What. The. Hell.
The cheese had been absconded.

So here's what I think happened. The teacher took my FOUR DOLLAR cheese home and served it on crackers for her family on Thanksgiving. That's what I think.
: )

My walk at Armleder did yield a life bird.
While taking a deer path to the river, I flushed a bird (more like nearly stepped on a bird!) in the underbrush. I saw brown and a reddish tail, a bird the size of a quail. I looked it up in Sibley's and found that it was a Northern Bobwhite. Life Bird #207!


Tuesday was Swami's birthday, and Swamette asked me to make a cake for him. The girls helped me (yeah, right. Lorelei made an egg explode all over me, the floor, herself...) make a square, two-layer chocolate fudge cake, with milk chocolate icing.

To cut all that chocolate, we crushed Mint Oreos and sprinkled the middle and the top of the cake. I have to say, it was pretty damn good.

Swamis birthday cake
(We didn't count out all of the candles to represent his age. Their smoke detectors are sensitive)


Thursday:
In what seems to now be a tradition, we were visited by the Thanksgiving Cooper's Hawk:
Thanksgiving Coop 2008

A most cooperative bird...sat there in a patch of sunlight, with a good background, for about 15 minutes.
Coop 2


A Ham Story:
Swametti, Swamette's mom, was supposed to bring a baked ham for Thanksgiving, to have alongside the turkey. She forgot to bring it (we forgive her....she's in her Eighties, for goodness sake), but Swamette just happened to have a ham in the fridge. This is testiment to just how organized she is.
Maybe you have to know her to appreciate the story, but it just blew me away. Just happened to have a big spare HAM.

Mom and Swami carve the ham
(Swami and my Mom carve the Spare Ham)


I begged for the turkey carcass (how many times will you hear that sentence?) and right now, I am simmering fresh turkey noodle soup.
Hooper has gone postal about the aroma filling the house:
Some dogs cant hold their liquor
GIVE. ME. TURKEH.
NOW.
BEFORE I KEEL YOU.

10 comments:

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

Did you beg for the ham bone too??
I love ham bone stock for soup too. Mmmm....sounds good.

Hooper looks like he needs an exorcist.

Kim said...

Holy smokes, you have had quite the time the last few days!

The cheese story is just bizarre, the bird sighting is awesome, the cake looks yummy, the spare ham in the fridge is impressive, the turkey carcass reminded me I have to make soup tomorrow and your dog picture is so funny. He looks like he is in agony over the aroma that will not leave his senses! HA

Enjoy your soup!

NCmountainwoman said...

What an entertaining post...just chocked full of funnies. Thanks for the laughs.

Mary said...

I wonder what really happened to the cheese???? You are cynical. I like that in a person.

Who has a spare ham in the frig? Not me! I could have used a spare turkey yesterday...

Your Cooper shots are the best!

Thanks for the giggles tonight, Susan.

You made my day.

Mary

KGMom said...

Your dog photo--positively possessed. Especialy that RED eye. Don't ever photoshop it out (or maybe you photoshopped it in?).

Windyridge said...

I can definitely relate to the whole cheese incident and last minute "I need this for school" stuff.

Rurality said...

A spare ham in the freezer I can see, but a spare ham in the fridge is really above and beyond!

Kathi said...

There's another Snowy Owl in the area, this one in Preble County. Wanna chase it?

Looking at Hooper's face, I think he ATE the cheese!

~K

Dave Dorsey said...

Hey, I wanted a snowy in Ohio picture. :)

You didn't cut the cheese? :o

dguzman said...

Don't keel me, Hoop!

You just know that teacher ate your cheese. Dammit.