Per Perkins Perhe: November 2023

This week was the week of twos ... we start with two grand kid's birthdays, we found two deformed veggies while preparing Thanksgiving Dinner, Dad put up two architectural pieces, to form our fireplace, and hung two sets of two doors. We had two sets of two visitors this week, when even one visitor is unusual. I ran into two friends at the Provo DI, an old friend and a new friend, and Dad ran into two people he knows at the Santa Dash ... of course the biggest double of all was having two Thanksgiving Dinners, one here on Thursday, and one at Trevor's on Sunday. On Sunday I asked Hannah how many TG dinners they had attended and it turns out there were two times two ... us, her folks, his folks and Trevor's extravaganza, where everyone raved about his smoked turkey!! And of course, we all had fun playing with both Trevor's family's dog, and Spencer's family's dog,. So, I double dog dare you to have more fun than we did this week.

Happy Monday and a happy sixth birthday to Mac.

Dad worked on the Carriage House some more while I started cleaning up the house in preparation for Thanksgiving. We had a pleasant surprise while we were eating our dinner when Tiina and Ed Watts stopped by to bring us some goodies. She is the daughter of a Finnish Mission President, who was teaching Finnish classes when we were getting ready for our second mission together, and Dad took her class. They are amazing, and Ed is so tall that he hit his head on the spandrel on his way out.... ooops.

After dinner we headed up to the High school to see Footloose. The play has special significance to the school because the Kevin Bacon movie of the same name was partly filmed at the high school 40 years ago next year.

Here two random locals stand by the cutout of Bacon, as part of trying to get him to come to the high school which will be torn down next summer.

Marion and Dave McClelland with their son, who was in the play.

The next day was Nenna's 10th birthday. Happy Birthday.

Dad spent the day putting up the pillar woodwork that was originally in the old tabernacle across the street from us to the south. Our neighbor Dana DeWitt salvaged them, then sold them to us at his garage sale not long after we moved in. We finally figured out how to use them.

Don't they look great?

I meanwhile ran up to the Grove to add a few more things before the big Christmas sale on Black Friday. Please note the green shutters. We took them down from beside or parlor window so we could position our two big pieces angled in the corners, so I took them in. I just love them but had not been able to figure out a place to use them. On Thanksgiving Day, I had an epiphany ... to put them on the outsides of the windows that flank the fireplace in the carriage house ... I went back to fetch them on Friday.

When I got home, I rearranged the art on this wall, putting both of my Utah Artist paintings in the same grouping. Interestingly, they are both blue landscapes, so perfect for my little blue guestroom. (and sewing room) The top one is WW Perkins, who is Dad's great uncle, a brother of Milt's. The other is the one I found at a yard sale this summer.

On Wednesday I was off to work at Treasures, while Dad worked hard to enclose the carriage house as much as he could.

Thursday morning, as I cooked, Dad got our first fire going in the fireplace.

I set the table, with all my collected turkey plates ... l had 3 turkey plates before I started collecting for my dream table. We seated 20, and I had 16 turkey or wildlife bird (2) plates. I had no matching plates together and filled in with four brown transferware dinner plates from my aesthetic dishes collection.

Here are a few of them, with the fire burning behind.

Another view.

and another.

Here was Dad peeling potatoes, when he found this double heart shaped potato.

When I was doing carrots, I found another double, a Y for Trevor.

Nenna dressed up like an Indian for the feast.

Here is the buffet table, thanks to everyone who brought food.

Miss Madi digs in.

And as it always does, the day ended with an assortment of delicious pies. The stunning lemon meringue in the foreground was homemade by Darby!!

On Friday Dad was right back at it, getting the outside of the fireplace covered.

While he was working, I headed north to get the green shutters, stopping at the Provo DI as the Grove doesn't open until 12. I ran into this long time DI shopper who I have known for years.

She introduced me to Amanda Richards who has a booth at the Painted Tree and sells on-line. She admired my Norwegian sweater and I told her I had bought it on our mission to Finland in a thrift store ... she said, "Finland" in great surprise, then told me that her older sister had married the oldest of the Felin children. You may recall Esko Felin who served his mission with Ben in California. Or perhaps Asko Felin, the handicapped man who is a triplet to Esko, that we used to visit in Finland. After the Felin parents divorced, she moved to the US, thus her oldest son married an American, whose sister I met at DI. So fun. I was sad to hear that Pertti has been having some issues and has been moved into a memory care center himself.

Here's my haul for the day at the Provo DI

That afternoon he got ready to run in the Santa Dash.

Here he is after the dash with the Mayor.

And with Lillian, our basement renter, who is also a runner.

After he got home and changed. we went over to see the lighting of the Christmas lights on Salem Pond, but they were already lit when we got there. Still, they are beautiful!

Saturday was Christmas decor day. That meant it was time for me to take my cabinet of Curiosities from the parlor fireplace mantel, but still not ready to put it away, I moved it to the mantel in the library.

I also decorated the tree, while Dad put up the outside lights, before it was time to meet up with the Kews who are in town, for lunch at Applebees.

Peter Okada, Brittney's Dad posted this fun family portrait, that I thought I'd share here. Spencer and Brittney et all, are far right.

That night we watched a movie, and I made these sweet mushroom people to sell at Treasures ...

Today, after church, the Kews came over to see the Carriage House that they have been watching Dad build on-line for several months. We had another nice visit. We're looking forward to a trip back east next summer to see their new place and visit my sister Julie.