One more Thanksgiving in the books

 Yes, we had what was our favorite cabin this year, but it was drastically changed.

They had torn out all of the kitchen cabinets, and the "peninsula" of counter top that served as a table as well.

They put in a glass cook top, and an actual vent hood, and took away the stove/oven.  In place of the oven, there was what looked like a big microwave.

This was a combination convection oven, air fryer, and microwave oven.  It was sitting on the square table that they had brought in from one of the other cabins.

And....there were no chairs! 

There used to be heavy wood and wrought iron chairs that matched the table, end table and lamps, etc., that were standard in all of the cabins (except that this cabin never had a table before, due to the peninsula). 

Oh, and the end table and lamps were gone, too.  All that was left was the nightstand, and the heavy wood and wrought iron table they had brought in, from another cabin, to put the oven-thing on.

SO... when Dave went back to town to get the firewood, he stopped at the office and requested chairs. Someone brought us two folding chairs while he was out.

In the meantime, I tried to find places to put things away, but there were no drawers, and only the cabinets under the cook top, and the sink, which were about halfway usable due to cables, and plumbing, and an extra coffee maker, toaster, and some kind of little grill accessory. 

While Dave was out, I thought of the idea to bring the nightstand out to the kitchen, and put the microwave thing on top of that, so we could sit at the table, which we would pull out into the middle of the combination kitchen/living room area.

The nightstand has a drawer we could use for silverware, other utensils,  and cutlery, and a little cubby at the bottom where we could put pots and pans.

When Dave got back, we implemented my plan, and I was then able to put the silverware and cutlery into the night stand drawer, and the pots and pans in the cubby below.....This, indeed, made it a bit more user-friendly for our meal prep, eating, and clean up.

The rest, I had to leave in the plastic bins out on the screened in porch, which was kind of a pain, but we made it work!  

We put the dish drying rack on top of the fridge, because there was almost no counter space, and left the water jug outside during the day, and brought it inside at night to keep it from freezing.

Once the dishes were washed, we just left them in the drying rack on top of the fridge for the next use, since there was no cabinetry to put them in.

The oven thing was obviously smaller than the previous electric oven, but, thankfully, I had a smaller pan that we could do our cooking on, since I was expecting a full size oven.   

I had also packed a THREE pack of 9x9 inch foil pans, instead of just bringing the ONE I thought I would need!  We ended up needing two of them, due to the tiny amount of oven space.

Of course, we had to cook everything one item at a time, which made creating our Thanksgiving feast a very time-consuming process.

Also, the oven thing didn't work all that well, set on convection.... 

The green beans were still cold in the middle, and the cheese wasn't melted.  The little turkey breast tenderloins took an hour to get up to temperature in the middle, and the pie was raw on the bottom, and almost burned on the top.

UGH.  

SO... my breakfast plan for Friday was out the window (I had wanted to bake biscuits, but didn't trust the oven to bake them through. ALSO, they get baked on a cookie sheet, and there was definitely not room for that in the little oven!), but we had left-over cinnamon rolls from Thursday, so we ate those instead.

There was about 2 square feet of actual counter space (part of which was taken up by the coffee maker), but the glass cook top and table provided ample work space.

We had the entire cabin area to ourselves on Wednesday.... it was blissfully quiet!  

But then, on Thursday, three families moved into three cabins behind ours.  We recognized them as the big group that USUALLY rents the newer cabins up at the other end of the cabin area.  

Why they switched to the "quiet end" of the cabins this year is a mystery, and was MOST disruptive. 

 Teenaged boys, bouncing their football off of our car,  yelling, coming RIGHT UP to our windows, hitting our windows with golf  balls....  Dave went out and yelled at them at one point...it was pretty unpleasant....

Between the three families, there were also 4 large dogs! Yippee! 

They set up their camp chairs in a big circle around one of the fire pits (which is how we recognized them from previous years at the other end of the cabins), and brought in a truck load of wood for their nightly bonfires.

While I understand that they had every right to be there, just as we do, they were EXTREMELY disruptive, chased all of the wildlife away, and were utterly annoying. 

Fortunately, so to speak, the heating unit in cabin #13 is really loud, so it drowned out their racket that went on around their bonfire until well into the early morning both nights that we "shared" the cabin area with them.

Last year, it was the chainsaws, and the party at the ranger's house.

This year, it was the permanent lack of a decent oven, and the ultimate in bad neighbors.

SO.... we are seriously considering stopping this tradition, or going somewhere else next year to see if it's any better. 

Or, just stopping doing it. It's a lot of work...and we are getting older. 

ON THE OTHER HAND, before the ass hats arrived, and in the early morning hours, it was still my favorite place.  

It was SO quiet, and watching the lake change with the hours of the day, and being with the deer (who were back in droves this year) was wonderful.

Friday morning, there was frost on the grass, and heavy mist on the lake, and a big buck came down from the ridge to where the does and fawns were grazing. 

He must have scented one that was in estrus, because he took off after one of them, and they all leapt and bounded into the woods!   It was spectacular, with the frost, and the mist...and no other human witnessed it aside from me.

I didn't have my phone, and didn't want to disturb them, so I didn't get any pictures.

The deer met me every morning.  On Thanksgiving afternoon, we went for a walk and saw some in the woods, too.

All in all, it was our annual retreat.... we made the best of the space, we had our internet/social media detox, and I got to have my fires in my favorite fire place.

Traffic was light on the way, as usual, and we had our usual lunch at the smoke house.  

As we left on Saturday, we went to the diner in town, and had a big breakfast, so we wouldn't need to stop for lunch.

Traffic coming home was heavier, but nothing awful.  The truck drivers on that route tend to be well-behaved.

We were home before 2 yesterday, and unloaded by dark.  Laundry is done, boxes and bins are unpacked, and today, we can relax.  

The groceries are coming in an hour, so I need to go get my shower.  Have a lovely week, and happy December!