The XtraSuitcase

 

Warning:  Parts of this blog are not for the faint-hearted!

D&A invited us to their new house in Ascot, England for Thanksgiving.  We arrived on Wednesday and A swept us of for a tour of their new little town.  Ascot's claim to fame is the very famous horse races which date back to 1711. 

The Queen still attends the races today during Ascot week.  Our first stop was the butcher to pick up the turkey. 

 

Here is a before photo of mr turkey…

 

and after photo.   He was a biggie and cooked to perfection!

 

But even more interesting than the turkey was the cold storage room the butcher invited us to see.

 

He told us that many people in town hunt their own animals (box below) and they bring them to the butcher to clean them up.

 

He is explaining to D2 about the rabbit.   He had me pet the dead rabbit!  EEEEKKK

 

D was very excited about this tour and the butcher was impressed with D's knowledge of various meats and the cuts of steak.  The boys picked steaks out for us for Wednesday night.  They were delicious!

 

 

 

The goose was unbelievably huge and so soft.   

 

 

Yep – had us pet this one too.

 

 

Four little piggys all in a row.  Poor piggys!

 

 

Dave took this photo – what a classic!  The butcher carrying the full pig while chatting on the phone.

 

 

Back to Thanksgiving.  D2 and A prepping the turkey.

 

 

 I am not a list maker, journaler or planner of any type, so I was quite amused when I found A's map for the dinner – impressive!  But then again, she IS an engineer!

 

I was given the job of setting the table.  Now this is more my speed.  Easy to do with A's beautiful china.

 

 

Emma kitty loved getting her photo taken – but not her sister, she was no where to be found!

 

 

Friday we set out to visit Henley-on-the-Thames. 

 

This medieval town dates back to 1179.  We ate lunch at a sweet little pub on the edge of town,  The Little Angel.  It had modern updated pub food.  Much better than the old stuff!

Henley is world renowned for its rowing and holds the annual Henley Royal Regatta.  The town was lined with very old Tudor style house, now housing quaint little shops. 

It was a chilly day so we stopped for a coffee break at an old bakery converted into a coffee shop.  Complete with old wood burning stove.

 

 

 

 

I love this photo A took of the two of us!

 

 

Good friends, good food, another wonderful Thanksgiving weekend at D2 & A's!  On Saturday we all hopped on the plane to Marrakesh – what an adventure – watch for this post….coming soon!