Fire

 New years eve and there was much to do. The roasts were taken out of the fridge so they could become room temperature.  It was pretty cool outside so right after breakfast we started hauling in the wood from the wood shed and stacking it on the porch.  Mark brought it in wheel barrows and I stacked. The picture below was taken after we had been working for a while. We had used just about all of the stacked wood during the winter storm Elliott.

Looks like we are ready for another storm.

After that was done the roast were made ready for roasting.

Once the oven was ready the roast were put in and the timer set for 20 minutes. I was standing at the stove as the last minute counted down when the sound of an explosion hit my ears. The oven door was opened and shockingly the oven was on fire. I quickly turned off the oven, threw open the fridge door and started throwing stuff out of the fridge when Mark walked in. He exclaimed, "what are you doing?" I'm yelling, "looking for the flour" right then I grabbed the 5 pound bag, ripped it open and started throwing flour on the flames. When they were almost out I was able to grab the pan that hadn't exploded out of the oven then used a fork to carefully grab the roast off the shattered glass pan. Thankfully the rack kept roast from the glass. More flour was dumped on until the flames went out.

About then Mark remarks, "I thought you might be crazy looking for a flower in the fridge." What a mess. The roasts were taken over to Joan's to continue cooking then I came back to start the clean up. At 4:30 Mark started the shrimp and by 5:35pm all 7 pounds of shrimp were cooked, cooled, peeled and deveined. 

Those were put in the fridge, the cocktail sauce made and then it was time to get ready for church.  We left at 6:15 pm.  Tim Funk had the message. Right after church was over we rushed over to Joan's to turn the oven back on for the rib roast then back to our house to make the shrimp plates. The party was going strong by the time we got back.

At 11:00 pm we had our last meal of 2022 and everything was delicious. Even with the fire the prime rib turned out perfect. There were also plenty of sides to go with the roast, potatoes, salads, and of course lots of desserts.  At 11:55 pm we all made our way up to Joan's deck to help usher in the new year.

It takes a lot of work to ring in another year. At the end of the video below is the grand finale of the party. 

Mark and I were some of the first to leave, as it was WAY past our bedtime. So many of the others were ready to party all night. Joan had lots of games and prizes left and the younger ones just didn't really want to leave. Mark and I got home, unloaded the car, the dishwasher was loaded and started the kitchen cleaned up and it is now 1:00 am on the FIRST day of 2023! I am desperate for my bed. Good night and happy new year!