Black Friday Party
Last Thursday was Thanksgiving (yes – some people who read this might not know that. I responded to an email from a guy in England on Thanksgiving … he was wondering why no one in the office picked up the phone or answered emails.) We usually take off Wednesday and – of course – Thursday is a holiday. Laura’s sister visited and Laura cooked a wonderful brined Turkey. After the feast we sat around a campfire and had some fine Cognac, while the horses sniffled our heads and munched on their Orchard grass.
On Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) in the afternoon, we had some friends over and we tapped a keg of Foothills Sexual Chocolate Stout. Dan and I had acquired that keg last February when the 2010 edition of that beer was released. I made a fire next to the pond and we baked potatoes and made s’mores and … drank a bunch of positively fantastic beer. As the evening wore on, some of us got on the zipline and zipped across the pond on it, while others paddled around on the pond in the kajak – all in the dark – just with flashlights.And yes – we ended up having to fish some people out of the pond.
Derek got stuck on the zipline over the pond and Laura tried to push him to shore with the kayak – when he let go, he caused the kayak to capsize and dump Laura into the chilly pond as well. We fished them out of the pond and they dried off and changed at the house. Then we all had some more beers after all the excitement.
This is a great format for a small party – a campfire and a keg at the pond. No fussing over cleaning theĀ house or setting up food. make a fire and throw in some baking potatoes. People can bring some hot dogs or marshmallows or whatever they care to grill. The only issue is the weather – rain might be a problem. It had rained in the morning, but the afternoon and evening were dry and nice (outside the pond, at least).