Sunday, November 25, 2012

Leftovers Piles of Storm Debris, Late Bloomers, Thanksgiving Leftovers, and Recycling after the Holiday

 It has been a very busy month here on Long Island. 
We had Sandy the mega Hurricane, then a nor easter storm shortly after that.
 The winds from both of these storms created a big mess for all of us to clean up.
 Weeks later,  there are giant piles of debris from fallen trees and stacks of branches at the ends of almost every driveway in our neighborhoods.
 The town is using every available open paved space to pile up the stumps and branches.  Later they will be moved and be recycled into mulch.
 This auto has been the subject of many photographs!  It was outside the body shop near our thrift shop.  Hard to miss it!
 Believe it or not, there are still flowers blooming in the Jarvis garden, even after these awful storms.  Chrysanthemums are resilient.
Herbs and a wonderful droopy plant remain.
Knock Outs, and
Marigolds are blooming as late as this.
Today I repaired an American flag for a friend, then
worked on the leftovers from Thanksgiving weekend, turkey, and Shepard's Pie.
Volunteering in a thrift shop has its advantages.  I am able to purchase small oven proof  dishes which I use to make smaller portion sized meals for reheating.
I start by covering the meals with waxed paper, then plastic wrap,
finally slipping the dishes into plastic bags for the freezer with notes containing the dates and the contents.
Leftover turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and green beans look pretty.
Extra stuffing and potatoes can be used as sides for other meals.
Everything wrapped up, and
ready for the freezer.  Careful when taking these out, the plastic bags make the dishes slippery and you wouldn't want to drop one on your foot or break any dishes.
Recycled plastic and glass remains from the parties.
Now we get to the entertainment.  Bread crumbs are cast out on the beach for the Sea Gulls, as the starter.
Their special treat is the turkey carcase.
Gulls make a lot of racket and are pretty aggressive with each other.
The largest ones dominate the scene.
Finally these lovely  annual  Salvias were still putting on a show in their tree stump planter.


4 comments:

Willow said...

What a mess to clean up all over the city. But the beauty of the flowers and antics of the seagulls almost make up for it.

BernieH said...

You've certainly had your fair share of extreme weather this year. The first few photos bring back memories of the clean-up after Cyclone Yasi early last year. Every household had a pile of debris outside their house. The town council sent out trucks to pick it all up and it was then turned into mulch, which was free for anyone to collect. Great re-cycling.

It's fantastic to see some plants still flowering after their ordeal. I especially loved the Salvia. Loved your collection of dishes too.

Elizabeth said...

Hi Lori!
You've been busy!!

lisa lewicki hermanson said...

Lori, you certainly look very organized concerning dispersing the
remainders of the turkey dinner!!
Good idea to pack up a whole "TV dinner" into one plate for the freezer.
I never heard of throwing the turkey carcass to the gulls, but why not??
Much less effort than making a vat of
turkey soup!