Sit-down Dinners

Sit down for this post, it's a bit of a marathon.

Sometimes I shake my head and wonder why we do what we do and other times I am happy that we have so many reasons to celebrate and so many friends to share with. We’ve had stand-up parties for up to 100 people, and a buffet for 40-60 is not uncommon, but for sit-down dinners I used to draw the line at 12. It used to be easier to control the numbers but now our actual family members number 9 which fills up the table pretty quickly. When we count the really close extended family (yes, it’s a paradox, keep reading), who are only considered ‘extended’ because they aren’t genetically or legally related the numbers skyrocket. And for some occasions you just have to have a sit-down dinner because the occasion warrants it. We’ve had two recently…

 

Sydney and his oh-so-wonderful wife Mary



Way back in September, 23 to be exact, we had a dinner for our good friend Sydney Humphrey’s 84th birthday. I was going to write an “Ode to Sydney” but decided not to challenge my poetic ability, but he is deserving of an ode: an ode is typically a lyrical verse written in praise of, or dedicated to someone or something which captures the poet's interest or serves as an inspiration for the ode. Sydney is amazing on many fronts and even has his own entry in the Canadian Encyclopedia of Music and is mentioned in Wikipedia from his days leading the Aeolian String Quartet. Apart from his very illustrious career Sydney has supported and inspired, cajoled and cheered for, entertained and taught, and touched in some positive way, everyone he knows.



In Sydney’s world everything is possible and he has probably read about it or done it if you have a question about anything from industrial knitting to framing a house. His left brain acuity has slipped a bit recently but his music rings true and students still consult with him over competitions and their careers. The birthday dinner was going to be just 8 of us, but everyone in the family wanted to come so we ended up being 16.

Max Humphreys, his wife Carolyn Power, and Sydney, all taking the business of dessert very seriously!

The second big sit-down was Thanksgiving, which somehow ended up being for 19. It could easily have been 30, but we can actually seat 20 in the dining room so that’s really the upper limit. When fully extended our kitchen table is the same height and length as the dining room one so we can either put them together to make a BIG square table which seats 16, or we run them side by side which means we can accommodate 20. And ridiculous as it sounds we have 21 odds and sods of dining room/kitchen chairs, which doesn’t even get into the 22 outdoor sitting-at-the-table type of chairs. I swear they breed when I’m not looking, like the UVic rabbits.

tables set for 18 and then we added 1 more

It's every man for him/herself in the food line

We've re-introduced the habit of eating Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner in the early afternoon; it is so much more relaxing for the rest of the day!

 Our Thanksgiving tradition, aside from turkey “and all the fixins” is that everyone gets a Thanksgiving card in which to write their personal blessings. Between dinner and dessert we go around the table, tables this year, and everyone is asked to mention one item from their list. It acts as an affirmation of how really lucky we are to be who and where we are. I figure family, friends, health etc., are a given (they are ALWAYS on my list headed by my happy relationship with Jim), but I sometimes name something we mostly complain about. This year I chose Brussels sprouts but am most famous for the year I was grateful to have enough income that I had to pay taxes. I wanted you to know about this tradition because I think it is a good one, but I also want you to know that we often make our friends sing for their supper in some fashion and they whine about it! I don’t get it. They whine and snivel and make a big fuss about “what is she going to make us do this time”, but after the fact seem to have had a good time and they keep coming back for more.

Rob Tweedie & Renata Zecha working on their cards

It was pretty interesting to realize that we didn't have one native British Columbian for TG, rather we were from the Maritimes, Alberta, Austria, Brazil, South Africa, California, Britain, Ontario, and more.

 
A final word because I have been going on and on:

My cousin Barb thinks she is taller than she is; we all have delusions. When we have only one table in the DR the chandelier is centered, but with two tables it was betwen the two. I hiked it up as high as I could but Barb took the opportunity to 'prove' that she is tall by standing under it for a photo. And then there is Jamie (1st cousin once removed) who really is tall and reminds me occasionally...