Thankful, Grateful, Blessed

It's almost time to say a lovely goodbye to November. I really hate to join the Cliche Club, but wow! time sure does fly by when you're having fun! We had such a warm and happy Thanksgiving (inside, though it was quite chilly outdoors!)

My son slept in while I did the usual things --- making the turkey and fixing up the tables, cooking the sides... having cups of Cranberry Harvest tea.  It's from Bigelow, and while I'm usually a Harney girl, I have to say this is wonderful. So pretty and red and clear. 

I made a Fall journal for a dear friend's birthday. She was sixteen years old the day President Kennedy was shot.  She said her grandfather died that very same day. I know she waited until her 70th birthday to have the huge party she had planned for the sweet sixteen since, of course, it was cancelled. It was one of the last things I was able to attend, and it was wonderful! She is a Fall Lover, as well....  and I put little family photos tucked in everywhere.

My Millennium Honeycomb turkey made his annual appearance. I ordered him from China on Amazon for Mom in 2000, and he has been perched in first one place and then another every year. Pretty smug faced for an old gobbler in November, don't you think? He must feel pretty secure.

A very dear friend stopped by in the windy cold on Wednesday to drop off this gorgeous centerpiece.  It is filled to the brim with real flowers, and it really set off our table to a t.  I am so grateful for dear, dear friends.

Confession. With the cozying in  of our home during the Pandemic, we have all but abandoned eating at the table.  It is so fun and comfy to grab a plate and go to our little nest chairs in front of the telly and watch something fun.  Right now we are trying to start Seinfeld (spelling?) and watching Hart of Dixie. It is a little too girly for my son, but he's such a good sport.  I heard there is a new season dropping today of The Witcher, which we both liked. We watched Clarkson Farm for the second time and finished the fourth time (for me and second for him) of watching Everybody Loves Raymond.

My gramma's turkeys (or my Mom's. I have seen them on both tables, and I always thought I had two pair...  Lost in the shuffle I guess and probably you know where!) I love these old guys who were evidently for sugar and sugar...  Both lids come off, so ????  Cranberry Sauce and jelly?  Lol... They, too are safe every November unless I drop them...  knock on wood that I don't. 

Still not framed, this piece made just a small showing on Thanksgiving to remind me that I could finish something huge and cross stitched.  I really am slow at it, and it seems like a process others can do while they think or watch TV...  If I do that, the silly thing just goes to pieces and I am lost! I am quite dyslexic like my father...  especially when I'm tired, and cross stitching makes me tired so fast.

We are living in the tomorrow for which they wrought!  That is the phrase that caught my eye and captured my heart.  For that I decided to stitch this monster! We set sail on the project in a Facebook group the day the pilgrims set said, September 6 or 7.  And we landed on the day they landed.  I was two days early, for goodness sake! Lol...  I'm not usually early on much.

Most evenings I can be found reading a little of one of Mom's diaries. I love to think back and listen to her talk about the times we spent, the places we went, and the good things we always enjoyed. She didn't write much each day, but I am blessed to have about a dozen or more of these pretty books by Mary Emmerling. I gave them to her each Christmas, and she filled them up most days...  She really never let me read them during the years, but I see such a positive attitude in them. Mom was a positive pessimist, really.  She dreaded the bad so much, but she tried like a warrior she was to promote the positive. She often said she didn't want to get her hopes up... She was always prepared in case she had to face disappointment...  as if that really fools anyone, least of all, ourselves. Daddy was a positive optimist.  If anything bad happened, he was immediately all about trying to remedy it as soon as possible.  

Mom embroidered the old way, with little stamped guides and perfect stitches. I love these samplers and I am so glad she framed them under glass. They do glare, but I can safely say they wouldn't be fit to hang on the wall if she hadn't after 50 years in my house.

I made (and ate more than my share) of this pecan pie. Well, yum! Today I have dyed my hair ...  it was really needing it! and of course, laundry.  I hope to start decorating a little more for Christmas and work on some gifts and cards. Have a lovely end of November and a beautiful December!

Whimsy and Hugs!