The Best Thanksgiving Guest

I had a great Thanksgiving this year. I spent it with my 89 year old mother. She is wonderful. She is sharp, and kind and fun to talk to. It was just she and I this year, as DD #1 went to Denver to spend time with DD #2, so she would not be alone for the holiday. I am an only child and my dad died many years ago, so it was just me and my mama. Now don't get me wrong, we see each other all the time so it wasn't a big reunion. She lives in a house across the street and down two, and has for 25 years. My little toddlers were caught more than once running across the street in just a diaper to see grandma.

We laugh and talk about what a tough old bird mom is, but she is really very quiet and sweet. She has survived 2 hip replacements, a fractured skull, lung cancer (not a smoker!) and a really bad case of shingles. She has a badly twisted back, osteoporosis, and arthritis. But she has over come each health issue and made herself strong again.

 Mama is a very determined lady. She taught herself to use the computer several years ago and spends several hours a day on it. She has always been politically active and keeps up with current events. She has the most amazing collection of African violets that she continually propagates. She still irons most her clothing (habit I think) and never leaves a dirty dish in the sink. Mama does crossword puzzles, and finally, this year,  has allowed herself to watch a  daily soap opera (never enough time before). She drives to the grocery store and Target, and does very well.  

Thanksgiving 2009

Back to today. She came over in the morning and she read the paper and chatted while I worked on dinner. In the afternoon we chatted some more, read magazines, I showed her some things on the computer, and we ate pie...... again. I took  a nap, SHE DIDN'T !! Then we went for a ride around town to get her car some exercise, and stopped at DD #1's place to feed cats and parrots.

 At home we ate wonderful leftovers, got on the computer together and talked. She went back home in the evening. It was such a relaxed, nice day. We didn't have to do anything or run any errands. I think she enjoyed it too. I am so lucky to have such a good mama.

Thanksgiving Table

Water goblets are from Target, and votives from Michael's. Flatware Oneida Venetia, napkin rings from Home Goods.

Dinner plate, berry bowl and clock plate  are The Old Curiosity Shop by Royal China, and the floral is by Royal China also, pattern unknown.

My aunt had dishes similiar to these when I was little and I always liked looking at the pictures on them. A few years ago a good friend was going to donate a tub of dishes to GW and she pulled these and the next plate out and asked if I wanted them. She had several pieces and I was thrilled!! I have added a few pieces to these two patterns so I have a set for six.

There is always much to be thankful for Happy Thanksgiving.

Autumn Hutch

Just a few pics of an autumn hutch in greens, whites, and oranges.

Milk glass from garage sales, thrift stores

Turkey from Old Time Pottery

Pumpkin plate and pumpkin from Marshalls

All other dishes from antique stores, thrift and garage sales and friends

Bittersweet fresh picked Sunday!

Books I'm reading in November

With fall comes school (work) again, less time outside, fewer projects, even  fewer blogs and cold weather. At least I am still reading. Some evenings, it's all I can accomplish to come home, collapse and read. But reading is my oasis!

Kate Morton tells the story of three women within four generations of a family. Story weaves into story, layer upon layer. Morton combines Gothic settings, Dickensian characters and modern times in England and Australia into a plot involving past relatives of the current character.  The mystery she is unraveling of a 4 year old left on a dock in Australia in 1913 pulls the story together. I am anxiously awaiting the solving of the mystery!




Haven't started this one yet. It was written in 2002. I know I have read something of hers before, but can't remember if I liked it or not. This was recommended to me, so I will add to this once I start it. It is about three college friends, and follows the rest of their lives. Setting is modern and southern.




I am actually listening to this on CD after reading it about a year ago. I needed some car book time.  One of the most entertaining books I have read for awhile. It is great on CD, characters are so colorful! Another "Southern chick lit" book. Mary Kay Andrews has several books using the same characters, but you do not have to read them in any order. They all make sense. In The Fixer Upper, a young woman is fixing up an old mansion ( my dream) and everything, of couse, goes wrong. I love it!

After the leaves have fallen......

This is a reprise from approximately 1 year ago.

Mom and I went for an afternoon drive today and had a little adventure.  We drove to a nearby lake with sunny, 50 degree weather. While the leaves were already off most the trees, we still saw some of fall's bounty. The nice, fat buck was too fast for me to get a picture of, and so was the coyote, who was fat and fluffy.  There were all kinds of berries, though, once we really started looking.

Mom is 90 and she was telling me stories of walking to school, seeing lots of bittersweet in the ditches along the way.I  mentioned I would love to have some, I wished we would see some in all the wooded areas around the lake. She kept saying if there was any we would easily see it, it is so bright. Then we did!!

It was right along the road, easy to get to! I picked, and Mom sat in the car and laid it carefully in the back seat.

Couldn't reach this bunch, but there was plenty within reach.

There were lots of hedge apples on the ground.

The woods were full of beautyberry bushes.

In the ditches, the honeysuckle vines still had berries, and the crab apples were full of fruit.