Thanksgiving impressions

Over the river and through the woods we went yesterday.  But first, darling husband wanted to stop at the drive thru and get a cup of coffee.  Look who was ordering ahead of us!

 

The pain in our hearts over our missing loved one mixed with the joy of seeing the rest of the family.  A prayer of thanks to God was made for His blessings and presence. 

There was an abundance of food, good conversation, tears and laughter.  I had my brothers pinpoint on a contour map the woodland destinations we haunted as kids.  We were fortunate to have US Forest Land to roam when we were kids.  There were lots of good memories there.

After sitting for a long drive and sitting for a big meal, I wanted to get outside and walk. 

Saw a bearded fellow with a big knife.

 

I saw a gorgeous red oak with the sun shining on it, but when I fetched my camera, the clouds had rolled in.  The effect is not nearly the same.  But you can see the handsome form of the tree nonetheless.

 

Most of the trees except the oaks have shed their leaves.  Here, near the edge of Mom's garden, is a willow oak with yellow leaves that are a remarkably clear color.

 

Mom has a row of blueberries that can be counted on to be colorful at Thanksgiving.  I took a couple of shots of mine today as I was clearing out some of the underbrush.



 

 

After a good day and a long ride, we were about a half hour from home when someone called asking Caleb to help fill in at open mic night at Johnny's on Main.  Instead of going home, we went to Johnny's.  As if we had not eaten enough sweets, we had a piece of ice cream cake to celebrate the birthday of one of the band members. 

I was one tired woman when I got home last night.

It was a good day with lots to be thankful for.



 

 



Hickory nuts

To me, one of the sweetest tasting nuts is the hickory nut (pronounced hicker nut in these parts).  It is also one of the most tedious to "pick out."  I engaged in a little tedium this week and picked the tiny meats out of the small hickory nuts that were gathered from the woods several weeks ago.  I probably picked out less than a fourth of a cup. 
I wanted to do something for Thanksgiving with the nut meats, so I modified a recipe and made cheddar, hickory nut, and sage medallions.  With hickory nuts, it is easy to overlook tiny shell fragments.  I wondered if I should make a written warning.  DS said shell fragments are shrapnel.  Hmmm, "Warning: these cheese wafers may contain shrapnel"?  I decided to stick with a little card listing some of the intentional ingredients.  I did find a tiny shell fragment in one of mine.  I hope no one else did.

Indoor foliage

I used to have a job maintaining indoor foliage plants in banks, restaurants, hotels, and even a major university president's office.  One of the plants I would occasionally tend was a bird nest fern.  My sister recently gave me one, the first one I have taken care of for myself.  After spending several weeks outside, it is now occupying a basket on the tray ceiling.  (It's ultra cool to have a tall guy around to help me water the plants up there!)

Fire and ice

One morning last week when we had a heavy frost, the morning sun shone on the red foliage of the blueberry bushes.  Blueberries are a great choice for late fall color.

 



As I get time, I will try to weed around the bushes through the fall and winter.  The briars, poison ivy, and little saplings have gotten out of control in that area.  I was able to get some of the briars and poison ivy out this summer.  Hopefully, I can finish up the job before next spring.

Some showiness

There is a time for showiness, some pizzazz, some flamboyance.  So I submit to you a picture of my Thanksgiving cactus.  It was given to me a couple of years ago as a gift from my neighbor.  Isn't it pretty?

Oil soap to the rescue (and another domestic triumph)

Housekeeping is definitely not my strong suit, so indulge me while a share what might seem to some a rather mundane entry.  To me it was a triumph.  Our fridge is relatively old and has a textured finish which has collected some grease and grime over the years.  I assumed the little brown flecks on the front were bits of rust showing through.  I also thought the blackness on the handle was permanent since my occasional swipes with a rag or paper towel and dish detergent or cleaner had not changed it.  However, a toothbrush and some original formula Murphy's Oil Soap concentrate poured straight on the brush brought back a new appearance.  I was pleasantly surprised that the brown flecks, whatever they were, also came off.  I will add here, in case it is helpful to anyone, that oil soap also works wonders on the vinyl straps of patio furniture where regular sudsy water just doesn't make a difference.
The other domestic triumph was getting some paint out of a good pair of darling son's jeans.  Bless his heart, he is so like his mother.  Was he painting?  No.  Was he salvaging paint?  No.  He spilled all the paint on his jeans just trying to salvage the little wire handle of the bucket.  I guess the paint was fresh enough that it was softened with the first wash.  Rather than hang the jeans out to dry, I took a toothbrush and some liquid detergent and scrubbed the paint stains vigorously.  I left them wet for a while (few hours), then scrubbed some laundry powder into the stains.  Again, I left that for a while before laundering.  I was pleasantly surprised that the stains came out.
In a world of futility, it's nice to experience a couple of triumphs.

Vestiges of the season

We have a mass of polar air coming in, and I'm desperately clinging to the last vestiges of Indian summer.
I cut some cilantro yesterday that had self seeded from last year's plant.

 

 

I took a picture in the backyard a couple of days ago of the final glory of the fall colors (crepe myrtle, dogwood, and sweetgum).

 

I gathered some of the few flowers that had managed, under the protection of overhanging branches, to still be in bloom...

 

 

 

 

 

...for one very last bouquet.