Thanksgiving Blessings

The house this morning smells of pies....pumpkin & dutch apple....cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger & cloves. No turkey roasting at our house as Liz is doing it this year. But aromas I relate to Thanksgivings past. Let's see, this is my 57th Thanksgiving. I remember when the stores would go all out and decorate for Thanksgiving. Pictures of Pilgrims & Indians sharing with each other. Respecting each other. A time for Giving Thanks to God. Decorations of Fall Leaves, pumpkins, Indian Corn, gourds. Now it seems that the end of August the Halloween Decorations go up and then the day after Christmas Decorations go up. It's not the same at all. It was a time to gather together with family and friends. I lived in Southern California then with scads of Aunts & Uncles, tons of cousins, shirttail relatives, friends and Thanksgiving was always celebrated with a groaning table of foods we only had a Thanksgiving. I remember the first year I was allowed to set the table! Did you have a "kids" table? The year I turned 13 I moved up to the "adult" table and found out that the kids table was more fun! By the time I was 14 I was helping cook most of the meal. I enjoyed cooking more than my mom did, I think.

In school we learned all about the Pilgrims and how they came to America at great cost so that they could worship God as they wished. They made great sacrifice to do so and life was not easy. Each year we'd have little skits or plays and we'd all make pilgrim hats. Now in school they talk about being Thankful but not being Thankful TO GOD, the provider of all we have.

Of course I am so very grateful and thankful to God for my wonderful family. I come from a family who dearly loved and appreciated each other...my grandparents had great influence in my life...I miss my Mom but am so very thankful for her love and devotion to me and my brothers. My Dad is the best....still loving me, encouraging me and making me laugh. His wife Willa Mae is a delight and the next best thing to having my Mom.

My loving hubby, Mr. Scottie Dog. He's my partner, the love of my life, a real rock in my life. Thirty seven years of marriage and he still lights up my life!

I am so thankful for my wonderful daughters...Beka, pregnant with her 3rd, she makes me proud as she's grown up to be such a lovely woman, a wonderful, caring mother, a woman of principles. Liz, my right hand woman, partner in business so smart it amazes me. My grandchildren delight me, each one is so uniquely lovable.

I'm thankful for my health (especially after 17 horrible days of illness this month), my home, the fact that I am able to live in such an absolutely beautiful place as the Northern CA Redwood coast.

I'm thankful for friends...this year I was able to connect with a group of gals whom I met in kindergarten. We were Blue Birds together and best buddies until we all moved in 7th grade. Some friends come and go, some stay.....I am grateful for the input of all of them.

I am Thankful for my work which seems more like play sometimes. Scottie Dog Quilts is a little store that has introduced me to hundreds, perhaps a thousand of wonderful, creative & artistic people and I get to be a little bit of their lives.

Thank you, Lord for all my blessings. And thank you that they are too numerous to count!

A blessed Thanksgiving to you all!

Guitar Orchestra of Barcelona

Tonight we had a wonderful evening with a couple of friends. Thanks to my friend Lynn we were able to go to the Arkley Center for the Performing Arts to experience the Guitar Orchestra of Barcelona. This was night two of their first American Tour. I didn't really know what to expect. First Mr. Scottie Dog, Lynn and our friend Katie had dinner......I had the salmon. Yum, yum is all I can say. Then off to the Arkley Center....the old Richard Sweasy Theatre that Rob & Cheri Arkley refurbished into the beautiful venue for Eureka's cultural events. Here's a picture of the restored front.
And here's a great shot of the fantastic mural on the back of the theatre...it amazes me every time I see it as it really looks as if the sky is showing through the arch.

Here's a shot of the Orchestra led by Sergi Vincente. This evening's program was entirely of Spanish music (from 1640 on). Some of the guitars seemed to be used like a mandolin, other times the strings were slack. They picked with their fingers mostly, occasionally using a pick, and sometimes fingernails tapped on the sides, thumbs thumped, sounding like an entire orchestra.

Imagine our surprise on the fourth number when two beautiful flamenco dancers came out. I never knew you could do what they did with their castanets. At times the dancers were mere props for the Orchestra, other times the guitars were just props for the dancers. It all flowed in and out. I wish I knew more about music. But I loved it! Music that stirred my heart and kept my feet tapping. Classical Spanish music. Who knew?

Listen to them here.

Sadly they only played one encore, I could have listened for a much longer time. As we left the theatre we had a chance to greet Sergi and many of the players. Thanks Lynn for the tickets and Katie for a wonderful evening. I feel cultured. If you have a chance to hear them I encourage you to go.

Potato Corn Chowder

Every Fall I end up making Potato Corn Chowder. This morning Sydney was delivered to the house about 9 am. She and I were going to make Potato Corn Chowder and Corn Bread. YUM! First of all we put on our aprons and then washed our hands.

Here she is with some of our ingredients. You can't see the onion and garlic cloves.

Sydney had never peeled potatoes but she did a pretty good job, didn't she?
As I cut the onions and potatoes, she put them in a pan with some chicken stock.
After the potatoes & onions had cooked we put it all in the crockpot and she stirred it all up. We turned it on high and made our cornbread.

Syd can really stir good! She also loves cracking the eggs.

After the bread was out and the soup was done we loaded it all up into the car and went to Scottie Dog Quilts. We'd made lunch for the Thursday Sit & Sew Class. Fun, fun!

Sick!

Today is .....let's see, November 12. November 1, I woke up sick. Been sick for 12 days now. Bad sick...not swine flu but whatever animal/bird/insect/plant flu I've had is now severe bronchitis. Beka and the kids arrived on the 1st. Poor Grandma under the weather all this time.

I am getting better. SLOWLY, but better. Thanks for the emails. I WILL return.