A Thankful Heart....

For me, gratitude needs to be a state of mind and soul... not just a day in November.  As is often the case I wonder how much of holidays celebrations become a routine without much thought or reflection.

Thanksgiving is one such day. 

A quiet moment while dinner cooks

Last Year my leg was in a cast and I was on crutches, so cooking was out of the question for me.  We went to the local diner and had a free dinner that the owners do for the local community as a thank-you to the local community.

So for beginners, I am grateful to be standing on both lgs.

Thanksgiving finds me living a very different life than I had planned.  There are blessings in all kind of circumstances but sometimes it is necessary for us to really LOOK.   

What a challenge it is to cook a Thanksgiving feast for one vegetarian, another who is lactose intolerant and another who follows a low fat and low sugar diet.  I did lots of searching for receipes to accommodate everyone's needs.

 

 With three people eating turkey, it seemed a little overkill to place the whole turkey on the platter so I put the sliced turkey on the platter and surrounded it with Sauteed Brussel Sprouts.  It certainly turned out colorful.

 

I had a great time shopping for Thanksgiving dinner at Trader Joe's.  I love that place.  My latest find is multi-colored carrots and they are a rainbow of yellow, orange and red.  I have named them little jewels.  They are very sweet and colorful.  I have already returned and bought 2 more bags.  One of the pleasures and downsides of shopping at Trader Joe's is the constantly changing inventory.  It is fun to try new additions but at TJ's you never know how long it will be available so you buy multiples of things you like.

Time to dish up and dig in!

Oops, no room for fruit salad!

Yep, I ate it all!!

Cherished Family Times.

The next day while suffering from Carb overload I was laying on the couch and watching a circus of squirrels playing in the tree outside of my window.


The sun had  just come up and provided a wonderful glow on the tree.  Without leaves in the tree their nest is fully visable and they were darting in and jumping out, leaping from limb to limb.

I took pictures from inside, and outside...








 and even had company while taking pictures from my perch on the bench beside the garbage can.
 

Emmit wondering what all the fuss is about!!

Don't bother looking too hard..... Romeo and Juliet were moving like greased lightening.... every picture showed branches but no frisky squirrels...

Watch out squirrels.... I will catch you yet!!

 Late but Thankful Days!