Giving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  Much to be thankful for (including the Macy's parade!) this year.  Including getting the word last night that my netbook is finally repaired and is on the way back to me. Let's just hope that the shipping folk don't break it enroute! The turkey is in the roaster--time to baste again--and the only things left to actually cook are the glazed carrots, the green bean casserole, and the dressing (with cranberries and apples).  We made 4 kinds of cookies, as well as homemade cranberry sauce, lemon cheesecake dip for pretzels, pumpkin pecan bars, and such. My list of things I'm grateful for keeps growing, but in a top place on the list (just below my husband, children and home) is this community.  I love how I feel welcome here, even when I've been away for most of a month thanks to lack of internet connectivity.   I wish each and everyone of you (whether you celebrate Thanksgiving today or not) joy and peace, and blooming friendship over the coming year. Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.

Morning Rhyselle! Its good to see you back again! Morning Hazel!
 
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone too! Though its an American celebration I stand in fellowship with you all as surely I have much to be thankful for. Not least of which is the community here and the friends i have made. It is incredible to feel that on this platform here, where we gather daily, physical barriers of time and space cannot restrict us from reaching out and sharing. George Hall....I once stood where you feel you do now. Dont worry about it! That feeling wont last too long!
 
 

I found this list of Top Ten Thanksgiving songs for all of you. 

1. Mary Chapin Carpenter - "Thanksgiving Song" (2008)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NSQLMPUK-8&feature=related ;

2. Natalie Merchant - "Kind and Generous" (1998)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdG618TMc5E ;

3. Louis Armstrong - "What a Wonderful World" (1968)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvrRdsjahqY&feature=fvst ;

4. Natalie Cole - "Be Thankful" (1977)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfLBcbBDzXc ;

5. ABBA - "Thank You For the Music" (1978)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4069PUk3aM0&feature=related ;

6. Cheryl Pepsii Riley - "Thanks For My Child" (1988)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I7n47-6xjw

7. Adam Sandler - "The Thanksgiving Song" (1993)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PFERpWahZE ;

8. Dido - "Thank You" (2000)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQiipuDbbxw&feature=related ;

9. Kelly Clarkson - "Thankful" (2003)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GSPtLy-YC8 ;

10. Sister Sledge - "We Are Family" (1979)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Oiu9jW-VyE&feature=related

(sung b All stars... We are Family Foundation)

Spring Fragrance~ Great song list! I think most of our friends are still tucked up in bed. I didn't know anything about Thanksgiving day, so all the links to inform me & all the food talk the past few days have been very interesting. We might have this page all to ourselves today .... I'll have a peek now & then. The song that popped into my head looking at the pic up top was "76 trombones in the Big Parade"

Yo Hazel!! So I'm not the only one who was out of it! :)

What is relevant to me is "Black Friday" the Friday immediately following Thanksgiving. It's the start of the Christmas shopping season and with the swirling anxiety in the financial markets, a bad report for Black Friday is going to read bad news for the markets. 

My sister (in Singapore) will be in the US, travelling through the Napa Valley for 10 days from tomorrow. My parents meantime are coming to Australia and she was telling me how much cheaper it is now to travel to the US compared to Australia.  Maybe we all should go too :) 

I love the first song on the list, partly cos of the beautiful slide show. Found myself singing to ABBA, "thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing".....when I got to the part about the girl with the golden hair, I had to change it to "the girl with the raven hair".....hey! Check out Australia's own ABBA group....haha!! Someone with a cheeky sense of humour! 

http://www.petermanseye.com/photos/287331

I stole that pic, SF, it's so funny.
What Christmas shopping season? My ex number 2, on one of his better days, accosted a supermarket shelf-stacker on Christmas Eve & damanded Easter Eggs. The unsuspecting young man tried to hold a sensible discussion with my man - I wandered off & took an unusual interest in how may types of toilet tissue we have to select from.

Spring  Fragrance,  you  are  our  unofficial  archivist  for  music....    Rhyselle,  welcome  back.  Hazel,  sounds  like  your  former  #2  was  2  bubbles  off  plumb.....my  guess  is  you're  better  off  w/o him.

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!! Today I am Thankful for everything.... Even the fact that my little Niece & Nephew (Ages 2 & 5) had me up at 5am by pulling my blankets off... Waking up to seeing them laugh'n was a nice way to start the day off...
 
(P.S. My computer has been sick, hopefully it is fixed this week.)  

For the village:
BLESS THE ROOF AND CHIMNEYS TALL
LET THY PEACE LIE OVERALL    

It is quiet, cool and grimly gray on this transitional holiday and the not much nicer outside.
We haven't had one like this before and god willing will not have another all of us figuring out what to do going forward.
I overheard The Beauty on the phone recently with one of her friends explaining that with all that she had to do, she was comfortable at least that I got along fine being alone.
Alone... little does she know that where I spend time a sigh will bring a supportive hand to my back and if a tear forms in the corner of my eye, I'll find my head tucked beneath an understanding chin while several take time from their lives to soften the sharp edges of my own.
That's a very nice thing when having used up everything you have in support of the ones you love, nothing is left... for a while.

George Hall ~
Maybe it's just me, but you seem to have come along and eased into the village like it was an old slipper... yours. A good thing for us all.

This, from a sweet old guy past his prime but never more lovable:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P6PVsioAXc

Happy Thanksgiving everybody and thank you all.

Happy Thanksgiving to all near and far. Here's a thought: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4639vev1Rw

Hello Rings90, it's been awhile.

I love a parade...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyvB4Nh3fxE

Happy Thanksgiving, one and all.             

I'm taking the stuffing cakes, the cheeses and the champagne and we are heading south across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel to be with family and friends.

Stoney, hang in there my friend.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!  If you're not spending the day with family or good friends, I hope that you are "good with that" and will enjoy your day your way!  At my house the turkey is in, cranberries have been sauced since Sunday,dressing is in crockpot,  veggies are ready for roasting, maple bourbon pecan pie is waiting to be devoured, olives are getting ready to be roasted....we're gettin' there!  I assume that eggnog and other appropiate beverages and/or digestives will be available in the club car this evening?

Savannah~ So true, how easily we forget how fortunate we are.
Stoney~ Big hug ....
Hi, Rings 90!
Bert~ Ex # 2's spirit level had more than 2 bubbles - think it was filled with champagne. I serpently am better off without. In his defence, the Easter Egg conversation was about the fact that the supermarket had Christmas stuff on the shelves from September therefore, they should have Easter Eggs in stock at Christmas .......

Stoney~ I can't resist - your mention of slippers made me laugh. Somebody from the Village (I won't tell who) sent me a joke about an old man going into a pharmacy and asking for Viagra cut into quarters. The pharmacist explained that a quarter pill would not be sufficient for the desired effect. The old man disagreed, saying all he wanted was for his tackle to be perky enough to stop peeing on his slippers.

Ooops! Have a good day, Carol.

 
 
 
 
Carol....
just remembered the Underberg...

Happy Thanksgiving all!
 
RHYSELLE.....I couldn't sleep & so I got up at 3:45 & checked this site........I saw your post & said I will say hi in a few minutes..............I put my head down on the couch & fell asleep & when I woke I stumbled back to bed. So, hello!
 
CAROL & RINGS..........good to see you both............How do you roast olives, it sounds good? I agree, I am thankful for everything that I have...................there are so many who have so much less..........I am thankful for family & friends & our animals..............
 
BERT.......are your feeders full? I am going to top ours off after I walk the dogs...........
 
HAZEL & SPRING...................hello sleepy girls...................don't forget your plates are in the oven, pie is there too..................
 
STONEY................If you packed all the love that people here have for you & tried to deposit it into the bank; the bank would burst at the seams................just sayin'........

I hope everybody gets to take a Thanksgiving walk sometime today, be it behind a pretty dog or beside a pretty friend.  We've got the slightest chill, though I expect most would find it pretty balmy.  The light through the hickory trees here is about as good as it gets anywhere.

Miss Blue, I am thankful for you. Check out this version...                  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIB97DUgCjk    ; I was most impressed by Jimmy B's, btw.

Willie Trask~ We got our first snow today. And the first starling ballet in "my" bit of sky. It's dark here now & cold outside. Me & cat cosy inside. I did go for a walk today - borrowed a neighbour's dog for company. He's a big puppy & never seen snow before, so he & I laughed a lot.

Best wishes and blessings to you all today ... and everyday.  Be very well!

In the words of the father of our country, "that we may then all
unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and
protection of the people of this country..."
 
http://www.leaderu.com/humanities/washington-thanksgiving-original.html
 
Y'all have a blessed day...one and all are welcome
to join me on that Thanksgiving constitutional suggested by Willie Trask.  I'll
be off in the gloaming and ought to be back before moonrise.

This was the day that the last British troops left New York City in 1783.  General Washington led the frist parade into the city. Good day all.

Bebe:  The  feeders  are  full,  oil  based  sunflower  seeds.   Distracting  the  squirrels  by  burying  some  elsewhere  in  peanut  butter,  it's  a  hoot  watching  them  when  the  top  of  their  mouth  gets  stuck  with  peanut  butter.....

Wow! On to Thanksgiving Feast number Two! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Hazel Lease- STARLINGS.  You know, I was going to suggest the other day that I would personally colect all of the grey squirrels in England if you would come and take back the starlings from the US.  I will extend my offer a few more days, in the spirit of the season. Apres Vous, Madame...

Bebe--Roasted olives courtesy Williams-Sonoma.....olives, orange zest, olive oil, rosemary, hot pepper flakes......check it out.  It's really good!

So many blessings.

My husband, devoted through hard and easy, calm and storm just as he promised.

My children, loving and strong, with spouses that strive with them to remain so.

My grandchildren, climbing me with hugs and fascinating observations I might never have made.

Friends, who encourage, bring laughter; wipe tears, blunt pain, and straighten my path.

Most of all I’m thankful for Him who helps me stay the course.

I reviewed yesterday’s posts and cried over the miraculous fact that people I’ve not yet met can care and bless and be family in place of mine who are gone.

Such richness I never anticipated.

And I do most heartily give thanks.

I love a parade..the rat a tat tat..After I saw the great Robert Preston as Profesor Harold Hill in The Music Man and having given up football by high school 'cause I didn't want to go to summer workouts preferring to hang out at the local pool and the lake; I chose to be in the marching band as it was loaded with lots of pretty girls and I loved the trumpet and road trips. I remember marching in the Christmas parade with Santa Claus on a float behind us and how fun it was...Yeah I love a parade. 

Now I have two weekends of portraying The Grinch (The Grinch Song is soooo clever) coming up and today in a Petermanesque style chose to wear my deceased father-in-law's Johnson and Murphy laceups in anitque brown and my Jack Dempsey cufflinks and popped open a bottle of delicious red called Veritas. Truth. And I placed large pats of "real" butter on my hot rolls and was immensely thankful. Boyhowdy!     

Willie Trask~ ????? Tell me about the starlings. How come it's our fault you have them? The UK population has declined & the big winter flocks here are migrants from Eastern Europe. Worse than Mexicans for disrespecting borders ..... I love to see the spectacular Ariel displays they do at dusk, but I live in the countryside. I hear that in cities they are a nuisance.

bebe~ just crept into your kitchen and ate some pie. Yummy!!!
Will tomorrow's topic be indigestion remedies or hangover cures?

For Everyone , especially for Bebe, the movie buff (thanks for your
invite, I wish I can be transported instead of sitting in the office right
now!)

For your holiday, a listing of the 10 best movies celebrating human
triumps to lift your spirits.
Bert! Ratatouille at No.4 and To Kill a Mockingbird at No.6!

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-10-best-movies-to-lift-you-up-in-hard-times-2010-11-24?pagenumber=2

The "American Acclimatization Society" for European settlers
introduced 60 European Starlings in New York City's Central Park in 1890 and 40 more in
1891. The chief champion of these introductions was Eugene Scheiffelin, who
desired to introduce all birds ever mentioned in the works of William
Shakespeare to the United States. Shakespeare's play "Henry IV", the quote “The
king forbade my tongue to speak of Mortimer. But I will find him when he is
asleep, and in his ear I’ll holler ‘Mortimer!’ Nay I’ll have a starling shall be
taught to speak nothing but Mortimer, and give it to him to keep his anger still
in motion” was the only line that provoked such a reckless act. The entire
population of starlings now inhabiting the United States are from the original
16 pairs that survived those first two winters. Post-breeding wanderers reached
California by 1939 and breeding was established in the state by the 1950's.
Starlings within the state now number in the millions.   (from the website "nature alley by Nature Ali")

A little late but sincere nontheless -- Happy Thanksgiving all.  We have so much to be thankful for.  I can only hope that yours was as good as mine, with good food, good friends and family and a lot of laughter.

The photo of the drum at the top of the page just set my heart racing. What is it about drums that excite me so, besides the fact that my husband is a drummer? I've always loved them.  Something primal.
 
Hope all of you have/had a lovely Thanksgiving.

That makes complete sense Beautiful Jane, the drum is the heartbeat of the music! ❤
Hope yours was filled with Peace and Family as well.