All Things Nice ...

 

 

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I'm thankful for so many things,

It's hard to pick out just a few.

And tell in little simple words,

How very much they mean to you.

First there is sunlight rich and warm

Shining upon the house and lot;

The good laws of our native land,

For which our fathers lived and fought.

For neighbors just beyond the fence,

Whose lives are closely linked with ours,

With whom we share so many things,

Driveways and lights and growing flowers,

For crops of grain -- for fruit and meat,

The fragrance of the earth . . . the trees,

Churches and schools and country lanes,

I am so thankful for all these.

For children in a hundred schools,

For timid old folk bent and worn,

Young mothers brave as knights of old,

Waiting for babies to be born.

For old church bells that softly chime,

A turkey at Thanksgiving time.

~Edna Jaques, Thanksgiving Time

The Golden Road, 1953

 

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It's hard to think that this poem was written before I was born by a few years, and I am an old woman now myself. As far as poetry goes, it is not one of her best I don't think, but it's about Thanksgiving and it will do!

Yes, this is my all-things nice post a day early, supplanting my Friday Finds. With this weekend being Thanksgiving in Canada I have a very busy weekend ahead and will probably not get on to write until Tuesday now.  I expect it will be the same for us all, at least in Canada.

And what a Thanksgiving I have to look forward to this year!  To be able to see my first-born son who I have not seen in over 10 years and his boys, my grandsons, and not forgetting his sweet wife, Anne.  So much to look forward to. What a sweet reunion this will be.

 

2012

This photo was taken at my mother's 80th Birthday celebration in 2012, the day after Eileen's wedding. As you can see the boys are very young here.  Luke is 2 and Gabe is about 6.  They are now 12 and 16!  Anthony has a bit less hair and more grey hair.  Anne is still her beautiful self, of course. That is my brother in the background.

2012

Tears will be shed, I am sure.  I have missed so much of their lives over the last 22 years. It almost makes me angry when I think about it.  I was only supposed to be going over to the UK for 2 years and then we were both going to immigrate back to Canada once Todd turned 65. Of course, that didn't happen, and we know why now.  So many years wasted that shouldn't have been.  Water under the bridge.  Spilt milk.  Never mind.  We must make the most of what time we have left, and we will!!!

 

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My little place will be ringing with lots of noise and laughter and the smells of roasting turkey.  (On Sunday anyways.) My sister is going to lend us my mother's big old Wearever roaster to roast the turkey in. Anthony is bringing the turkey. My sister is making the stuffing and the sweet potatoes. We will do the rest here. I bought two pies yesterday. A pumpkin and an apple. I know I should have made them from scratch, but everything seems to take me twice as long these days and the ones I bought are very good.  They will do.  

The most important thing is we will all be together.  We have plans to meet Eileen and Tim outdoors in the park tomorrow for a picnic lunch. I hope and pray it won't be raining! I keep checking the weather report. It is not looking hopeful. 71% chance of rain tomorrow. 😥

We will figure something out. I know Eileen wants to see her brother, and I would like to see Eileen, but I am so not willing to take unnecessary chances with Covid. People are still getting sick and some of them very sick. Anthony and family are testing themselves before they leave to come here.

 

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We have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving weekend.  My father at 88 (89 in January) is still with us to celebrate. I got the all-clear earlier this week. I was so worried that I wouldn't. Funny that. You try to remain positive and not to worry about it, but it is there, niggling away in the back of your mind. You brace yourself for the worst, just in case . . . all the while hoping that it won't be the worst-case scenario. I was so relieved when the Doctor gave me the news and I was almost not believing it in a weird sort of way, but I have the prints out to prove that all is well. What a great blessing. I would have been brave and faced whatever it was that I had to face, because really what alternative would I have had.  Things are not made any easier by drowning them in misery. You are best to just pull up your socks and get on with them.

I learned that lesson when my children were small.  My mother was always a "woe is me" kind of a person, and yet at the same time she was very brave.  But she always made things so much harder for her and those around her sometimes with her attitude when things were going pear shaped.  

I loved and love my mum dearly, and you all know that, but she didn't half make things more difficult than they had to be sometimes.

This one year, everyone was at ours for Christmas, my sister and her family, my family, mom.  Lice hit a couple of the children and we all had to be treated. 13 people. All that bedding needing to be washed, the night clothes, etc.   My mother was so very negative throughout the whole experience, moaning about it all. It just made everything so much more difficult for all of us, and people had their feelings hurt, I am sure.  

Flash two years ahead, and we are on the Island visiting my mother-in-law.  Same scenario hits.  My MIL never batted an eyelid, she simply got stuck in and we went through the same rigmarole of washing all the bedding, shampooing everyone etc. No negativity involved.  She saw it as a great challenge. It was just, let's get stuck in and deal with this.

Moaning about stuff never did make things easier to cope with.  Lesson learned.  Attitude is everything.

 

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My sister and I went out yesterday and I picked up some stuff for the weekend. I spent the morning going through the refrigerator and freezer and getting rid of old stuff. I had asked my son what the boys liked to eat, and he said burgers, hotdogs, pizza.  Of course, I didn't really have any of that.  Now I do.  Burgers, hotdogs, pizza fixings.  I got little mini naans so that they can make their own pizzas the way they want to make them. Squirty pizza sauce, cheese, pepperoni, etc. They can fill their boots! 

Frozen burgers and buns. Easy peasy.

I also got some cereal bars, frozen waffles, frozen Danish. Our Bruce always loved stuff like that when he was a boy.  I am going to go out today and get in some milk and honey nut cheerios. They like that cereal, I guess. 

Of course, the big meal will be Sunday and that is what we are mainly concentrating on.  Anthony is cooking the turkey. I have put him in charge of that.  It's all very exciting!

I wonder what my babies will think. I am sure they will let me know. Nutmeg will probably hide at first until he gets used to all the noise and excitement.  Cinnamon will be right in the thick of it all.  I just need to make sure that they don't get out the door. Thankfully they are not cats that really hang around the door. If the inside door is open, they like to look out the screen door, but mostly they just hang around the front window watching what's going on from that viewpoint!

My father is really excited about seeing everyone as well. He was going to come over here tonight after his supper at Cindy's, but I told him they probably won't get here until after 7 or 8 and that's a bit late for him to be driving home. I am nervous about him driving home in the dark, especially after his accident a few weeks ago. What I'd like to do is have Anthony go and surprise him at Breakfast tomorrow morning, but we will see what happens. 

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In the meantime, I am just praying them over here safely and looking forward to our time together.  I am wishing all of my Canadian friends and family a very Happy Thanksgiving. May it be filled with lots of loved ones, many blessings to be thankful for, good health and good food! I'll be back on track come Tuesday and tell you all about how ours went!

In the meantime, here is a thought for the day . . .

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★

 *Kindness comes in many ways

but always from the heart.

•。★★ 。* •。★★ 。* 。。

In The English Kitchen today  . . .  Cracked Out Chicken Tatertot Casserole for two.  Deliciously simple to make!

I hope you have the best weekend possible. Be happy. Be safe. Be blessed. Don't forget!

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And I do too!