I went for a walk today down the road to the pond where the ducks were busy getting ready for their trip south. There is still a lot of wildlife all over the place, especially flies! They are all over my house too! Yesterday morning, I was making pancakes for my family. I went to pour the first batch of pancakes into the hot frying pan, when I noticed a fly bubbling away in the oil. That is how plentiful they are. We use the vacuum cleaner to clear them from the windows (saves on cleaning all the splats later on). At least they are easy to get rid of. They are slow and a little dozy at this time of year. But the reason we have so many of them is because we have not yet had a killing frost. Very unusual for this time of year, but then, there has not been anything usual (weather-wise) about this year.
The bees and butterflies were really busy today, too. They were taking advantage of the sunny and mild temperatures trying to get as much nectar from my mums as possible! The temptation of taking a few pics with my camera was just to hard to withstand! The colour of the mums is so stunning! I managed to transplant two trees, too! I couldn't resist being outside today. It was just too nice to pass up!
I sure do have a lot to be thankful for. I have a husband who still loves me after all these years together, two wonderful sons, a great home in the country, an awesome family, a job and career I love waking up for, terrific friends, and much, much more. I have a few things that I am not thankful for like two mortgages to pay, my husband's brother, a business to run in a sluggish economy, etc., but those are for another blog.
Yesterday, I had the honour of hosting the annual family Thanksgiving feast. It was the first time I have done it for the whole entire extended family. I had 14 people and me to cook for. It was time for me to give my mom a break. I know she enjoyed this Thanksgiving much more than usual. I did have a lot of help with it as well. I did the turkey and the ham and mashed potatoes and gravy and vegetables. My sister, Janet, made a Caesar salad, Auntie Annie made her rice and sauerkraut casserole, Uncle Larry brought a bottle of his homemade choke-cherry wine, and Mom made cabbage rolls and brought a pumpkin pie for dessert! My cousin-in-law, Terri, brought an Asian salad and some great red wine! Wow, it is so much better when everyone pitches in. It was a great feast and so great to all be together. We were even able to do a draw to pick names for Christmas gift giving this year. That will be better too.
Well, I managed to take a couple of pictures before everyone came (notice the Sunflower centrepiece, from my own garden) but once everyone was here, I was so busy I didn't even think of taking pictures. Oh well, the memories are permanently in my head. It all went off without a hitch (except that I forgot to put the glasses on the table until everyone sat down).
There is one other thing I wanted to mention my thankfulness for and that is my Auntie Ella Oswald. We learned that she lost her life last weekend. Apparently, two weeks ago, she suffered an aneurysm. I guess it was pretty severe and the only option was surgery. It was done but she never recovered. She remained in a coma and passed last Saturday morning. It was quite a shock to learn about as she was only 71 years old. She was a big part of my childhood. Our families spent a lot of time together. Barbara and Sandra (her daughters and my cousins) were like sisters to me, my sister, and brother. We shared a lot of good times. But then, around the time I was seventeen years old, she and my uncle divorced and we all grew apart. But, I remember her as a strong, vibrant woman. She was very intelligent and a great role model. She was an important person in a defining part of my life and I am very thankful she was a part of it. I will definitely not forget her.
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