Blue morning, giving thanks and family time

A little catching up to do - I haven't posted in almost a month!  Going backwards, starting with last Saturday morning.

Last Saturday morning - 7:30am - the view from my front door.  A blue morning in a winter wonderland.  We are not accustomed to snow in Georgia.  I can't think of the last time it snowed.  It was glorious while it lasted. 

 It was already melting in the afternoon, once the temps rose.  Snowmen were everywhere, but my favorite was this little one on the table in front of Five Guys.

Not to worry - I was sitting completely still when I snapped this photo on Friday afternoon, during the harrowing ride home.  Georgians don't know how to drive on snow, y'all.  It took me two hours to go 20 miles, but it was lovely to get a fire going and have a little sofa nap later.  AND to wake up to that blue morning the next day.

Thanksgiving Day was spent in Fayetteville, Georgia at my cousin's house and the extended family.  Because my immediate family was coming together from Atlanta, Virginia, Florida and Mexico, we stayed at a hotel the night before.  I didn't realize how starved I was for family time until we were all together.  Favorite moment:  a smiling older couple from Detroit, Michigan were also staying at the hotel and just before they got on the elevator to go up to their room, they spontaneously jitterbugged for several seconds.  We applauded.  It was that kind of fun night.

 My cousin's home has lots of space, indoors and out, for the 40+ family gathered together in Thanksgiving.  We convoyed to my sister and brother-in-law's farm in northern Florida on Thanksgiving afternoon.

Thanksgiving crafts by two great-nieces on Friday morning. 

And all the little ones got a tractor ride on Saturday, before everyone drove away.  A lovely few days.

Next week - holiday magic.

Good sport, rise and shine and soaking it in

The extended Thanksgiving holiday in northern Florida was beautiful and warm.  The sunflowers are from the crop in the lower fields and my great niece Kloie made the Thanksgiving card, using her hand.  I love that kids still do that!  The round, green cylinder on the right is the birthday hat she made for my brother-in-law, who was a good sport and wore it in the restaurant, where we celebrated his birthday the evening before Thanksgiving.  Passing wait staff said, "Happy Birthday, Pepaw!" as they passed. 

The sun rising and shining through the Live Oaks on Thanksgiving morning.  

My sister got the idea for this structure for swings via Pinterest and had it built.  We christened the new brick fire pit in the center on Saturday night by toasting marshmallows over it.  The night sky was so beautiful that I could actually see the stars (something that gets lost in the city skies where I live.)

It made nephew Curtis smile that I was walking around snapping photos with my phone on Sunday morning, right before departure.  I was soaking up the beauty, I said.  And I was trying to get his dog Hank in the photo - there he is in the background.  Hank loves roaming this property - it's like a giant vacation for him - being on the farm.

Welcoming, good things, rooting and grazing

- Thanksgiving day was a perfect weather day - bright, sunny and warm.  My cousin's home in Fayetteville, Georgia is so welcoming and I loved the new outdoor fireplace on the back porch.  There were 30 of us for dinner, including my sister and her husband from Virginia.  The three of us headed down to northern Florida in the late afternoon to be with our other sister and her family for the rest of the weekend.

- I had to snap a photo of this shop sign, in my sister's tiny village of Monticello, Florida, featuring "good things."  Click to enlarge.

- Young Monroe makes his dad happy by wearing the Bear Bryant-like hat his grandmother bought for him.  That's the University of Alabama vs. Auburn University game reflected in the window.  Fortunately, Alabama won.  :)

- And in a quiet moment on Saturday morning, a couple of young deer were grazing in the back.  Click to enlarge.  My sister and brother-in-law consider their property a deer sanctuary.  The deer on the right spotted me and at the same moment, they turned and ran.

The internet is spotty down there, so I did not get to visit blogs, but I will catch up.  I Promise.

The answer has to be yes, bobble heads and the Pilgrims

- Spotted at the shopping center near work last Friday - this wondrously pink Thunderbird.  If you click to enlarge, you can see the pink dice hanging from the rear view mirror.  A woman walking up the sidewalk said, "Isn't that amazing?  I wonder if she's wearing all pink?"  The personalized car tag told that tale.  It read "PINKBRD" (Pink Broad.)

- These adorable bobble-head Halloween figures at the drive through window at Starbucks on Saturday.  I love that the girl has a blackbird on her head.  Alas - no trick or treaters came to my door that evening.  I had even bought some chocolate to add to my collection at the drugstore that afternoon.  Favorite moments there:  a woman, also buying chocolate, and I agreeing that it was really for us, not them.  And an Uber driver buying three large bags of candy for the "drunk" people he would be driving home from bars later.  Very thoughtful, that.

- And at home yesterday, my Pilgrim salt and pepper shakers got to come out of the cabinet, where they reside most of the year.  I firmly believe that Thanksgiving should be celebrated before we even start thinking about Christmas (having spotted Christmas stuff out in stores already.) 

No hunting zone, Live Oaks and soothing

- Thanksgiving at my sister and brother-in-law's farm in northern Florida.  They provide sanctuary for the deer that wander (and frolic) through the fields down below (although they condone hunting, they don't want deer hunted on their property.)  I walked out and stood still one morning waiting for the deer, so I could photograph them from afar, but they waited until I was inside the house before emerging.  :) 

- A Live Oak tree, dripping with Spanish Moss.  The shadows they make are lovely, I think.

- Great nephew Monroe had a willing playmate in an older young lady, Chloe, who was visiting for the morning.  My sis provided sidewalk chalk and they chalked away (mostly Chloe) - I liked the sun drawing the best. When Chloe had a bit of a traumatic scrape with the driveway later, niece Amanda quietly read her a book - Mother Goose stories.  Just after "Little Miss Muffet", I asked Chloe what did she think "curds and whey" are?  "Some kind of cereal," she replied, thoughtfully.

Mr. and Mrs. Pilgrim, Sunday morning grits and just heavenly

- My Pilgrim salt and pepper shakers stay in the kitchen cabinet where the plates and bowls are housed, all year, except in November.  I like how they peek out at me when they are in the cabinet, but even more when they are on top of the microwave in the kitchen.  They make me smile every time I look at them.  And the lady Pilgrim gets to be the pepper shaker!

- No one will ever want me to be a food stylist, I guess.  :)  The Sunday morning hominy grits when they were almost ready.  This batch was perfect - with just the right amount of thickness. 

- Friend Barb gave me two bars of this soap about 10 years ago, when I admired the scent of it in a shop.  French soap from Provence in my kitchen.  Just heavenly.  The first bar lasted all this time and was down to a sliver, so I dug out this one.  It's almost too pretty to use.

Things in my kitchen that make me happy.  :)  It's almost Thanksgiving here in the US, so out came the Pilgrims!  Happy Tuesday!