Friday, November 29, 2013

giving thanks

 We had such a lovely Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's house.
Mom always outdoes herself with homemade everything, including
the rolls. I helped out by making roasted carrots and parsnips, corn casserole,
 and cranberry-orange relish. I love this photo of Tim watching  his grandma cooking
 - he was so hungry and kept picking at the turkey and asking  when dinner was going
 to be ready. I think my mom's little dog, LuLu was hoping for a turkey handout, too.
No such luck. People food makes her sick.


It was a small bunch of us this year. Brian, me, our family friend, Glenn, cousin
Greg, my mom...and Tim was taking the photo. Sorry for the bad quality of
all these photos - I was using my phone.


Mom made a homemade pecan pie for desert. Her recipe is in this cookbook from 
1978. We lived in Russell County, Kentucky back then. I'm not too fond of pecan pie, 
but it's one of Brian's favorites.


 We really missed those relatives who chose to go their own ways this
year (gotta love family drama) and those who are no longer with us on
this earth...my dad; our son, Phil; my great-uncle; and just this year, Brian's
sister, my grandpa, and my great-aunt.
PS - I love this man and am so grateful for him.


No Thanksgiving day or Black Friday shopping here for us. I don't believe in 
supporting retailers who chose to be open on Thanksgiving day, which forces
 their employees to take time away from family and/or friends. And you couldn't 
pay me to shop with hoards of people all fighting over the latest gadget and deal. 
Not to mention, we're on a very tight budget and don't have the extra shopping
money, anyway! Other news: our furnace went out on Thanksgiving morning.
Cousin Greg brought three space heaters to my mom's house for us yesterday,
so even though our house was very cold, we were fine sleeping last night.
A repairman came today and discovered it was the gas valve. Four hundred
dollars later, our 25-year old furnace is back in business. Even though that expense
 really hurt, we are thankful that it wasn't worse - such as replacing the furnace itself. 
This day of gratitude wouldn't be complete without me thanking all of you for
reading my blog and being so supportive. My life is enriched because of you.


16 comments:

  1. Sorry about the furnace! Looks like you had a great day with family and friends. That dog looks like a toy!

    Judy

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    Replies
    1. She sure does - she's such a cutie and so sweet, too!

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  2. It looks like you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Little Lulu, your mom's dog, is so cute. She looks like a little teddy bear. She may be looking for a bit of food to fall, but I imagine she likes to be the center of attention, too. Our little Fuzzy pom likes to eat just about anything, but we have to be careful because there are a lot of foods, including dog foods that don't agree with him.

    I am glad that the furnace was repairable. I agree with you about the shopping on Thanksgiving Day and/or Black Friday. I felt that we were absolutely inundated with Thanksgiving/Black Friday shopping talk in the media for the past couple of weeks. It was getting to be too much. And if we must be pummeled with the promotion of it, couldn't they come up with a more festive name than Black Friday. I understand that it means that the stores may be "in the black" with their profits, but it sounds ominous to those of us who don't own stores, like maybe we should be laying out our mourning clothes. To me the Friday after Thanksgiving is all about turkey sandwiches and leftover stuffing and pumpkin pie. Yummy Friday.

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    1. It must be a common thing for Poms to have sensitive stomachs - your doggie sounds just like LuLu. I agree that there should be a better name for the day after Thanksgiving shopping day than Black Friday!

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  3. It sure looks like a wonderful Thanksgiving for you and your family! Ours was quiet and peaceful too, the best time to give thanks for all of our many blessings. Have a great week end. Love and Hugs, Nana

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  4. Hi Melanie, I am glad you had a sweet Thanksgiving. ouch on the repair bill, but yes it could of been much worse. If we lived closer, I would send my Bobby over, he can fix most anything.

    LuLu looks like such a sweety, we miss having a pet in our home. Maybe after the holidays we will welcome another dog .

    No shopping here either. Some of our kids did just a little. I did 2 online purchases, much easier than fighting crowds. We don't buy tons of gifts anyway.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How I would love to personally know someone who is a good handyman! We need to have our dishwasher taken out and a "new" one (sitting in our garage) put in. But, Brian needs help! We don't buy many gifts here either - Brian and I only exchange a little something and then we get a few gifts for Tim and gift cards for my nieces. That's it!

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  5. It looks like such a nice, peaceful Thanksgiving, Melanie. Family issues are one reason that we choose to spend holidays at home by ourselves most years. It's easier that way and I can give my kids the happy holiday memories they deserve to have. I'm really sorry to hear about the furnace but I'm glad it wasn't worse. Our furnace is original to the house - 1980! - and it's always in the back of our minds that it could go any day. I'm with you on the shopping; I don't agree with forcing people to work on holidays either and I also hate the greediness and excessive spending that goes on. I get most of my holiday shopping done during the course of the year and put the gifts away until Christmas. I hope you're having a good day; you mentioned getting out and doing something, so I hope you had a good time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's really sad that family issues have to keep people apart. But it's important to keep the peace (and sanity!) for yourself and your family, so sometimes staying at home is the best thing to do. Oh wow, someone's furnace is older than ours! Our A/C is just as old. Scary, isn't it? Yes, we did go out and do something today. I hope to do a blog post about it tomorrow.

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  6. Looks like a lovely Thanksgiving and pecan pie...yum! So glad your furnace wasn't worse. I had the same experience but it was Feb and mine had to be replaced ($$$). J

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    Replies
    1. I know that we are just biding time and that our furnace (and central A/C) will have to be replaced in the near future. I'm dreading that!

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  7. I'm glad you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I think small gatherings are so much better. Especially when there is no drama involved. Honestly, life is complicated enough sometimes ... why do some people just seem to want to stay in that constant cycle of controversy? The furnace certainly could have been a bigger problem. And though it was a cost you didn't expect, at least you were able to afford the fix. That is something to be very grateful for. There was always pecan pie when I was growing up but I never liked it. Way too sweet for me. Give me pumpkin any day of the week. :) LuLu is a real cutie! Happy December. Tammy

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  8. It looks like you had a lovely Thanksgiving. I love those recipes out of the older cookbooks, they all seem to turn out great, no crazy ingredients, just good old fashion cooking. So sorry about your furnace, it seems like it is always something, but you are so right about being grateful it wasn't anything worse. Lulu looks adorable and so do those biscuits. Happy Holidays!
    Patty at Home and Lifestyle Design

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  9. Sorry about your furnace...I had those woes last year :) Yum Pecan Pie. My sister makes it every year for Christmas! : )

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  10. Such an intimate gathering! It was an almost perfect Thanksgiving, except for your furnace choosing the most inappropriate time to break down. That was a costly repair! Good thing you didn’t have to replace it.

    Terry Williams

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