thanksgiving food prep, a pretty little store, and gratefulness

I am not hosting Thanksgiving this year; my sister is. But, of course, me and my mom help out by cooking and bringing food. This year I'm making cranberry relish (made with maple syrup and orange juice); corn pudding casserole; green bean casserole (not the one made with cream of mushroom soup and canned fried onions; I avoid prepared foods with artificial ingredients whenever possible...I found a recipe on the internet where you make your own creamy sauce and crunchy onion topping); glazed carrots with maple syrup, orange juice, and rosemary; and for an appetizer - dill pickle dip. You gotta try this dip. It's incredibly addicting.

I prepared and chopped so many vegetables today, my hand was actually sore. This is two pounds of green beans that I snapped and then cut in half for the green bean casserole.

Here's something that wasn't part of my food prep plans. This is what happens when you're not being mindful and rushing around. I went outside onto my front porch to throw the carrot scraps to the birds and squirrels. I lost my footing and started to fall. The wooden railing scraped the underside of my arm when I was falling. Could've been much worse, so I'm grateful this was my only injury. 

Even though I don't decorate my house for Christmas until after Thanksgiving, I do enjoy looking at the Christmas decor in stores around this time. For those of you who live in the area, there's a new store in East Dundee, IL called Midwest Retro. I ended up buying a pair of handmade lined wool mittens (not pictured) that are so warm! I really needed them. All I had was a couple of pairs of cheap, not-warm-enough gloves.

 I am grateful for those of you out there who take the time to read my little blog, leave comments, and email me. I am so blessed by your friendship.

Thank you. 💗

from dawn to dusk ~ snippets of my day

I've never been a morning person. I'm in a fog for a good 30-45 minutes when I wake up. The first thing I do is make coffee. This morning was absolutely gorgeous...dappled sunshine, blue skies and a cool breeze. I took my coffee outside on the front porch and plopped myself in a chair, relishing the peacefulness of the morning. No lawn mowers going yet and no playful, shrieking neighborhood kids. Just chirping birds and the occasional car going by.

I do not take casual mornings for granted. It's been over 3-1/2 years since I left my paying job and there hasn't been a day since then that I haven't been grateful for where I am now. I know not everyone has the luxury of choosing to staying home, so that's another blessing I count.

I also realize that not everyone wants to stay home either, and that's cool, too. We're all different. I think as long as we're happy where we're at, it's all good. In my case, I've always loved being a homekeeper. And I can tell you this much: most days I work harder at home than I ever did in an office. Though office work was mentally exhausting due to the never-ending piles of paperwork, staring at a computer all day, and being on someone else's timetable.

 Once my morning fog wears off, I am raring to go. I naturally have a ton of energy. Sometimes I get so busy that I have to remind myself to take a break. I tell myself that even in an office, you get a morning and afternoon break, plus an entire hour for lunch! Today, I didn't even sit down to eat lunch until 3:00.

After I got showered and dressed and made my bed (I make my bed every morning - how about you?), I threw in a load of laundry, scooped cat boxes, fed the cats, brushed Zippo, took out the kitchen garbage, and made a pan of roasted potatoes.

Makings of tuna salad came after the potatoes.

I got the dishwasher going, then took off to run errands. I did a big grocery shopping and returned items to Kohls and TJ Maxx. Got home and unloaded the bags from the car, put away all the groceries, transferred the clothes from the washer to the dryer, unloaded the dishwasher, watered the inside plants, cleaned both bathrooms, then finally sat down for some lunch. Got the cat food order from Chewy and got that put away. As you can see, Monkey loves boxes. I'm going to keep this one to make another cat cave...

I saw this simple idea online to stretch a t-shirt over a box, as cats love hiding places. Monkey and Clementine love this smaller box, though Zippo wasn't interested at all. 

He'd rather just crash on a chair.

Back to work...laundry needs folding and putting away.

Cat litter and extras like toilet paper, paper towels and vinegar need to be hauled downstairs to the basement and put on the storage shelves. I go up and down the basement stairs at least 20 times a day. 

 Early evening today was just as beautiful as the morning. I walked around the yard, watering plants and pulling weeds.

 I swept the porch and patio and then sat here and painted my toenails. ;-)

My greens are already wilting with the warmer weather, so I picked the last of them this evening, gently rinsed them, and laid them on a dishcloth to dry.

Did a short yoga practice, washed berries and made a fruit salad, and now...

 I'm writing this blog post while the second load of dishes finishes in the dishwasher. I'll be unloading that and putting the dishes away at 9:30 p.m. And then, finally, my day will be done. Except for giving the cats their last feeding of the day at 10:30. I'll read for a bit, then go to bed. Tired, but fulfilled and grateful.

Sharing with At Home With Jemma ~ Thoughts of Home on Thursday

and Art and Sand ~ Share Your Cup.

light and blessings

I love the way the soft October light fills the sky in my little neighborhood.

I also love seeing Tim's old Honda back in our driveway. My boy was home

for a weekend visit. Leaves and pumpkins are everywhere, and the sun nudges

its way through windows, casting dancing shadows on floors, walls, and cats.

Lots of cooking happened this weekend ~ home-cooked comfort food was much

appreciated by my hungry college student and M&M cookies were baked and

packed up to take back to school. My dishwasher, sink, and counters over-

floweth. Piles of blankets and pillows still need to be folded and put away and

the bathroom cleaned. This mama is grateful for it all.