~November Living and Thanksgiving~

So, I've been wanting to write a post for about 2 weeks now, but my phone would. not. sync. to my computer and it's taken me this long just to retrieve my photos! 

But, oh, November- you've been crazy. Crazy in lots of good ways. We've had everything from bright, low-angled sunshine to our first snow and a wind storm that knocked our power out for a day. Two weeks ago it was 24 degrees and today it was 65!

I've been enjoying all the fall decorating this year- preserved leaves tucked here and there . . . mini pumpkins and dried hydrangea bunches . . . and the joy of getting out my small collection of brown and white transfereware. Everywhere there are pinecones, some strawflowers, and maybe a stuffed scarecrow sitting in a wee chair. 

I can't tell you how many candles we've already gone through this month- they flicker away the cold and dark and make the house smell just right. There's been lots of kitty cuddles and kitty photo bombs . . . and even a craft fit in there- Loving my sweater pillow cover- idea found over here. 

Our garage is full of wood and we let the fireplace blaze on Sunday afternoons. We play board games on Sunday evenings and sometimes there are hot baked scones to accompany us. 

This month I was even able to convince my 12 year old to let me read to him from one of my favorite Autumn books, Mousekin's Golden House. 

We are feeling blessed and full of Thanksgiving this month. Thank Full. As we finish up with our last minute Holiday preparations and plans, I just want to leave you with President Lincoln's Proclamation of Thanksgiving as a reminder to us all that it benefits us to give thanks to God in both good times and hard times . . . 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Washington, D.C.
October 3, 1863

By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consiousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

From  http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org

~Bread and a Book~

 I just finished putting the bread machine to work and now the whirl of the paddle can be heard out in the kitchen. It's a triumphant sound as I haven't made bread (or much of anything) since I got sick. It's been months since that sound has been heard or the house has smelled like heaven as it bakes. The clean up, however, has not been done yet as the above picture proves. My knees are still very painful so the ten or so minutes it took to stand and measure ingredients into the bread machine will now require a good 30 mins of sit down time to make up for it. Clean up will have to wait.

The other sound I'm hearing is the constant spattering of rain and wind against the windows. It shakes the panes of this old house and makes it sound like someone trying to break in. I took this picture while I was still out in the kitchen- that's my view from the kitchen sink and as you can see 2 o'clock in the afternoon here looks no different than early morning or late evening. I wish it was bright and white with snow, but we just don't get much of that in the good ol' Pacific Northwest. However, we also don't get -0 temperatures either, so I won't complain (too much) ;)

A treasure came in the mail a couple days ago- a little treat I bought for myself with leftover gift card money. Another book by Gladys Taber to add to my humble collection! And it's one I have not read yet, so I'm savoring the anticipation of digging into it. 

Doesn't it look well with the others? I found Gladys and her books a couple years ago after being introduced to them by the lovely Susan Branch. And of course I'm hooked . . . and of course, they are out of print and hard to come by. And of course, that makes them even better! :)

~Blue Skies But Cloudy Within~

Proof that there was sun and blue sky this morning . . . if only for a little while.

Agh, I'm tired today!!

Though at this point I'm quite used to being sleep deprived, this tired is a little different than my norm- more of an emotional tired than a real physical one. And coffee makes no dent in it- though I've tried.
. 
This is the kinda tired where you want to see no one, do nothing, and try nothing and not even your favorite occupations can distract you from it. You're cranky and pouty and annoyed with yourself for being so. It's the tired that finds you unable to start the creative project you planned, because in the mode you're in you know you'll just screw it up.

A tired where instead of enjoying the morning's blue sky and bright sun you spend all morning angry at your husband because during the night you dreamed that he cut down the blue spruce tree that used to be in your grandparents' front yard . . . years ago. And worse, he did so without asking you. And further more, when you confront him about it as he lounges on the couch, he answers you nonchalantly that you have no right to say anything about it because you're not the type of person who makes quick comebacks. 
Huh?!

Exactly.
That kind of tired.

So here I am, trying to put it out there so I can start moving upward and onward. There are banana muffins to bake and though I am still incredibly sore all over, I'm thinking that if I take it in small stints I may actually get them made. And I'm kinda thinking muffins and Earl Grey could make things a wee bit better. Especially paired with the book I've been reading . . . The Blue Hills, by Elizabeth Goudge. Does anyone else read Elizabeth Goudge? She's out of print but I adore her books. This one I happen to be borrowing from my mother as they're hard to come by. Yes, I'm definitely thinking a long stretch of reading and some muffins may be the answer here. 
I'm off to the kitchen- the sun just came out again. :)

Cheers!