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Showing posts with label Thanksgiving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thanksgiving. Show all posts
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving is hands-down my favorite holiday of the year. I always look forward to celebrating it and this year especially I have a lot to be thankful for.
I hope you have a lot to be thankful for, too, and that your holiday is an especially good one this year.
I hope you have a lot to be thankful for, too, and that your holiday is an especially good one this year.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Reasons for thanks
I awoke this morning to the sound of rain on the roof, a sound that has been mostly absent for the past seventeen months. Later, I checked the rain gauge and found that we had received .8 inch of the wonderful wet stuff. This, in addition to the .8 inch that we received last week, promises a respite for our long-suffering plants, as well as a respite for my bank account from paying high water bills every month.
In short, the garden is looking much happier these days. The temperatures have moderated. We're receiving the occasional rain. The tough plants that have made it through the long seventeen-month-long drought are being rewarded for their toughness, and the gardener is finding another reason to be thankful during this Thanksgiving season.
Thanksgiving has long been my favorite holiday of the year. In fact, I am thankful for Thanksgiving! But while looking through my Google Reader today, I found a post at Garden Rant about some of the things that gardeners are thankful for and found that I could second most of them.
Even in this difficult year of gardening in Texas, there is much for which to be thankful. Above all, I am thankful for Nature. I garden with it and I appreciate it every day of the year - all the critters with which I share my garden, the insects (mostly helpful and some quite beautiful), the reptiles and amphibians, the small mammals (even though they sometimes dig holes, uproot things or otherwise make a mess in my garden), and, of course, the birds. I'm thankful for the wild landscape that is visible from my garden, especially the trees that have managed to survive. So many trees didn't make it and it saddens me whenever I look at their brown skeletons still standing there, but many are still living and breathing and I can only imagine what the early morning rain must mean to them.
I am thankful for the horticultural experts who give so generously of their time to share their expertise with us non-expert gardeners and I'm thankful for all those plant researchers and breeders who keep working to provide us with new and improved plants every year. Gardeners today are very fortunate to live in a time when gardening know-how is so easily available through local nurseries, gardening publications including a whole stream of wonderful gardening books, and, yes, garden blogs! I am especially thankful to the talented writers and gardeners whose blogs I follow. I learn so much from them and I gain inspiration from their gardens.
I am thankful for the trend in gardening toward the use of native plants and especially plants that are drought-friendly, toward the reduction of the boring expanses of mowed grass in the yard, toward the conservation and wise use of water, and especially toward the popularity of habitat gardens, creating gardens that are friendly to the critters with which we share an environment.
I am thankful for fellow gardeners who so generously share seeds, plants, and cuttings. I am thankful for tough plants that make me look good - like I know what I'm doing as a gardener. I'm thankful to live in a place that, despite its shortcomings in some aspects of my life, allows me to garden twelve months of the year. And I'm thankful for my wonderful readers who keep coming back, and especially those who occasionally provide feedback.
All things considered, I find myself happy and hopeful, and, yes, very thankful as I prepare for this Thanksgiving with my family. In spite of setbacks, there is much about which to be optimistic. I hope that your Thanksgiving finds you in a similarly upbeat mood.
In short, the garden is looking much happier these days. The temperatures have moderated. We're receiving the occasional rain. The tough plants that have made it through the long seventeen-month-long drought are being rewarded for their toughness, and the gardener is finding another reason to be thankful during this Thanksgiving season.
Thanksgiving has long been my favorite holiday of the year. In fact, I am thankful for Thanksgiving! But while looking through my Google Reader today, I found a post at Garden Rant about some of the things that gardeners are thankful for and found that I could second most of them.
Even in this difficult year of gardening in Texas, there is much for which to be thankful. Above all, I am thankful for Nature. I garden with it and I appreciate it every day of the year - all the critters with which I share my garden, the insects (mostly helpful and some quite beautiful), the reptiles and amphibians, the small mammals (even though they sometimes dig holes, uproot things or otherwise make a mess in my garden), and, of course, the birds. I'm thankful for the wild landscape that is visible from my garden, especially the trees that have managed to survive. So many trees didn't make it and it saddens me whenever I look at their brown skeletons still standing there, but many are still living and breathing and I can only imagine what the early morning rain must mean to them.
I am thankful for the horticultural experts who give so generously of their time to share their expertise with us non-expert gardeners and I'm thankful for all those plant researchers and breeders who keep working to provide us with new and improved plants every year. Gardeners today are very fortunate to live in a time when gardening know-how is so easily available through local nurseries, gardening publications including a whole stream of wonderful gardening books, and, yes, garden blogs! I am especially thankful to the talented writers and gardeners whose blogs I follow. I learn so much from them and I gain inspiration from their gardens.
I am thankful for the trend in gardening toward the use of native plants and especially plants that are drought-friendly, toward the reduction of the boring expanses of mowed grass in the yard, toward the conservation and wise use of water, and especially toward the popularity of habitat gardens, creating gardens that are friendly to the critters with which we share an environment.
I am thankful for fellow gardeners who so generously share seeds, plants, and cuttings. I am thankful for tough plants that make me look good - like I know what I'm doing as a gardener. I'm thankful to live in a place that, despite its shortcomings in some aspects of my life, allows me to garden twelve months of the year. And I'm thankful for my wonderful readers who keep coming back, and especially those who occasionally provide feedback.
All things considered, I find myself happy and hopeful, and, yes, very thankful as I prepare for this Thanksgiving with my family. In spite of setbacks, there is much about which to be optimistic. I hope that your Thanksgiving finds you in a similarly upbeat mood.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
My favorite holiday
One of the blogs that I follow, Tales from Twisty Lane, recently featured a Thanksgiving Day meme. Now since Thanksgiving really is my favorite holiday of the year, I had to jump right on that bandwagon! Feel free to jump on it yourself if you like.
1. Which do you like better: Cooking at your house or going elsewhere? This is an easy one - I like being at home and doing the cooking. Part of the joy of the holiday is feeding my family, and, if I'm lucky, I might even have something from my own garden to include in the meal.
2. Do you buy a fresh or frozen turkey?
My brother-in-law (Bless him!) will, as he usually does, bring a smoked turkey to the feast, so all I have to do is the side dishes.
3. What kind of stuffing?
My husband's Aunt Lurline had a wonderful cornbread dressing recipe. It's the best dressing I've ever eaten, and, you can take it from me, since I grew up in the South, I have eaten a LOT of dressing! I am the fortunate recipient of Aunt Lurline's secret recipe and I will be making it again this year.
4. Sweet potato or pumpkin pie?
Pumpkin, and maybe pecan, too, if my pecan-pie-baking daughter decides to bring one.
5. Do you believe that turkey leftovers are a curse, or the point of the whole thing?
We don't really eat much meat of any kind but, when we do, it's usually turkey or chicken. I love turkey sandwiches, so leftovers are fine by me.
6. Which side dish would provoke a riot if you left it off the menu?
The aforementioned Aunt Lurline's cornbread dressing, but also mashed potatoes - some members of my family can't imagine a major holiday meal without them - and, yes, our guilty pleasure, that old stand-by, the much-maligned green bean casserole!
7. Do you save the carcass to make soup or stock?
I'll try to send the carcass home with brother-in-law.
8. What do you wish you had that would make preparing Thanksgiving dinner easier?
I don't really need another kitchen gadget, although a roomier kitchen would be nice. When I was employed full-time (and more than full-time), I used to wish for more time and energy. Now I have the time, if not necessarily the energy.
9. Do you get up at the crack of dawn to have dinner ready in the early afternoon, or do you eat at your normal dinner hour?
No, I do everything I can the day and night before. Since I don't have to cook a turkey, it's not really any more difficult than cooking a usual family get-together dinner. And we are flexible about eating times. We eat when everything is ready. There's always plenty to nibble on if anyone gets hungry.
10. If you go to somebody else's house, what is your favorite dish to bring?Whatever they need me to bring.
11. What do you wish your guests wouldn't bring to your house?
Uh, well, there is something, but on the off-chance that the bringer actually reads my blog or somebody spills the beans, so to speak, I won't mention it here, because I wouldn't offend that person for the world.
12. Does your usual mix of guests result in drama, or is it a group you're happy to see?
It's just my nearest and dearest and I'm happy to see them all.
13. What's your absolute favorite thing on the menu?
I love it all! Did I happen to mention that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday? That has a lot to do with the food of the holiday.
14. What are you thankful for this year?
Life, love, health (never mind those aches and pains), friendship, my family - both those who are here and those of whom I am left only memories. Precious memories that all flood back especially at this time of year.
I am thankful for my garden - everything about my garden, even the things I don't like about it! Yes, even the weeds. I am thankful for the creatures that visit my garden - even that little Sharp-shinned Hawk who is making nervous wrecks of my other birds and even the darned raccoons that keep messing with my fountain. I'm thankful for so many things that I can't possibly name them all, but let me mention one more: I am thankful for you, dear reader. Thanks for hanging in there with me.
*****
In regard to the creatures that visit my garden, my quest to identfy all the butterflies that drop in continues, and I have a new one for you.
This attractive orange butterfly didn't turn up in time to be a part of my orange themed Bloom Day post, but I saw him yesterday and managed to get this one imperfect image of him before he flew away. It is a male Goatweed Leafwing butterfly, sometimes simply called Goatweed butterfly. Notice the sort of "hooks" on the top and bottom of the wings. As I tried to get closer for a better shot, he startled and flew away in a very erratic flight which is one of their defenses. But I was happy to make his acquaintance, however brief.
1. Which do you like better: Cooking at your house or going elsewhere? This is an easy one - I like being at home and doing the cooking. Part of the joy of the holiday is feeding my family, and, if I'm lucky, I might even have something from my own garden to include in the meal.
2. Do you buy a fresh or frozen turkey?
My brother-in-law (Bless him!) will, as he usually does, bring a smoked turkey to the feast, so all I have to do is the side dishes.
3. What kind of stuffing?
My husband's Aunt Lurline had a wonderful cornbread dressing recipe. It's the best dressing I've ever eaten, and, you can take it from me, since I grew up in the South, I have eaten a LOT of dressing! I am the fortunate recipient of Aunt Lurline's secret recipe and I will be making it again this year.
4. Sweet potato or pumpkin pie?
Pumpkin, and maybe pecan, too, if my pecan-pie-baking daughter decides to bring one.
5. Do you believe that turkey leftovers are a curse, or the point of the whole thing?
We don't really eat much meat of any kind but, when we do, it's usually turkey or chicken. I love turkey sandwiches, so leftovers are fine by me.
6. Which side dish would provoke a riot if you left it off the menu?
The aforementioned Aunt Lurline's cornbread dressing, but also mashed potatoes - some members of my family can't imagine a major holiday meal without them - and, yes, our guilty pleasure, that old stand-by, the much-maligned green bean casserole!
7. Do you save the carcass to make soup or stock?
I'll try to send the carcass home with brother-in-law.
8. What do you wish you had that would make preparing Thanksgiving dinner easier?
I don't really need another kitchen gadget, although a roomier kitchen would be nice. When I was employed full-time (and more than full-time), I used to wish for more time and energy. Now I have the time, if not necessarily the energy.
9. Do you get up at the crack of dawn to have dinner ready in the early afternoon, or do you eat at your normal dinner hour?
No, I do everything I can the day and night before. Since I don't have to cook a turkey, it's not really any more difficult than cooking a usual family get-together dinner. And we are flexible about eating times. We eat when everything is ready. There's always plenty to nibble on if anyone gets hungry.
10. If you go to somebody else's house, what is your favorite dish to bring?Whatever they need me to bring.
11. What do you wish your guests wouldn't bring to your house?
Uh, well, there is something, but on the off-chance that the bringer actually reads my blog or somebody spills the beans, so to speak, I won't mention it here, because I wouldn't offend that person for the world.
12. Does your usual mix of guests result in drama, or is it a group you're happy to see?
It's just my nearest and dearest and I'm happy to see them all.
13. What's your absolute favorite thing on the menu?
I love it all! Did I happen to mention that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday? That has a lot to do with the food of the holiday.
14. What are you thankful for this year?
Life, love, health (never mind those aches and pains), friendship, my family - both those who are here and those of whom I am left only memories. Precious memories that all flood back especially at this time of year.
I am thankful for my garden - everything about my garden, even the things I don't like about it! Yes, even the weeds. I am thankful for the creatures that visit my garden - even that little Sharp-shinned Hawk who is making nervous wrecks of my other birds and even the darned raccoons that keep messing with my fountain. I'm thankful for so many things that I can't possibly name them all, but let me mention one more: I am thankful for you, dear reader. Thanks for hanging in there with me.
*****
In regard to the creatures that visit my garden, my quest to identfy all the butterflies that drop in continues, and I have a new one for you.
This attractive orange butterfly didn't turn up in time to be a part of my orange themed Bloom Day post, but I saw him yesterday and managed to get this one imperfect image of him before he flew away. It is a male Goatweed Leafwing butterfly, sometimes simply called Goatweed butterfly. Notice the sort of "hooks" on the top and bottom of the wings. As I tried to get closer for a better shot, he startled and flew away in a very erratic flight which is one of their defenses. But I was happy to make his acquaintance, however brief.
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