Thankfulness

Frigid temps came even earlier this year, here in East Texas, than last year, and Autumn was way too brief for me and the trees.  The trees never had much of a chance to change into their Fall dress before the Arctic air blew into town!  I told them:  "Maybe there is still time .... maybe it will warm up just enough ..."  Meanwhile, the week before Thanksgiving week had us in temperatures in the low twenties for many days and nights.

The oldest Bradford pear in the front yard pre-Thanksgiving 2014.

Gloria beginning to change her dress pre-Thanksgiving 2014.

A mix of light yellow-green, orange and rusty red for Gloria.

We don't get an abundance of color here, so I am thankful for what we do get.  I became spoiled living in  Tennessee, New England and Missouri, I suppose!  HeartSong Farm is located in the Piney Woods area of Deep East Texas.  That means that the Autumn colors play against the greens of the pine forests, a contrast that is beautiful in its own way. Not as "knock your socks off" as in Vermont, but lovely in its own way.  It is usually individual trees that catch your eye in this neck of the woods.

I don't know about other folks in this area, but it makes me very grateful to catch sight of a tree here in the full and glorious colors of Fall, because it is so fleeting and so individual.  For me, to spot a dogwood dressed in crimson, or an ash or hickory sporting a bright yellow makes my heart and soul sing with the beauty!  

In retirement, I plan to plant some more individual trees to add additional color for my Autumn viewing pleasure.  I am making a list of what I want to plant.  A few dogwoods, a hickory, and a black jack oak or two are first on the list. Sweet gums make beautiful fall color, but you also get those prickly sweet gum balls.  They can make a mess when caught up in a llama's fiber coat, plus they are not fun to step on with your bare feet and I am all about bare feet! Maybe I could plant sweetgums up along the back fence line, out of my usual path, but still in view from the back porch.

Meanwhile, I am content with the lovely colors of the trees already in my yard.  I love picking up fallen leaves and marveling at the shades, patterns, shapes and sizes.  They inspire me to create these same shades in my batts and rolags for spinning.  After all, inspiration for creativity is everywhere, quite abundant in our marvelous Universe!

It did warm back up during Thanksgiving week, thankfully, and the trees finished their color changing before dropping their leaves onto the ground.  

The Bradford pear tree leaves after Thanksgiving.  Look closely and you will see teensy-tiny pears! 

Gloria's beautiful scarlet dress the week after Thanksgiving 2014!

My red oak in the beginning of change, with Gloria in the background.

A baby oak in the front yard near Gloria.  I have found several of these in the

front yard this past year and I hope it is not too late to transplant them to where

I would rather have them.

Last year, a nearby landowner planted quite a few acres of little baby pine trees.  I noticed them last Saturday on a trip into town and they made me smile!  The land looks much like a miniature Christmas tree farm right now, with these sweet little 18" high green triangles dotting what used to be just a common cow pasture.  This, my friends, is how a pine forest begins!

Sweet little baby pine trees, dreaming of being a forest one day!

I am thankful that more trees are being planted to replace those that have been lost to concrete highways, industry and so-called progress.  I am, after all, a "tree-hugger," (and very proud of it).  We need more oxygen in our air and trees are quite happy to produce it for us.

While Matt was here for Thanksgiving week, the Sacramento area received some much-needed rain. I know that they were very thankful for the moisture, but they are still in a severe drought in that agricultural area of California where an abundance of our nation's produce is grown.

I picked Matt up at the airport in Houston on November 22, and he stayed with us until November 30. It was a nice long, enjoyable and mostly lazy visit for me and my two grown boys.  They will always be my boys even though they are now fully grown and in their mid-30's.  I am thankful that they are both healthy and happy and gainfully employed! They are still as different as night and day, but they have always gotten along well enough despite having almost polar opposite ways of doing things.

Matt and Ben worked together to take down the old ceiling fan in my den and replace it with a newer and larger fan. By the way, I did give Ben a much-needed haircut after the fan was up and running!

Ben (left) and Matt (right) beginning the job.  Matt is actually reading the instructions.  I am just so proud!

Progress is being made and parts are being put into place.

Close to being finished ....

And, it's up!!!!

I cannot tell you how thankful I am to get this project accomplished!  The old fan and its light fixture "died" almost a year ago, and we have really missed having the moving air as well as the additional source of illumination.

My new "dike" at the meeting of the driveway and parking pad near the door into the house.

This project has not been properly tested yet to see if the boys' idea of creating a dike will solve the growing and very aggravating problem of rainwater rushing down the driveway and almost into the house by way of the driveway side door.  We are hoping that the runoff from the highway will be diverted towards the front yard instead.

We used unopened bags of Quikrete, set them in place, and hosed them down, leaving the paper on them for now. There will probably be a few more adjustments and additions, but we have a good start towards success.  Tweaking is, after all, part of most processes. If it works, I will be quite thankful, for sure!  Wading through water to get to your car on a workweek morning is not my favorite thing to do, especially when it is ice cold.

I am thankful that Matt was able to come visit us and that he returned home safely to Sacramento eight days later. And also, that I was able to drive the 6 1/2 hour round-trip to the airport and back with no problem.  Make that two round-trips to the airport, one in a driving rain in the dark!

Many years ago, I began a Gratitude Journal, wherein I wrote down five things I was grateful for that day before I turned out the lights for the night.  I have since filled up four journals and am mid-way through my fifth.  It is true that, even on a seemingly terrible day, you can still find a few things for which to be thankful.  It becomes a lesson in joy and appreciation of the little things in our lives.  If you do not already have a Gratitude Journal, I highly recommend that you consider starting one in the new year.  You will most likely find that you have many more Blessings than you ever thought possible!

I am so thankful for all my wonderful friends who support me and make life so enjoyable no matter where I am.  Old friends, new friends.  Friends that are near and those that, unfortunately, are far away.

I hope that you all have had a Happy Thanksgiving, and are now enjoying a lovely holiday season, whatever that means to you and your family.

There is much to be thankful for here at HeartSong Farm!

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  It makes me think of a warm kitchen full of wonderful fragrances wafting from the stove top and oven, and family and friends gathering around with smiles and hugs, sharing memories, making new ones.

Christmas is just too hectic for me and it tends to cause me to hyperventilate and have panic attacks just thinking about the possibility of going to a mall where everyone seems to be in a hurry, pulling out cash and credit cards,with many spending more than they can truly afford, and businesses flashing ads in front of us at every possible angle (beginning before Halloween nowadays!).  It seems more about materialism and competition, and less of joy and good cheer.  Stress is evident in so many faces and depression rears its ugly head.  In general, the Christmas Season seems to have lost a lot of its original meaning and therefore its appeal for me.

Thanksgiving, on the other hand, is about sharing and giving thanks for the many blessings in our lives.  We share this holiday with those who are special to us while eating too much, and, for many of us, traveling to visit with family members or friends we have not seen in awhile.  And for some, there is a wonderful tradition of helping bring food and fellowship to those less fortunate in our communities.

I must inject here that I subscribe to the spirit of the holiday as portrayed in the First Thanksgiving, with the welcoming Native Americans generously bringing food to share with the starving Pilgrims, but not at all to the pain the Native Americans ultimately suffered at the hands of the White Man.

Tradition for the Thanksgiving meal is part universal and part individual.  To most the turkey is the centerpiece, but there is controversy on whether or not to stuff the bird with "stuffing" or have it as "dressing,"  to serve canned cranberry sauce or make it from fresh berries, to put marshmallows on the sweet potato casserole or to have baked potatoes instead.  The green bean casserole....well, some like it, some won't touch it.  And let's not forget the jello salad!  Growing up, in my family there was dressing, fresh cranberries, baked sweet potatoes, fruit salad,and cold canned asparagus....and two kinds of pie:  pecan and sweet potato.

Pea Salad

About thirteen years ago I added a new dish to     my Thanksgiving table....pea salad.  This cold         crunchy, cheesy vegetable dish is a delicious           alternative to that green bean casserole! (When I figure out how to do it, I will put the recipe on the Recipe tab.)  It contrasts nicely with all the hot dishes.  Yummm!



This year I am especially thankful for a number of things in my life.

In January, my little red truck with 165,000 miles on it "died" and needed too much work on it for me to keep it going. With the help of my boss, my financial advisor, my girlfriend, and one of the managers of my local Expert Tire, I was able to find a new home for that faithful vehicle and to wrangle an affordable deal for the Kia Soul I had been wanting for 3 years!  I am so thankful! I named her Steel Magnolia (Maggie for short) and still cannot believe she is mine!!!

Maggie barely escaped damage....Whew!

During a powerful September thunderstorm Maggie barely missed being harmed by a falling maple tree at the corner of the house near where she was parked.  I am very thankful that she suffered nary a scratch although several branches came within an inch of her driver's side exterior.




In May my oldest son, Matt, graduated from Arizona State University with honors, and I traveled by Amtrak to be there.  It was a wonderfully  relaxing trip and I am thankful that I was able to make it!  It took 36 hours by train each way and I reserved a spot in the sleeping car for privacy and comfort.  That way all my meals were included in the price of my ticket, and on the way back I had all my meals served in my roomette.  It was like eating in bed and watching the world go by outside the big window to my left.  I really enjoyed it!

My Amtrak train  2013

I highly recommend taking an Amtrak trip with a roomette if you ever get a chance.  You do not have to deal with the crowds of people and security and waiting that comes with airplane travel, although it does take longer to get where you are going.  It is also not necessarily cheaper, but I wanted to relax and enjoy my trip, and to try something new.  It certainly filled that bill, and I am thankful that I was able to do it that way.

Matt on Graduation Day

I am thankful that Matt graduated after all the hard work and dedication it took him to complete his course of study (Accountancy).  He stuck with it and made excellent grades all the while working as a waiter/supervisor at an Applebee's in the Phoenix area to support himself.  Within two weeks of graduation, he was hired by the State of California as an auditor and he and his girlfriend, Melissa, made the big move to Sacramento.  They seem happy and I am so happy for them!

Matt & Melissa in Olde Town Scottsdale, AZ

Mine are the blue ones!

I am thankful that I got to spend more time getting to

know Melissa (or Miss M, as I call her!).  The two of them have been a pair now for four years. Matt brought her to Texas about 2 years ago for our first meeting and this graduation trip was only the second time we had really had a chance to visit.  Since I never had sisters or daughters, I really wanted to do something "girlie" with her....and so we had mani-pedis!  It was my very first pedicure and it was such fun and I am very happy that it was with Miss M!

Benjamin, my youngest son, is still employed part time for almost a year and a half now, and for anyone who knows me, this is something to be very thankful for, indeed!  He likes the people and the work, and we only hope and pray that soon he will be able to get full-time hours once he gets his health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.  He will have to get more hours in order to pay for it, but that will also mean he has more funds for other necessities, too.

Ben and Pilgrim in the front pasture

I am very thankful that Ben lives here on the farm with me.

There have been many times when he has been a huge help with the fences, the barn, and the llamas.  He is also good company and a pretty good cook.  One day I will try to get his secret recipe for Awesome Spaghetti to put on my recipe page (when I get it figured out how to add that page to the blog!)

I am thankful that I was, once again, able to attend the Wildflower Fiber Retreat this past March and Knit Camp in August.  Being part of a community of fiber sisters and fellow knitters twice a year has become a must for helping to keep my sanity in a world dominated by electronics and mass manufacturing.

I am especially thankful for my job and for all my friends here and across the country.  I couldn't survive right now without the job, and my friends would be impossible to live without at any time.  I am thankful that my home and farm will soon be paid in full (31 more months!).  I am truly thankful for all I have and have experienced.