our first

We celebrated out first Thanksgiving in our old stone home.
We dined on turkey with all the trimmings.
We ate beets & butternut squash from the garden.
We wrote what we were thankful for on slips of paper & read them aloud after dinner.
We sang hymns around the piano.
We played games & watched a little football.
We enjoyed the company of family, friends, & neighbors.
We sighed with contentment.

It was a wonderful day of giving thanks!

gratitude

Psalm 105:

1 Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name;
make known his deeds among the peoples!
2 Sing to him, sing praises to him;
tell of all his wondrous works!
3 Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!

Wishing you & yours a gratitude-filled Thanksgiving.

home-sick remedy

"I like when you post pictures of home," said she. Done deal.

I know its merely a rug. But it makes me happy every time I look at it.

A real snapshot of the kitchen. That's five days of mail on the island.

Isn't is nice to know that the old chalkboard is finally up? It's the same board that resided in 3108, only now it's smaller.

Of course, in its previous life, it was in room 203 at the old Madrid School.

Today, I tacked the closet. THE closet. We only have one in the entire house.

As for recent vignettes, here is one my Texas girl will enjoy. We got the globe in a thrift shop in Cape Cod for $5.
The funky green couch. It's prettier than it is comfortable, but whatever.

Our soggy front porch with a rescued rocking chair.

The view from the front door. I wish she was walking through it. Right this very minute.

the river guide speaks

After church, I stole away on my little green kayak.

steal: to move, go, or come secretly, quietly, or unobserved: She stole out of the house at midnight.

Thank you, dictionary.com. I might add: She stole out of the house at midnight with her kayak.
-because it is something I might do. I just haven't done it yet.

e house at

Thank you, dictionary.com.

I might add: she stole out of the house at midnight with her kayak -
because it is something I reall would do. I just haven't done it yet.

May I share with you a few shining moments from my trip?

The above scene is the view as one rounds the corner of Cow Island. I call it Cow Island because there are usually cows along the shore. No cows today, but I did startle a lone blue heron in the marshy grass.

He must have missed the last southbound Blue Heron bus. Poor guy.

The trees are bare, but they are still beautiful to me.

My beloved railroad bridge comes in to view. I have never jumped off of it into the water. But my kids have.

As I pass under its rusted trestles, I see the homestretch.

I paddle past my beloved church, too. There are a dozen cars in the parking lot, which makes me wonder if I am missing something.

From here, I guide my little boat as near the falls as I dare. It's as close to living dangerously as I ever get.

After I drag my trusty craft up across the road and stow the paddle in the garage, I go inside & make a fire in the wood stove.

The End.

breaking bread

There are so many things I enjoy about our old stone home. One of them is simply the play of morning light across the dining room table.

Last evening, I reveled in the beautiful faces that dined here:

Hubby, tired & somewhat sunburned from a satisfying day's work. He ripped shingles off of a roof in the Indian summer sun.

Ben, the best boy in the whole world of boys. After a morning of college classes, he joined his dad on the roof.

Ana, who is such an very very good girl. She worked from 10-3 and then went kayaking with

Philip, who lives up the street. We love having his dazzling smile around these here parts.

Summer, who wrote & directed a most stunning film which is in its last legs of editing. You just WAIT until you see this film!

Jonathan, who pulled into the drive while we were lifting our forks to our mouths. Lucky for him, we had plenty to go around. He enriched our discussion of Conditional Immortality over dinner.

It tickles my fancy to no end that such lovely faces break bread around our table.

for what it's worth....

For curiosity's sake, I searched online for "antique general store counter",
and found this.

Gracious me! $4,500???

Ours looked so very much like this one. We rescued it from a friend's barn in exchange for some plumbing work. I think we got a sweet deal.

green tomatoes

It has been a great summer for tomatoes.

I put in around thirty plants; twelve of them being "Amish Paste". This has proven to be a winner for sauces and all kinds of cooking, as there is a lot of meaty paste & very little seeds.

We experimented by canning home-made ketchup. Why not?

It got the thumbs up from me; the rest of the family thought it was a great dipping sauce, but it's still not the same stuff as Heinz.

Ketchup Babies.

Anyway.

Last week, I trolled in all the green tomatoes & prowled the web for what to make with them. I was enamored with this recipe, perhaps only because of the web design. But really, the recipe sounded great.

I made 14 pints and dubbed it "Green Tomato Salsa" -because that's the way we will use it! We scarfed up two pints already, accompanied by two bags of white tortilla chips.

Now some of you will say, "this entry doesn't say ANYTHING about the new addition!" and you woulds be correct. The back wing looked really good for two days, and then all the mess began again: trim, carpet, paint, wood-stove pipe, and putting together the Lord of the Manor's office.

It is presently in a state of disarray, believe me. Better to talk about green tomatoes!