Thanksgiving 2023

Happy Thanksgiving, Dear Ones!  Wishing you a day filled with good food and loved ones!      

   

   

Speeding Toward the Holidays

Good morning all.  Is anyone else besides me having a hard time believing Thanksgiving is just a week from Thursday?  Wow!!  For me, 2019 has seemed like a record year for speeding by. I've already started putting out Christmas decorations.  I never thought I'd see the day when I would start my Christmas decorating a week and a half before Thanksgiving.  I felt really guilty about it at first, but now Hal and I are both glad we got an early start this year.  I want to be more organized and hopefully we'll all be able to savor the Christmas holiday more fully.      

A Thanksgiving Tablescape

I don't think I've ever put together a Thanksgiving table in October -- at least, not in recent years.  I'm always too far behind schedule to do that.  This year, things are a little different.  I've offered committed to having my family's Christmas Day gathering at our house, so I'm going to start decorating for Christmas earlier than ever before.  It will feel strange, but I need to get as much of a head start on things as possible.   Our Thanksgiving tables in previous years have always featured my Johnson Brothers "His Majesty" dishes, and my centerpiece was always a cornucopia overflowing with the bounty of a harvest season.  I enjoyed using these pieces, because the "horn of plenty" has always been a big symbol of Thanksgiving to me.  This year, I was in the mood to do something different.  

Thanksgiving Tables And A Favorite Recipe

How was your Thanksgiving?  I hope you all had a nice one.  We had such a nice day and such good food; we are truly blessed.

Since the first year we were married, my husband and I have rotated Thanksgiving between our parents' homes.  This year, it was our turn to eat at my in-laws' house.  I'm sharing some pictures of my mother-in-law's tables; they just looked so pretty.  We were supposed to be 13 people in all, but my husband's grandmother and great-aunt were not able to be there due to sickness.  We missed them, and I'm sorry they missed out on such a delicious meal.

Giving Thanks

Breaking bread and sharing a meal with family and friends are some of our most deep-rooted traditions, all the world over.  The official holiday of Thanksgiving is celebrated on the third Thursday of November in America, and the second Monday of October in Canada.

The act of sharing a meal comprised of nature's bountiful harvest and expressing gratitude for our blessings in life isn't limited to a specific time or place.  However, I still think that we in America greatly look forward to Thanksgiving Day.  The smell of good food being prepared in the kitchen, familiar voices of family members of all ages, Thanksgiving Day parades in the morning, and football in the afternoon; it's all part of the American Thanksgiving experience.

What are you thankful for today?

The fall harvest of fruit and vegetables?

Succulent baked ham, roast beef, or...turkey?

Johnson Brothers "His Majesty", from an original hand engraving.

 "Come, ye thankful people, come, Raise the song of harvest home".

I hope you shared a meal with loved ones today, and thank you for stopping by the House at Forest Manor.   I'll be linking this post to Tablescape Thursday, hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch, Home Sweet Home, hosted by Sherry at The Charm of Home, and Seasonal Sundays hosted by The Tablescaper.

Also linking to The Post of the Month Club, hosted by Laura at Happy Homemaker UK.  Thanks for hosting, Laura!

Denise