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.
Fall is finally starting to make itself felt here. We're having a late fall this year, but the signs are there. The nights are cooler and crisper, it smells like fall outside, high school football is back in town, and front porches are sporting mums and pumpkins.
I've been making some changes in our den recently, and earlier, I promised to share those with you. Since I'm not quite finished yet, tonight will be just a few sneak peaks at the room as it looks for fall.
Hello all! Are you having a good month? Today it finally feels like fall here in our part of North Carolina. What a month it's been. We got the effects of Hurricane Michael here yesterday, and oh wow! I told Mr. Forest Manor that I spent almost a whole week worrying about Hurricane Florence (which was a disaster for the N.C. coast) because there was so much hype about it beforehand. I barely gave Hurricane Michael a thought, until yesterday that is, but Michael was actually worse for us in the Piedmont area than Florence was.
So what have I been up to since I last posted here? For starters, spending time with family. On Friday, September 28th, Hal and I took his parents to see the Chihuly exhibit at Biltmore Estate. We had a beautiful day to travel up there, the exhibit was amazing, and we had dinner at the Stable Cafe on the estate, which was a lot of fun, too.
Recently, I noticed that I've written several posts over the years wherein I ended the post with a promise for Part 2. I had every good intention of writing the follow-up post, but somehow I never got around to it. Life moved on quickly, and we were onto the next thing. This time around, I've decided to write my "Part 2" as soon as possible so that I don't forget or just get too busy later to do so. A few weeks ago, I wrote about our visit to Charlottesville, Virginia, in September 2017, and talked a little bit about Thomas Jefferson at the end of that post.
We desperately felt the need for a change of scenery last Monday (Labor Day). Besides, I have a new camera that I haven't had a chance to use lately, and I can always use the practice. It's a Sony Alpha 5100 -- a compact camera. I really like the Canon Rebel, but it gets awfully heavy on long outings.
On this day, we grabbed a few snacks out of the kitchen, put Mr. Duncan on his leash and into the car, and headed for the mountains. It was hot here at home, but somewhat cooler in the mountains of Virginia.
It's the first day of September; we're officially headed for the end of summer and then on to fall. I love September through December -- such a beautiful time of year. I've probably mentioned here before that September is my birth month and my sister's, as well. Our birthdays are three days (and three years) apart.
Last year in the last week of September, Hal and I took a trip to Charlottesville, Virginia, for about four days. We stayed in the Shenandoah Valley, where we were surrounded by pretty countryside.
My sincere thanks to all of you who left such kind comments on the passing of my father. Your thoughts are truly appreciated, and I look forward to visiting each of you very soon. I will be staying with my mom tonight and Wednesday night; my sister stayed with her all of last week. We're trying to help mom to gradually transition to being there alone. She's not afraid to stay there by herself, but she does dread being alone all the time. She's very fortunate in that she has truly wonderful neighbors, church family, and us.
I titled this post "Gratitude" and that may seem strange upon losing a father. However, his passing could have been so much worse, and much more frightening for him and my mom, had they not gone to the hospital when they did. My dad essentially died from kidney failure; being on dialysis for the past five years was so hard on his body. When he went to the hospital two weeks ago, he had an infection and an obstruction. The infection was responding to antibiotics, but the obstruction could only be fixed by surgery, and my dad was absolutely not a candidate for surgery at that point. His body was weak, he'd lost so much weight, and his immune system was compromised. The surgeon talked to us in detail about this on Saturday afternoon. There were so many "what ifs" and risks, my mom was agonizing over making a decision. Fortunately, God took that decision out of her hands. My dad just slipped into a deep sleep sometime Saturday, and didn't wake again.
