Where Has It Gone?

October...

I spent a beautiful fall birthday back in my hometown of Orange, Ca. (I live barely an hour away) ...

I spent many days decorating and welcoming fall...

and Halloween/Samhain...

(this WAS full of candy at one time!)

And I cooked and baked and baked and cooked...

Homemade mac and cheese...

My first Tortilla Espanola...

Caramel Apples before going in the oven...

Roast with Veggies...

Homemade Spice Muffins...with and without Homemade Harvest Frosting (oh, yum)...

and of course, the pies...

Pumpkin Pie ;)

I've also been to France...on the internet (apt. hunting...it could happen, one day!) and in my head (with my french lessons)...

Not to mention, I've been thrift-sale-ing, apple picking and cider tasting, traveling around SoCal, house-hunting, working in the yard, taking my daily walks with Becks (my walking buddy and sympathetic ear-and vice versa), reading by the fire, learning how to talk to my teenager, taking care of my hubby, Mr. B, talking to my cats, tracing my ancestral roots, changing my mind about life and what mine means and taking a break (so to speak) from my real estate job. October blew by like the wind it came in on.

November...

A random morning picture of my 1930's dresser top...

And then...BANG! It was Thanksgiving! Just like that! I have NO idea what happened to November.

But I kept my table simple and made all the food my hands would allow me to...

Homemade pumpkin and cherry pies (son and hubby requests)...

Mashed potatoes, stuffing, scalloped potatoes, candied carrots (plain for Mr. B), green beans, roasted brussels sprouts, rolls, cranberry sauce and a 23 lb. bird...which I must state here, I had no part in eating. The older I get, the more my love of animals (and disgust of eating their flesh), has me eating less and less meat and poultry...but everything else was amazingly good and worth the effort.

The quiet aftermath...

The day after Thanksgiving is always such a quiet day...just like the day after Christmas. Everything just silently glowed and cast, what I always think of as, an old light...almost an 'ancient light'.

And the leftovers ain't too bad! ;)

I suppose I can't recall much of November because my life has made such major shifts these past few months, that I've just spent days on end contemplating my life and learning to live in my new thoughts. Thoughts that are still evolving. I can feel a new start of my life about to emerge. You know, that excited but scared feeling you have when you know a major change is going to happen? It lives in me and lately my cards have been including the Tower, Death and Wheel of Fortune. Change is coming...and I hope it's all good.

Blessings

~ER~