Thanksgiving

Perhaps I can blame it on our move this year, but I really can.not.believe that the Thanksgiving holiday is coming up this week! How can it be the end of November, and is Christmas really only a few weeks away?!?
While I absorb all of that, and cook and host Frank's family for a Thanksgiving feast coming up on Thursday I might be pretty quiet around here, but perhaps I'll pop in with some images of our celebration.
I am feeling extra thankful after a quick trip that we took last week, we drove down to Disney in Florida and met up there with my mother and also with Sarah, my closest friend from childhood who flew down from New Hampshire with her kids.
We all stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge, where we had a view of safari animals from our room's balcony which was pretty cool,

My friend Sarah has a son who is Jasper's age and a daughter who is Carys's age, which is an amazing serendipity, and the fact that they all love each other and play so well makes me happy on many different levels. Watching them play makes me think of the way Sarah and I used to play when we met when we were only 4, and it also makes me realize anew how thankful I am for her and for all of my deep friendships that have seen me through the years.

Another side of the trip was actually tough, Sarah's husband Jamey died 3 years ago in a motorcycle accident, and this was the first trip that Frank and I have spent with her family since the accident. So, Jamey's absence was tangible, strange and aching. Seeing how their children have grown and watching their son's face form the same expressions and smiles that Jamey would do was a constant reminder of their loss. It made me so grateful, so deeply Thank-full, for my own family. The simple fact that Frank and I get to wake up every day together and watch our beautiful children grow is a joy that never gets old and something that I am thankful for every single day, and I could taste that on this trip.

I plan to celebrate that joy, especially this week as we give thanks on the holiday. This past year has been a huge one for my family of 4, as we moved together to a new place where we only had each other and together we have branched out, made a new home and new friends slowly making this place our own. We have come through it all together as a stronger family unit, they are my joy, my strength and my thanks for them overflows.

The other night

We were leaving a party around dusk the other night, when we looked up and noticed that the sky was putting on quite a showy sunset.

To get a better view we walked the two blocks to the beach.

Where we stayed until the colors softened,

into a pink rosy glow that seemed to engulf us all in quiet,

until the moon rose over the dark sea.

Radiance

In my studio, on my mind, in my world

Enjoying the glow of autumn

Radiance

Be my 300th sale!!

Woohoo, over in my Etsy shop I've just made my 299th sale. So, I'm offering a fine art print of your choice to the person who is my 300th sale, you can choose from any of my images! Head on over and Good Luck!!

Christmas crafting

Its hard to even be typing the word Christmas, since there is so much to do between here and then, and really it still feels so far off, but...I have started my Christmas crafting already! I was invited by my friend Em to be part of a group of mamas with young children who do a hand-made gift exchange for their little ones each year at Christmas time. The age spread of the children ranges from 12 down to 2, so I've been getting lots of ideas organized for each child. It has been really fun, and my own children have been helping me by test-playing with each thing that I make, giving them their seal of approval.

So far, I've got a flock of these needle felted blue birds. I really want to hug each one.

There are also some families of these little fairies in the works,  although before I could even start on the ones to give away Jasper and Carys put their orders in for fairies for themselves.

Some bumble bees, 

Some of these things are going to be a bit hard to part with, but we are really excited to find out what the other moms will send us at Christmas! I'll make sure to post about all of the gifts as I finish them, crafting with a purpose is so satisfying and it feels so sweet and special to be thinking about the other children opening the packages and enjoying my crafts.

Magnolia Pods

For the past month we've been having fun watching the seed pods on our Magnolia tree change. They were the center of the flower blossom back in June, and now each pod has taken on a life of its own,

Changing from these pink pods, to something more pine-cone like, once it has fallen to the ground and released its bright red seeds,

The kids and I had fun collecting them to arrange in this example of the life cycle of the pod.

Harvest and the easiest soup ever

My aunt's wonderful garden on the farm in Asheville was just about at its end of production for the season when we visited last week,

Everything was wrapping up to be put to bed for the winter, but there were still a few things to be harvested and the kids were thrilled to help, treating it like a scavenger hunt to see how much they could find,

 We harvested, green peppers, banana peppers, spinach, lettuces, chard, acorn squash and other large autumn squashes,

 The kids also learned that it is great fun to pretend to be a garden bunny while harvesting. As garden bunnies they ate more handfuls of lettuce than they harvested, which I was not about to argue with!

My aunt sent us home with bags full of goodies from the harvest, that I've been finding ways to use in our meals for the past week, the easiest was making soup from this huge squash that Carys picked,

I simply cut it into four pieces (I cut it in half and then in half again), removed the seeds, put olive oil, salt and pepper on all of the pieces, and then baked it at 350 degrees for an hour or so. While it was roasting I sauteed a chopped Vidalia onion in olive oil in a large pot. Once the squash was soft when poked with a fork I scraped the fruit part away out of the skin and

put it in the large pot with the onion, I added some vegetable stock and then pureed the whole thing in a blender until smooth,

Really, the easiest soup ever, and so yummy served with seeded bread and a simple salad. Garden to table, Yum!