Thanksgiving Blessings

The table was set ready for all to come and enjoy good company and great conversations. The weather was safe for the travelers to come through the gorge to join us so that made us all happy. There have been years when the snow and ice have affected the travel, some of you all know who live here in the Pacific Northwest winter can sometimes change our travel plans.
The turkey was cooked to perfection by Roger, he cooked it in the Trager grill which does an awesome job, it was very moist and delicious. With all the other dishes we were certainly full after that meal. Thanks goes to all who helped to prepare this meal for all to enjoy.
Kathy holding a plate of Bruchetta one of our appetizers, Kathy was a great help to me this day, as well as Kim , at the end of the dinner they took care of the dishes, which is hard thing for me to let go of any of the responsibilities of the whole day. Thank you Kim and Kathy.
You can see we are pretty packed in here at the table, we decided to add all the kids to the big table which turned out just fine. When we have big dinners like this we do like to all be at the table together rather than do a buffet style, where you still visit but it is not quite the same.
A closer view of the opposite side of the table.
Kathy and Mike are Roger's sister and brother, they both live in Hood River, Oregon, we were blessed to have them come and bring their family with them.
Kim and Jessica are going through all the sales adds trying to figure what they want to put on their Christmas list.
You can see by the adds strewn all over the coffee table had been gone through well, except Chants and Ashton found it more important to play with the match book cars, that is way more cool to them.
Here Jennifer, Jeremy and Kevin checking out those adds to see where they are headed out to do their shopping early.
My oldest grandchildren, Jessica and Chants diggin on their desert, probably to them that was the best part of the dinner.
Jordan, Jennifer's son he is always styling, Jennifer does such a great job making sure the boys are dressed to the "T" I know there will come a time when she won't have much say, but for now she does and we all get to enjoy them in their handsome clothes.
My sister-in-law Kathy and I, we have been very close through all these years of knowing each other and I feel very blessed to have her as my sister, not mention her brother is my husband Roger. I hope your Thanksgiving was very memorable. Blessing to you all. Florence

Happy Thanksgiving

The table is set, the turkey is in its brine, and all those extra attention to detail is completed, now the morning is coming and the house will be filled with lots of people, I will have eleven adults and five grandchildren here for this holiday festivities, my home is small, but no one seems to care, perhaps a little more cozy that way, I have learned to just go with the flow, it would be easier to do a buffet style meal, but we have always chosen to have a sit down dinner for our special holidays and I am very glad that we do. I learned growing up about setting a proper table, as well as a pretty table, and the food is always delicious and lots of it. The last few years Roger has taken on the task of doing the turkey and that sure has made a big difference for me and all that I have to take care of. I will post more of the day later. In the mean time I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving. Enjoy the day creating your memories.

Guess Who's Here!

The long journey from Montana brings Heather and her two children to visit.
Heather, Titus and Talea getting off the train after their long overnight ride from Kalispell, Montana, we were all excited to see them. We knew this was going to be a very busy week for all, with two birthdays to celebrate and Heather's best friend getting married on the 14th of November. They did have a sleeper car which is a perfect way to go when you travel all night on the train, an adventure no one forgets. We went directly to Jennifer's for the first of two birthday parties to be had this week.
Jennifer with her son Jordan the birthday boy.
This was the large version of the birthday cake, Jennifer had a small one made just for Jordan, as you will see by the next photo he loved it.
I think Jordan was satiated with this chocolate cake, don't you?
Here is Jordan before the cake, on his new birthday toy.
Papa Roger having some wrestling time with the boys before the birthday party. It won't be long when Papa Roger will need help in this fete of wrestling. Ok daddy's you are going to have to help Roger out here.
Here is Julie my oldest daughter with Jessica, my oldest grandchild, I think they were enjoying Jordan's birthday party, Chants Julie's son also shares Jordan's birthday on the 10th of November. We will have his birthday party on his actual day of birth.
Talea, who could resist that smile, she loves the hats.
A second birthday was celebrated on Tuesday the 10th of November for Chants he turned 11, he is my oldest grandson and Julie's youngest.
Heather, Talea, Jennifer and Jordan, these two cousins are going to have a fun time growing up together, they are barely inter acting now. It will be fun to watch how they change over the years and how they play together.
Papa Roger and Talea having morning cheerios, one of Talea's favorites. She is not sure she wants to share by this look, don't you think?
There were a lot of activities that Heather had to be involved in to help her best friend get ready for her wedding. The day has finally come so here we have Heather and Titus at the wedding, we kept referring to Heather as our Princess mommy because she would be all dressed up pretty like a princess, but Titus insisted she was just mommy. The reasoning of a four year old is pretty strong there.
Here is Crystal and Heather at Crystal's wedding, they have been best friends since high school. They are beautiful grown women now.
Titus and Papa Roger at the wedding, Titus was full of a great smile.
I kept insisting that I wanted to get a photo of all of the grand kids, do you know how difficult it is to get seven children looking and smiling all in the same direction, well this was the best we could do. They range from 13 down to 1 year. Wow! Thanks Heather, Titus and Talea for traveling all the way from Montana to see us all. We love you.

Christmas Emporium by Vintage Gathering

The Gift of Christmas says it all at the Vintage Gathering Christmas Emporium, you will want to check it out, they have been adding new items every day, this sale goes through this Sunday the 15th of November. It is at 602 East Main in Battle Ground, Washington from 10:00 to 6:00 daily.
These wonderful old Santa's sure remind me of my childhood going to my grandmothers house, wow the memories are there.
All the makings of a white Christmas with a little color.
Here are some special combs and broaches with great prices.
Fran Gillette's cookbooks and calender are still available here, you won't want to miss out, hurry on in.
This wonderful old world Santa was made by a local artist from the Vancouver area, I was told there had been civil war fabric used in this creation, it has sold however, I still had to post this photo however.

Vintage Gathering's Christmas Emporium

This snowman is great and the sled that stands near it as well. Vintage Gathering's Christmas Emporium is in full swing with items added daily, so you almost feel like you need to go daily so that you do not miss out. There is something for everyone, those who like vintage, primitive, or the cottage look, as well as some great Preserves and Pickles, Fran Gillette's new cook book "Romancing The West" is available, along with some of her older cookbooks, I have every one of them, and I love them all.
This scene looks like something you would see in a store window, I think. It certainly makes me feel like snow is coming and to get ready for winter.
This little vintage tu tu was to darn cute, there were many items here for the person who likes the cottage look, with the elegant twist to it.
These Raggedy Ann and Andy's are one of my favorite, I do have a great collection of them.
This child size vintage bistro chairs and table complete with the cocoa look is real hard to pass up, but some how I know I do not have a place for it, it really needs to go to a good home.
These hard plastic Santa's and bottle brush trees are from my childhood, who could resist these memory makers, not me.
How about some wooden cardinal birds for your Christmas decorating.
Here are some great vintage looking name place cards or just decorations.
Check this great old fruit box. Now remember this sale goes through Sunday November 15, the hours are 10:00 to 6:00 daily, with restocking daily. You won't want to miss out. Location is in Battle Ground, Washington at 602 E. Main Street, next to Uncovered Ruby.

Farm Girls Gather For Fall Fun

These happy pumpkins are in all their glory down by the river side, don't you think? On October 31, the farm girls gathered at the home of Katy's, to share and eat and create and be out in the wonderful fall weather, we were blessed with clear sky's until we were headed back to the house to have some lunch, that is when it started to rain.
Erin, Katy and Robin at the gathering table, we shared our journal pages from our last gathering and our apron stories. Erin and Robin shared their concerns about the proposed BPA power lines that might effect their land, check out Erin's blog for more information on this issue, if you have any insight do leave her a comment.
Here are Katy's two friends, the geldings Reno the black one and Lewis the brown one, they wanted to know what all the excitement was all about.
With the wheel barrel full of pumpkins nesting on straw, along with supplies to helps us with our creating we were off to do some artistic work in our child like way. For me I had not carved pumpkins in about 15 to 20 years, since my girls have grown and moved away. We all became child like. I think we should all do that once in awhile, don't you?
With Erin at the helm pushing the wheel barrel full of our pumpkins we followed the leaf filled pathway to our destination for creating. I had been down here before with Katy, so I was in great anticipation for what Erin and Robin would think of our setting. I think they felt the serenity.
Along the trail there were many of these settings to be found, complete with little gnomes hiding in the bushes, birdhouses among the trees engulfed in moss and ferns, along the way back to the house we took the trail where Katy had placed her signs that she had made from our last farm girl gathering, the route back is when my battery died on the camera and I did not have the little camera with me until I got back to the house. Another post will have to be that trail that we followed, with some great ahhhhh moments.
Katy and Erin about to reach our destination, this wonderful shelter was perfect for our creating.
What a great back ground for us to be working at, we heard geese flying over, a frog jumping, and just the wind brushing through the leaves, along with the water roaring down its stream. Fall was definitely in the air.
Inspiration and tools were put together for us to do our creating. Let the fun begin.
Erin was probably one of the first to get her top cut out, I think she is having fun. She is experienced at this, as she had already had some family carving time this year.
Katy cleaning out her pumpkin, one way to get gooey. Huh?
Erin and I cleaning out our pumpkins, I just kept thinking how some wild critter was sure going to enjoy this feast and who knows maybe Katy will have a pumpkin patch growing down here next spring.
Robin cleaning out her pumpkin. Oh I have to do this part? Icky.
Here we are just finishing up our pumpkins, we were so lucky, as it did not rain until we almost got back to the house.
Here is Katy serving up our yummy warm soup, we also had a fresh green salad, sour dough bread, some lemon bread and what Katy called eye balls, which were made taking a spinach leaf, layering a sliced tomato on the leaf, then a mozzarella ball on top, then a pimento stuffed olive on top to complete the eye ball, then drizzled with olive oil and salt and pepper. Our desert was a pumpkin roll and pumpkin ice cream to finish off the theme of the meal.
Our lunch was so yummy, it was a butternut squash and apple soup from the Barefoot Contessa's Parties cookbook, it was kept warming in the crock pot while we were down at the river playing. It was perfect way to warm up after carving our pumpkins.
Robin made us all signs, which was perfect, I love the saying and the heart wood cut out, she also made us some yummy cookies and Mary Jane's Carmel corn, yummy. Thanks Robin.
Erin blessed us with a mask to wear, I really liked mine and it went with what I had on, how perfect was that?
Although this photo is a little dark, my big camera battery died on me, so I had to bring out the small one and it does not do well in darker settings, anyway you might be able to tell we were having some great merriment in checking out our treats from each other. Thank you everyone. I don't have a photo editing program or I would try to lighten the photo up. Enjoy anyway.
Katy blessed us with our own "farm girl" brick, mine found its home right away. Thank you Katy for hostessing our gathering and providing us with great nourishment and fun. Katy also sent us home with dinner already made, an "meat pasty" is what she called it, it is like a meat pot pie in a beautiful pie plate, we are very blessed to have her in our group. Don't you think?