Monday, November 25, 2013

Thanksgiving Lagniappe

A few days ago I shared some pictures of the Japanese Maple tree in our courtyard.  



It was at its most glorious and we enjoyed its bright crimson leaves for several days. 

[If you would like to see more pictures and read the post,
you can click on this link: The Beauty Around Us ]

This is the way the tree looked yesterday, after being
battered by wind and rain over the weekend ...


Most of its beautiful red leaves are now a carpet underneath it ...

 

The leaves were also scattered around the courtyard and some rested on the rocks around our waterfall.

 

Our granddaughter Avery Grace is coming tomorrow to spend a couple of days with us before the rest of the family joins us for Thanksgiving, and I think it will be fun for us to gather a few of these beautiful leaves to press for keepsakes.


Claude and Maude, who live underneath the maple tree, seem to be happy in their beautiful red blanket of leaves.  I'm sure they will be very thankful for them when a cold front brings more rain, and possibly some snow, to Vicksburg later today.

 

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving week, wherever you are, and enjoy your preparations for the holidays. I'm thankful that I can have some time with Avery Grace, just the two of us, and look forward to making some sweet memories with her.  Here are some I captured from Thanksgivings Past ...

Admiring the centerpiece she helped me make ...

Chopping celery on a little chopping block that was her great-great grandmother's ...
(that's a steak knife she's using, not a paring knife, by the way.)


Watching and waiting patiently while her granddaddy carved the turkey ...

Ever so carefully pouring her Sprite, while her great-grandmother looks on ...

I'm looking forward to capturing some new Thanksgiving memories of Avery and her little brother Maddox.  They are two of the many, many blessings we have to be thankful for this year.

4 comments:

Stacey said...

Happy Thanksgiving. :)

RachelD said...

I just stroll in, stroll through your gardens, let the quiet grace of the moment and scene encompass all my thoughts. And I am calm.

The beautiful of it, caught in its reddest of red and its perfect pose, is simply stunning, with the welcoming pair and leaf-rustle for music.

And then a glimpse into your home and family---the sweet faces caught in their love for place and each other, stilled in a happy task---that's ART distilled to perfection.

That mellow golden glow your home always has, and the beautiful, welcoming rooms---those bespeak loving care and an open heart, and I'm so thankful for being encircled in that light.

I wish you all the VERY best Thanksgiving and a bountiful basket of Thankfuls.

We're making Hershey's-kiss-and-mini-Nilla-wafer acorns this week, to fill a little leaf-dish and to lay upon the napkins. And our paper-circle turkey is quite dry now, after her two-day rest propped between glasses whilst the Elmer's did its thing.

She's quite the charmer, with all her colors and topknot and little red "gobble" below her chin.

Even writing, I'm stlll watching Avery pour, in that concentration and care of one accustomed to taking care and making things beautiful.

My heart is full for you, my friend,

love and,

rachel

Pat said...

Such beautiful photos Janie.

I love the look of anticipation on your sweet Avery's face as granddad cuts the turkey ... what a treasure of a photo! She will like looking at that photo when she is 90. She is such a good helper!

A very Happy Thanksgiving to you and all of your family Janie.

Pat in Tallahassee

Dorothy said...

Gorgeous Tree!