Thankful!

It's beautiful fall day, just one of the many things that I'm thankful for. When I was younger, Thanksgiving was just a long weekend with a wonderful meal prepared by my mother and father. I didn't really appreciate it but now I think it is my favourite holiday.  It doesn't have the hustle and bustle of Christmas but it's a holiday that gives you time to spend with family and time to reflect on what's important.

Saturday I hosted an ice cream social in my sun room. It was wonderful to have so many friends and family join me. I couldn't have asked for a nicer fall day. I think everyone enjoyed their sundaes.

While there's no longer a meal prepared by my parents; the next generation is carrying on the traditions. This year my niece and her boyfriend made us Thanksgiving dinner. It was wonderful; turkey with all the trimmings even if we did forget the sweet potatoes in the microwave.

Today, I put away the outdoor patio furniture and most of the agility equipment. The teeter and mini dogwalk are still out as I think I'll have to mow the lawn one more time and those things have to go in last. It was such a gorgeous day that I decided to take the dogs to Mer Bleu. I used to go there with Duffy when I was first posted here and I took Ceilidh and Tucker there once but with agility taking up most weekends I've never been there with Beckett and Keltic. Today, half the city must have been out, hard to really enjoy the woods with all the crowds of people but once we were on the smaller trails it was pretty quiet.

So as this weekend draws to close, what am I thankful for? I'm thankful for blue skies, autumn leaves of gold and red, and warm breezes. I'm thankful for my freedoms, my health and my home (I love my new sun room). I'm thankful for my fur kids, both those I have with me and all the ones gone ahead that have been part of my journey. I'm thankful to enjoy wealth that many people only dream of; it lets me take part in the wonderful sport of agility with my dogs and to travel and do many things without worrying if I can afford it. But most of all I'm thankful for family and friends who are there when times are good to celebrate with me and when times are not so good to support me.

Beckett and Keltic enjoyed the walk. They got to meet other dogs and were petted by a number of children. Can you find Beckett and Keltic? They were good posing for me today. I'm thankful for that too.

Where are they?

There they are!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving (Canadian that is)!

Just a Walk in the Park

On Thanksgiving Monday, I had my sister, brother-in-law and one of my neighbours over for dinner so I didn't want to make my day too hectic. After getting the potatoes done for the stuffing and having our breakfast, I took the dogs over to the park. It was a sunny bright morning, the first one we've had with real frost.

 I think the leaves are at their peak right now. I wish the fall season would last a little longer. It's my favourite season but already the leaves are falling.

This time at the park I even managed to get a few good pictures of the dogs. I'm not sure what they're looking at in the pictures. I wasn't snapping my fingers or holding out treats so it's amazing to me that I got a few with them looking in the same direction.

The one on the play structure is my favourite. I tried to get them both in front of the slide but Keltic moved and Beckett laid down but the shot worked out just fine.  Keltic then came down the stairs to get off the structure but Beckett came down the slide. Keltic then tried twice to go back up on the slide. It didn't work too well.

Then it was home to continue my preparations for dinner. Once the turkey was in the oven, the vegetables all prepped and the table set, I made a relaxing day of it.

Once again, I'm thankful for all that I have.  Friends and family with whom I can spend time and who I can call upon when I need a little help.  The resources to do things I enjoy such as playing agility with my dogs and doing a little travelling.

Thanksgiving leftovers

Nothing better than leftovers, the flavours always seem just a little bit better. Tomorrow, hot turkey sandwiches and french fries.

Mish Mash Monday

Beckett and Keltic - 7 Oct 2012

Happy Thanksgiving to Eberyone 

with luv from Beckett and Keltic

Giving Thanks

This weekend was Thanksgiving in Canada; the weather was extremely nice; almost too hot for October.

On Saturday, Beckett, Tucker and I went to Red Gate's Fun Match and we spent a wonderful day doing our favourite pastime. It's a tradition at Red Gate to go out to dinner afterwards. This time we went to a pub called Ballygiblins; the food and the camaraderie were wonderful.

Beckett - Advanced Gamblers

Beckett's Fun Match Standard Runs

On Sunday, I took a drive with Beckett and Tucker. The plan was to go to the Cumberland Heritage Village. It's closed at this time of year but it's still nice to walk the grounds and look at the old houses. Unfortunately, it was the day for the Fall Classic cross country run so it was packed with people. We turned around  and stopped at a public boat launch on the Ottawa River instead. Sunday night I had dinner at my sister's place. It was just three of us for dinner, my sister, my brother-in-law and me. We had a very non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner, BBQ Chili pork loin, sweet potato rice pilaf, asparagus, sweet potatoes with turnip and stuffing but it seemed like an autumnal meal just the same. I made pumpkin cream cheese pie for our dessert.

Beckett and Tucker on the Ottawa River

Today, we closed down the Krazy Kanines field for the season. It seemed a shame to do it while the weather was so nice but that's the contract we have the owner of the property. Then I went home, had a quick bite to eat and did some much needed housework.  I finished up just before 3 pm and decided to take a drive back to the Heritage Village.

Fearless Chipmunk

Autumn leaves in the sun

The 1900 House

Tucker and Beckett down on the farm.

It was quite warm so Tucker wasn't up to walking far so we didn't stay very long and, in any case we had to get home to make supper. But it was a wonderful weekend and it made me realize I have so much to give thanks for; my family and friends (even if I don't say it often enough, they mean the world to me), my health (even if my knees are giving me a little grief), my wealth (even though I complain about taxes it allows me to participate in a pastime I enjoy), my home (even if I don't always feel like housecleaning), my dogs (even when I have to clean up after them) and the freedom to enjoy a sunny afternoon (even though it meant the weekend was coming to an end).



Thanksgiving with Family and Friends

This past weekend was Thanksgiving, well here in Canada anyway.  I like Thanksgiving as it is a nice time to just get together with family and friends before the Canadian winter hits. Thanksgiving is also a lot less hectic and stressful than Christmas. 

This year my sister Juanita hosted Thanksgiving Dinner at her place. My youngest sister Maureen and her husband, Fred came up from Kingston. My nephew's girlfriend's family,  the Jellett's joined us for dinner.  But also in attendance was my Uncle Mike who is moving back to Canada after being out of the country for 23 years.  The only sad thing was that Mike's wife Bon couldn't get her residents visa in time to be here for Thanksgiving but hopefully she'll be here for Christmas.

Mike and Juanita did most of the cooking but I brought two desserts: apple crisp and pumpkin spice cake.  We had a traditional turkey supper with mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, bean salad, green salad, rolls and, of course, stuffing. Can't have a turkey dinner without stuffing; it has to be the best part of the meal. In addition to my two desserts there was also pumpkin pie and cherry cheese cake. Needless to say that no one left the table hungry.

I think everyone enjoyed the evening although Mike was a little jet lagged since he had only arrived the night before from Thailand. Even the dogs had a good time, Katie surveying the world outdoors, Tucker hoping for some leftovers (they all got a few bites) and Beckett and Toby roughhousing together.

  

It would have been nice to have more of the family together but distance makes that very difficult.  But we certainly have many other things to be thankful for, our health, our homes, our family and friends.