Turkey Treats

 First, a little turkey talk! I saw this darling pillow on 

Anne's blog, Cottons 'n Wool. If you are ever looking 

for inspiration, you can always find it on Anne's blog! 

I immediately went to Buttermilkbasin.com to find the pattern for this sweet pillow. Check out Anne's version 

by following the link above. Mine still needs work. 

Better hurry, Thanksgiving is very close!

I saw this cute and easy idea on Pinterest for making little turkeys with these funny flat pretzels. I thought it would be fun to do with our little ones who are here visiting.

My daughter Polly and her family are here from Carson City, and granddaughter Becky and her family are here from Salt Lake City.  We love this little family of noisemakers so much! They dove right into this project with glee! And they did a great job! Katie, our nine year old granddaughter, supervised and assisted while the twins, 3-1/2 years old, created these cute little turkeys. It was really a perfect project for their age.

We melted white chips, but maybe they were too old. 

A can of frosting would have been better. 

Check out the cute blog, Worth Pinning, for directions. 

And remember, we are just amateurs having fun!

We are also enjoying a chance to cuddle with little August James. He is the happiest baby! Here he is at the park enjoying the tunnel! 

Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving with family, friends, pumpkin pie, and happy memories.

Bursting with Blessings

I have been sewing! Yes, it is true! One thing I made recently is this little doll quilt. I love it just the way it is, but kind friends have told me that I should actually have a little stitched sampler in the center. Well, OK, so now I need to work that up after Thanksgiving. But in the meantime, here is a peek at my little doll quilt--not yet quilted, as you can see.

 On other news, my pregnant granddaughter, who I pictured in a post recently, is having twins! Twin boys, in fact! We have never had twins in our family, so we are all aflutter over this. Let's just say that Becky is bursting at the seams with this exciting news! 

I have been sewing like a mad woman this past week and have a terrific quilt as a result. I am not sure how soon I can show it off, but I am very excited! For one thing, it is totally scrappy. Does that sound like anyone you know? Above is a block from the quilt. I made a ton of these! More later on that!

Thanksgiving is once again upon us, so today, like most women in America, I am cooking! I am presently working on cinnamon rolls. They are rising on the counter in the kitchen. I think I can manage the rest of the meal tomorrow, but it is nice to get a start on the rolls. Two of my kids have already called for recipes, so food is on their mind as well. If they lived closer recipes wouldn't be crossing their minds, they would just come here. But alas, they are spread across the county, as I have lamented in the past. Nevertheless, blessings abound, and I am grateful to have a big wonderful family, even tho they are not nearby. The internet certainly contributes to keeping us close. Last Sunday I watched one year old Isaac climb all over the furniture as we visited on Skype. Every so often he would stop and wave to me. What a joy! 

Good wishes go out to you as well, where ever you may be. Enjoy the season and count your blessings. They are everywhere!

SMALL BLESSINGS

Regular readers probably recognize my youngest granddaughter, the one I call Plumpkin. She is four years old and quite the entertainer. When her older sister got married last month this little girl kept approaching the microphone at the family dinner. She wanted to share a story like everyone else. She never did get the nerve to say anything, but she was so tempted!

Yesterday I got an e-mail from her. She composed it and her daddy typed it out. It said:

Dear Grandma Marcie,
I have missed you for a really long time. I wish I could be with you.

I really want you to come visit. I wish you could be with me, so I decided to visit you. And now I decided when I get there, I should surprise you and sneak in as a mouse in the morning.
In the morning I might surprise Grandpa too!

Love, Kathryn

I think that is the cutest, sweetest e-mail I have ever received! She lives in Montana, so I am not likely to see her for quite a while.

Thanksgiving is all about family traditions at our house. Even when our house is empty and devoid of our children, the traditional foods must be prepared. Here is what we will be having. Seriously, we have the exact same thing every Thanksgiving:

Turkey, of course!

Chestnut dressing --a favorite from my side of the family

Mashed potatoes and gravy

Scalloped corn --a Patch family favorite
Cinnamon rolls --Patch family

Green jello with pears and cream cheese --Patch family

Stuffed mushrooms --my family

Apple pie --American family favorite!

The chestnuts, pictured above, have been coming to us for the past several years from Spangler, PA, where my daughter-in-law's parents live. They have chestnut trees. For years my mother bought chestnuts and my dad cleaned them for our Thanksgiving dinner. (Not horse chestnuts, mind you. Those are different!) Now we look forward to the package we receive from Pennsylvania with the wonderful chestnuts that we love.

In the photo you can see what the chestnuts look like. They are not as big as those that you find in the grocery stores for $3.99 a pound. Those come from Italy, and you never know what you will get in terms of quality. Sometimes they are wonderful and sometimes not so much. The PA chestnuts are small and sweet. This year's crop cleaned up beautifully!

First you take a sharp knife and cut an X in the shell. Then put a small amount of water in the bottom of a pyrex dish and add 6 to 8 chestnuts. Place in the microwave for 45 seconds. When they come out the shell is partly opened where it was X-ed. Peel back the rest of the shell and the brown skin. Chop the nuts. At this point I put them in the freezer for later, then get them out for Thanksgiving. Saute them in a skillet with chopped onions and celery with a stick of butter. Add about a loaf of cubed bread and stir it together to soak up the butter. Salt this mixture as well. Try not to eat too much as you stuff the bird. All the ingredients are based on personal preference. One and a half to two pounds of chestnuts is usually about right for the stuffing. Well, that is the way we do it at our house!

With grateful hearts and helpful hands, have a wonderful, peaceful Thanksgiving!

THANKSGIVING

At this time of year some people like to bring up stories about how difficult relations were between the Indians and the Pilgrims, how Thanksgiving is just a big sham. Many historical accounts have survived that depict times when Indians and Whites lived together in harmony. So many times we focus on the negative. Thanksgiving offers us an occasion to focus on the things for which we are grateful. The First Thanksgiving gives us an example to aspire to, as people from two different cultures came together to share a meal and celebrate the harvest. Maybe the Thanksgiving story has reached mythical proportion, but isn’t it a wonderful story? If we could re-write history, wouldn’t we love to say, “And they lived happily ever after”?

There is an expression that I like and it is called THE LAW OF THE HARVEST. It seems especially relevant this time of year. Essentially it means, "We reap what we sow”. If it is our desire to live in peace among our fellow men, and even in our own family, what are the seeds we must sow?

Maybe that is something we could focus on for a while this Thanksgiving.

THANK YOU

Thank you for the world so sweet,

Thank you for the food we eat,

Thank you for the birds that sing,

Thank you God, for everything!

Wishing you all the blessings that come from a thankful heart!