Mid-October Pleasantries

What a wonderful thought it is that some of the best days of our lives haven't happened yet. ~ Anne Frank

Hello my lovely friends and welcome back to Rose Chintz Cottage!

Thanksgiving has come and gone for another year. As many of you know, Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving in October which is a wonderful time for the holiday. The trees and landscape are filled with glorious colour and it is still not overly cold out. It is a delightful time of year to partake of veggies from the garden and succulent turkey and gravy. Pumpkin and apple pie is on almost everyone's table as well as other decadent desserts. 

Then we have the next two and a half months to decorate and prepare for the biggest holiday of the year, Christmas. Can you believe we are actually talking about Christmas again already?

This year, I am going to start decorating early. They say those who put up their tree early are happy people. And we could all use a little bit of Christmas earlier this year. Normally I wait until after Remembrance Day on November 11 but early Christmas decorating will not interfere with my honouring our soldiers and those who have fought and still fight to keep our countries free.

Here is a bit of trivia for you. A couple of my American blogger friends wondered if we had turkey for dinner on the holiday and if we celebrated like they do. The answer is, yes.

Our Canadian Thanksgiving takes place on the second Monday in October, while America celebrates on the fourth Thursday of November. The earliest recorded Canadian Thanksgiving actually dates back to 1578 - which is before the Pilgrims and the Native Americans feasted at Plymouth in 1621.

Every province and territory in Canada claim it as an official statutory holiday except for Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. Although my hubby had the day off, he does not get paid for it. But it is still very much a holiday here on the Island.

Saturday morning I baked my pies. 

I set my antique jug of dried hydrangeas on the table for our tea today.

I brought out my peach coloured cup and saucer from Royal Chelsea made in England which is so pretty with the posies peeking out of the cup. It sits on one of the plates from Sur La Table which was a gift from my son for Christmas one year. Snuggled up to the plate you can see a 'blessed' napkin. Hubby saw them at the grocery store and brought them home.

The soup bowl set my son gifted me for Christmas a few years ago. The set consists of four covered soup bowls and four plates. I love it!

The Pumpkin pie was a success.

My pictures are not very clear today for some reason. I had a lot of trouble loading my pictures from Picasa onto my blog post. I hope it is not a prolonged problem. I am not thrilled with this new format Blogger is using now.

Last week we received some very good news from our son out on the west coast but I cannot tell you about it just yet. In the middle of this pandemic crisis we are all in, it is especially wonderful to receive some good news for a change! This past year has been incredibly difficult and sad for Hubby and me for many reasons but as they say, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. God is still there and He still answers prayer, oftentimes in ways we never expect.

God does His deepest work in our darkest hours. ~ AW Tozer

I hope your week is a delightful one and today and every day, may we all be thankful for the many blessings in our lives.

Sharing from my heart ~ Sandi

Thanksgiving Blessings

 I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion. ~ Henry David Thoreau

Hello dear friends! I finally got my pumpkins set out and as always, I put one in the bird bath. This year it is a sweet Fairytale pumpkin instead of the usual orange pumpkin I have displayed in previous years. This one is so pretty in shades of pink and grey-green. Don't you just love the wide varieties of pumpkins we have now?

A very dear friend, whom I have known since before I was married, brought me some dried hydrangeas from her garden the other day and I decided to place some in my Granny's pancake jug. Most of you know the story of the jug. The jug once belonged to my great grandmother which she gave to my grandmother. It passed from my Granny to my auntie who passed it on to me, so it is very special and very old; well over a hundred years old.

There are two teacups on the table today which are also very special. The first one was a gift from my beloved brother who passed a few months ago. He had gifted it to me for my wedding shower many years ago.

It is an exquisite cup and saucer trimmed in black, white, and lots of gold gilding. It is a vintage teacup from Royal Stafford of England and it is called Buckingham. I love it, and it will always be a treasure because of my precious brother who gifted it to me.

The next teacup you have seen many times. It was a gift from my hubby in remembrance of my father on what would have been my daddy's birthday one year. My father favoured this RA Old Country Roses pattern and it was very thoughtful of my hubby to give it to me. 

I thought it would look pretty with all the coloured leaves on the table. 

The beautiful table topper was a give-away gift which I won from my blogging friend, Bernideen, many years ago and I bring it out every Autumn.

A good life is when you smile often, dream big, laugh a lot, and realize how blessed you are for what you have. ~ unknown

I have shared many lovely gifts today; the hydrangeas from my friend, my grandmother's priceless pancake jug, the two teacups, and the lovely table topper. They all remind me of the beautiful people who have played a part in my life and I am so thankful for each one!

This coming Monday is our Canadian Thanksgiving and we will be having dinner at the home of our son's girlfriend. I will be bringing dessert. I plan to bake pumpkin pie and a lemon dessert, both of which are favourites of everyone, especially my son and my oldest grandson who will be joining us for dinner.

Thanksgiving is of course a special day set aside to give thanks for all the many blessings in our lives. Good food, loved ones, and the precious memories that have played a part in shaping who we are. Our Heavenly Father has ordained them all.

I wish all my Canadian friends a very Happy Thanksgiving and may God bless you all!

It is not what we say about our Blessings, but how we use them, which is the true measure of our Thanksgiving. ~unknown

Sharing from my heart ~ Sandi