HOT SPICED CIDER
2 qts Apple Cider
¼ cup sugar (more if desired)
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 whole cloves
8 whole allspice
8 sticks cinnamon (2 inches each)

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Strain out spices before serving. Serve in mugs with cinnamon stick stirrer. Serves 8.

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THANKSGIVING BLESSING

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey be plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have never a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!

… this morning my husband’s niece Leslie [I'm her favorite aunt - or so I tell her] was grumbling about Monday’s  being 50% longer than any other day of the week. I had to laugh and then I said to myself, “I think its true; I get more work done on Monday than any other day of the week. So for me, today Monday, November 23, 2009, three days before Thanksgiving, the 327th day of the year, 38 days left before the 1st day of 2010, could possibly be the most productive day of my life.  I’m so looking for something spectacular to happen today.

I talked to my sister Shirley, this morning, she is feeling better, and she will be making dinner this year at her daughter Teresa Ann’s house; we’ll miss them at the table.

I talked to my sister Sharon, yesterday; she will be cooking out there in sunny Cal for the day.

I talked to my brother Ralph, he didn’t know what he was doing, but wanted to wish us all a very Happy Thanksgiving. I returned his blessings.

I will let my younger brother Robert; know he is welcome to come by himself or with his son Brandon to dinner here on Thursday afternoon or, if he can’t make it, at least, wish him well for the day.

I will post a comment on my step-sister Linda Ann’s wall today and wish her a very Happy Thanksgiving out there in Belgium [Do they celebrate Thanksgiving?  I'll have to ask].

I’m making the most of this Monday and hopefully will get a lot done. I have a To Do List that is about as long as my arm, so if this day is truly 50% longer than any other; I hope to achieve it all.

Steven is be bringing a friend home from school to join us for Thanksgiving; he is unable to fly home to Maine for the holiday, so I will need to get one of the guest rooms ready for him; I just hope he likes pink. LOL I’m sure he’ll be so excited to hear that we are eating in the garage…  It will be fun – cold – wet – fun; if the weatherman is correct.

Now, I’m off to make the first of many trips to the grocery store for all the little goodies to start my feast. Sorry, nothing harvested from my garden this year. I did buy some little pumpkins and pine cones for the tables. I know it’s not the same, but it’s fresh. With the local church bazaar and my daughter-in-law April, I finally got some badly needed buckeyes; my favorite, YUM…

And on that note, I want to wish each and every reader a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING and I do hope that you’re counting your blessings too!

Have a great Monday!

Each morning I wake up and say, “Dear Lord, I don’t want anything better; just send me more of the same.” ~ KITTY HART

drives through the country.

I think it ticks God off if you pass the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it. ~  ALICE WALKER

and hang it so that you can see it from your kitchen window.

We judge the song of the bird not by its musical quality nor even by its creativeness, but by its effect on the human spirit. ~ LEN EISERER

Try to see things from other people’s point of view.

Be kind – everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. ~ PLATO