Thanksgiving Eve People

Yesterday afternoon (which is technically Thanksgiving Eve Eve), I had delivered something to another person at work and as I was leaving their office, I said, "I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving."  Because I knew it was unlikely that I would see that person today.  And her response was, "HOW can you tell me to celebrate a holiday that is all about the oppression of Native Americans and celebrates gluttony?"

Look.  I get it, I really do.  There are lots of problems with American history, white privilege, and oppression and exploitation of non-white peoples.  And I am also aware that the first Thanksgiving was not two groups of people joining together to sing "Kumbaya" and say that everything was perfect.  (OK, I especially hope they didn't sing "Kumbaya," but you know what I mean.)

I do want the world to be better.  I even try to do what I can to make it so, and I wholeheartedly support those who make it their lives' work to fight for justice.

But I also love Thanksgiving, and what it means in the most general sense.  Yes, I know we should all be thankful every day, and I do try to do that.  But I love that we have a national holiday devoted to that.  It's the coziest of holidays, if you ask me, and I know that for some this holiday - or any holiday really - is fraught with stress and/or unhappiness, and that makes me sad.  I am however not directly responsible for what others experience or feel on or about the holiday.  I can only live my life with  my truth.

And all of that was my long-winded and ranty way of getting to the topic of the people I interacted with on my way to work on this Thanksgiving Eve (btw, I hope you also enjoy today,Kym, since I know you also "celebrate" Thanksgiving Eve).

First up was a woman and her dog that I see on occasion when I am leaving for work.  She appears to be a lovely young woman, and her dog looks like a mini-Golden Retriever.  We always stop and say hello-and-how-are-you to each other, and of course I make a fuss over the dog.  We had a lovely, if brief conversation, and she was looking forward to going to her parents' house tomorrow (with the dog) and enjoying the meal, even though she is disappointed that she has to work on Friday.

A few blocks away, I met a young guy with a black Labradoodle puppy (9 weeks old!) named Monty.  As you can imagine, Monty was ADORABLE, and very kissy.  The guy said he was a puppy who was "simultaneously cute and a demon," which made me laugh. 

The I decided to stop and treat myself to a cup of tea at a place on the way.  The young man who took my order said "Have a wonderful Thanksgiving," as he handed me my change, he also smiled.  While I was waiting for my order, a guy moved in front of me to get a napkin.  He had on a sweater with a really beautiful yoke design.  I complimented him on the sweater, and he pointed to a woman nearby and said, "Thanks - but you should really compliment her, she knitted it.  She also made me this hat," and the three of us proceeded to have a very pleasant conversation about knitting and knitting for those who appreciate it.  (The sweater was this pattern, for those wondering.)

This was a really nice way to start a morning, any morning, but especially this one, after my last interaction of the day yesterday was with someone who gave me a lecture. 

And you know what?  These are some of the things I am thankful for - the actual kindess of strangers.  People usually think that cities are just a bunch of nameless people ignoring each other, or worse, doing/saying terrible things and not caring.  And trust me, people in Philadelphia do not suffer fools gladly (maybe that's why I like living here)!  But it occurred to me that overall, I have more interactions like those this morning than negative ones.  As a matter of fact, a lot of the negative interactions occur more with people I actually know.

So on this Thanksgiving Eve, I find myself being happy that people I do not know, some of whom I am likely to never see again, were able to be kind.  I am happy that they reminded me that each of us is doing the best we can to get through life, and that it doesn't have to be perfect to be OK. 

I hope your day goes as well.  :-)

In Which I Have Nearly Everything Except ...

The small hoops - where are they????  I didn't really expect to have anything to actually show you for Tiny Needle Tuesday, but I thought I could at least tell you about my next project. 

About ____ years ago (I don't remember, it was so long.  My nieces were young children, so ...), I stitched cross-stitch ornaments for everyone, with the idea of attaching them to the bows on their gifts.  This was a great idea, and I got nearly all of them stitched.  Then I fail to remember what happened, but the pieces and the supplies got put away into a box and that was the end of that. 

Fast forward to now, when I realized that I could a) put the ornaments already finished together, and b) stitch some more.  Because now there are a lot of different people who might enjoy them.  I found the box, and the stitched items were safely inside.  I found more of the patterns/kits that I had to move forward, as well as needles, fabric, and floss (so much floss from my mother!**). 

What I did not find?  Small hoops.  Not a one.  Now I am not a person who can successfully "stitch in hand," as they say, particularly on really small items.  So I need the hoop.  I do not consciously remember throwing away the ones I'd had, but after looking in all the places I could guess they might be, I still came up empty handed.  Sigh.  It's like a version of "Water, water, everywhere and not a drop to drink." 

This is of course not insurmountable.  I can walk to A.C. Moore over the next few days and buy a few hoops.  Or at least I hope I can - I just heard on the news this a.m. that A.C. Moore is going out of business, and that some of the stores will re-open as Michael's, but not until after the first of the year. 

I think I will however, not count on doing anything for this year - I can get a start on next year because since they are small items, they don't take long to do, and would be good palate cleansers in between projects. 

But I still need some hoops.  :-)

In Larger Needle News, I did the bind off on the funnel neck of my Pabaig sweater, so there are just the sleeves left to knit.  I also received the second set of yarn that I ordered to finish it - that came in record time, of course.  Anyway, I'll knit the sleeves, and the leftover as well as extra yarn will be incorporated into a hat or something like that.  But I feel certain that I'll able to finish the sweater soon, which pleases me, since I wanted to at least be finished in 2019.

And that's the plan ... I'll keep you posted.

**Seriously, folks, I have A LOT of floss - if you need some for a project, feel free to contact me before you buy any - I'm happy to send some to you if I have it!

Recipe: Mainstay French Toast

Why not start the week by sharing a recipe?   Since this is the time of year that a lot of people have guests or extra family visiting, I though I'd share one of our favorites that is always a big hit.  It makes a nice amount and you organize it the night before you are going to serve it. 

The Mainstay Inn is a bed and breakfast in Cape May, New Jersey.  I've never stayed there, but years ago, the local newspaper had a feature on the best recipes from local B-and-Bs, and this was one of them.  I've made it several times and it has always turned out perfectly. 

Mainstay French Toast

Ingredients:

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 Tablespoons corn syrup
2 tart apples, peeled and sliced
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 loaf French bread

Cook sugar, butter, and syrup until well mixed and syrupy. 

Pour into a 9 x 13 baking dish, and spread apple slices over mixture.

Slice bread into 3/4 inch slices and place on top of apples.

Whisk together remaining ingredients and pour over bread.

Cover and refrigerate overnight.  When ready, heat oven to 350 degrees, and bake uncovered for 40 minutes.  Serve with spicy apple syrup if desired.

Spicy Apple Syrup

1 cup applesauce
1 (10-oz.) jar apple jelly
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
dash salt

Combine ingredients in a small saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until jelly melts and syrup is hot.


NOTES:

*Even though I have made this numerous times, I have never made the apple syrup, so I can't say how good it is.  We just always serve it with maple syrup.

*I have also on occasion added raisins, dried cranberries, or dried sour cherries to this along with the apples. 

*This recipe as well as others I've shared here will always be available at the Recipes tab of the blog.

Let me know if you try this, and if so, what you think!

Bon appetit!

Sunday Silly - Thanksgiving Week Edition

This made me laugh, because nearly everyone I know has issues with this word!

Enjoy your Sunday.  :-)

So Far Today

So far today, I have:

Gone for an early-morning walk with Hamlet;

Enjoyed cuddling with Pip for nearly two hours while he sat on my lap;

Taken The Tim out for breakfast as his birthday week starts winding down;

Finished putting together a package and walked to the post office to put it in the mail;

Also bought some Christmas stamps while I was at the post office;

Gave the first floor a good clean;

Moved a lot of stuff on the third floor out of the way so The Tim can take the a/c unit out of the window;

Walked over to CVS to pick up an Rx that was waiting;

Knit about 3 inches on my Pabaig sweater (it felt so weird, since it's been so long since I picked it up!)

Sat down to start watching the Boston College-Notre Dame football game; 

Wrote this blog post.

And now I have decided that I get to just enjoy the rest of the afternoon and all of the evening however I would like to!  I feel more knitting and a manicure in my immediate future ... ;-)

I hope your Saturday has been a good one as well.