An arrangement composed of foliage from my garden…
Beautiful, beautiful mums from my baby brother…
My Thanksgiving mantel…
A beautiful birthday bouquet from my brother, sister-in-law, and niece…
My husband surprised me with this spectacular serving bowl for my birthday 2 days before Thanksgiving. I loved it, but thought I shouldn’t buy it. I’m so glad he did! I served the salad in it!
The table before the candles were lit and the wine was poured…
A view from the window…
And a view from the oven…
The must have shrimp…
And cheese platters…
And the caviar torte…
Setting up the buffet… TRADITION!
Our 29 pound bird exquisitely carved by my husband…
And the desserts… my spiced apple pie…and the chocolate birthday cake for my son whose birthday we’ve been celebrating at Thanksgiving for the past 33 years!
My sister’s pumpkin pies…
And my classic cheesecake with salted caramel sauce…
The end of a wonderful day and…
…WHAT WILL BE OUR LAST THANKSGIVING IN OUR PRESENT HOME. WE WILL BE MOVING WITHIN THE NEXT YEAR TO SAN LUIS OBISPO ON THE CENTRAL COAST OF CALIFORNIA TO BE NEARER TO OUR SONS.
So this Thanksgiving was an emotional one for us as we close another chapter in our lives.
Prior to living here we celebrated this holiday with our family for 10 years in our Chicago home and now another 24 years in our home in Maryland.
While we are moving closer to our children we will be moving further away from much of our family which will be difficult.
But we are a close family who has never allowed distance to define our relationship, and we’re not about to start now.
And if you have been reading my blog you know how much I love my home and gardens which through these many years we have truly made our own.
So there will be many changes ahead for me in the next year.
Since the decision to move became final I have heard myself saying for the last couple of months…“well, after Thanksgiving we will really have to get busy… ”
Being preoccupied with Thanksgiving has allowed me to live in the moment, while trying to avoid thinking too much about the past or the future.
But, it is after Thanksgiving now, and time to move forward happily, but not without a big old lump in my throat.
And lastly there has been another change in my life. I am currently working with my son to change the format of Dinner at Sheila’s to be more user friendly.
This may take a while, and may be a bit messy as well as challenging but bear with me and in the end I hope it will all come out okay.
And the same could be said for this new adventure in our lives.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!