Happy Thanksgiving!

A very Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadian stitching and blogging friends. We've just finished the carving of our bird after cooking it overnight. This allows me more oven space for cooking all the other dishes which accompany my meal. A few friends told me they wouldn't do it this way since the turkey gets dry after reheating but I've done this many times now with no problems. I think the fact that I'm cooking a fresh turkey, not frozen, makes a difference. I stuff the turkey just before bed, put it in the oven and set my alarm to check on it once during the night.

This way I can check its progress and gage just what time it will be done. When it's ready, my DH gets up early and does the carving. Shortly after, I take over and prepare the gravy. Everything is then refrigerated until later in the afternoon when it's reheated. It's a lot less hectic when it comes time to serve. I also like the fact that since the gravy is prepared early, I'm able to scrape and discard the fat off of it much easier after refrigerating.

My son Chris joined us last night and very soon I'm heading off to pick up Dan. Only Jeff and family are unable to join us. Just not enough time for them to travel here and return for work tomorrow. Some friends will also be joining us later.

I'm feeling much better now after being ill earlier in the week. I picked up strep throat from my son Dan after sharing a drink and popcorn with him at the movies last weekend. We didn't know at the time that he had strep throat but he did tell me he had a sore throat (after sharing our goodies of course!). Consequently I came down with a low grade fever and sore throat on the Wednesday. By this time Dan had already been checked out and started on antibiotics. My doctor didn't even bother doing a throat swab, he just started me on the antibiotics because of my contact with Dan. By Friday I was feeling much better and no more sore throat. However I was wiped out most of the week and only managed to complete a small amount of stitching. I finished one ornament and am just about finished a second one for my October commitment to the Christmas ornament SAL. I couldn't resist this little pumpkin by Prairie Schooler.

I picked up some felt yesterday from Michael's and will finish it off later in the week. I'll also have a pic of the other ornament by then since I hope to be finished it by tomorrow.

Tuesday I had the day off work and since I wasn't feeling quite so bad yet I followed my DH into Ottawa, dropped him off at work and then crossed over the river to Gatineau, Quebec. From there I headed to Gatineau Park to enjoy the fall colours and do a bit of walking through the park. This is an annual visit for us. Ususally we do this on a Sunday after church but this year either I was working or the weather wasn't cooperating so I decided to head over by myself this time. It was a gorgeous fall day and I spent 3 hours walking and driving through the park. It's an absolutely huge park containing many hiking trails and lakes throughout it. It also contains the residence of one of Canada's former Prime Ministers, William Lyon MacKenzie King. King was Canada's longest serving PM having served for 22 yrs during the years 1921- 1948. The home in Gatineau was part of his summer estate Kingsmere and is now open to the public. There is actually a lovely tea room which serves lunch in his former home. I took about 100 pics during my afternoon in the park of which I've posted a few. On the left is the estate followed by a summer guest cottage and the estate gardens. Below are some pictures of the various scenery seen throughout the park.

As you can see, the park is a photographer's delight. The autumn colours this year are spectacular and after spending the afternoon there I certainly felt rested and at peace. Following our drive home from Ottawa later in the day we were treated to even more of fall's beauty. Just look at the colours in this photo below. Absolutely beautiful!!



Now I'm off to pick up Dan and then finish preparing my Thanksgiving meal. We are truly blessed here and so fortunate to have so much when so many are struggling in today's economic times. Thanks be to God.