I am thankful ...

... that the turkey is in the oven. I've already made the cranberry sauce ... the potatoes are boiling ... two bottles of Chianti are sitting on the table, pumpkin pie is baked and cooling on the counter and a big, home made bottle of limoncello :-) is icing up in the freezer for after dinner in front of the fireplace. My two beautiful children and several of their friends will be at the table this year ... though they are all off to the mountain for some skiing right now ... or I should say snowboarding since none of them ski anymore.

Somehow I always end up at home with the cooking but I have never minded that job. Every year it gives me a little quiet time to reflect on the year past and the year to come while I peel potatoes and baste the turkey and sneak in a little stitching time between chores.

This year has been interesting. Full of ups and downs for all of us but for the most part, as I look back, I don't think there is much I would change.

And so I make my traditional mental list of what I am thankful for while I chop and baste (turkey, not linen, for a change :-) and stitch:

I am thankful for healthy, happy children who bring youth and joy and laughter into my life each day I am with them.

I am thankful for kind, supportive friends who lend their ears and hands and hearts to me when I least expect it and need it most.

I am thankful that I have been given a job that I love, that brings me pleasure each time I sit down to do it and that hopefully brings others equal pleasure.

I am thankful for all of you who support me in this endeavor, both my customers for purchasing what I dream up and my suppliers who make those dreams a reality.

I am thankful for my home, for the serenity of the mountains it sits in, for the opportunities I have been given to visit other beautiful places, to experience other cultures, to make new friends far and wide.

I am thankful to have this venue to wish all of you many, many things to be thankful for this coming year. May your days be warm and bright and filled with love, friends and family.

And I am thankful that the kids will be coming home from the mountain in a few hours so I can set the table and we can sit to eat together on this day of Thanksgiving ... for that, I am so very thankful.

Peace and Joy, Paix et Joie, Pace e di giolia, Vrede en Vreugde,

Cynthia

Sleeping Giant ...

... sleeping peacefully in the late afternoon sun. It was a spring-like day here in the Rockies so it seemed like a good idea to get out into it and give the new camera a work out (the old one having finally been retired after many years of diligent service). It's supposed to be just this lovely all week which, when you live in a ski town and it's November 2nd, is NOT a good thing:

No Snow :-(

The ski area opens in just 3 weeks. Doesn't look like the first day is going to be a deep powder day. Then again, you never know. Living in the mountains you learn to expect the unexpected from the weather. So we took a few more photos, just to remind ourselves that it IS early Winter, not early Spring .... and give us hope for a couple of runs on opening day.

No leaves either

Most of the last week was spent updating the website and finishing up our little "Peace and Joy" kits. If you already ordered one, rest assured, it is now on it's way to you. We were only able to make up a limited number of them and have gone through about half that number already, so if you were considering him for your Christmas tree this year, don't delay. When they are gone, they're gone.

Unfortunately, we won't be releasing the large Christmas Sampler, Good Yule, that we were hoping to release for the holidays. The "lost in the mail" debacle in addition to major revisions that need to be made, took it too close to the wire. I would always rather delay a release than release something I'm not happy with. We've decided to keep it until our planned "Christmas in July" when we will release another Limited Edition Ornament and ..... I'm leaning towards a stocking, which I haven't done in many years. Better to start your Christmas stitching in July anyhow, right? At least that way you'll have some hope of getting your projects finished by Christmas Eve.

We are planning on releasing several new things right after the first of the year ... but think "Valentines" and "Spring" as opposed to Christmas. If you're at all like me, you'll be very tired of the decorations by then and ready for a change of pace.

So, now I'm ready to to have a bite to eat and then plan to stitch all evening .... maybe even all night. Who knows. The large doses of oxygen I get from those hikes always seem to give me a second wind (no pun intended :-)

See you soon, ci vediamo a presto, à tout à l'heure, gauw tot ziens,

Cynthia