Well, every day if you are alive is a day to be thankful. No matter what you are going through, there is something to be thankful for. I know some days are just too hard at times, but when we start thinking thankful thoughts, they became less hard. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year. No gifts required except your hearts, no decorations, and very few songs about Thanksgiving although Psalms in the Bible is full of them. I love family gatherings more than anything. This year, David and I will be celebrating by ourselves on Thanksgiving Day, the first time in years, but I am kind of excited about it. I have an easy, delicious meal planned and we can do whatever we want. Maybe we will go to a movie. David is working black Friday, so it will be early to bed for him as he goes into Ralph Lauren at five in the morning. I will not allow him to work Thanksgiving Day. He did one year and I did not like it one bit as I really believe that is a day no one should have to work unless you are police, on a medical staff or firemen.

David took a week off a couple of weeks ago and we painted a room, or rather painted half the room. You can hardly tell it was painted. It is a very pale green and at certain times of the day you can see it. We plan to finish the room after the holidays. The reason I wanted it painted was because I ordered new furniture.

We got a new green loveseat that is perfect for my room. You cannot see it well here because I have already covered it up so the sun would not harm it. This is a south facing window and gets a lot of sunlight.

This is our new chair. I am beginning to think orange is my favorite color. David took my big, old chair, that had seen better days, outside and chopped it up and fit it in the garbage can. I hated to see that chair go, but it had become really broken down and uncomfortable and I needed one that had a harder seat. No, I am not using this chair. I just moved another one we had and sit in it to knit and quilt. It is much more comfortable. We were going to get rid of the couch that was in this room, but now that we have moved things around, we decided we had more room so we kept the couch. No one wanted it anyway and I love it. I sit on it while folding clothes and David lies on it when he joins me to watch tv.

While he was off work, David and I took a final trip through the backroads of Indiana to look at the foliage and anything else we might spy. The trees were so lovely this year. I took lots of pictures, but not one does the beauty of the trees any justice.

Where will this road take us? We never know what we will see around every corner.

I wouldn’t say someone is obsessed with yard art, but well, this speaks for itself. Every kind of yard art crammed together in a corner of these people’s yard I wish I could have stopped and looked closer.

Talk about yard art. Someone had carved a guitar from this old stump. Indiana people are so creative. Just give one an old stump and a saw and voila.

This is God art. Almost looks like a Monet painting. I love Monet paintings.

How gorgeous is this Burning bush? I have five of them next to our house and not one looks this pretty until we have a very cold night. Then, in a matter of days, their leaves are gone so I have to enjoy them quickly.

David and I love old houses. What is the story with this house? Who lived here? Why two front doors. A his and hers doors? It hasn’t been lived in for a long time, but I wish I could make it back to its former glory. I always say to David when we pass a house like this, if I were a multi-millionaire, I’d go around Indiana finding old houses like this and making them all new again so someone else can live in them. I love watching all the shows where they do this . I think old houses have such a story to tell and we should listen to them.

Who lived here and were they living here when there was a fire? It looks like an old brick house, probably beautiful in its day. Wonder if it was heated by fireplaces?

We passed a large stand of bamboo plants. It is very invasive and if left alone, it will spread everywhere. Kind of like the Passion flower I was given years ago. David and I have been trying to get rid of it for the past two years, but it keeps coming up. If I had know then what I know now about it, I would not have accepted it as a gift as I did years ago.

So next year we plan to paint our house. I was leaning toward a rusty orange with spruce green trim, but then I saw this house on our drive.

I am thinking orange as a trim would be much better, but I want a darker paint on the main house. This house was lovely, though.

Every once in a while you will see chickens on the back road, but very rarely do you see turkeys. Wonder if they will be served on Thanksgiving Day or are they just pets.

This was just a business we passed and I thought the building was interesting.

Where is this road leading? Adventures around every corner.

I love when you can see where you are heading. Over hill and dale we go! Country folk wave at you as you pass by. If you waved at people in the city, they would think you are nuts.

Some people live in their own Shangri-la out in the country. This was a beautiful setting.

Some people create their own water sports.

There is always an old, red barn along the road. We had a big, old red barn on the farm where I grew up. It once had been a tomato factory, but my Daddy milked his cows in it and stored the hay and straw there for the Winter. The old barn is almost all fallen down now as it was not cared for after my Daddy died. He would hate to see it that way as he took great care of it.

Look at this hilly road. David likes to speed up and go over the hills fast and my stomach stays on the roof of the car! But it is so much fun!!! You can’t do this in the city unless you want a ticket.

Fields of corn and as a farmer’s daughter I always wish each farmer a bumper crop. I hear the cotton farmers are having huge crops this year. Good, because the more cotton, the more fabric to make quilts from

And speaking of quilts, I am working on this Christmas one. This will be a wall hanging behind our Nativity scene this Christmas.

Baby Jesus in the manger. Tis the season.

We passed a house with this sign in the yard. I did not know we had the underground railway in southern Indiana. We have an underground railway near where I grew up in the small town of Fountain City. I have always wanted to go through it. You never know what kind of history you will find on the back road.

“Moo are exactly right!” Even the cows know how interesting the backroads are. They find the passersby very interesting.

As I quilt, I like to watch happy shows. Here are two of my favorites.

Elizabeth Bennet in my favorite version of Pride and Prejudice. The eternal story about girl meets boy. Girl hates boy. Boy loves girl. Girl learns to love boy. Mr. Darcy and Colin Firth is the very best one in my humble estimation.

Then there is this one…

Seeing her own Mr. Darcy. Same story. Girl meets boy. Girl hates boy. Boy falls in love with girl. Girl learns to love boy. Seems like a Pride and Prejudice story to me.

You’ve Got Mail. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are so cute together. And her character loved to read Pride and Prejudice. They made another movie together, Sleepless in Seattle, which is good, too. I could watch both movies over and over again. David’s and my story is no Pride and Prejudice. It could read girl meets boy, girl decides she is going to marry that boy one day, boy meets girl again a few years later and falls passionately in love with her as she does him and they lived happily ever after for as long as they both shall live. Amen.

I will close for now. Wishing all who are celebrating Thanksgiving next week that your dinner will be delicious, your company congenial and your day blessed beyond measure. Bye.