Thanksgiving in Florida

We're home & it's a cold rainy day here in Watkinsville. We've been in Jennings, Florida visiting with the Burnam's this past week for the Thanksgiving holiday. We had a nice vacation & ate & ate! Here are some pics...

Crazy hair! finishing up breakfast

Eating! Thanksgiving dinner

Aunt Bug & Levi (with a head full of gel & his garden rake)

Levi & his great-Papa Bill, Katy, & great-Opa Burnam

Justin & Katy - out for dinner, celebrating Katy's 18th birthday - congrats!

Wildwood

It was a retrospective weekend in Wildwood - leaves changing, a death in the family, and everyone home. David Pratt, my uncle, died Friday morning. Originally from Florida - his family was in town for the weekend too.
As always, when I'm in Wildwood, I have an overwhelming sense of community that I feel nowhere else - of family - of belonging - the place I grew up - I always feel a bit of sadness as we drive away, leaving this patchwork of family & friends nestled between two mountain plateaus.

We took well over 200 pics in the 48 hours we were home... here are just a few.

Tivoli (first cuz), Beth (sis) , Sarah (sis)

Carrie (sis) & Levi visiting with Aunt Marjorie & Uncle Frank

Off for a long walk - with nearly as many dogs as people

A little extra help mulching the flowerbeds

Wildwood

Levi, Carrie, Tivoli, Uncle Scott, Mom, & me

Levi & me

Carrie, Beth, Molly

November colors

Thursday here & there's excitement in the air. We had a good rain shower last night (of course the truck windows were down) & today is really windy - a cold front moving in. Our trees are at their peak of color - the maple out front a brilliant yellow - nicely contrasting with the red dogwood. Unfortunately, with each gust of wind the leaves on the ground get deeper.

I'm cleaning & packing today as we get ready to travel - 9 of the next 10 days we'll be out-of-town. Levi & I (along with my sisters Carrie & Beth) are making a pre-Thanksgiving roadtrip to Wildwood (our homeplace) this weekend. We'll do a quick turn-around & then head south for Thanksgiving with the Burnam's.

When our friends Mike & Teddi moved to New Mexico I inherited their Thanksgiving cactus - it spent the summer soaking up the sun on our back deck & came inside just few weeks ago. It's bursting with blooms this year - a nice splash of color this time of year - & a nice reminder of old friends.

Pesticides in Produce

I always think about sharing this list when I pull it out at the grocery store. Today I actually remembered it here at the house. These items are consistently the most contaminated with pesticides - buy these organic:

apples, bell peppers, celery, cherries, imported grapes, lettuce, nectarines, peaches, pears, potatoes, spinach, strawberries, & carrots

These items have the lowest levels of pesticides:

asparagus, avocados, bananas, broccoli, sweet corn, eggplant, kiwi, mangos, onions, papaya, pineapples, sweet peas, & cabbage

First Fire

We had our first frost Tuesday night, & our first fire last night.

My collection of decorative tinder... dried flowers, pinecones, mossy branches, and fallen birdnests... as it has sat for months awaiting a match.

Kiwi craze

I've started stocking up on kiwis each time I make a trip to Publix - the organic ones are the same price as conventional (2 for $1) which rocks. They're a quick treat for Levi & the more I read up on these shabby little fruits, the more I'm convinced we each should be eating one a day. The one downer is that they're shipped halfway around the world before landing on our grocery shelves - they are a native of China, but now are predominately grown in New Zealand.

One kiwi will give you more vitamin C than an orange and more fiber than an apple; they're rich in potassium & good for the immune system.

Some Sleep for the Weary

Last night, for the first time in three weeks, Levi slept through the night again (Woohoo!!!) - crashing out around 9pm and not a peep until 5am on the dot. Unfortunately, I was experiencing a night of insomnia, so I didn't get to enjoy this unexpected surprise. Maybe he'll treat us again tonight.

----------------

The tea olives (Osmanthus fragrans) out back are blooming & smell beautiful. Floridata puts it this way: "Individually the blossoms are small and inconspicuous, but the fragrance is powerful and exquisite." I agree!

Like father, like son