We had a peaceful and memorable Thanksgiving. We missed the kids and grandkids, but we made the best of the circumstances and enjoyed our day trip, a slow drive and picnic lunch on a beautiful day. The ride through the tiny towns, fields, and pastures was relaxing, and it was good to get out. A flurry of texts back and forth with the kids and friends was also fun. We listened to music and reminisced and avoided the news. The trip on interstate is a little over an hour, but on Old 80 and in no hurry, it took about two hours.
Ruston is a college town, and although the downtown is unchanged except for the names of many businesses, the campus has expanded beyond belief--so many new buildings and dorms.
U.S. Route 80 or U.S. Highway 80 (US 80) is a major east-west United States Numbered Highway in the Southern United States, much of which was once part of the early auto trail known as the Dixie Overland Highway. As the "0" in the route number indicates, it was originally a cross-country route, from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean...The highway's eastern terminus is in Tybee Island, Georgia near the Atlantic Ocean. (Source)
I'd love to take drive all the way to Tybee Island on Hwy 80. Someday. You know, when things are better...
Interesting Articles: Berlin's Second Hand Craze
People with more education are more involved in the arts. Or is it the other way around?
Crafty: Back to working on unfinished embroidery projects, including this black, white, and shades of grey.
Garden
The rains came last night and the cold front is moving in. Tonight will finally put an end to the remains of this year's garden.
Why can't I put stamps/stickers on straight?
Your Thanksgiving sounds like it was almost perfect. Of course, nothing can replace being with family and friends. I LOVE your embroidery! Beautiful artwork. Boo hoo about the garden...
ReplyDeleteIt was a good day! No, we did miss the kids, but we made the best of it. :)
DeleteHi Jen, putting stamps on straight is a real skill and takes concentration. Sometimes mine go on straight, sometimes not. I see the post office did an excellent job of getting the post mark BOSTON MA right above the line. I was not sure how these would work out. The lines were really to balance out the ones I drew for the address. (:
ReplyDeleteWhat a good idea to balance the lines and have the P.O. accommodate! It annoys me when I put the stamps or stickers on crooked, but it just keeps happening. In a way, it's kind of a signature move!
DeleteYour trip sounds wonderful.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous embroidery!
Decorations out. My enthusiasm do get it all done is still packed away. Holiday card design decided, but not sure it's cheery enough.
Yesterday, my enthusiasm perked up again, maybe because of the cold front closing in. We need the color and the familiar now, I think. Eager to see your holiday card design!
DeleteHow fun your old envelope art is! I love those pieces. Haha...you just wouldn’t think it would take talent to place a stamp/sticker straight, but it does! And we don’t very often get a second chance at it.
ReplyDeleteI think maybe I'll take a ruler and draw a line for stamp and sticker placement...if I remember. The old envelopes have provided me with so much fun--the quality of the paper, even after all the years and even though they were inexpensive business envelopes is better than what we find in today's business envelopes.
DeleteI'm also somewhat stalled at present. Glad you had a pleasant Thanksgiving, if not quite in the usual fashion!
ReplyDeleteI did get a little more done, Fee's carved Santas are now out and that is comforting--the feeling comes and goes, but we'll get there eventually.
DeleteI love the watercolor envelopes. I love the fact that Fee carved Santas. Alexandria guys are multifaceted. I'm glad we made room for many plants inside. Those left to their devices show the effects of the frost but some will overwinter and re-emerge in spring if our winter isn't too cold. Wow, this has been a persistent rain today and it's at it again as I write late at night. Your blog posts always cheer me up. I really enjoy them.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Teresa! I agree about Alexandria guys. Alexandria produced some winners--lucky for us. As for the weather, the gorgeous lantana that took over the garden gave it up finally when the low hit 26 degrees. I started trimming it back before the rains came. Now time to put out three flats of pansies. :)
DeleteHey Jen, your driving trip sounded so relaxing and fun. And even though your garden is coming to a close the colors in it are amazing still. Is that a Japanese Maple? Gorgeous color!
ReplyDeleteThe day trip was a good way to both celebrate and enjoy the differences of the day. :) That is the only Japanese Maple that still retains leaves and color, the other four are pretty bare now, but this one continues even after our first freeze!
DeleteWhat an interesting second blog - a multi-talented jenclair! I love those envelopes (cat lover here) and The Japanese maple looks like one we planted in the front yard of a previous home.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Diane! The envelopes were from the 1930's sent to me by a friend, and I've had fun playing with them. :)
DeleteI think the key to making the holiday season a success is to do it a little at a time. I know I rush to get the house decorated all in on fell swoop and in the process, make it a chore rather than something enjoyable. So, we've been adding things to our main living area little by little. Now that the gifts are all purchased, I'll start in on some baking. I'll send a few cards ever day or so, but won't try to get it all done in one day. I save the gift wrapping (for my husband and my mom's gifts) for a few nights before Christmas. And, of course, Christmas music all month long.
ReplyDeleteI agree. A little at a time and not too much worry is the better choice. And yes to the Christmas music! My husband has taken over the baking--I'm all for it. :) Well, except for the expanding waistline.
DeleteSounds like a lovely Thanksgiving. Ours was very low-key, just the three of us. We enjoyed it. We got most of the Christmas decorations up over the long weekend, which is typical for us. We hadn't managed to get the Christmas lights outside last year because were so busy, but we were able to this year. Our Christmas tree had been up all year, and so we just needed to decorate it. It sits here next to my desk and I like to leave the twinkling lights on while I work.
ReplyDeleteI love your water color art.
December will feel like a short month with the holidays. I have a week off coming up that I am looking forward to. Next week at work we have theme days and will have 5-minute Zoom meetings with games. The five minutes usually stretches into 30. Hopefully we won't be too busy so lots of people can take part. All of us supervisors are pulling together to get each of the staff little gift cards for the holidays, and we'll mail those out to them. I got a little something for my own staff on my own to show them my appreciation. I'll miss being able to take them out to lunch for our annual holiday team meeting.
I hope you are having a good week, Jenclair.
It was a great way to spend Thanksgiving day given the circumstances. I should leave the tree up all year and just adjust with the seasons--a great idea, Wendy.
DeleteI know it is hard to give up some of the traditional aspects like your lunch team meeting, but you seem to be as much as you can with the Zoom game and gift cards! They will be appreciated and remembered!