Thanksgiving always brings very warm memories back to me. I've spent them in some very esoteric places. When my parents were alive, my mother liked to have them and sometimes we did them at their cottage on the banks of the river. We always sang 'over the river and through the woods' to chide her.

Had one of them at our house with Mt. Fuji in the background when we lived near Yokohama. My little Japanese 'sister' was visiting with us then and it was her first introduction to "TOKI", she couldn't pronounce turkey. She ate so much she foundered and we thought we may end up at a doctor's office. She did recover, however. That was the year cranberries were suspect because of red dye? I can't remember the exact circumstances, but I suppose the cranberries we had came from the U.S. and it was the first case of furor over food I can remember. It was the same year some people got sick from watercress. We were so innocent then and it was a big broo-ha-ha. Now, it's too common an occurence.

You are wise, Gandle, to play it by ear and have a turkey in the wings. LOL.

To everyone - have a blessed Thanksgiving.

Mary

The forecast is calling for highs in the 40s, lows in the 20s and no precipitation, so walking the prairies with an assortment of dogs in search of birds should be rather pleasant. One of my cousins will be joining us for the first time ever too, and he always makes me laugh hard. I'm looking forward to both his company... and to finally not being the least experienced hunter in the group!

I am worried about Izzy though: She seems to be going lame on her rear right leg, and none of the vets we've taken her to can figure out why. We're really going easy on her exercise-wise (which frustrates her mind), but I know from experience that she ignores pain at any cost when there are birds involved, so we're really going to have to play it by ear. This whole season may be a no-go for her, and we still don't know if it's a permanent thing or not. :o(

All in all though, I have a great deal to be thankful for, and I'm looking forward to celebrating with my family...

Many years, we have spent Thanksgiving week at a time share in the mountains. But we are always glad to stay home when the kids come.

This was our second very negative experience at the the U, so I'm a little hesitant to go back with Izzy. We're managing her pain and hoping it's a soft tissue injury that will heal over time. She's been pretty thoroughly examined over and tested by two vets, both of whom are pretty competent, and one of whom is VERY familiar with hunting breeds. The whole situation is frustrating, but I'm hoping that at least Izzy's issues will heal with time. She does seem to be showing some improvement.

Our next-door neighbor in Michigan, who used to be a weekend resident like us, is now living in the country more or less full time while running in to Chicago during the week as needed to meet with his arhitecture clients or visit job sites. He'll be having a full house -- one of his brothers, one of his sisters, assorted artists and other acquaintences with and without partners, maybe 12-13 in all.

My neighbor and I like one another's cooking and pretty much swap eating at each other's place on Saturday nights. For this bash, he and I will both be cooking turkey and stuffing; he wants me to do the mashed potatoes; he'll do sweet potatoes; a guest is bringing something involving Brussel sprouts and Grueyre cheese; Roberta will make our traditional cranberry sherbet. And over the weekend it developed that one of the artists, who was bringing several deserts, decided to make one of them a tres leches cake instead of pumpkin pie. My neighbor wasn't thrilled at the prospect of Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie so I volunteered to do that, too.

I'm hoping there will be lots of leftover turkey. My neighbor is thinking about mole' or maybe curry to feed his guests, several of whom will be staying over for three days, and on Friday, my son will drive out to Galien, along with the Three Graces -- his wife and her two sisters. They're flying in from New Mexico and spending Thursday with his in-laws in a Chicago suburb. If too much turkey is eaten next door on Thursday, maybe we'll make pizza.

Everyone have happy holidays and safe travels!

I almost hope we get a storm and a power outage...after the food is done of course.