Days of November

The first several November days have been lovely, but the weather is forecasted to change by this Thursday, with temperatures in the 40's, and blustery. Perhaps I can start my nesting and be in the mood to get some housework accomplished, and start thinking about Thanksgiving plans! At least that is what I am hoping for! Today I got out and about for what I call my therapy-a country drive with my camera. I started out this sunny day with breakfast while watching the birds flitting around outside my French doors in the dining room. I know you're supposed to keep a tidy garden for the upcoming winter, but I've decided to wait to cut down the seedheads until spring. The birds are certainly enjoying the bounty. All summer long the goldfinches enjoyed the zinnia seeds, and now the ground feeders...mourning doves, dark-eyed juncos, sparrows...are enjoying the seeds that have fallen to the ground. Cardinals are sitting on the stems and are enjoying the abundant seeds. I took the photo below of the cardinal through the window, so it's not as clear as what I'd like, but it is still beautiful! The other photo is of a male goldfinch also enjoying the seeds. They pull each petal of the flower off with their beaks and enjoy the seeds! The birds also eat the seeds of the black-eyed susans, Joe Pye weeds, the many grasses, and the purple coneflowers. Holly loves to sit in the windows and watch the activities of the birds, rabbits, squirrels, and whatever else that piques her interest! She chatters and chirps, with her tail nervously lashing

back and forth, all the while watching all the wildlife scurrying in the yard. I try to accomodate her by

 giving her a few different vantage points! It's hard

 for me to think that winter is just around the corner.

 I think that being away on vacation for the first two

 weeks of October has put me in a state of denial!

 I'm thinking the next holiday should be Halloween

 instead of Thanksgiving. I'm certainly not ready for

 it! I'm going to try to get out to a couple little

country shops next week and browse through their

Christmas decorations, just to start putting me in the

 holiday mood! I may even start looking through my

 recipes to get ideas of what to make for the holidays.
The last few years I've been making my Chocolate

Mousse Torte for Christmas, which has been a big hit.

I'm always looking for something new to spring on our

relatives. Last year I made a new fruit salad that didn't

turn out at all as I had hoped, and we ended up rushing to the grocery store at the very last minute to purchase a salad from the deli and putting it in one of my pretty bowls! When asked about the salad, I couldn't deny that it was purchased at a grocery store deli! This year if I want to try a new dish, I'll prepare it for Brian and
me first, to make sure it turns out all right!