Thanksgiving

Thanks to Mary of Frugally Challenged blog for this card.  She sent it several years ago. 

We are staying local for Thanksgiving this year and no additional company.  Daughter, Emily is doing most of the cooking.  We will supply the appetizers and wine.

Hope your Thanksgiving Day tomorrow is blessed with good food, good conversation and lots of laughter.

*****

And here's the view out my window here at my desk.

We had snow last night which has changed to rain. Snow on the roof is heavy and sliding off with loud plops.

 

That Time of Year

 Getting ready for the big holiday coming in December.

Saturday I assembled our skinny tree. No lights.  Last year I took all the prestrung lights off because too many strands were out and I couldn't find the offending bulb causing it.  When I put it up Saturday I'd forgotten that I hadn't found new lights at the end of last season.  On the way home from church I got a set of LED mini lights 58 feet long and put those on Sunday.  Picture will have to wait until fully decorated.

I gave granddaughter #1 the task of arranging the lights on this ceramic tree. Notice Mary and a llama?  I brought those home from a craft fair at church.  Apparently Mary and the Babe had lost Joseph so they couldn't sell the set.  

Saturday my Advent calendar arrived from Larkin Tea Company, my source for lea leaves. Each day will be a different tea to try!  Can't wait.

I'm almost done with the Christmas gift shopping too.  Now to tackle Christmas cards then get on with the rest of the decorating.

Another Addendum

 

An old photo with the foreground being my neighbor's yard.  This photo predates the building of her mother's house which she came to own.  The barn on the back of her property (not pictured) was there first which probably explains the fencing and these steer.

Could the leaves at the top of the photo be from the tree that was felled?

Our neighbor's house is not in this bird's eye shot of the flat where we now live.

Here's a cropping focusing on the church (Meeting House) on the left, our neighbor's barn, then you can see the peak of our roof with our barn in front of it.

All this to say that I guess the tree was not as old as it looked.

By the way there were no visible hollow spots until the trimming began.  It looked pretty sturdy.

Addendum to Death of a Tree

 Dan learned Wednesday night at the volunteer fire department training that the tree was 75 years old. The growth rings were very widely spaced - a fast grower.  It was there, though before the house was built.

Our neighbor's brother wanted her to have it cut down last year after a large limb came down in the driveway but she demurred.  He persuaded her to have it cut this year again because of the fear of the damage to the house should another limb come off.  Cutting it down after most of the leaves had fallen was easier than earlier in the leaf cycle.

Still a very sad demise for such a nice tree.