🦃 Gobble! Gobble! 🦃
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope this year finds you surrounded by family and friends, love, warmth, good food and laughter. x
{Vintage Thanksgiving Post Card pinned HERE}
Tag: happiness (page 13 of 75)
Hello, November! We’re ready for the full shift to autumn that you will bring, early nights and darker mornings. We’re ready for leaves crunching underfoot and the smell of woodsmoke in the air and crispy apples packed as snacks.
We’re ready to feast by the glow of candlelight and sip hot apple ciders and munch on gingersnaps for our evening dessert. We’re ready for the promise of Thanksgiving that comes near the end of your monthly reign this year. And the smells of turkey and gravy and baked sweet potato pie that will fill the air.
We’re ready to move into “sweater weather” and take rambling walks with our wellies on, through the muddy fields and up to the hills to look out over the water. We’re ready for twinkle lights to glitter from every nook and cranny and we’re ready for the stillness that you bring with late autumn evenings where all the world is quiet except for the whistling of the wind.
Welcome November!
{The Mushroom Gatherers, by Abigail Halpin // Pinned HERE}
Hello, October! You’ve arrived so swiftly on the wind that I’m not entirely sure what has happened to September? It has passed in a haze. But, we’re happy that you’re here with all the heady scent of autumn and magic that you bring.
We’re ready for a chance to be still for just a little bit as that was not an opportunity we were given last month. We’re ready for the evenings to draw themselves in sooner. We’re ready to make our first batch of butternut squash soup for the season, with crusty bread to dip into it and a plate of sliced apples and cheese to go alongside.
We’re ready for crisp clear autumn days to hike in the nature reserve with a sprinkling of rainy Sundays thrown in so we can curl up and read books with a cup of tea close at hand. We’re ready for our front porch to be decorated with pumpkins and mums to bring a smattering of colour to grey days.
We’re ready for our annual household festivities to begin in the lead up to Halloween, with decorating and witches’ hats and bowls of candy scattered around. We’re ready to feast on marshmallow popcorn balls while watching some of our favourite old Halloween movies.
We’re ready for all that you bring and the enchantment that you hold, for you are truly the month that walks us into autumn and all of her glory.
{Laurel Goodwin modeling for E.J. Brach & Sons, 1966 Halloween Ad HERE // Pinned HERE}
Hello, September! August moved too quickly for me even though we savoured each and every moment. I could spool that thread out a little longer before it is woven into the tapestry of this year. And now, suddenly we’ve ushered in September! We await to see what she brings as the air has been cooler the past two weeks. So, we’ll see if she will carry that on, or give us a delicious Indian Summer, where we can bathe in the last warmth of summer just a touch longer.
We welcomed September this morning, or I should say, she welcomed us, by gifting us with an enchanting walk to school. We saw three dolphins in the water, swimming at a steady pace and sometimes diving down to fish. My heart was beyond filled with JOY! Our morning was entirely sprinkled with magic.
We’re not quite ready to go back to school, but we are ready for cooler mornings where the light takes a little longer to arrive. We’re ready for crispy apples dipped in caramel as an afternoon snack and popcorn and hot cider next to us while we watch an evening movie.
We’re ready to gather the the last of the blackberries coming in on the vines and eating our weight in all manner of fruit pies dolloped with a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream. And we’re ready to savour the last of the yellow squash and heirloom tomatoes before they disappear till next summer’s bounty arrives.
We’re ready for hikes in the nature reserve when the leaves are starting to turn and stopping to feast on cheese and chutney sandwiches on the rocks overlooking the water.
We’re still holding on to those last remnants of summer, but September, we’re ready to see what you hold for us.
{Selkie by Lore Pemberton // Pinned HERE}
Hello, August. We’re waiting to see what you bring us. July ended with a bit of a nip to the air and we’re hoping that you bring warmer days and calmer waters our way, because we’re ready for early morning swims and hot coffee on the beach from our thermos.
We’re ready for bowls of fresh watermelon for lunch and early morning walks up to the nature reserve when the world is quiet. We’re ready for days spent reading our books and finishing our jigsaw puzzle and drinking sweet tea and feasting on sugar cookies as an afternoon snack as the breeze blows through the windows.
We’re ready to stay up late watching old movies and playing scrabble. We’re ready to eat our weight in fresh corn on the cob from the green grocers and cheeseburgers loaded with slices of heirloom tomatoes and to gobble up fruit cobblers with a heaping scoop of homemade ice cream on top.
But, mostly we’re ready for a chance to catch our breath and to just be.
{Sand Shark Bar, Janet Hill Studio}
School’s out for summer and I couldn’t be happier! We’re celebrating tonight with a pizza party, homemade vanilla ice cream sundaes and we’re watching “Dazed and Confused”, which is our last day of school tradition.
Hello, Summer! We are more than ready for YOU!
{Deena Martin as ‘Shavonne’, Christine Harnos as ‘Kaye’, and Michelle Burke as ‘Jodi’ in a publicity still from Dazed & Confused, 1993 found HERE}
Hello, July! We’re ready for you to bring warmer weather our way and keep the rain at bay for just a little bit. We’re ready for early morning coffee on the beach when the world is quiet and we can go swimming and have the water all to ourselves. We’re ready for homemade ice cream after dinner and dancing around the kitchen to the ‘60s music groove we’re in at the moment.
We’re ready for school to come to a close for the year and the chance to stay up late watching old movies on the projector and eating popcorn and making ice cream floats. We’re ready for our annual Christmas in July party and this year it might last more than a day, it might be an entire weekend of Christmas music playing and Christmas movie watching and Christmas feasting and just general Christmas happiness.
We’re ready to devour more books while sitting on the beach and then lazily strolling up to the house to make cheeseburgers that have thick slices of heirloom tomatoes sitting on top of the melting cheese and fresh corn on the cob smothered in butter.
We’re ready for all that you bring and we hope it is filled with love and laughter and light.
{Slim Aarons / Getty Images: Mrs. Charles Rogers sits on a submerged bar stool in the Villa Vera Spa & Racquet Club pool, Acapulco, Mexico, January 1961 // Pinned HERE}
I am fully aware that we are no longer in the season of Christmas; in fact we are just about to flip the calendar over to April. This is a post I had been working on in the weeks leading up to December, but as with many things these past few months, some pots have to move to the back burner and this was a pot that got moved and turned to low. However, we are currently in the season of Lent and as “fish” is still playing a prominent role and my love for Christmas doesn’t begin and end in December, I’ve rationally reasoned that I can just slip this in under the wire and so I’m running with that.
More than a year ago now, back in late October of 2019, I was scanning through YouTube in search of a clip for a piece I was writing. A movie trailer popped up in the suggested list and I was amused by the title, so I clicked on it. Before the trailer even finished, I knew this was a film that I had to see. I showed it to Mr. Michie that evening and he was in complete agreement. So, one Friday night, curled up on the couch with a bowl of popcorn between us we watched it. We laughed, we cried, we recognised these characters in front of us and then we watched it again and after that we watched it again and after that… well you get the drift.
We discerned after our first screening, but that thought became more solidified with each successive viewing, that we would be making our family watch this over the Christmas holidays when we were all together (*This was Pre-Covid when we could move freely). One side of my family is loud, crazy and Italian. All of our events revolve around food, but doesn’t everyone’s? This movie resonated with me, it spoke to my soul. I know these people, I know this town, I understood Tony’s reservations about letting someone else peer into the idiosyncrasies of his family. Every family has their own dynamic and letting someone else have entry into that world is a very personal thing, it’s a baring of your soul.
One evening, after Christmas day, by the twinkle of the lights on the tree, we sat everyone down and pressed PLAY. The rest, as they say, is history. Like us, they were hooked. It has truly become one of my parent’s favourite movies of the past year. So much so, that they have bought it, watched it repeatedly and told everyone else about it. This movie isn’t a secret that you keep to yourself. Personally, I’ve watched this movie in parts here or there, or fast forwarded to a favourite scene at some point almost every day of 2020, that’s still happening in 2021. It has been one of the many things that has gotten us through this current period with humour.
Feast of the Seven Fishes, is a charming, comically and tenderly crafted story with a lot of heart and soul. I feel that I know each of the characters. The clothes, the cars and the sets are perfect, down to the tiniest detail. The grandparent’s house is inviting and cozy, you believe this family truly lives there, it’s like being at your actual Nonni’s house. The Christmas tablecloth draped over the small dinette set in the kitchen, the angel card stuck on the avocado hued fridge and the ceramic tree with it’s jewelled toned lights glowing on the counter are all the little touches that seamlessly work to enhance and flesh out each scene alongside an outstanding ensemble of actors. Like a real family, their expressions say more at times than their words do.
Robert Tinnell has written a story about life, home, family, relationships, love, good food and the people you meet along your journey. I don’t care if you come from a crazy Catholic Italian family or not, this movie will speak to you. At its heart, it is simply about family and everyone can relate to that.
Do yourself a favour and go watch this movie!
Boun Natale!
The following are two conversations I found interesting, you might too:
Conversations with the cast and director of Feast of the Seven Fishes
The FEAST Podcast: A conversation with director Robert Tinnell