It’s Thanksgiving Day in Canada, which gives me another chance to thank you all for being here, for helping me nurture a community that I find sustaining in so many ways — as many of you have told me that you do as well.
And a special thanks for those of you who have “bought me a coffee” this past week after I announced that I’ve added this new feature to the blog, as a way of supporting its associated costs. You might have wondered about that coffee cup badge or icon floating in the bottom right corner of your screen — it links to my page at Buy Me a Coffee, where I’m thrilled to now have 14 “supporters.”
On their Facebook page, Buy Me a Coffee has posted a banner that refers to “that feeling you have when you own yourself as a creator,” and the phrase really struck me. I wrote last week, as I have before, about the power of vulnerability, and I believe in it. But vulnerability is not comfortable, nor easily overcome, and I have long felt vulnerable about my role as a blogger. One of Alice Munro’s early (1978) books, a collection of linked short stories, had for its Canadian title Who Do You Think You Are?. It was published elsewhere as The Beggar Maid because, apparently, the title didn’t have the same resonance for non-Canadian women. Lucky you, then. . .
At any rate, without going on again about Vulnerability — and its possible companion Temerity — I thank you for all the ways you encourage me to “own myself as a creator,” even to the point of lending monetary support. I appreciate this more than you will know.
But it’s been a busy weekend here, what with filling the Thanksgiving table and all, and I’m keeping things easy, if not lazy, today. We had our turkey feast yesterday (that’s our family tradition, easier for all those who have to work and go to school early Tuesday morning if Monday is a day of relaxing). . . just a small table, this year, one daughter, a son-in-law, and two grandkids (one of whom told us enthusiastically about reading Harry Potter in a print book and listening to an audiobook at the same time; the younger one crumbled and snitched bites of feta, whipped up cream for the pie, and played us a few tunes on the piano after dinner).
And I managed to sketch a journal page for my ninth day in a row of Inktober (you can see previous days on Instagram, if you’re curious). Day 8 and Day 9 both drew inspiration from the Thanksgiving preparation. . .
So that you don’t have to squint for that recipe:
— Cut 1 medium butternut squash in wedges and roast with oil, salt, pepper (to taste) and one whole head of garlic.
— Cook 200 grams quinoa in boiling salty water (follow directions on your quinoa box, I simmer mine more than boil it! 😉
— de-seed one pomegranate and when quinoa is cooked, combine with pomegranate seeds and
— 200 grams red chard
Take garlic from oven, cool, squeeze to extract cooked garlic and blend with 50 mls. olive oil and 1 tbsp honey.
Once squash is ready, mix together. Arrange on serving platter or in bowl and sprinkle with 200g feta.
Best served warm.
Back to my cozy couch now, tea and a book and, later, a turkey sandwich (with mayonnaise and cranberry sauce, oh yeah!) . . .
First though, Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians, and, again, a huge thank you to all of you for being here and encouraging and supporting me.
xo,
f
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, Frances! Keep up your good works. They are impressive and inspiring!
Happy Thanksgiving Frances. Stu and I celebrated by getting everything ready for dinner in the morning, then heading out for a drive, small picnic, and a walk along a river in Lanark County. Lots of leaves, rushing water, and dog-walking fellow walkers in the park that Stu found weeks ago on his way back from a country golf course. He does all the research for our walks on his drives home from golfing at various country courses.
As usual we got lost. And then the alarm went off on my car signalling we might have a puncture. Too many gravel roads getting to where we were which was in the middle of nowhere. Anyway we pulled into a farmyard to ask the man we saw driving his tractor down the laneway if he had a tire-pressure gauge. Ours being in our other vehicle. Ha. You can always be assured that a man driving a tractor will have all kinds of tools, I told Stu. At least that was my reasoning. And I was right. He checked our tires, even starting up the machine he uses to pump up his own tires to top up the air in ours. Then he wished us Happy Thanksgiving and we went on our way.
Being out in the fresh air and seeing parts of the country new to us (I did say we got lost!) restored our equanimity depleted by renovation prep. And our tire adventure restored our faith that Canadians are basically kind and generous people. So all I all… it was a lovely day all round. xo
Author
What a good story, Sue! Way to turn a Thanksgiving walk into a Big Adventure! Man with a tractor to the rescue! And it’s always so good to have our faith in humanity’s essential goodness restored — Thanks for sharing!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your beautiful family. I wish you a lovely, relaxing day! As always, your art has inspired me to find my sketch pad and not give up.
Author
I’m so glad you’re picking up your sketch pad! I hadn’t managed anything for weeks and then it’s easy to get into a spiral of doubt and lassitude. Nike has it right with that mantra of theirs: Just do it! 😉
Belated Happy Thanksgiving Frances,to you and P.
Such a joy to have your family to lunch and have a lazy day afterwards!
Dottoressa
Author
It really is a joy, thanks K!
Sounds like you had a fabulous Thanksgiving celebration, and I’m impressed with your commitment to Inktober – well done! I used to visit a cafe called Melograno, years ago, which was quirky and did great coffee, and now after it’s long gone, I know what it’s name meant. Anything that encourages reading is a good thing but my head hurts at the thought of simultaneous book reading and listening. Audiobooks put me to sleep and I’ve never taken to them, which I know is my loss as many people love them. I can’t help wondering about the raw red chard in your salad. I guess it might be finely shredded if it doesn’t require cooking.
Author
I like this little story of your cafe — this happens to me sometimes, that the significance of a word or name hits belatedly with a big A-ha! 😉
So far, I’m not interested in audiobooks either — since I was young, I’ve tended to get impatient when someone is reading aloud and I’d prefer to grab the page and read for myself. But she’s just coming into her stride as a reader and finds that the audio lets her relax, if she wants to, and not have to decipher words or puzzle over them. (I think of all the words I mispronounced as a voracious young reader!)
We didn’t end up finding red chard; just used the normal variety — and because it’s mixed in with the quinoa while that grain is still quite hot, the chard wilts nicely and was quite tender enough. The recipe leaves the decision to the cook of whether to slice, shred, tear into bite-size pieces — I sliced through mine to form rectangles, roughly bite-sized.
Thank you for your kind reply, which gives me with the confidence to make your salad. I’ve cooked from online recipes many times, even from many IG posts, especially lately, but the salad will be my first from a sketch shared online. Ah, the wonders of technology!
Happy Thanksgiving. for years butternut squash soup was always part if my American Thanksgiving table. over the years the size of the family at this table has grown and then diminished. this year the family will be going out to a restaurant for the holiday. I have mixed feelings about this, but I have to admit that as I have gotten older the task of hosting seems more daunting. I will be grateful for being together with those I love.
Author
Yes, that evolution seems familiar — we haven’t done the restaurant meal yet for any of the Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners, but I can imagine it’s coming. . . And I’ll be grateful for the togetherness, as you are. And for not having to do all that prep and clean-up!
This post, and your happiness as a creator, make me so happy:). Glad you had a nice little Thanksgiving.
Author
So pleased it’s contagious, happiness! 😉 xoxo
A belated happy Thanksgiving. I love these sketches. Pomegranates are such good subjects and one of my favorite things. They are wonderful to eat, to gaze upon, and, I now see, to sketch.