Praising God and Practicing Gratitude!

Thanksgiving is a great time to practice gratitude!  Doing that here, whilst Joining up with Deb Nance of Readerbuzz for her Sunday Salon.

We are celebrating many things!  Family, friends, good food, fruit from our trees, and this week a report of over 9,000 shoebox gifts  collected at our Operation Christmas Child Hilo Drop Off location! The boxes go to hurting and impoverished children in Third World countries and other places, wherever folks are going through various disasters, to orphanages, etc. This is the second and final container.

Some Thanksgiving photos, I was totally focused on everything but taking pictures.  Guests are sending me a few.  

Books read:

The two Sci-Fi books were read while it was still November! 

Bob's Saucer Repair, which had some funny moments.  Through I probably won't continue on with the series.

And, C Pam Zhang, author of Land of Milk and Honey, which I'll be posting for our upcoming selection on Cook the Books Club, sometime tomorrow, hopefully.

Presently reading, in between making turkey stock, cleaning up from the party and the rest of life:

Mrs. McGinty's Dead, by Agatha Christie.  Which after the last two, I was definitely in the mood for.

Hercule Poirot is a total diversion.  

Finally, from the garden: Ulu, or breadfruit, which I've made into delicious turkey stuffing the past two years. A number of them need to be picked and used.  Right now.  I've also made flour from it, which is good for the longer term - i.e., after bearing, for storage.

And, this one; the amazing Mexican Sunflower, which due to some recent research, it turns out is wonderfully good for the soil, besides having many health benefits.  And I had previously just loved it for being easy to grow and beautiful in the garden.

Also, as I occasionally add stuff before Sunday draws to a close, here's more of Bob's art, which should be included.  It's often so fun and interesting.  This one based on an old Roger Miller song, which a few of you might remember.  Here, his brother Sean again, this time with his granddaughter, Belle, rollerskating in a buffalo herd.

That's it for now!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!