Hopie's song

Thanksgiving

My sweet little granddaughter, Natalie, made an ornament for the charity tree raffle with her playgroup.

There were hundreds of trees and even Santa paid a visit! We stopped at the local pizza shop afterward and ordered chicken fingers and salad to bring home with us.

It was absolutely the sweetest thing to get a chance to be with my grandchildren as they told Santa what they wanted!

I couldn't find my pecan pie recipe on Wednesday morning so I pulled out all the old recipes.

I stumbled across this one for rice pudding that my 94 year old aunt had written back in the 1970's.

It is my nana's recipe and was tucked into my mother's old recipe book which I inherited when she died.

I can't wait to make it.

I know that Thanksgiving is a lot of work and I don't want to sound all 1950s housewife but as I woman I feel so honored and blessed to be able to carry all of those old recipes with me. Every time I make the turnips at Thanksgiving I know that I am carrying my nana and my mother to the table with me.

What an honor to be able to do that.

My husband and I found a little table to eat Thanksgiving dinner at. He doesn't always get to be with us because of his crazy work schedule. We felt a bit like we were at the "children's table."

We were so full after dinner that my daughter and I went for a walk through the woods in her back yard. My husband joined us for part of it and took this picture of us.

My grandchildren call me Hopie and my husband, Hey-Joe. Yesterday after dinner my granddaughter handed me this sealed envelope and said she had made us a Christmas present that we could put under our tree...but don't peek.

I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and my prayers for you are that in the coming year you have so much to be thankful for that your cups overflow.

Remember that it is not our happiness that makes us grateful but our gratefulness that makes us happy.

Sunday, November 23, 2025

Gleaning grace

For the sake of my brothers and friends I say,

"Peace be with you."

For the sake of the house of the Lord, our God,

I pray for your good.

Psalm 122:8-9

Scripture and a snapshot

Sunday scripture blessings

Friday, November 21, 2025

The one with friendsgiving

I am ever so thankful that my commute to work takes me past this beautiful beach. It sets the tone for my whole day.

In the little play house on the playground at work there is a shelf that was used for books at one point. The birds found it a nice place for a nest last spring and this is what's left. We kept the children out of the house when the birds were growing last year. I am hopeful that we will have more birds next year.

Saturday was my daughter's annual Friendsgiving at her husband's family camp.

There were around 35 of us and everyone brought food.

This has been going on for around 10 years now and it's so much fun.

Some folks bring the same food every year because it's so delicious and it's become a tradition.

It was pretty cold this year and we were all huddled around the big fire pit.

The camp is a long way down a dirt road and has a tidal river in the back yard.

It's a beautiful spot and such a fun tradition.

This is the steeple of the Old North church in Marblehead. I am so thankful to have this beautiful view

and be able to live in the little, old, pre-revolutionary town that I grew up in.

I have been to a great many funerals and baptisms and various services over the years in the Old North

church. It's not my church but it is the church of many of the people I know.

I suppose as one ages it only stands to reason that one has more experience with funerals and church other

church services.

Old churches are sacred and reverent. You can almost feel the history, the centuries of welcoming new life

or laying loved ones to rest, or even just the every Sunday secret prayers that live within the walls.

I am so thankful to have reached an age where I am able to truly recognize and honor and even relate

to the hallowed history in these beautiful places.

My mother's last Thanksgiving before she died was in 2020. It was the COVID Thanksgiving and because she and my husband and I lived in the same house we were allowed to be together. It was just the three of us that last year. I spent almost every Thanksgiving with my mother.

Many years before we moved into the same house I couldn't sleep and was on my phone at 1:00 in the morning a few days before Thanksgiving. I accidentally called her and quickly hung up hoping she wouldn't hear the phone. It barely rang one time. Of course she called me back immediately thinking something was wrong. I apologized. She wasn't sleeping either. We were just about to hang up when she said, "Kara, could you come over and help me put the tablecloth and the leaves in the table tomorrow?"

She was awake at 1:00 in the morning a week before Thanksgiving thinking about tablecloths!

I remember that she made the best creamed onions and that she made them every year. She also made turnip and every year she told me that she boiled it down with a piece of bacon because that is how her mother did it.

Now, I make the creamed onions and I make the turnip with bacon. It's a funny feeling to be the person who carries that...who carries my mother and my grandmother to the table every Thanksgiving.

I realize now that we eat those traditional foods not because we love them so much...creamed onions and turnips aren't exactly on anyone's list of favourite foods. We make them because it helps us to feel close to the people that we love at a time when we are missing them so very much.

When I was younger Thanksgiving wasn't my favourite holiday. I thought it was so much work and that women had to do most of it.

I understand now what an honor it is. It's like having one foot in the past and one foot in the future.

HERE is some historical information on the Old North church of Marblehead if you are interested.

Sunday, November 16, 2025

Gleaning grace

and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, write,

blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth;

Yea, sayeth the spirit.

that they may rest from their labours,

and their works do follow them.

Revelation 14:13

Saturday, November 15, 2025

A joyful heart

I had my grandchildren overnight on Monday because we all had Tuesday off.

I love being able to walk with them on the streets of the town I grew up in.

They live about an hour away.

As we were walking up to the toy store (which was closed on Veteran's day...so sad)

we were passed by this lobsterman bringing his traps home for the off season.

Nothing brings me greater joy than my grandchildren!

What has brought you joy this week?

Share your joys!

Friday, November 14, 2025

sharing in the laughter

I spent the weekend with a very old and very dear friend along with her mother and her daughter.

Seven of the churches in her town had craft fairs on Saturday and we did some shopping

and went to lunch as well. I spent Friday night at her house because her mother wanted to be there when they opened at nine in the morning and it's about an hour drive from my house. We didn't leave till five!!

I was exhausted when I got home but we had the best time!

I picked up my grandchildren on Monday night and drove them down to spend the night at my house.

We all had Tuesday off because of Veteran's day.

They love to walk Marblehead (the town I live in) so we went out a few times during the day.

It was much too cold to go near the water but that didn't stop us from throwing rocks in from the shore.

I absolutely love decorating my Christmas tree with them but it's hard to find the time for them to come down to my house because everyone gets so busy. Last year we couldn't get together at all.

I know it's SUPER early...but I took advantage of the the opportunity. They loved it! Me too!

Natalie, who will be five in January said, "It's so beautiful, I fell to my knees!"

She had me hysterical the entire time she was here.

Years ago a co-worker gave me this cute little night time blindfold.

I never use it because I don't like not being able to see anything if I wake in the night.

She loved it though!

I'm not the only one who was ridiculously early this year as the toy store had their Santa mailbox out as well. The girls put letters in but Verne is getting a little old for that. He's already nine years old!

I mentioned that we did go for a few walks. This was on our way to the toy store which was, sadly, closed for Veteran's day.

Beyond little Natalie's head is truck loaded down with lobster traps. He was headed out from the town landing and bringing traps home to his yard for the off season. You can just see the harbour in the backround.

I am so thankful to live in this little town. I love being able to walk my grandchildren around the town that I grew up in.

I think I lost track of how many things I am grateful for...tis the season!

Thursday, November 13, 2025

Old North

I happened to glance out the window the other morning and notice how beautiful the view was. I'm not sure what kind of tree this is but it was in such bright colour! The steeple you see is the Old North Church in Marblehead, MA. It was built in 1824. The building itself is just beautiful and I can hear the bells from my house every Sunday morning and at various other times during the year when they ring for different reasons. During the COVID pandemic they rang every night at 6:00 for 5 minutes. All the church bells in Marblehead did. It was a way for us all to stay connected.

I am thankful to live in beautiful and historic town.

Thankful Thursday

Sunday, November 9, 2025

Gleaning Grace

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In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God

in Christ Jesus concerning you.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

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Friday, November 7, 2025

the beanstalk

Yes. It is another one from one of the beaches I pass on my way to work.

It was just so beautiful on this particular morning.

I work with toddlers at a small Montessori school which has students from infants to 8th grade.

We have a garden on campus and one day my class took a walk and picked some of the dried beans.

We brought them inside and shelled them. Then we used them for a spooning activity

on the practical life shelf. It was lovely for the students to see how a cycle of nature goes from the bean,

or seed, to a plant, and then back to the bean or seed. We also talked about how some seeds we

eat and some seeds we don't eat.

We will also be making some baked beans in the crockpot one day next week. I will secretly

bring in some beans as well because we didn't pick enough from the garden.

I don't have a picture of my laundry...

Our washing machine broke. We will have to get a new one. Ugh!

It's on the docket for next month but in the mean time I've been going to the laundry mat.

I love being able to put all of my weekly laundry into one of the large load washers!

It only takes 24 minutes! I sit in my car and read from my daily bible devotions and do some praying

while I wait. Then I load the clean wet clothes up and put them in the dryer at home.

It is surprisingly not as much of a chore as I thought it would be.

I'm glad we'll be getting a new washer soon though...

Wednesday morning I got to work early and took the opportunity to take a walk around

the little pond across the street. It is not a long walk as it's a very small pond but it

is so pretty. The leaves were absolutely beautiful and I could hear the

Canadian geese honking as they ate their breakfast.

I got a manicure last night for the first time in quite a while.

I don't like long nails because I work with small children and I don't want to scratch them and also

because I can't stop thinking about all the dirt that gets stuck under there.

I love the colour I chose. I thought it would be much darker it looked like a dark lilac colour in the bottle.

I do love the understated and natural look though.

I was noticing how much older my hands look now. They remind me of my grammy's hands.

I used to love her hands and remember how old they looked.

Did I mention that I notice I say "I'm old." a lot.

I've decided to stop saying that. I don't want my age to define me.

Instead I am saying that I am a woman of wisdom and experience.

I am a wisdom woman.

Sunday, November 2, 2025

Love one another

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more,

with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is

excellent - and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,

filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes from through Jesus Christ,

to the glory and praise of God.

Philippians 1:9-11

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Today is All Soul's day when we remember those who have gone before us.

I am remembering my mother and father, my grandparents, and my beautiful step-daughter.