Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving.  I didn't. Because my nurse sister had to work on Thursday, we had the turkey dinner on Saturday when she was off. My mom cooked & I use the term loosely, since the turkey was still pink when she took it out of the oven & the stuffing had a strange spongey texture. I only ate some stuffing, gravy & cranberry sauce. My sister, who wasn't in the greatest mood to begin with, took a temper tantrum after a gnat landed on her napkin. She acted like it was a scorpion instead & kept yelling about one things after another for the rest of the evening. My mom just sat at the table & went into a sort of trance. Oh boy, I can't wait till Christmas!

   The craft show is this Saturday & I'm busy with last minute things.Then it's loading the car on Thursday and set-up on Friday. I'm trying  not to get too nervous about it all, though I am a bit apprehensive since I've never been in this particular show, though it has a good reputation & high attendance. I'll be taking all small paintings, so everything will fit into a couple boxes & be easy to transport. I'll take photos of my space & post them here afterwards. Keep your fingers crossed that business is good.

   Tomorrow is my monthly book discussion, our last for the year and we will be doing Dicken's "A Christmas Carol". I'll be leading, so I hope people have shaken off the effects of that triptyphane & will be talkative. I've got about 11 questions, though some are on trivial things & obscure sentences. Hopefully, they will expand on the message & relevancy of the book to keep the meeting lively. I'll be wearing my Winnie the Pooh "Holiday Wishes" shirt to add to the festive feeling.

  These are some little Pilgrim bears I got at the grocery store a couple years ago that I arranged with some real gourds &  mini pumpkins (the ones that appeared with Rufus last month). I haven't quite got the hang of adding letters to pics, can you tell? lol

   Been so busy preparing for the upcoming craft show that I hadn't gotten any photos taken of the fall foliage until last week. I spent an afternoon at a couple parks snapping away.One place a squirrel hunting acorns distracted me, it was probably wondering what I was doing or if I was after any nuts. Some photos are reference for future paintings, details of leaves & such, though I did take a number just for the beauty of the trees. The colors aren't as vivid as they are some years, perhaps because it's been a wet, cloudy fall. The leaves are briefly muted hues before floating to the ground. It's been a bit disappointing. 

 There are a few trees sporting dramatic colors like this maple. But mostly it's been subdued shades, which are still very pretty.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

                      -Lt. Col. John McCrae (1918)

    On Thursday my sister & I went to see "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" at the cineplex. As a fan of Cate Blanchett & the first "Elizabeth" film, I was really looking forward to this one, which did not disappoint. It finds the queen confident after reigning some years, the court is still trying to marry her off, she's still resisting and the dashing Walter Raleigh has returned from exploring a new continent & naming part of it after her. Clive Owens is handsome, dashing & fits the part of the adventurer like a glove, naturally Elizabeth finds him appealing. The film has her fighting Spain, various conspiracies, her cousin and her attraction to Raleigh. But the cinematography is what had me riverted to the screen, it was stunning. Sumptuous vistas, buildings, camera angles from balconies, lighting from mullioned windows or glorious sunsets, scenes on cliffs & sailing ships at sea, it was a feast for the eye. Words cannot fully convey how beautiful it was.

My sister thought they spent too much time on the love story, when the political machinations were the important part, but I had trouble keeping the bad guys straight; they were all tall & slim with light hair, very interchangeble. I couldn't tell them apart, and not enough was done to differentiate them or give us backgrounds to their characters. When the activities of her cousin, Queen Mary was uncovered, that was more interesting. But the love story that was at the core was what held me emotionally, at times the longing & vulnerability of Elizabeth was so strong it was painful to me. The film showed the all too human side of a powerful ruler. And did so with some truly amazing photography.