STAYING POSITIVE THROUGH ROUGH TIMES

Tough times bring out the best in us. But it can also bring out the worst. Fear, anger, sadness can be some of the feelings that emerge.  Relying on the love of family can be a big boast! Staying strong but knowing accepting help when needed is important, it is what strength is all about. After many storms there is a rainbow!

WEATHERING EVERY STORM

Canadians like to talk about the weather. So it makes sense we have many cliches using the weather. Weathering the storm! Conflicts, issues, concerns, problems can be our storms. Things and events we worry about. How we prepare for those events build character! Sometimes we can not prepare as an event comes upon us! Having strategies and emergency supplies can help. Or just knowing to ride it out! Storms are part of life. So looking for the rainbow or the calm or the quiet after a storm gives peace of mind. Not every end does bring a positive result. But knowing a good try was given is the important factor. Do you face a storm today? Even with snow in the forecast, life can go on!!

WINNING ALWAYS FEELS GOOD

As Toronto wins the game, the country celebrates for the Blue Jays. Celebrating without incident is always the way to go. In life we all need moments of feeling like a winner. Got the job. Became engaged. A healthy baby. Cleaned the house. Made a new cake. There are big moments of winning but many times in a day where we all can feel like winners in small ways. Overcoming the conflicts and challenges of the day can makes us feel like winners too. Just surviving something bad and getting up the next day to carry on! So do you feel like a winner today?

NANA SAYS DEALING WITH A FAMILY TRAGEDY TAKES A TOLL

So much bad news about children's deaths. The horrific crash in Vaughan killing 3 children in a family plus the grandfather. A university student killed on the University of Western Ontario campus. A university student coming home in Manitoba for Thanksgiving. The common denominator- all by drunk drivers!! So not only a tragedy but an avoidable one. Families torn apart by the unnecessary losses of young loved ones. Everyone is saddened of hearing about the loss of lives of young people that deserved to live. So what is the message- drinking and driving causes deaths. These 3 examples are just a few of the grief suffered by families. Remember the families of the drivers suffer too! No child was brought into this world to kill another. My husband knows a rich family where the son likes to go out with the boys! He has a car service on standby that picks him up and takes him home. His friends can use it too. For the non rich- call a cab! Nana says be responsible- every life counts!

#familytradegies#children'sdeathssosad#reflectivethoughtsbybarbara#barbaradimambro

A WEEKEND OF BLESSINGS

Thanksgiving weekend was fun of good eating and working around the house. It is a time to continue the garden cleanup and fall cleaning. Taking the food to a daughter's house so she could be home with the new baby- 3 weeks allowed extra time to do the big jobs and not just a house cleaning for dinner. So blessings include family, time to rest and time to work, an extra day at home and yes a four day work week!! Blessings come in all shapes and sizes! So 6 blessings with the grandchildren, daughters and sons-in- law, good health- so far and just being in a country like Canada. Took advantage of the advance polls and voted already. So democracy at its best!! Every vote counts! Blessed to be able to read, write and do my own interests. Yes the love of a good man counts as a huge blessing! Just feeling happy to be alive and have opportunities to carry on! How about you? What are your blessings?

#thanksgiving#blessings#thanksgivingblessings#grandchildrenareablessing#gettingreadyforafamilyfeast#reflectivethoughtsbybarbara#barbaradimambro

A CANADIAN THANKSGIVING MEAL

A traditional Canadian Thanksgiving is Turkey with all the trimmings. So what does that mean. For my family and me- Turkey with stuffing, mashed potaoes and gravy, a variety of vegetables such as squash- acorn, butternut, sweet potatoes, carrots, rapini, brussel sprouts, mushrooms; Italian sausage both sweet and hot and of course the desserts- pumpkin pie, apple pie, cupcakes for the kids, ice creams and whatever else comes in the way of sweets. Cranberry sauce to eat with the turkey is so Canadian too.

Nicely made.

Brussel sprouts and squash were grown before the white man can to North American so are traditional to our First Nations.

The Turkey stuffed ready to go in the oven.

The dessert table with some of the treats that could be had. Of course fruit is always added to the mix in these days of healthy eating! Oh Canada- we know how to eat!

SOME HISTORY FOR A CANADIAN THANKSGIVING

Unlike our American counterparts, the Canadian Thanksgiving is the second Monday in October. It had humble beginnings. It was about the the harvest season. Apparently the English explorer Martin Frobisher after establishing a settlement in 1578 celebrated surviving trying to find the way to the Orient or the infamous Northwest Passage. His was the first documented Thanksgiving celebration by an European in North America.  The French explorer Samuel de Champlain had a celebration in 1604 to give thanks he crossed the ocean and was safe in the new land. Halifax had a special celebration according to history when the 7 years war ended in 1763 when Nova Scotia became British and not French anymore. After the American Revolution when loyalists came to Canada some new settlers brought the idea of an American Thanksgiving.  The day in Canada floated from the Spring to coinciding with Armistice Day until it became Remembrance Day in November. Hard to believe that it took a proclamation in the Canadian Parliament January 31, 1957 to make the day official every year. So it seems- " A day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest which Canada has been blessed... to be observed on the second Monday in October" made it tradition. Schools and churches across the nation find ways to celebrate. Children learn about the holiday. Churches usually have a display of the general harvest that is known in this great land. Corn, squash, sweet potato, wheat sheaves, turnip, parsnip, cranberries, apples, carrots, pumpkins, onions, fall flowers like sunflowers could be some of the many fall items included in any celebration. For the average Canadian it means getting together with family for the traditional Canadian meal of "turkey with all the trimmings." Coming home for Thanksgiving or being the host/hostess of the event.

 Homes can have some decorations.

A festive table with fun items for the kids!

Some appetizers before the big meal. Thanksgiving- a time for celebration of harvest and family times.

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