29 years of Canadian Thanksgiving

 "I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual." - Henry David Thoreau

 Campbell River, B.C.  2012

1989 Kingston

 Edmonton, Alberta, 1996

2017 Full Moon

1996, St. Albert, Alberta Us 4 

"On Thanksgiving I will stop to give thanks that my family is safe and healthy, especially because I realize that, following the tragedies of this year, it is all too real a possibility that they might not have been." - Bobby Jindal

1991, Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia

1996 Ft. Edmonton . Threshing

1990, Camp Roads, CFB Petawawa, Ontario

2017 Stellar Jays C. River, B.C.

2012 Estuary trail.

2004. Coast Mtns from White Rock, B.C.

2013 Discovery Passage

 "Over and over I marvel at the blessings of my life: Each year has grown better than the last."  - Lawrence Welk

1990. Camp Trails. CFB Petawawa, Ontario.

1994 Fredericton, New Brunswick. Superstar rehearsals

1997 St. Albert, Alberta. Us 4 

 "Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year because it reminds us to give thanks and to count our blessings. Suddenly, so many things become so little when we realize how blessed and lucky we are." - Joyce Giraud

2017 Coast Mtns, Quadra Island.

2017 Grape Harvest about a gazillion grapes

1989 Ottawa River. Fishing point.

 "Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse. "  -Henry Van Dyke

                                2015 Campbell River Thanksgiving Sunset looking south.

                                         Us four 2016-2017    Campbell River Thanksgiving.

Apple Coffee Cake

 "Anyone can count the seeds in an apple, but only God can count the number of apples in a seed." Robert H. Schuller

 Apples , apples everywhere. Tis the season. 

 FRESH APPLE/CRANBERRY COFFEE CAKE (2014)

  (Came across a version , decided to tweak it a bit….fabulous thing. Disappears so fast, you may have to make another…)

 IN SMALL BOWL COMBINE: 1 tsp cinnamon, scant 1/3 cup brown sugar

 IN LARGER BOWL COMBINE: ½ cup soft margarine, 2 eggs, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 ½ tsp vanilla, ½ cup orange juice or milk,1 ¾ tsp baking powder, 1 ½ cups flour ( can be half whole wheat if you like), handful of dried cranberries and a handful of pecans ( if you wish).

 "The goldenrod is yellow, The corn is turning brown, The trees in apple orchards With fruit are bending down."
                            - Helen Hunt Jackson

 Do not overbeat. Just combine . Stare out the window and watch the leaves swirl....

 HAVE READY: 3 large apples grated.

 I think the original recipe asked for 1 apple, but better with more. The more the merrier....

 So chop apples with abandon...maybe add in a pear  if you have them on hand.

 "Why not upset the apple cart? If you don't, the apples will rot anyway." Frank A. Clark

 PUT TOGETHER: Spread half batter in greased   loafpan, ( or double recipe and put into 9x13 like I did) ,sprinkle with half the cinnamon/br sugar mix, and all of the grated apples. 

 Spread rest of batter on top. Sprinkle with rest of cinnamon/br sugar mixture. You can even toss a few dried cranberries and pecans on top. But it’s not necessary.

 If you do NOT have vanilla....REAL vanilla....you can use the same amount of maple syrup in the recipe.  Does the same thing.  Actually I like it better. And a LARGE bottle of maple syrup goes a long way.

 BAKE: 350 F Oven for about 35 minutes. Be sure to test centre with a sharp knife to see if it has baked through.

 If not , add a few more minutes. Do not underbake. Let cool for a bit, Turn out to a board and slice away. (Not your fingers.....the cake.  Yum. Not the fingers...the cake.)

 Really a treat. Great for company, great with coffee, tea, wine, soup, stew……….the possibilities are endless.

" We know there is gravity because apples fall from trees. We can observe gravity in daily life. If we could throw an apple to the edge of the universe, we would observe it accelerating."
     - Adam Riess

 Photographs 2017

First day of October...

 “I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” 
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

 AUTUMN SUNSET by Henry David Thoreau (1819-1862)
The sun sets on some retired meadow, where no house is visible......

 with all the glory and splendour that it lavished on cities, and, perchance, as it has never set before.....

 where there is but a solitary marsh-hawk to have his wings gilded by it, or only a muskrat looks out from his cabin, and there is some little black veined brook in the midst of the marsh....

 just beginning to meander, winding slowly around a decaying stump.

 We walked in so pure and bright a light, gilding the withered grass and leaves,

 so softly and serenely bright, I thought I had never bathed in such a golden flood...

 without a ripple or a murmur to it.

 The west side of every wood and rising ground gleamed....

 like a boundary of Elysium......

 and the sun on our backs seemed like a gentle herdsman driving us home at evening.

 So we saunter toward the Holy Land, 

 till one day the sun shall shine more brightly....

 than ever he has done.......

 shall perchance shine into our minds and hearts......

 and light up our whole lives........ 

 with a great awakening light.....

 as warm and serene and golden....

  as on a bank-side in autumn...

 “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” 
― Albert Camus

Autumn Sunset by Henry David Thoreau from "1000 Beautiful Things, 1948"