I'm whipping up a dinner for 30 of my closest family members, LOL. We're doing the standard Thanksgiving fare plus some non-traditional family favourites. I've (with a surprising amount of help from my children) already made three pumpkin pies, scalloped carrots, sweet potato casserole and the stuffing, plus peeled the potatoes. Assorted family members are bringing rice rolls, perogies, taco salad, a ham, buns and pickles. I'm sure we'll have plenty of food. I love filling my home with my family! Happy Thanksgiving! Carrie

Thank you very much for your good wishes, everyone. We, who live on this great North American English-speaking island (north of the Alamo, that is), who've not known international warfare for over 180 years, or within one major country for 140 years, have no idea of the ongoing fear of imminent catastrophe that millions know in many parts of the world, more or less daily. I said this a few years ago ... then remembered that the most recent military action was just over 120 years ago, against a local insurrection in this area of North America ... was in Canada, where a fellow called Louis Riel developed an uprising against perceived injustice meted out by an eastern establishment against developing Western Canada. He was elected to Parliament, the Eastern establishment sent a military action against him and his supporters (via U.S. rail system I think) and there was a battle at Batoche, in central Saskatchewan that went on for a couple of days in 1885, with a small number killed (I have no idea how many), mainly on the side of the rebels. Louis Riel ran to the U.S. for safety for a while, eventually returned to Canada ... was jailed and, later ... hanged! In recent years, he's been rehabilitated and considered to have led a reasonably legitimate reactive force against central government's rather heedless injustice. And ... the whole civil war issue was/is so minor that when I first thought of this military warfare issue in North America (north of the Alamo) ... ... I forgot about it! So much for Civil War in Canada (where we developed our independence in stages, by evolution, rather than revolution). Peacefully. Currently ... in a major portion of our country, where the official langage is ... a local variation of French, a substantial number of people say that they want to be idependent (and that the rest of us aren't to have much of a say in the issue) ... and they had a referendum (with a rather convoluted question) in their area a few years ago ... with close to half of the people voting in favour. But, it hasn't happened ... yet. So much for which to be thankful! And, we residents of the earth need to learn to live together in peace, using our scarce resources to work together to build, rather than smash ... and be seriously concerned to preserve our environment ... or we'll destroy ourselves. We have a number of endangered species - mankind is getting to be one of them! And, personally, as I approach age 80, enjoying good health, not having taken a pill in 30 years or so, living within my pension income, not currently needing the assets that have shrunk in current value recently, I'm living comfortably in what used to be Uncle's farmhouse, where I figure that I can stay as long as I can drive, I'm taking the produce of my garden to share with church folks and, on occasion, Food Bank and mission agencies helping the disadvantaged, locally. I can vote for the leaders of my country on Tuesday (in what many of us consider an unnecessary election - but, there it is) and things are going so well here that many don't even bother. So many take democracy for granted! How many more years? months? days? will be left to me to enjoy my good fortune, personally? I have no idea - who does, at this age? But, for the present, I am an independent, healthy, prosperous ... happy person. Our countries have some very serious issues with which to deal, and soon ... or later wish that they had ... but that's mainly for others to deal with. I'll do and say what I can to seek to deal with the illness ... but I long ago realized that God's the General ( a designation that I'm not too sure that S/He'd assent to)... I'm just a foot soldier, evaluating my society and the world as I feel called upon to do. Have a blessed, happy Thaksgiving, all of you Canadians! ole joyful

Thank you for your good wishes, folks. Our thoughts are with the folks of southern Manitoba, where a major storm, including snow and high winds, so serious and widespread that the premier has called a state of emergency, necessitating calling in skilled help from neighbouring provinces and Minnesota to help clear snow and downed trees and power lines: tens of thousands without power, they report. People were advised to avoid travel. ----------------- I'm extra thankful, for I was having trouble with words reduplicating, was dragged back to the head of the thread 3 or 4 times, then to Google offering several links twice, couldn't get back, started the story again, then to be told that I was going incognito. I decided that I must write one sentence, then post and come back to edit. Then I hit the button to show all that I had open, found the latest edition of my story, opened it, came back ... hit "Submit" ... and here I am ... ... editing! ole joyful

Your pickup truck would hold a lot of plants, nicholsworth. A lot more than a sports car! And with a pickup truck, all you would have to do on warm sunny spring days, is just back it out of the garage and uncover. Then on cold nights, back into the garage it goes! I would love to hear what your husband says about using the pickup truck. I'm a bit nervous about asking my husband about his sports car. He already thinks I am "pot crazy!" Just last week he said---"it seems like you have more and more pots . . . Do you know how many pots you have?" Hmmmm . . . "not really," I said. Well actually I don't know. But I don't want to tell him the number of pots I THINK I HAVE!