Backyard Neighbor

BLUE MONDAY - THANKSGIVING BLESSINGS

WELCOME TO BLUE MONDAY

In memory of Smiling Sally

Remember, this season through Christmas you may share anything you like.

Be sure to link your post to the linky at the bottom of my post.

Please link Backyard Neighbor somewhere on your post.

Lets try to visit the participants because this is what a Blog party is all about.

I love to read your comments and I thank you all for playing along each week.

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WARNING...HEAVY ON PHOTOS.

Thanksgiving in the USA is a time to be thankful for our many blessings. 

I often wonder if there is a day set aside in the many countries that share with Blue Monday.

I would love to hear about it so share if your country has a day of Thanksgiving.

Our very large family had our very own "special" Thanksgiving celebration many years ago.  Everyone had to dress up like a pilgrim or an Indian.

Our Thanksgiving tradition started by the early settlers (pilgrims) and the American Indians getting together to share their harvest and to thank God for their many blessings.

There were 75 family members attending our celebration and it was held a few miles from where I live in Western N. Carolina.

Many of my long time Blogging friends have seen this post before but it was so much fun I am re-posting some of the photos again.

First the press releases.  Our small town thought this event was special enough to take photos for the local papers.

 

All 80 of us did not get in these photos. Can you find me?

The following photos are of my family and the families of my 4 sisters and my brother.

This is Bill and I with our five children and their families

Here we are in our pilgrim finery. 

Each family made their own costumes.

I have to say, the pilgrim costume  I made for me does nothing for ones shape. LOL.

I made Bill's hat out of cardboard. Not easy I tell you.

 

My sister Carmen and her large family. Carmen is bottom left kneeling.

 

My sister Jane Anne and her husband.  The following  photo is my sister's son and family.  For some reason her daughters are not in this pic.

My brother and his wife.  The following photo is his children and families

 

My sister Caralie on right and her family.

 

My sister Diane third from left and her family.

Last my Aunt and Uncle came from Michigan to join in our family fun.

The one photo that I wish we had taken was everyone sitting at the tables eating their Thanksgiving dinner. Sigh!

Our family is much larger now as many of these children are grown and have families of their own.

All of our grands are married or in college now.  Where did the years go??

We are blessed beyond words.

For our family and friends including are many blog friends.

We send you all blessings and love no matter what country you are from.

Happy Blue Monday,

JEANNE

An InLinkz Link-up

PINK SATURDAY - THANKSGIVING AND BLESSINGS

Hello to all the Pink Saturday fans.  Be sure to visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound  for interesting and fun posts.  Thanks for expanding the "anything goes" idea.  It is especially nice for the holidays.

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THANKSGIVING GREETINGS

 

Our fireplace mantel

 

My Thanksgiving angel wishes our family and friends a blessed and love filled Thanksgiving.

Blessing and love,

JEANNE

 

BLUE MONDAY - "Hay" like you haven't seen before.

WELCOME TO BLUE MONDAY

In memory of Smiling Sally

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NOTICE:  Next Blue Monday please feel free to post anything about the Fall Or Thanksgiving (USA) even if you do not have anything blue to share.  Your choice.  During the Christmas season please share anything about how you celebrate the Christmas holiday. ( no blue is needed)

Have fun and lets share our joy in these holidays through the New Year.

Then resume our 'blue' in 2017

Remember to link your post with the link at the bottom of my post.

Please link Blue Monday at Backyard Neighbor somewhere on your post.

Make an effort to visit everyone.

We are all very happy when we receive a comment.

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Have you ever seen a farm that has a lot of fun in their hay field after harvest like this?

Here we go...

 

 

 

 

 

As a child I lived on a farm...my fondest memories was playing in the hay barn with hay bales that were not shaped like these. We played house and king of the mountain etc.  I could not have imagined anything like this.

What a great sense of fun.

Happy Blue Monday

Blessings and love,

JEANNE

 

 

 

 

An InLinkz Link-up

BLUE MONDAY - A BIT OF WHIMSEY

WELCOME TO BLUE MONDAY

In memory of

Smiling Sally

 

Please join in the fun on Blue Monday by sharing your blue.

Link your post with the link at the bottom of my post.

Please link to Blue Monday at Backyard Neighbor somewhere on your post.

Most importantly, visit and comment on your fellow Blue Monday participants.

I love to hear from you so comment on my post as well.

Thank you to everyone who joins my Blue Monday meme and takes the time to say hello.

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SOME CAR WHIMSEY TO MAKE YOU SMILE.

I saw the following photo on FB.  It was art in a different way.

 

I can't imagine how long it took to crochet or knit this work of art.

Ok guys, the car is for you. LOL.

This is not my photo. the artist is unknown.

The next two photos "are my photos."

Presenting the quilted car...

 

The car was at at a quilt show in the town where I live.  Pretty cute huh?

The next car was at at a festival I went to in Atlanta, on my birthday a couple of years ago.

The festival celebrated the "Country Living Magazine Fair"

Presenting the Jelly Belly car...

 

They gave away a small bag of Jelly Belly candy. YUM!

 

Here is a bit of Fall that was pretty amazing at the Fair.

This is my photo and these pumpkins and squash were all real.

Happy Fall.

Blessings and love,

An InLinkz Link-up

PINK SATURDAY - FALL IN NORTH CAROLINA

Thank you Beverly for hosting "Anything Goes/Pink Saturday. 

Please visit our host at How Sweet the Sound.

 

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Today I am sharing some North Carolina Fall color.  It is quickly dropping leaves and winter is approaching, so before it is all over, I hope you enjoy my photos.

 

 

Driveway to our home.

 

Fall through the trees.

 

 

Our dogwood tree.

I hope you enjoyed some of our beautiful color in the mountains around our home.

 

Blessings and love,

JEANNE

BLUE MONDAY - FALL IN THE MOUNTAINS

WELCOME TO FALL AND BLUE MONDAY

In memory of Smiling Sally

 

Join in the Blue Monday fun by sharing your blue.

Just link your post by using the link at the bottom of my post.

Please link Blue Monday at Backyard Neighbor somewhere on you post.

It would make my day if everyone would make a comment on my post

and also visit the participants who shared their thump print link as well.

As you know I do my best to visit everyone.  If you do not get a comment from me it is because I may be out of town or your blog will not accept my comment.

I feel very connected to each of you and you "all" are the reason I enjoy hosting so much.

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FALL IN THE SMOKEY MOUNTAINS

Many of you know that my header at the top of my Blog is the view from our home.  Fall was late coming but I am sharing some photos that were taken around out home.

We are blessed to live in such a beautiful part of our country.

View from our front deck.

 

There are five mountain ranges in this view.

 

View looking up to the sky under the trees.

 

More blue sky through the leaves.

 

Our driveway view from our deck.

HAPPY BLUE MONDAY

Blessings and love,

JEANNE

Alert: I am trying to get my link up without success. Please check back. Link will be open at 7:00am

An InLinkz Link-up

BLUE MONDAY - CELEBRATING A BIRTHDAY

WELCOME TO BLUE MONDAY

In memory of

Smiling Sally

Please join Blue Monday by sharing your blue.

Link your post to Backyard Neighbor with the link below.

Remember to link Backyard Neighbor somewhere on your post.

Thank you for your comments, they always make me very happy.

THE BIRTHDAY BEING CELEBRATED WAS MINE.

On October 20th I celebrated with one of our daughters who came to NC from Florida to be with me on my birthday.  We visited the Biltmore Estate in Ashville, NC.

The first thing we did was have lunch at "The Bistro" in the Biltmore Winery.

 

 

I'm so happy Diana wore blue.

Our daughter, Diana and me.

Then we did wine tasting.  The Biltmore is famous for their delicious wine.

 

We loved the wine tasting.

 

 

The gardens were full of gorgeous mums.

 

 

We toured inside the largest home in America...The Biltmore.

They were already decorating for Christmas.

Our day was beautiful, then after leaving the Biltmore we met my sisters for dinner and a movie back home in Franklin, NC

My sisters,  Jane Anne, Jeanne, Caralie, Diane and Carmen, at the Kobe Japanese restaurant.

I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful birthday.

PS: My hubby was with us at the Biltmore but not for the girls birthday party.

Yes, we all came to my home after the movie, "The Accountant"... for a lovely birthday cake.

I recommend the movie.

We ate the whole cake!!!

BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY SMILE HERE.

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Happy Blue Monday

Blessings and love,

JEANNE

 

 

An InLinkz Link-up

BLUE MONDAY - UNDER THE SEA

WELCOME TO BLUE MONDAY

In memory of

Smiling Sally

Please join my Blog party by sharing your blue.

Be sure to link your post with the link at the bottom of my post.

Please link Backyard Neighbor somewhere on your post.

Please visit and comment.  Your comments make me smile.

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UNDER THE SEA IN OUR GRANDSON'S BEDROOM

We are in Florida for a Gator football game and this time we are visiting with our daughter and son-in-law that live in Orlando, FL.

Usually we stay in our granddaughter's bedroom but this time we are guests in our grandson's bedroom which is "Under the Sea"

Our son-in-law is an amateur artist.  He can draw and paint anything and has talent he has never shared.. with the exception of his own personal use.

I am sharing a whole wall mural that he painted in our grandson's room.

This is

Logan when his bedroom was first painted.

Logan's bedroom "Under the Sea"

THE MURAL

This is not quite all of the mural.  I will share more detail in the next photos.

 

 

 

This is not the mural but it is a shelf in his room that was also transformed in 3-D. Various fish etc. are hanging from the ceiling and sitting on the shelf.

 

A nautical net on the wall.

 

The lamp is part of a diving apparatus.

 

Logan's light switch.

 

Logan's bed is a trundle bed and it makes two twin beds. We are very comfortable "Under the Sea"

The pups watching me are Jojo and our pup Cheri'.

This is Logan now.

Logan is an outstanding student and was 4th in his HS class of over 400 seniors with a perfect unweighted 4.0 He never had less than an 'A' since kindergarten.  He is now a sophomore at UF and maintaining his high average.  Engineering is his major.  He will be an officer in the Air Force when he graduates.

He was in ROTC in HS  and he was the outstanding ROTC Cadet in the ROTC program.  He received a 'full'  ROTC Scholastic Scholarship to the University of Florida.  Logan is standing with his Air Force superiors. (not sure of their rank)

Please forgive me for taking a grandmother's bragging rights. We are so proud of Logan.

Happy Blue Monday

Blessings and love,

JEANNE

PS: Do you think Logan's "under the Sea" bedroom should be updated?  Big grandma smile here.

An InLinkz Link-up

PINK SATURDAY - MEIJER GARDENS GIFT SHOP

Pink Saturday is always a pink celebration or 'Anything Goes'  I am still sharing PINK today.  Thank you Beverly at, How Sweet the Sound for hosting one of the most fun Blog parties.  Be sure and enjoy the many posts that share with us on this special day.  Visit and have fun meeting new friends on Pink Saturday.

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MEIJER GARDENS IN GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN

I have just a few photos to share considering how many treasures there were to photograph.

These pics were my favorite things.

Not sure what to call this but it was stunning.

Is it an urn?

 

The vases were beautiful,

And very expensive. I didn't buy one. Sigh!

 

This is the entrance to the gardens.  A wonderful walkway into the gardens. The gift shop was not far from the entrance.

The quality of the treasures in the gift shop was unexpected to say the least.

 

The month of October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Please get your mammogram now.

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Have a wonderful Pink Saturday and week.

Blessings and love,

JEANNE

BLUE MONDAY - THE SQUIRRELS ARE BUSY

WELCOME TO BLUE MONDAY

In memory of Smiling Sally

Join in the fun and share your blue.

Link your post with the link at the bottom of my post.

Please link Blue Monday somewhere on your post

I look forward to your comments very much.

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SQUIRRELS

Here in the NC mountains, the squirrels are looking for food for the winter. 

I took this photo on our deck.

This squirrel had no fear and just stared at me as I took the photo.

The rest are from Google

Enjoy.

 

This squirrel is a regular on our deck hoping to gather some bird seed. I call him Sammy.

Next are some random pics that caught my eye.  They are not my photos and they are not copyrighted.

This is a blue squirrel.

Pretty isn't he?

 

This must be an albino.

 

Love the red hair.

 

A flying squirrel.

 

This guy is ready for winter.

 

Family meal.

 

A teacup squirrel.

HA!

Happy Blue Monday

Blessings and love,

JEANNE

An InLinkz Link-up