An unusual Thanksgiving Day this year …

It started at 51F with a blustery, but warm wind. It felt more like late September than late November.

We enjoyed much of the day on the front porch.

And although there are a lot of larch needles on the ground (and in the house!), there is still a lot of gold in the woods.

The Western Larch are beautiful against a gray sky and also when the sun shines on them.

And then there is Thanksgiving dinner.

I had sardines and black beans for my Thanksgiving dinner. Not exactly the traditional turkey and fixings.

A little over a week ago, I fell. Ironically, I tripped over a mat that I placed on the transition between front porch and walk way. That spot gets slippery in the winter and the mat is for both footing and as a reminder to me to slow down. Right. I was moving too fast and not thinking what I was doing. I barely saved myself from a face plant on the concrete and managed to tuck and roll kind of sideways on to the grass. But my tote bag was under my arm and I came down on that hard enough to get an “oof” and partially knock the wind out. Rats. Ribs again. So nights have been majorly uncomfortable and daytime not too bad until yesterday when the muscles started doing little spasms. I was horribly uncomfortable.

In an effort to help things improve, I upped foods with potassium and calcium hoping to calm things down. At suppertime I got to thinking about some salmon for vitamin D but I just did not have the oomph to cook and then remembered the sardines – superfood! Black beans have good stuff also and I had some in the freezer so sardines and black beans. I had a better night and today, Thanksgiving Day felt MUCH better.

But, I wanted to stay feeling better and decided to stick with the superfood program, hence sardines and black beans for Thanksgiving dinner. I have my turkey thawed, some of the side dishes prepped and I baked a mini version of an Apple Skillet Cake for my sweet. The Thanksgiving turkey dinner will just be a day or two late.

That little cake smelled and looked so good. Between taking the photo and writing this post, the cake is half gone. Fortunately, it takes about 10 minutes to mix up and get in the oven so I can make another if necessary.

Not the usual Thanksgiving Day, but as I noted on my Instagram, I am thankful for another year with Bear and Auggie and today, I am very thankful that I am feeling better.

Happy Thanksgiving!