so much to be thankful for

Why is it that the time you spend with the people you love the most passes so quickly?
I am now returned to the farm after a week's Thanksgiving visit to our city house. Dovey and Mya got along tremendously and I know each is missing the other today. Cats have great depth of feeling after all.

On Sunday November 21 a daughter was born to a teenager in Phoenix, Arizona. This little girl was to be adopted by my godchild/niece Elaine. Elaine and her husband Ryan flew to Arizona to meet their new daughter and we were able to see them all via Skype on Thanksgiving day. We learned that my new grand niece was to be called Zuzu Lolita. Elaine had always said if she had a daughter she would name her Zuzu. So that wasn't a surprise. What was the surprise was her choice of middle name, Lolita.
Lolita was my mother's name. Mom was named for Lolita Armour Mitchell, grand-daughter of the famous founder of the Chicago Armour meat company. As a child Lolita Armour was confined to a wheelchair due to double hip displacement. My great grandmother was a marvelous seamstress and was employed by the Armours to sew for the family and to design clothing for Lolita that would be easy for her to get into and out of. Little else is remembered by our family regarding great-grandma's relationship with the Armours. There must have been something meaningful there for my mother to be named for this famous lady. Actually, my grandmother Emma would have been Lolita Armour's peer, so perhaps there was a relationship there also. Doing some research into the Armours today has been interesting. If only more were known.
Abig, warm welcome to the newest member of our family and congratulations to Elaine and Ryan and the big brothers Luke and Zeke. I'll post a photo when I have a good one.
During my Thanksgiving holiday I also was able to work in my city garden, visit the Chicago Botanic Garden and see their amazing Christmas train exhibit, walk around Long Grove, Illinois (sadly not what it once was) have dinner with my father-in-law's wife Stephanie, talk with my sister-in-law in Surprise Arizona and hear all about their new twin grandsons, have brunch with my garden-shopping buddy Barb, feast on Thanksgiving turkey and all the trimmings with "my side of the family" at my sister Terri's home, visit a little with our son, Phillip, decorate our city house enough to bring on some  holiday cheer, and pack up another car full of things to bring out to the farm, including a few of the old Christmas decorations.
Since being back I've been putting away the autumn things, sorting and cleaning and decorating. It snowed lightly today after some freezing rain last night. There was just enough snow to put me in the holiday mood. That and copying CDs to my computer including some of my favorite Mannheim Steamroller recordings. I refilled the nearly empty bird feeders and had to bring two of them inside to unfreeze so I could open them! Poor little birds have to hold on to those cold, cold feeders with their tiny feet!  I tried to keep myself upbeat, but it's always sad to be newly away from Jerome again. Bless that sweetheart-o-mine, he surprised me and made my day by sending me a seasonal arrangement from a local florist, the Flower Basket.

While typing this last bit, Dovey cornered her first mouse. She had it a few times but, alas, being a city raised cat didn't quite know that playing with it wasn't enough. It managed to get away from her by jumping down through the grate in the living room floor which serves as the cold air return. Tomorrow is another day for man and beast. I hope now that she's had her first encounter she'll be able to sleep tonight and that the one that got away will go and tell all its friends that leaving the basement is not a good idea.