This morning the sun came on hard and strong. It is still sunny now and promises to be again tomorrow, but I haven?t ventured outside except to scurry around back to gather up a couple three** more logs from the woodshed.

The day is bright but oh, she is cold.

Right now, I can see T outside my window (and hear him, obvs) as he chainsaws through trees he has dragged over to the side of the house with his tractor. When his sister asked us yesterday what we?d be doing for the rest of the weekend now that the feast was over and the guests were gone I prattled on about this and that. She turned to T and he shrugged, ?firewood,? was the reply.

This was the same conversation where I was asked (sincerely, curiously, and without the slightest trace of a dig), ?so what DO you do around the house??

Allow me to put that into context.

As we sat down to a most beautiful bounty of food, people kept turning to me and offering compliment upon compliment and I was compelled to explain that, er, it was my husband who

? Went to the local farm at 7 am Sunday morning to procure our fresh 32 lb turkey
? Scraped and julienned the carrots
? Peeled the gazillion of small white onions (and we all know what a bitch that is)
? Combined them into our signature carmelized onion and carrot dish
? Peeled and sliced all the potatoes for both mashed and scalloped
? Peeled and chopped the turnip
? Made the cranberry sauce
? Brined the turkey
? Made the stuffing
? Got up at 6 am on Thanksgiving morning to stuff the turkey and get it into the oven (while I slept in, mind you)
Made the corn fritters
? Got ALL the vegetables (including the squash and green bean casserole) and turkey ready for serving

It?s not that I can?t do these things?it?s just that people assume it was all me, and they couldn?t be more mistaken. So, then I had to answer the question the next day about, you know, in general, how do we balance out our life together as it is my husband who

? Gathers, chops and stores the firewood and kindling
? Keeps the fields cut (an enormous job)
? Keeps the road plowed
? Does the laundry (mostly)
? Does the cooking (mostly)

My answer? I feed the dogs.

But seriously, this is my roundabout way of saying I am grateful for many things?

? for having the opportunity to connect with so many like-minded spirits in the blog world where we share the color of our days,
? for having the time and space to dream and create,
? for my dogs who can make me bust a gut laughing,
? for good health and sweet comfort,
? for being surrounded by beauty,

but above all else, I am so lucky to be sharing this life with such a wonderful partner who Makes. Things. Happen.

Thanks, T.

As promised, a photo of the table engineered by T that sat 16 comfortably.

*I've been cleaning my studio all morning-- my god, I had no idea it was such a mess. I'm not even halfway through.

**the South has ?might could? the North has ?a couple three? here?s to local vernacular!

got 2 cents?