#thankfulthursdays December 3

I know, it’s December and November is past, but I have a lot to be thankful for, and so I’ll probably stick with the subject through this month. 🙂 And hey, we’re in holiday mode–lights and decorations are going up and sales are everywhere!

Let’s just be frank here.  My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. I love the food and gathering of friends and family.

Last week for only the second time in 44 years, my husband and I didn’t eat at home. My older daughter’s in-laws invited all the family to visit them in their digs just outside of Fredricksburg, TX. (My younger daughter & family couldn’t come. They went to Tulsa to be with her husband’s family, but he would’ve liked this compound.)

The Texas Hill Country is a beautiful area and the in-laws place did not disappoint. Club house, not their place! LOL

We stayed in something called a Sunday House in a golf community. Maybe you’re familiar with the term. My husband & I weren’t. From the Texas State Historical Association we read:

SUNDAY HOUSES. Sunday houses were small second dwellings maintained near a church as a weekend place of residence. They became popular in the late 1800s among farmers and ranchers who lived in areas too remote to permit commuting to services. The families owning such houses normally left their farms and ranches Saturday morning, journeyed to town, took care of shopping and business, attended an evening dance or party, and spent the night in the Sunday house. On Sunday they attended church in the morning and either returned home in the afternoon or attended Sunday school in the afternoon, and then spent a second night in town. Sunday houses were also used when a member of the family needed to stay in town to conduct business or receive medical attention. Some Sunday houses became the residences of retired ranchers when their land was turned over to their sons. Although in Texas Sunday houses were almost exclusively confined to Germans in the Hill Country, particularly Gillespie County, the phenomenon was not unique to Texas. Similar houses were used in the 1660s in Middlebury, Connecticut, and a counterpart to the Sunday house exists in the Pennsylvania Dutch country.

We stayed ten minutes outside of Fredricksburg on a ranch that had both homes and the Sunday House complexes, spread over lots of acres. They feature a large gathering room with kitchen, dining and living area and large porch. Within a few steps of the gathering room were all the bedrooms, each in its own building complete with bathroom and microwave, fridge, and coffee pot. The in-laws got all three grands gingerbread houses. Very sweet of them and lots of fun.

The beauty of this arrangement, allowed all the families plenty of room when they wanted to be together, but space to be apart. The grands could easily take naps without the adults worrying about making too much noise and waking them up. And of course, vice versa. 🙂

While the guys check out the men’s locker room, the girls ham it up. 

We ate lunch in the club dining room. Food was scrumptious.  Had the best roasted Brussel Sprouts. The turkey was almost as good as Bob’s, and that’s saying something. Unfortunately, they ran out of cranberries. But it was nice not to have spent the morning cooking or the afternoon cleaning up.

One of the things I loved best about the trip (aside from family, of course) was having such a great place to walk. Every morning, Bob & I got in an easy 5000 or more steps, making it very easy on the walk after lunch to reach over our 10 K step goal.

And the best part of the walk? (Besides the grands!) Deer! We saw lots of white tailed deer.   Can you see them left of the trees? The pics don’t do them justice. You’d see a flash of movement and catch the white tail then with luck see more of them. They were usually in bunches of three to five. Beautiful creatures. I caught him in mid-leap! 

I love being in nature, especially with all the comforts of home. This was a unique experience for us. We’re thankful to our daughter’s in-laws for including us.

We had fog and lots of rain returning on Friday. Then the deluge hit, and out at the lakehouse the water went way over the retaining wall for the third time since May! Pictures next week. (This is called a teaser. :))

So how was your Thanksgiving? Did you stay home? Travel? How was the weather? What’s your favorite food?

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