Soon our American friends will be waking to one of their major holidays - Thanksgiving. I want to wish you all a happy day and hope your get-togethers are full of love and make fine memories for you.
I'm not about to jump on the Thanksgiving bandwagon because I'm an Australian, but I do want to use this place marker of a day to recognise that I have a good life and I'm grateful for all I have. First and foremost, every time and always, I'm grateful for my family, especially Hanno, my sons and DILs: Shane and Sarndra, Kerry and Sunny and Jens and Cathy. I'm grateful to have lived to see my grandchildren - Jamie, Alex and Eve. And of course, you all know I have a special place in my heart for my sister Tricia and her family. Every single one of those people has enriched my life and made me happy in more ways than I can count. Thank you.
I have a fairly small group of close friends - people I've known for many years and a few I've met in the last ten years. They've all made a beautiful and significant difference and I can't imagine life without them.
And then there's this blog. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think the people I connected with online would become real and important to me. When I started my blog I guess I thought it would be a mostly one-sided affair but as you all flowed in, bringing with you your own blogs, emails and comments, I did connect with many of you, relationships built, and I found myself thinking of so many of you as I made the bed or mopped a floor. Now we have this magnificent network of women and men who know about each others families and care what happens to them. It's a strange new world we live in, friends. A world where we don't have to see, touch, smell and feel other people for them to make their way into our consciousness and sometimes our hearts.
So I'll just take a little bit of the Thanksgiving day to acknowledge and honour the gratitude I feel constantly, and to thank you all - near and far, for being part of my life.
Thank your u, Rhonda , for your kind words....I am grateful to have shared in your daily happenings and wonderful photos for a number of years now....you and your family will be in my prayers as I celebrate Thanksgiving Day with my whole family home!
ReplyDeleteI really don't like that Australians don't do thanksgiving because we are 'Australian' unfortunately there is a miss conception here that thanksgiving is an 'American' holiday. Thanksgiving began before America began, it is an old English tradition! Besides that why do we not think that is important to be thankful?
ReplyDeleteI love that you have listed all the things you are thankful for!
We take so much for granted here in Australia and I wish that people took the time to celebrate thanksgiving because we have freedom, clean water, safety, air to breathe and so much more available to us.
In my home we spend November talking about the things we are thankful for each evening around the dinner table. We will be celebrating thanksgiving with my family here in Australia this weekend since we don't have a public holiday for it, it's easier to do it on the weekend.
I wish more people would celebrate a lovely way to remember how lucky we are.
So happy thanksgiving to all!
Awwww, very grateful for you too Rhonda! I often think of you while I'm going about my housework and the values we share even though we've never met in person. It is strange and wonderful - my grandmothers both died fairly young and I hope you take it as a very respectful compliment that I kind of see you as the grandmotherly mentor I never had <3
ReplyDelete-Jaime
I'm honoured, Jaime, thank you. xx
DeleteThank you Rhonda, for encouraging and inspiring us on our journeys. It really does feel like a community in cyberspace, it's not how things have always been done, but it's how they're being done now, and it's a great thing.
ReplyDelete....and never in my wildest dreams would have I ever had thought that my life would be turned around by a women on the internet writing about gardening, budgeting and simple living whom I have never met! I am more than thankful.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a pleasure getting to know you, Mr HM.
DeleteWe are a real community aren't we. My conversations with my husband are often sprinkled with things like, "Rhonda has a new puppy," "Well Phill says....", "Chel's off to visit her grandkids", "Chris is getting a new water tank", "Sally is preparing for another workshop". I think there can be no doubt in his mind how important you all are to me. And really it doesn't seem so strange strange to me when I consider that before motor cars and distance was much harder to bridge than it is today, written correspondence was the way people kept in touch. (Everything old is new again)
ReplyDeleteRhonda, I am grateful for you sharing your life so much with all of us and I love the online community that has been created because of that. Like Sherri Mac I also find myself referring to people I have met through the forum when I am speaking to family and friends. Some of them are intrigued as to how I 'know' so many people and that has led on to simple living discussions so one thing leads to another. Thanks everyone.
ReplyDeleteRhonda, one of the things I'm thankful for today is you, your blog, and the people who comment here. You've described the odd wonderfulness of internet connections very well. I made deviled eggs last night and am onto the mashed potatoes this morning. I will be bringing it all to a family dinner later today. I started the day counting my blessings and know that I should be doing that every day. Beth in MN
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving from yet another American who has been so blessed by your blog and your book that is sitting right here on my desk! I cried when I read your posting today as it sums up how I feel, that your family and your daily life seems like "family" to me too! Blessings to each of you and your families, we have so much to celebrate. Give that Gracie a pat on her little head from me. Carolyn in Florida
ReplyDeleteI do the exact same thing Rhonda. I often think of you, your blog and all the members I've connected with as I go about my day. Find it hard to express the feeling in words.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post, thanks Rhonda.
Thank you for being you and the long distance positive input you have made in my life.
ReplyDeleteThanks to you too Rhonda, for coming into my life through your blog. You have encouraged me to live a more "real and honest" life, appreciating every little thing that makes up my day. I am thankful for my little family and my home and the opportunity every day to live a simple life. Have a wonderful day.
ReplyDeleteFi
We are all modern day "pen pals".
ReplyDeleteI am grateful Rhonda for the many happy hours I have spent reading your blog posts, sharing your family, your garden, and now young Grace. I follow your recipes for food, and also the 'recipe/s' for cleaning products. I has been a joy reading your books.
ReplyDeleteI am grateful for my family, my health, my garden, my home grown food. Plus my learning and experimenting with fermented food - this 'hobby' is becoming addictive.
Dear Rhonda, I am grateful for the little island of sanity that your blog provides in a hectic and rapidly changing world. You often express the things you appreciate about your life, and I think that it reminds me that many of the same things make me happy - it's a reminder to be grateful.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful day,
Madeleine.x
Rhonda, that's very sweet of you to remember us on this day. It's a wonderful holiday over here! I worked hard all week, but now won't have to cook much for a few days. :D I'm thankful for what I've learned from so many blogging friends, but your site especially is a wealth of knowledge - thank you!
ReplyDeleteHi Rhonda, my favourite part of my day is reading your blog, I am grateful to you for being an inspirational woman, that has had a profound effect on my family's life. I share many things that I have learned from you with those that I love, because we have experienced the positive outcomes from living an authentic simple life. I also wanted to say I talk about many things you share and was quite excited to tell the family about 'our Gracie'. My mum and Granny passed away when I was still quite young, your blog feeds my soul with the maternal wisdom and kindness and love that I know they would have liked to share with me. Blessings to you and your family today and always.
ReplyDeleteThank you Rhonda, none of this would be available if you hadn't been so generous to start with, so Thank you my friend x
ReplyDeleteYou remind me of my lovely aunts, now long gone. They and their sister, my Gran Dorrie, knew how to really live in and love their homes. The simple life grabs me by the hands often via your words and makes me slow down. Thankyou again for your blog. It was lovely to meet you in Wollongong, so generous of you and Hanno to stop and have a coffee with the others and I. May you have many more years of giving! Jenny from Falls Ck
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you Rhonda for all the wisdom you share with your readers.
ReplyDeleteI am very grateful for your input into my life. This blog and the forum have changed the way I look at things. Without this blog I would have been still happily spending and not getting ahead. Instead, today I am happy to report that we are nearly debt free with only a small portion of our mortgage left to pay. I can feel freedom headed our way in about six months time and I cant wait!
You have brought many people back to living simply, just because you spoke sense in an out of control world.
Although we haven't met in real life (maybe one day), you have become a dear friend for life :)
Much love to you,
Tania xx
That is such good news, Tania. There is nothing like being debt-free, let me know when it happens. It's something worth celebrating with you.
DeleteMuch love back to you
Rhonda xx
And I'm grateful to you for all the information and inspiration you have shared, both here on the blog and in your books. I've noticed lately that I'm more likely to try something--like creating something for the home for example--rather than say "oh, that looks hard." I credit that in part to you and other writers I've read over the last few years, who have made me realize that I am capable of more than I ever thought, and you show us how you do it so we have a model to follow when we're taking our first tentative baby steps into a simpler way of life. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI,too, am so thankful for your gentle wisdom and for the time you take writing this blog.
ReplyDeleteWe celebrated a wonderful Thanksgiving last week here in upstate New York. It was made so special because our beloved granddaughter, who lives in Melbourne, was with us. Wishing you a belated Thanksgiving, too!
honda, I have not been here to visit in awhile and it was so nice to catch up. You have been a constant in my life for a long time, so grateful to you for all you share with us. My mom would have loved your book, she loved her home and homemaking so much. A good day for Mom was washing all her windows (all 22 of them) and airing out the house while washing. Grateful for you and your family and all the people who comment here. Happy Holiday Season to all! Karen from CT
ReplyDeleteGratitude is always a good thing, no matter the nationality. I, for one, am thankful for you. For the doors and eyes you've opened, including mine. I don't often comment, but I am a dedicated reader.
ReplyDelete