Giving More Thanks

Thanksgiving is still going on here.  Our sons had other obligations to attend with their girlfriends, so I decided to throw what constitutes a 'feast' around here (chicken, not turkey, but no one protested) on Friday night instead.  I wasn't going to insist they all come here on the holiday itself;  couldn't see them having to eat at three (or four) different houses all in one day.  Friday worked out just great, and Ann and Grandma Lucille were here, too.  Everyone had fun and us four old folks played Sheepshead until 1AM.  We have one more Thanksgiving feast to attend on Sunday and we'll be done overeating for awhile.  (Until Christmas.)

Speaking of giving thanks, I received the nicest surprise the other day from a dear blogging friend, Sue, who lives in England.  Sue writes a wonderful blog, My Garden & Me.   Before I came to know her I was always so nervous when she visited my little garden blog because Sue is, after all, a True English Gardener.  If anyone would know what an English Cottage  looks like, it would be Sue!

She's been cheering on our progress building the stone house with the rest of you kind people, too and I can't tell you how much we've appreciated it.

Me, back in October, hammering away.

 Sue knows how much we love rocks around here and wrote me to say she was sending us something from her home to ours.   When the box arrived, I was so excited.   Look what was inside:

 A Genuine English Rock 

Look at this beauty, isn't it just the most perfect rock you've ever seen?  It's white with a pale pink stripe and so incredibly smooth.  I've never seen another rock like it.  I love it sited right on the edge of the Quarry.  It fits right in, it's the accent we always needed there.  We placed our new rock horizontally and vertically, it works either way, such a versatile specimen!

From any angle, Sue's rock is so striking.  Look at how it fits in with our Iceberg Rock in the background, too.

Can you imagine what the postage must have been to send a rock this size all the way from England?  And I wonder how Sue found a box it would fit in?  I imagine there were some grumbles from the postal carriers on both sides of the pond.  After all, rocks are very heavy.  We can use this rock in so many different ways here.  It's truly a gem in the landscape; the pictures prove that.

But the One Place this rock would add so much authenticity to is:

(you guessed it) Castle Aaargh.

If we mortar Sue's rock into Aaargh, we could say the structure contains rock imported from England.  We wouldn't feel silly or too big for our britches calling it a 'castle' then...... after all, Sue's rock is from the Land of Castles.  (And Monty Python.)

My heartfelt thanks to Sue for her generous addition to our garden; she has given us a true gem which can fit in the most amazing places, be it the Quarry or Castle Aaargh.   England must be a magical place, just like the Harry Potter series led me to believe.

This rock has magical properties, too. 

It can even fit in the palm of my hand!

Thank you again, dear Sue, for sending us this authentic piece of England.

Castle Aaargh thanks you, too, for the right to bear the name.

It's a much better title than..........

 Zoot: Welcome, brave sir Knight. Welcome to the Castle Anthrax.
Sir Galahad: The Castle Anthrax?
Zoot: Yes... it's not a very good name, is it? Oh, but we are nice, and we'll attend to your every need.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071853/quotes?qt=qt0470622