Saving...savoring...

Back in September I received a very special package in the mail. It contained my absolute favorite preserves...fig. Well, I refused to use them for just our everyday toast. So I've been saving it for something...well...special.

I thought Thanksgiving might be the right time, so I bought a baguette and a really good bleu cheese with the intent to make some crostini appetizers. Uh...Thanksgiving dinner preparations got really busy, so I decided to forego the appetizers.

Since we had a late lunch/early dinner today, I got hungry a little while ago, and I remembered that I had all the ingredients to make an extraordinary snack. So I just enjoyed a fabulous plate of fig-and-bleu-cheese crostini with fruit. YUM!

So, dear LB, I am sorry to be so long letting you know just how wonderful your gift tasted. But please know that it was because it was just too special to squander on a PBJ.

It was sublime!

Rapunzel, Rapunzel...

photo credit: movie ad

If ever I identified with a fairy-tale heroine, it was definitely Rapunzel. My mother was never keen on my having long hair, but as soon as I was old enough to take care of it myself, I would go years without cutting it, and I would brush and brush and brush.

Kasey and the girls found themselves with no males at home today, so they invited me for a girls-only movie matinee. We went to see Tangled. It was really enjoyable. Beautiful artistry (though I do find it a little disconcerting how lifelike the animation can seem at times) and a wonderful story, of course.

The humor was truly laugh worthy...those pub thugs...loved them! The music was really good, and I kept wondering if it had been a stage play before it was made into animated film.

Took me back to my favorite school field trips ever, when we would line up class by class and walk over to the local college auditorium (my elementary school was really near the college, other schools in town came by the busloads), where the drama department would put on wonderful productions of fairy tales for the entire school system. I wonder if they still do that? I hope they do.

But as for the movie, I'd say it got four thumbs up from us!

Giving thanks today...

...for God's bounty

...for family

...for the comfort and shelter of home

...for work for our hands, and rest when we are weary

...and for friends...and if you are reading this, that means YOU!

Today's effort...

Another task done ahead. Yea me!

When it comes to the holiday dressing, we stand in the cornbread believers' section.

Usually (in previous years...when I wasn't moving) I bake cornbread whenever I make soup in the fall. Then I save the leftovers in a zipper freezer bag, and by Thanksgiving I have all the cornbread I need for stuffing. This Fall has been pretty warm, so I haven't made soup very often. And I really wasn't into filling up the freezer just to move it. So baking some fresh was in the cards.

Tonight, after a simple dinner (bacon and eggs), I threw together a double batch of cornbread and popped it in the oven. An half hour later, it comes out of the oven all hot and golden sweet. It is now crumbled and air drying...ready to become dressing. Yum.

Now if I can just keep Carey out of it...

Preparations are under way...

I love this roasting pan. Love the tray at the bottom with the folding handles to lift out the bird. It's ingenious and sturdy, and probably a lot older than I am. I inherited it from a much-loved former neighbor. I always think of her at the holidays when I roast the turkey.

Thursday we will be having Thanksgiving dinner here. I've been trying to undertake the preparations in manageable increments. I'm not aiming for perfection this year.

Last week I went to the grocery store, and bought a frozen turkey. In the past, I have taken the turkey out of the freezer the prescribed 3 to 4 days ahead of the holiday, only to find it still partially frozen when the day arrives, to the point of busting my knuckles trying to free the legs from their wire harness. So I decided to just store it in the fridge instead of the freezer, so that it could be thawing and ready to roast when the time came. Well...it thawed quicker than I expected. And today it crossed my mind that by Thursday it might have been beyond its prime. So I went ahead and roasted it this evening. I'll just have to carve it tonight, and reheat it on Thursday. Like I said, I'm not aiming for perfection this year.

There are yummy smells wafting through the house tonight! It does more to put me in a holiday spirit than anything has so far, and I'm feeling a sense of anticipation. Since I have to go to work in the morning, I had better go get busy with the carving and storing.

Before, during, and after...

What the... Someone seems to have forgotten to take the before photo! Hmmph!

Well, on to the story then.

Awhile back (sometime in the past year) I found this really 'interesting' piece at a thrift shop. Really not my usual style. It was sort of an antique-y gold. And while I usually go for things with simple lines...this didn't have a simple line on it. But something about it spoke to me. So I picked it up and looked for the price. Hmmm. No price. I took it to the front and asked what its cost might be. For the lack of a better answer, the guy quoted me the grand price of $1. For a buck, I could handle it being a little 'different.'

I did manage to take a 'during' photo, so here's your first glance at it.



Uh-huh.

Hey, those empty IKEA shelf boxes are great for laying open and spray painting on. (And no, I'm not through assembling shelves...if I were, I would be showing you those! ) Ignore the little lamp in the corner...that is another story for another post. Oh, but I forgot to get a before photo of it too. It was actually a sort of soft medium green with painted gold trim...the two of these items made quite the pair.



So here is my $1 sconce...all crisp and white against the newly blue walls of the children's guest/play room. I'm not sure yet how I feel about it. But it will stay for awhile. I have a few more projects in mind for that room, so I'll show you more of its surroundings in future posts.

Baby steps...

If a good mover is defined as one who gets everything moved and put away within a short period of time, then that lets me out. I do not like to find temporary places to stash stuff, just to get it put away. I want to find permanent homes for things, and organize as I go. That makes for very slow progress.

So we are living with small islands of order in a vast sea of chaos.

Exhibit A: Order...the pantry.

As pantries go, it is pretty small. But since I haven't had a real pantry since I moved out of my childhood home, I'm very happy with it. The plan is to keep most of the staples in glass jars. (I have a lot more glass jars...somewhere...I haven't found them yet.) Boxed rice mixes, seasoning pouches, etc. are in the basket on the left...teas and hot chocolate are in the middle basket...and cloth napkins are in the basket on the right. The white containers on the floor are for recycling.

Exhibit B: Chaos...the office.

What can I possibly say? We went to IKEA last week, and bought shelves. I started putting them together today.

It could take awhile.

Update...

We're alive and well and in the new house. Things are still chaotic. Last week was extremely busy and exhausting! I believe Saturday was our first night spent in the new house, but the days all ran together, so I'm not really sure. (I just asked Jared, and he said that last Wednesday was the first night. LOL I really have been frazzled!)

Today was my first day back at work. I was looking forward to getting back to some routine, and it felt great. The drive took about an hour and fifteen minutes (one way)...not as bad as I thought.

There's still lots of work to be done around here, but I hope to be back to blogging with greater regularity. Sorry I've been gone so long.