Thanksgiving in the Country

This is my nephew’s house. It’s a nice house – bigger than the picture suggests. Warm and cozy and custom made for family gatherings. This time, six of us invaded – Bradley’s parents (my sister and her husband) Bert and Celia, our sister Bunnie and her husband Allen, and me and my daughter, April. And our assorted dogs. Five of ‘em. Bradley’s cat could…not…cope. But, for us humans, it was a pretty good day.

We couldn’t have asked for better weather. Clear and crisp, but shirt-sleeve warm in the middle of the day. My sister Bunnie decided to gather dried materials from the countryside to make an arrangement for our dining room. She got a nice array.

There was also a bit of wood from a forgotten pile of firewood that she felt would serve as a great anchor for the design. Unfortuntely, it wouldn’t stand on its own and needed to be flattened. The boys came to the rescue!

First…Bradley and Allen attempted to level it with the handsaw.

Hmmmmm….not so good.

Time for power tools. The log was going to need an attached base in order to sit properly.

And, then there were the POWER TOOLS. Tim the Toolman Taylor would be so proud.

Finally, great minds and impressive brawn prevailed!

Bunnie got to work, and the final result was…

amazing.

In the meantime, the chihuahuas were holding down the fort inside. How did we become a Chihuahua Family??? We never had chihuahuas before. Now we have ‘em everywhere!

The focus of most of the day’s efforts, of course, was the meal. We had six pies for seven people. Doesn’t that sound about right to you?

All the sweet stuff wouldn’t fit on the card table, and somehow, that seems appropriate for Thanksgiving.

The turkey was finally done!

Thank you, Alton Brown, for popularizing the concept of turkey-brining. It was wonderful!

Allen carved, and we all ate! Gratefully and excessively.

We also paused to give thanks as a group and share our inner thankfulness as individuals. Like all families, we have our trials and tests, but we are so appreciative of the good things that have come our way. Taking a moment to acknowledge and appreciate the blessings of our lives is what this holiday is all about. I hope you all had a warm and wonderful holiday as well.

I’m still alive!

Wow! What a month this has been. About all I’ve had time to do is sleep, go to work, wash my tired carcass, sleep…and start all over. I don’t even remember when I last had a day off. And, the bad thing is, in showbiz, a workday usually extends up until midnight, or thereabouts. On top of a “regular” day of 9-5.

Like last night, for instance. My crew and I closed the box office at 5:00. But, we had lots of preparations for our little jazz bistro-type show that evening. Before we knew it, people were coming in the door, looking for their tables, buying CDs, wandering around lost…just another typical performance. I got home at a quarter of twelve. We have a 40s music review tonight at 8:00. I open the box office at noon on performance days. I’ve got about another hour and a half of “my” time before I have to start getting ready for work. I’ll be home midnight-ish again tonight. Tomorrow is a matinee of the Memphis Symphony. We don’t sell the tickets to that one – we just provide the hall – but we DO offer concessions, and concessions sales are my responsibility, so my Sunday will have about four hours cut out of the heart of it. Oh…and this weekend frenzy was kicked off Thursday night with an evening swing dance class to hype our weekend concert. I don’t remember when I got home Thursday night. All this on top of a full week of my “day job” managing ticket sales. It’s been much the same all month! Not complaining, really. I’m happy to HAVE a job! But, it does take a toll on my blogging.

But, guess what!? I’ve arranged for someone to fill in for me the first three days of next week, and so I’m TAKING THE WHOLE WEEK OFF!!!! YES! I get a mini-vacation. And, because I’ve worked so much lately, I don’t even have to charge it off to vacation time. It’s all comp. Glory be! I can’t WAIT for Monday morning so I can just lie there in my snug little bed and grin!

But, wait! There’s more! My sister is coming! My sister is coming! It’s been over a year since I’ve seen my little sis. We always have so much fun together. She and her hubby recently sold their home in California and are looking for a new place to settle. It’s most definitely not going to be HERE, but plans are for it to be someplace closer than California. So, they bought a little travel trailer and are doing the RV thing, just moseying down the highway on their way to my house. They arrive Tuesday. Just in time for us to crank up the Thanksgiving preparations! This year three of us will manage to be together, and while that’s not all of the siblings, it’s better than we’ve done in a long, long time. I am SO looking forward to next week…for so many reasons.

So, anyway – I’m here. Busy, but not engaged in anything particularly interesting. Maybe things will pick up. Like, maybe I’ll win the lottery tonight.

Jose!

Sunday evening we had Jose Porcel’s Ballet Flamenco, touring from Spain. They played to a nearly full house, which is always exciting for us. But, for the ladies, Jose himself was…well…um…quite an attraction.

Pardon me, while I sort through my memories.

Eventually, the jacket came off.

And then the tie.

And then he gathered it all up, threw the tie over his shoulder and sauntered off-stage.


Ahem!

Oh, yeah…there were some lovely Spanish ladies.

And a few additional male dancers.

But, for me….it was all about Jose.

Ole!

(I love my job!)

The Garden Winds Down

Unless you happen to have a clematis vine, you probably have never seen the beauty that remains after the flower petals drop off. I have no idea what this is called. Is it a seed pod? What? I haven’t a clue. But, it’s beautiful. Glossy and green and…just pretty. I love it.

I have two clematis vines. One variety barely survives…but it does survive. The other one threatens to take over the county. It is making one last valiant effort. These two final blossoms of the season are enormous! I included my hand in the photo so you could get an idea of their size. They are amazing.

A few weeks ago when we had our first cold snap, I cut my herbs to the ground (except for the mint) and dried everything. I left the mint because I knew from experience that mint will overwinter in a flowerbed, so I figured it would do well in the garage where I moved the pot. I love mint. It’s a big part of my summer refreshments. The basil and rosemary seem to be trying to survive as well. I’m not certain about the basil, but I’m thinking the rosemary might just make it. The thyme…not so much.

About two weeks ago, I realized I had a huge surplus of garlic. I dehydrated some…which was VERY exciting! (The “aroma” eventually faded.) I had read that growing garlic is really easy and that it does especially well if started in the fall. So, I poked six or eight garlic cloves down into the herb garden. Voila! Garlic shoots! How fun is that? Just plain ol’ garlic from the supermarket…turns into garlic plants.

My little sister once had similar results from poking popcorn kernels into the dirt outside our back door. I don’t think I’m ready for a corn crop in my backyard, though!

I’ll really be looking forward to spring this year – even more than usual. I will be starting my peppers and tomatos from seed in a few short months. Stay tuned for Adventures in Zero Lot Gardening!

Survival Fare

I’m still convinced this recession thing is going to get much, much worse before it begins to get better. I continue to stock my larder for those days when I might have to live off my meager savings. The sting of a recent lengthy period of unemployment still lingers. I just don’t feel that I can sit around and wait for hard times to hit me, without taking some steps in preparation.

Before I go any deeper into this, I thought it might be good to live off my stockpile a little bit, so I would know which things I prefer, and which don’t work so well. So, I made a frugal meal. This dinner is made totally of hoarded food. The cornbread was made with dried milk and dried eggs. The beans were from dried, of course. I added a home-dried tomato and some jerky I had made myself. Cooked all day in the slow cooker, this was a DELICIOUS dinner! It reminded me of my childhood (we were poor and had beans and cornbread quite often).

This picture is a couple of weeks old. Since then, I’ve dried garlic, onions and bell pepper. They added their own zing to the beans. Today, I’m making chili beans, using a very inexpensive spiced tomato sauce I found in the Mexican food aisle. If I like it, I’m going to buy a lot! Tomatoes are so good for you! I love having the jerky in the cabinet to shred into the pot. I think next week I’m going to go for a stew instead of a bean dish.

The dried bell pepper convinced me that they will definitely be in my patio garden next summer. I’ve already planted a bunch of garlic to over-winter in the garage.

Yes, taking action is definitely helping my nerves. I am sleeping better. I feel a sense of accomplishment as I gather my defenses. Plus…I’m eating better!

The Breakfast of Champions!

Yesterday, while taking a break from running the concessions stand for me (we took in a whopping $25), Dear Daughter went to a local bar where they’ve been running a straw poll of sorts. One “votes” for the presidential candidate of his or her choice by purchasing and drinking beer from one of two special beer glasses. DD bought the last Obama glass in Cordova, Tennessee! And, she gave it to me just prior to our celebratory steak dinner last night. We didn’t really know whether we had anything to celebrate or not…but we felt it in the air. So, we had our steaks anyway.

Bright and early this morning, I filled my new glass with milk – probably for the only time it will actually be used. Tonight, it goes into the time capsule with my yard sign, extra bumper stickers and other memorabilia of this historic event.

What am I going to do with my time now? Maybe clean house???

Voting Update

Just a quickie. The Election Commission moved in this afternoon. Get this! They’re installing FOUR voting machines. Four! Do they not read the papers?

This could get really interesting.

I’ll keep you updated tomorrow from my ringside seat!

It was Spooktacular!

A few days ago, I mentioned that I was planning to wear my “death” costume on my front porch and scare the little kiddies on Halloween night. I did it! And it was FUN!

My porch is halfway blocked by a shrub, so the kids had to actually step onto the porch before they could see me. It was hilarious to see them literally stop in their tracks – not unlike a cartoon character. Some ran screaming back to the curb and Mama. Others just ran a few feet and came back to investigate. The ones full of bravado, of course, sauntered on up and helped themselves to the candy in the bowl I was holding. One little boy squeezed my fingers to make sure I wasn’t real. Then he reached in, and it was then that I grabbed his wrist!

Several moms insisted on posing their kiddos and taking pictures with the Neighborhood Monster. Others, just laughed out loud as they went on down the sidewalk to the next house. Dads in particular seemed to appreciate my effort. I think most of them thought I WAS a man, actually – in spite of the somewhat obvious topography of my chest.

I actually frightened one little boy so badly, I fear his Halloween was ruined. After that, I kind of took it easy when a littler goblin was in the group. My favorite was a little girl about 3. A beautiful little blonde fairy. She was brave enough to come after her candy, but she didn’t like it one little bit. After she took it, she looked at me squarely and said, “You skaawy!” I couldn’t help it. I had to laugh. That surprised her, too. She backed up a little bit and repeated her accusation…”You skaawy!” As the walked away down the sidewalk, she turned around one more time and reinforced her opinion…”You skaawy!” She made my day. What a little darling.

Mission accomplished. I MUST do this again. But, not the exact same way. I will retire this costume for three years or so. Now, I’ve got to top myself!