Timing is Everything

I keep a lot of notes in my calendar that repeat every year.  I've coordinated our family celebrations through so many holidays now that I have a system that works.  This year, everything is conspiring to defeat my system.

Take the amaryllis pictured above.  See how it's sitting in a turkey basket?  It's supposed to only be a few inches high.  I got the memo in mid-October to put in my amaryllis bulb order.  If I start them the third week of October, they always bloom just before Christmas.  I decided to just buy a bulb locally this year and look what happened.  It's in glorious full bloom already.  The blooms last a long time, but it wont last until Christmas.  Looks like I should have stuck with my original plan.

I spent a while putting together my Thanksgiving shopping list.  I planned to go early on Sunday morning and pick out most of my groceries before the crowds hit.  I took Wasabi Girl along nice and early - and the store was so crowded we had to hunt through the parking lot just to find a cart.  Who are these people?  They were supposed to sleep in while I browsed the aisles.  Note to self: Go in the middle of the night next year.

I even time out my cooking schedule so my Thanksgiving meal all gets to the table at the same time and everything is hot.  This year Jungle Boy will be working his job at the movie theater in the evening so we'll have to move dinner up to 2:30 in the afternoon.  This throws me a little.  But it will all be for the best in the evening when I can put my feet up and eat leftovers.  Makes for a different but still fun day.

Christmas trees are showing up in tree lots around town already.  I think it's pretty optimistic to expect them to last through Christmas.  How early do you get your tree?  Seeing all the green lots really puts me in the Christmas spirit.  Good luck to all those people who buy them this week!

Finally, a number of household products have all decided to run out at once.  My soap ran out in the bathroom - so I had to open up my Christmas-scented soap.  My "Autumn" room fragrance ran out in my bathroom  - so I had to pop in the Christmas one.  The car scent also ran out - guess what I replaced it with?  And last but not least, I had to use my gravy baster to help clear water out of a drain, and it finally developed a crack in the rubber and became useless.  Good timing though, I would hate to find that out on Thursday when I'm trying to cook the turkey.

So forces are conspiring to tell me that the Christmas season is upon us this week.  Can't really fight it any longer.  I'm ready!

Tiny Turkey

I took a break yesterday from my afghan to stitch up this little guy.  The pattern as a free one I found here.  I switched around the colors to use up some leftover hand-dyed floss.  I think he's cute.  I'll make a tiny ornament out of him and throw him in with this month's bowl fillers in my entry hall.

I'm pretty sure if an alien landed at my house right now and looked around, he would come to the conclusion that we worship turkeys.  Pumpkins would be considered demi-gods.  I have pictures of turkeys, quilts with turkeys on them, a vintage turkey planter, turkey plates.  It's not my fault.  I just add one or two little things each year and they accumulate.  And all the turkey and fall decorations give a break from the spookiness of Halloween and before the Christmas craziness.

I keep passing by all the turkeys for sale in the grocery store.  It feels too early to get one now, but usually by the time I'm in the mood to get one they get pretty picked over.  I always try to find a smallish bird.  I like leftovers, but not huge amounts.

Gobble gobble, oh mighty bird!  You will be delicious.

Do you put out any Thanksgiving decorations?

Needlework Tuesday: Turkey Candle Mat

I started on this little project today.  I can't believe how long I spent fussing around with the feathers to try to get them "perfect."  I moved them each a million times.  Sort of silly how obsessed I can get with something like this. 

Right now I think they look like leaves, or peacocks, or flowers.  After I finish stitching them down I'll add some embroidery faces and feet and they'll look much more like turkeys.

All of the Halloween decorations are finally packed away and the house is enjoying a little breather until Christmas.  I clearly need to make some Thanksgiving quilts...