Turkey Warning

   It hit me yesterday that we are on the brink of Holiday Season 2011. It hit me like a frozen turkey on the wiggly part of my kneecap, but in a surprisingly good way. Now listen, I am not really a fast-forward-to-Christmas type person. In fact I greatly prefer to savor each holiday and special event as it comes, making it last as long as possible. But I also like to be prepared, and we all know that once Thanksgiving hits, the winter sands fall fast and furious through December's hourglass. And this year I have sworn to N-O-T wrap gifts in the back seat of the car while Handsome drives us to a Christmas party. Nor will I mix A-N-Y dough that has to rise and bake in the same half hour. So I have some planning to do. Care to join the madness?

This is Clark Kent, aka General Grievous (because of his fantastic running style).

He is our big Tom turkey. He knows nothing of the American tradition of eating turkey dinner,

and we would appreciate your help in keep things this way.

His sense of personal safety helps him focus on supervising the smaller birds, 

which is his self appointed farm duty.

   Okay. As of right now, twenty-one days stand between me and our first scheduled holiday dinner of the year. And of those twenty-one days, seven are devoted to weekend fun with friends and family, so really fourteen days are available to prepare for Thanksgiving, winterize the farm, sew up some sell-able aprons, and  keep the animals fat and happy. Hopefully I'll be spending some time with my beautiful girls too!

   Oh, and about ninety seven minutes ago I broke my O-T-H-E-R front tooth, 
so there's that added to the calendar.  I am not even kidding.

  Inspiration is in no short supply.  Here are a few of my faves:

• The Taste of Home website, which is packed with wonderful, more traditional recipes and bits of planning advice. Their article about planning ahead throughout the month of November could not have  posted at a better time!
• Pinterest, where I can feed voraciously off of the creativity of others and assemble boards of my own like this one.
• Country Living magazine (the only periodical I still get in print.  Unless you count the Anthropologie and seed catalogs, which I do N-O-T but perhaps I should)
• Martha Stewart, in every possible incarnation.

Photo Source: Martha Stewart

Yes, I still pay attention to her.  And I always will.

But the best part of this photo is not her oak leaf cornucopia craft project

but rather that old, chippy table and the candlelight glow of the whole arrangement!

Wow.

I have the normal seasonal chores to do:

• fiercely editing and scrubbing the fridge, freezer, and pantry 
• organizing and restocking the spice rack 
• taking inventory of table linens and mending, pressing, or adding to that as needed
• setting up a really great baking station and a ready-for-anything food packaging drawer
• shopping early and thoroughly to avoid the eleventh hour crowds
• cleaning underneath the furniture and inside the closets forgotten over the long summer

I see a handful of special projects on the immediate horizon, too.

• re-cushion and recover the seats of our dining room chairs (Been meaning to do this for a while. A long while. It's embarrassing.) as well as two old church pews
• repaint the interior doors and frames and a few baseboards
• sew a few special aprons (Have I told you guys about Tie One On Day yet?)
• lots of fun crafts as time permits
• prepare for the chicken coop Christmas decorating contest we're entering

A few lists would be good.

• Which parties are we hosting? Which are we attending? What recipes? Write a master detailed cooking list.
• What Christmas gifts are being handmade and which are being purchased? I had better be well underway by Thanksgiving! This means one project completed every two days or more.
• What recipes can be prepared ahead of time and frozen, and when will I be home to do this?
• Which projects can be worked on in the evenings, watching movies with Handsome?
• I will need to make visible, tangible progress every single week day. Every day counts. Use a calendar.

   

   I am under no illusion that everything will be done perfectly and ahead of schedule. I am honestly relieved just to have organized my thoughts and started some shopping. Whatever unseen force kick started me yesterday must have known that today I would break my tooth again, because had I not already cleared the cobwebs from my mind I would already be surrendering to anxiety.  Instead, I am truly happy to see the holiday season approach!  We have so many blessings to count, so much love to enjoy, no amount of cleaning, crafting, or cooking could really do it justice.

   Here's wishing you an organized but festive month of preparation for Thanksgiving and beyond! Count the good things in your world. Especially your front teeth.

xoxoxo