Thank you for finding That Old House amidst the chaos of the Internet. We are delighted that you are here.

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Oh My Ears & Whiskers! The Turkey Cometh



Not even two weeks until Thanksgiving!

Meaning, a relative of one of these guys is on its way to That Old House.
Wild turkey,wandering aimlessly near our house. Silly bugger - it's November. Flee!

Because eventually, all November roads lead to this:

 This is motivating.
Yes, this wakes up my hostessing DNA and gets all those
holy-monkeys-get-your-act-together genes percolating merrily.

Because we won't just have turkeys here on Thanksgiving.
No turkeys in this group!  :-)
We'll have people.  Aged from 22 months to 88 years.

This year, I do not have a long, elaborate, impossible
To-Be-Done-By-Thanksgiving List.


Nope, this year, it's pretty pared down.
In no particular order, here it is:

Polish the old silver.  The easy way.
(You don't know the easy way?  I'll show you.  Tomorrow.)

Clean.
At least enough so as not to frighten the guests.

Plan the menu (yes, because Thanksgiving foods change
so much year to year), send Howard to shop (he likes this, or so he claims),
and then do the cooking, from cranberry sauce to pies.

Get the Thanksgiving china out of the breakfront.
Actually, that will be Annie's job when she gets home.
(I wish I had her home for days beforehand!  She cooks.)


Speaking of the dining room, I better include
"clearing off the table" on my TBDBT List.
Ha ha! Gotcha!
This was October 2010, when we were rejiggering the kitchen, and 
all the kitchen stuff was all over the freakin' house.  Including here:

We still don't have matching dining room chairs, but that's okay.
No one coming has matching bottoms, either.  :-)

I am tempted to add "sew dining room draperies" to my List this year,
as I have had it on my TBDBT List for yearsbut I am not including it.
After all, don't the windows look nice, all nekkid?

If the draperies get done, that will be a lovely surprise.  For me.
Do elves ever show up at night and sew curtains?  Please tell me Yes.
 

So, pared down, this year's TBDBT List is:

Clean, shop, cook.
(Yep, that covers a lot of ground.)

Change the chandelier lightbulbs, an annual event.

Find all the table linens, platters, wineglasses,
and the cords to the big coffee urns.
(More of a challenge than you might think.)

Fetch guests coming by plane or train.

Plan table centerpieces.
(I pretty much always forget this.)

Bathe the dogs before Turkey Day itself.
(This reminder is hard-won; don't ask.)

Don't poison anyone.
(So far, a perfect record on this one.)

Yup.  That pretty much covers it.
Mostly, just the basics.  And the fun stuff, like cooking.

What's on your T.B.D.B.T. List?
Cass

And thanks to Karen at The Graphics Fairy for the vintage images.
Her website is amazing, and addictive.  Go see!

6 comments:

  1. Not poisoning anyone is a good goal to have! I think you forgot one thing on your list though - hide Howard's festive Thanksgiving shirt :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love the daylight coming through the windows. :0
    Can' wait to see the picture
    (((hugs)))

    ReplyDelete
  3. Too fuuny!!!

    This year we are going to a brother-in-law's for the big
    celebration! Minor cooking for me and hopefully no stress!!!

    Have fun,

    M :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. It is just us two chickens, so we are having filet mignon -- which Ray will do on the charcoal grill. No stress! He can watch football, and I will watch the parade and amuse myself. It works for us. Maybe you should hire someone to sew those curtains? Or just accept that it looks great like it is, and call it a conscious design decision. LOL

    ReplyDelete
  5. Reading your post just gave me an adrenaline surge....so much to do to get ready but such a great holiday! Your dining room is lovely ..either filled with friends and family or your kitchen goodies. Have fun...can't wait to see the easy way to polish silver....mine needs a good cleaning!
    Miss Bloomers

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have entertained a lot over the years and if I have learned nothing else it is to not make myself crazy with a long list of "must do" items. You have pared yours down perfectly.
    I always do the absolute musts first and then do whatever else I have time for. Things like taking a shower are not left until late in the day just in case I run out of time. I can always leave a salad unmade and have a guest lend a helping hand but asking them to scrub my back in the shower is usually a little too over the top. Although I suppose it would make for some interesting dinner conversations for years to come.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting That Old House; it's always exciting to find new comments -- they are treasured! Because of increasing spam, I have reluctantly eliminated "Anonymous" commenting. Legitimate anonymous commenters, please forgive me! You might try using "Open ID" instead. Blogger's spam software worked for a good long time, but, sadly, no longer.