Table Settings

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Enjoy your families today!

Project Completed

My table is finished! My husband also made a bench for one side, and we bought some unfinished chairs, that we will stain to match the table.

The center is done in a cherry stain and the rest is a mahogany stain

Next on his to-do list will be to build a matching buffet table..

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Also, here is a preview of my Thanksgiving table setting. It's not complete, which is why its a preview.

I'ts Beginning to Look

A lot like Christmas, and Thanksgiving hasn't even happened yet! I was out looking at clearance fall/thanksgiving decorations at hobby lobby and found that radio stations are already playing Christmas music along with all the stores, not to mention all the Christmas decorations already up and on sale. Now don't get me wrong, I love Christmas music and decorations. Boy do I love Christmas decorations, but I'm a firm believer in you don't put up anything christmasy till the day after Thanksgiving.

Am I wrong here? What happened to Thanksgiving? It seems like each year, the time between Halloween, and Christmas, the time dedicated to Thanksgiving, is getting shorter and shorter. As a kid I have fond memories of this time of year, going to my grandparents for thanksgiving dinner, stealing black olives and wearing them on my fingers, spending time with my family. I want my kids to have the same memories I have, the same family togetherness I had, and I'm worried that with the way our society is changing, they are not going to get that experience. I love the family traditions I experienced as a kid, and hope to someday pass those along to my kids. In a future post I will share a Christmas tradition, I grew up with.

One Word

1. Where is your mobile phone? Purse
2. Your significant other? Garage
3. Your hair? Long
4. Your mother? Oregon
5. Your father? Heaven
6. Your favourite thing? Fireplace
7. Your dream last night? Crazy
8. Your favourite drink? Coffee
9. Your dream/goal? Children
10. The room you're in? Huge
11. Your fear? Childless
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Here
13. Where were you last night? Date
14. What you're not? Confident
15. Muffins? Yummy!
16. One of your wish list items? Baby
17. Where you grew up? Westcoast
18. The last thing you did? Lowe's
19. What are you wearing? Clothes
20. Your TV? On
21. Your pet(s)? Two
22. Your computer? Laptop
23. Your life? Boring
24. Your mood? Happy
25. Missing someone? Nope
26. Your car? Driveway
27. Something you're not wearing? Shoes
28. Favourite Store? Hobby Lobby
29. Your summer? Birthday
30. Favourite color? Purple
31. When is the last time you laughed? Today
32. Last time you cried? ??
33. Who will/would re-post this? Anyone
34. Place I go over and over: Hobby Lobby
35. Person who e-mails me: no one
36. My favourite food: Italian.
37. Place I would rather be right now: Ireland

Pumpkin-Orange Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Orange Butter:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel
1/4 cup granulated sugar

In large bowl, combine the flour, 1 cup granulated sugar, baking powder, 1 tablespoon orange peel, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt. Stir in eggs and pumpkin and mix just until dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in nuts. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Combine cinnamon and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar and sprinkle evenly over top of muffins. Bake at 400 degrees for 18-22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out clean. Cool in pans for 5 minutes and remove to wire racks. Makes 12 muffins.

In a medium bowl, beat together the butter, 1/2 teaspoon orange peel and 1/4 cup granulated sugar until smooth. Serve butter mixture with warm muffins.

From around the yard and around town

Above is the park across the street from the library

We have four of these pretty trees in our yard. I love the color and the berries.

And of course, my favorite tree in our yard, the big 'ol climbing tree.

Blog Awards

Shauna, over at Trying to stay calm, was award these (and more), and was kind enough to share the love. Thank you Shauna! I am going to follow suit and pass them on to everyone who stops by my blog.

The butterfly award is from Lisa over at Cranberry Flats. And again I am going to pass it to anyone who stops by.

Enjoy!

Husband's project

My dinning room table,okay, so its not quite a table yet, but it soon will be!

The spots are in the picture are from the sawdust floating in the air.

My husband is wonderful, and I will have my table by thanksgiving.

I am so excited!!

That time of year

The first use of our lovely new fireplace.

Trouble

I came home from the store, and found this:

(yes, that is the cat's bowl and food)

The culprits?

The cat's food was up on the ledge, it's usually on the bistro/bar height table we have, but we needed the table for Sunday brunch and forgot to put the food back.

Dress Shopping

On Sunday, My sister, her two other bridesmaids, and I, went dress shopping. We started the day off by having everyone meet at our house, and my husband making his wonderful banana pancakes.

My sister finally set a date in May, and there is a lot of planning to be done! She plans on having the ceremony and reception at her and her future hubby's house. It will be a sunset ceremony, and I have no idea how to plan this thing! I got so frustrated trying to plan my own wedding, that I ended up eloping..

We have a date later today to go to hobby lobby, and it will be my first look at their house, so I can get an idea on what needs to be done.


Any blogger's out there have any ideas on how to plan a sunset ceremony?

Saturday Surprises

I planned on showing off my new cake plate, with the cupcakes I am making tonight, but on Saturday we got a surprise in the mail. My husband's birthday was in September and, my mother, usually sends him homemade chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies.

We thought this year would be no different, and patiently awaited the coveted cookies. By the end of October we had given up all hope on receiving the yummy cookies. My husband, really wanting his cookies, would make comments in the background when I would talk to my mother, He would got into full guilt trip mode and say things like, " I felt the loving embrace of your family last year, but it's fading now, your mother doesn't like me anymore..", he would sigh and be in full pout mode.

Well I guess it worked, because on Saturday morning there was a knock on the door and a package left on our doorstep. It was addressed to my husband, and guess what was in the package!? My mothers wonderful homemade chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies! They are almost gone now..

Jalapeno & Cheddar Corn Bread

Just thought I would share this find. I found this mix at Albertsons. if you can't find it at your local market, then you can try finding it at Firenza. They also have sugar free recipes.

This bread turned out better then I thought and was very simple to make.

And of course, Ford, was "helping". I think he was just waiting for me to drop a taste morsel for him..

A Day with my husband

I got to spend a wonderful day with my husband on Wednesday. Usually he only has the weekends off, but Wednesday I got a full day with him!

We started the day off with my husband making banana pecan pancakes, which were very delicious! After wich we hung out around the house for a while, then went exploring our town a bit more. We got to check out the library, I got 3 more books to add to the already long booklist I have.

Here is our library.

We checked out a few of the local antique stores, where I found this cute laundry room sign. I also got a little scarecrow man, he is pictured in an earlier post. I also got a cake plate and lid, I will use this in a picture next week, so keep checking in..

We had a very filling dinner at this really cute local resturaunt. Followed by coffee at J. J. Mocha's

All of this was located in the old town area of the city we live in. Its a really neat place when you have the chance to explore it. There are a few more resturaunts and stores we would like to explore.

We ended our lovely day with a wine tasting at a local wine store

I won

I won a giveaway!

I won this wonderful book from Sandra over at Canyon Wren Cottage!

Thank you so much Sandra!!

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On another note, I added some leafy garland to my front door.

The little scarecrow, on the right, I found yesterday at a antique store for a dollar. I'll post more later, on my other great finds.