Happy Thanksgiving!

Burt is  pretty happy that he found his turkey hat from last year. It's just not a party without silly hats! He and Ivy have been helping with dinner prep by making sure there's enough chocolate chip cookies to go along with the turtle brownies and pumpkin pie. Every meal needs some chocolate, it's an important part of the basic holiday dessert group.

Speaking of silly hats, His Madness took up bread baking awhile ago. After a lengthy period of trial and error he seems to have it all figured out. 

As the cooking goes on . . .

. . .  the Thanksgiving decorations go up!

Back in the 90's my mom and I started collecting Department 56 houses. It was one of the few things we ever had in common and they soon became a staple of gift giving - and receiving - among the whole family. Eventually we had to call a halt to further acquisitions but not before we had amassed enough to stock several stores. So, in order to get as much use as possible out of too much of a good thing, some have been relegated to other holidays. A couple of days before Thanksgiving, the "Halloween Village" gets replaced by a mixture of "Christmas in the City" and "Dickens Village" pieces and populated with my grandma's politically incorrect Pilgrim candles from Woolworths. 

Usually, the inhabitants of these tiny villages spend their time outdoors but down at the end of the piano is a Victorian home and there are people having quite a party inside!

(I just realized Alexa is lurking in the background, still wearing her witch hat. Oops.)

Of course, it's always driven me crazy that I couldn't get a decent look at what was going on inside that room! Not without breaking it, anyway. Then yesterday it finally dawned on me to use my phone, duh!

It appears that a young couple and their grandparents are in the midst of a Christmas feast in a very fancy dining room. Some sort of bird has been roasted and maybe granny has had a little too much port? I have to say the attention to detail is impressive but I still want to get a better look!

   

Since there isn't much of any specific decor theme to Thanksgiving - besides the turkey -  it seems like the perfect opportunity to get some use out of the old autumn garlands. These are left over from the days before I found some black ones that are way more suited for Halloween. 

It's hard to face the fact that Halloween is over but time move on. At least Mother Nature has been doing her part to keep things spooky!

This was the sky at NOON last Sunday! Gloomy doesn't seem to accurately describe it.

Last weekend we were on another road trip to get together with old friends for an early Thanksgiving. It seemed like such a luxury to celebrate a holiday without getting into arguments over politics - and for that, I was really thankful!

Now, it's time to watch the parade while everything is in the oven! 

Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate!