Cleaning and Thanksgiving on a Slow Sunday...

Hello - another week that was the kinda "lather, rinse, repeat" of the last couple of weeks... and I'm sort of getting used to it...  but for what it is worth this week will be different as Elliott is off of school all week and we will be celebrating Thanksgiving on Friday instead of Thursday to accommodate the schedule of both sides of the family... and that is a good thing... already gotten a start on some food prep. Picked up my prime rib roasts from Costco and picked the bread for the stuffing...and I'll have all day Thursday to make the pasta salad, the deviled eggs and the marinated tomatoes... and I feel like there is something else I'm forgetting that is my part of the meal...hmmm.... We are eating at 3pm so I don't have to get up real early to do the prime rib and I have lots of time to finish up stuff. 

So I've mentioned several times about the cleaning out projects I want to do ... my closet, the garage, the kitchen cabinets, the closet in my craft room and a re-arrangement of my fabrics and the decor storage in the basement.  And I reflected that the spirit is willing, the flesh (my knees) are week and the motivation is fleeting BUT ... a great big BUT... spirit, flesh and motivation came together last week and I cleaned out my closet and re-arranged my clothes and took several bags of stuff to Goodwill and boy did that feel good! 

In fact it felt so good that the next day, with a ton of help from Nick, I CLEANED OUT THE GARAGE!! The weather was great, sunny and upper 50's... and we got rid of stuff that has been sitting in boxes and other containers UNTOUCHED for the last 11 years!!  Unbelievable!! We made a couple of trips to Goodwill and filled to overflowing every trash can we had (3) and then had more boxes and bags of stuff to put on the curb Monday night... and I was sooooo happy to wake up Tuesday morning and it was all GONE!!  Now it still looks like a garage...not one of those magazine photo shoots but it is tidier... like items are together... I can see all the stuff and there is even some empty shelf space... woo hoo!!!

I might get to the kitchen cupboard clean out in a day or two however, the basement probably won't get touched until after I get the Thanksgiving stuff put away and the Christmas stuff out.  Each season this year as I've put away one set of decor I've reduced what I have by at least one bin... and I'm feeling really good about that. I don't foresee another major reduction in the upcoming year but that's okay. With some clean out of the basement storage room it will all fit nicely. 

As I alluded to with "lather, rinse, repeat" I was in and out of the house a lot this week again. But other people got things done for me. Adam who is my outdoor lighting guy came by and put in a new fixture at the base of my front porch steps and another fixture that puts light up on the landing... I LOVE it!  Just what was needed.  And then another Adam, who lives down the street who owns a window washing business, came and washed all my windows, inside and out and cleaned the tracks and got them all to latch close...so the house is buttoned up for the winter... yeah!! 

I did get a tiny bit of crafty stuff done... and while I should be stitching Christmas, all the charts I had out required more attention than I was able to give them.... sooooo.... instead I picked back up the Bent Creek  Soapbox Winter... 

and I just stitched boxes... which required minimal brain power. 

Now I can go back and fill in the letters and the motifs. 

This is barely 2" wide but 18" long.... it will fit nicely next to the door either inside or out on the sunroom porch. 

I knit a little more on that sock I showed last week, but not much.

I hemmed 2 pairs of pants for Nick.

I sewed more 2 x 4 units together for my Dorothy Momo quilt. I need to count again. At first I thought I had cut all the squares I needed ... but then I thought I was going to be short... but I didn't cut anymore... but I now think I do have enough.  Too much mathing for right now. 

 I am happy I have my Thanksgiving decor to enjoy... here's it the big shelf display...

From the top ... Bent Creek's All in a Row... I stitched this eons ago... by next year I want to have Bent Creek's  Let's Be Thankful stitched for this spot. 

Moving down there is  Blackbird Designs Feast of Friendship  my Jim Shore cornucopia and a couple of small turkeys...

On the right side lots of blown glass pumpkins and November from Prairie Schooler...

And moving down another shelf  Ever so Grateful by Threadworks Primitive and Autumn Alphabet by Lizzie Kate... and the cornucopia pillow is a Prairie Schooler Snippet and the little turkey in the dish I forget where he's from... but he's cute.

On the right side here at the bottom I have a small turkey mold (got that from Michaels a couple fyears ago) and I Love Fall from Calico Confectionary. 

As I type this on Saturday the sun is shining and I'm pooped from running around all week... there were a couple of doctor appointments and a couple of dinners with friends and errands... lots of errands... I'm thinking a nap would be nice... I do need to get out and get the Spring bulbs I bought at Costco planted. I got some more daffodils and alliums and crocuses cause you can't have too many Spring flowers. I'll get Nick to help me ... he digs the holes and I toss in the bulbs... seems like a good job for tomorrow.  

The weather guys are predicting a noticeable change in the weather starting on Thanksgiving and the forecast I looked at has below freezing temperatures for several nights next week.. brrr... along with getting the bulbs planted I need to get some coverings on my rose bushes... I ordered some collars that you stuff with leaves and I have tons and tons of leaves in my yard...they will insulate the bushes... fingers crossed.

I hope that you all have a great Thanksgiving... between what I'm cooking and what my daughter-in-law is preparing and her mom is bringing we will all be stuffed to the gills... and there should be plenty of leftovers. I'm not big on leftovers for the most part but I do love a cold turkey sandwich on white bread with a side of cranberry sauce and some stuffing the next day... tradition...LOL

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today... and we'll have to see if I have anything blog worthy next week. I know I won't have my Christmas decor up ... well maybe I'll have the tree up... it is already fully decorated and sitting in a plastic bag in the basement...I just need Nick to haul it up the steps... I'm hoping to get some sewing done and put in a few more stitches in something... not sure what exactly... and I should be able to get those socks finished ... just have the foot and the toe to go and I'd really like to cast on another pair guilt-free...and I heard through the grapevine that my big pink Christmas Lemoyne Star quilt was next up at Delinda's to be quilted... I should get the binding made and I want to do some pillowcases too... well it looks like  I do have stuff I could show... IF I get 'er done... 

Happy Thanksgiving!

carol fun