Counting down

I have begun my countdown to Thanksgiving dinner. The first of the pies are baked, the jam cake is iced and in the pantry and one of the turkeys is in the brining mixture. I've baked the biscuits and cornbread for the dressing, made the cranberry relish. I'm thinking hard about how to have our Thanksgiving meal on the table at the appointed time. Every year it ends up being about an hour later than I said it would be. I'm a pretty experienced cook, after all these years, but still have trouble getting everything synchronized to be ready at the same time. Especially a meal as big as Thanksgiving. I think about trying to eliminate some of the dishes, just to simplify things, but that idea is always nixed by family. Especially this year, it seems maybe too extravagant to have so much. On the other hand, I am more aware than ever and grateful for the abundance in my life. Not just food to put on the table, but a family that is healthy and happy, the new baby that will become part of the family in January, a life that is busy and productive and allows me some time for creative activities. It is so easy to fall into the habit of complaining (I'm speaking of myself here) because things are not just exactly the way I would like sometimes, but when I stop and look around, I know that I am blessed.

Barn chores don't stop for the holidays. I've been feeding twice daily since back in the fall because of the drought, though we have had some rain lately and the grass has greened up a little. Some mornings I can hardly make myself put on the coat and boots and hat and gloves to go to the barn, but once I'm there, I end up staying longer than I really need to, just observing and interacting with the animals. There's no doubt, life would be so much easier without them, but also, maybe not as interesting. I mean, look at that face. How could I wish he was not here? There's always a trade-off.

Of course, in the midst of all the cooking, I really want to sit down and knit. I started one of those scarves and it is the perfect "pick up and put down" project. No patterning, no increasing, decreasing, cabling, just two rows in one color and two rows in the other---and short rows, at that. Love it.

Well, back to it.