I picked up this enameled cast-iron calf at Tractor Supply
Time for a little update as to what's going on around here.
Our electrician sent out a team to install the round back-lit bathroom mirror that was sent to replace the one that broke after five months.
The fake fall foliage is distributed for maximum effect
They were here for about fourteen minutes.
It's one of those things that's not the least bit complicated if you know what you're doing.
So we are in business again -- until we aren't. Forgive my skepticism but once burned ... you know the rest.
My salt and pepper shakers are for looks only
The extra-large battered-looking round green metal clock in the TV room is back on the wall. Up and running, as it were. So far, so good.
We are back to frothing heavy cream, too, for our coffee. Every day. Singularly satisfying, that froth on top of the Joe.
To celebrate, we're planning a party not only for this coming Friday night, but for the next Friday night too.
These wooden crates come out every year
And the week after that is Thanksgiving, and boy will we ever have a houseful.
For the first time in our married life, TG and I have had to make arrangements with one of our children and their family to stay in a hotel when they are here for the holiday.
My Thanksgiving table runner features pumpkins
There's just not enough room for everyone. Audrey hosts a few of her nieces, who love hanging with Dagny, and one of the subject family's children will stay here with us (in our room, on the floor), but that puts us full up.
Erica offered to keep some folks as Elliot is still sleeping in his bassinet in her room, meaning that she has a guest room until that room becomes Rhett's room. But we decided that with the new baby still less than two months old, we'd spare her the extra work.
This little fox was picked out by Dagny a few years ago
Not to worry. It will be fun for everyone.
The next two Friday-night dinner parties will be with church friends. We are looking forward to these fun-filled soirées and I am busy planning menus.
I'll give a full report after the fact.
Gnomes hanging out on the ledge
Meanwhile, at the end of last week I put all of the October decorations away and brought out simply every autumnal doodad and whatnot and layabout and knickknack and so forth, along with fake foliage, that I possess, and scattered thoughtfully placed everything around.
Mostly in the eat-in kitchen, but there are accents in the TV room too.
It's hard to believe that in a few weeks, I have to put all of that away for another ten months, and haul out the Christmas stuff.
If you come over, one of the first things you'll see is this little house
How can this year have evaporated in such a way? Ah. Just like every other year has done. That's how.
At any rate, there is another new addition to my kitchen: a coffee bar.
TG is rolling his eyes somewhere. He does not drink coffee so is not the least bit simpatico with those of us who do. However, he is sweet about the quiet clamor that tends to develop around this particular beverage.
These towels hang on the oven door
He endured my "having to have" a Keurig coffee maker -- since time out of mind I had used one of my collection of French presses to prepare my daily coffee, and a percolator when we had guests -- when, back in early September, I used my son's new Keurig and was red-pilled to the concept.
That necessitated me buying my own Keurig (which was on order before we even returned home from that trip), and my introduction to the world of K-cups, and all that goes along with that.
My cake stand is holding pumpkin trinkets until I make a cake
Side Note: I think I've asked you this before, but do y'all have a CostLess store? We do and we're all crazy about it. I really believe ours is the only one, though.
It's wildly successful. Becoming more crowded every time we go. And they have a rewards program!
Audrey told me the other day that at CostLess they have boxes of 72-count Donut Shop K-cups for twenty-one dollars. I haven't seen it with my own eyes but when I do, I will be buying some of those.
This turkey holds up his end of the table
Never mind that I just bought a box of 100 Donut Shop K-cups for thirty-nine dollars at Costco, thinking I was pretty smart for getting the price-per-cup down to thirty-nine cents.
If Audrey is correct (and I'm sure she is), the cost per cup of the box at CostLess is twenty-nine cents.
My coffee bar
And yes, I do realize that I am paying lots more for cups of coffee these days, than I did when I bought the ground coffee and brewed it in a French press, one cup at a time.
Or even in the percolator, ten cups at a time.
The backlit mirror was replaced and has been installed
But in my own defense I no longer order coffee in restaurants and certainly not in the popular coffee shops, where it costs anywhere from three to five dollars a cup.
It's all relative.
And soon, our relatives (and other guests) will be enjoying the latest addition I alluded to above: my new coffee bar.
We got beaucoup candy at our church's harvest dinner
How it came about was, one, as slim and space-saving as the five-inch-wide Keurig is, I was beginning to get nervous about the crowded-ness of the countertop (workbench, my late mother-in-law always called it) where said machine resided.
It was encroaching on a main Crock Pot location, which becomes pretty important this time of year.
Two, as a result of mental ruminations on that subject, a few Saturdays ago I decided to relocate the Keurig to the kitchen desk and make a coffee bar there.
The popcorn machine has gone around the corner into the front room
The desk features four cubbyholes attached to the cabinets above, which cubbies have traditionally held baskets, which held all sorts of things.
I cleaned out the cabinets and put the baskets up there out of sight, and moved many of my coffee mugs to the cubbyholes.
The mugs are in the desk cubbyholes
Put the Keurig on the desk (it had to be at an angle, which I did not like), and drove that arrangement around the block a few times.
It was imperfect in that, the kitchen desk is just that: a desk. It's not a coffee bar. There's a chair there.
I've had fun decorating the Origami coffee cart
The pirate was not happy.
I began searching on Amazon, and even went to a few stores, looking for some ideal (but inexpensive) piece of furniture to sit where our popcorn machine has been sitting for many years, to serve as a coffee bar.
Have you tried Donut Shop Snickers K-cups?
The popcorn machine was wheeled around the corner into the front room, which may sound offbeat to you but it's actually going to be fine. The room (intended as formal living/dining) is not used all that much by anyone but me.
And the popcorn machine can easily be wheeled right back into the kitchen when we make popcorn.
My friend Marsha gave me this little loaf pan and matching spatula
(Whenever I start rearranging things I often think, someone will think this is weird. Odd. Strange. Eccentric.
(And then I think: It's MY house. I'll put stuff where I want to put it.)
(I mean, if someone doesn't like it, they can always leave. But they will be missing out on a good time.)
Pumpkins are nestled everywhere
So that left the wall space to the right of the kitchen desk, for a coffee bar.
I summarily ordered a small baker's rack that would hold the Keurig without having to set it at an angle, and would also hold all of the other coffee stuff.
Minus the mugs, which I really liked in the cubbyholes above the desk.
My friend Marsha gave me this butter dish too
They look cute there and with a coffee bar a few feet away, it is a wise use of those spaces.
So the little baker's rack arrived and I attempted to put it together. I wanted to spare TG the hassle.
Owls and a squirrel and giant acorn
Only, one, I couldn't do it alone and two, I could tell that even all put together, it would look just like what it was: a piece of cheap Chinese junk.
Sorry but it was not up to my standards. I was just trying to save money but in the end, I had wasted money.
We'll be eating lots of pie on these plates
I boxed it all back up exactly the way it had come, and returned it.
Back to Amazon, where I located and purchased just what I needed: a sturdy, heavy, attractive rolling cart by Origami.
So named because it arrives already assembled and folded. I only had to unfold it, set a latch, and put the wheels on the bottom.
This is a mini gnome mug from Hobby Lobby
It's so heavy that the process proved slightly difficult, but I prevailed because I was determined, and have been rewarded with what I consider a primo coffee cart.
That did not have to be put together, piece by piece.
Y'all ... this cart is the bomb. I would say without hesitation, if you need a rolling cart for any reason, either decorative or utilitarian, or both, this is one you should consider.
More gnomes are nestled on the two-tiered tray centerpiece
It's solid -- both literally and figuratively.
This piece of furniture will be listed in my will. It's what I call an instant heirloom. Somebody is going to want it and I will specify who gets it.
So now the coffee bar is in place and I love approaching it every morning to make my coffee.
This little cow is cast iron and very heavy
Lots of counter space and cabinet space (where all the coffee mugs used to be) has been freed up, and I've been enjoying that too.
Then came the flurry of decorating for Thanksgiving, and acquiring of thematic paper dessert plates and napkins for the upcoming festive meals.
That was accomplished at Hobby Lobby, where all such supplies were fifty percent off.
This tiny gnome was a gift from a friend
I'm determined to have the tree up, and all of the Christmas decorations waiting in the wings, to be lit and placed the minute that Thanksgiving is over.
These days I have to get out in front of things.
Soon it will be time to say goodbye to fall
And since Thanksgiving is a tad bit earlier in November than usual, the Christmas season will be that much longer.
What a happy thought.
Tell me the stage of Thanksgiving planning where you are today, a little more than two weeks before the turkey goes into the oven.
May your holiday season hold many blessings
Will you be traveling for your pumpkin pie?
Is your Christmas tree up? And if so is it lit, or waiting to be lit?
I want to know your thoughts on the matter. Spill it.
And that is all for now.
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Happy Wednesday
