What T.B.D.B.T. List? One Day, Folks!

There is an Old Wives' Tale - When your 
squirrels are chubby in the Fall,
you are in for a rough winter.

Uh-oh.

One of our local squirrels,
perched on a fence post outside our sunroom.

Bring on the snuggies and the galoshes, friends.

I'm abandoning all hope of a mild winter.

But tomorrow, Thanksgiving Day 2012, will be a lovely day.

Which is a mixed blessing;

brilliant afternoon sun on the west side of the house

highlights how really schmutzig the windows are.

Me?  I like a day with good cloud cover when I give thanks.

Supermarket flowers, waiting to be transformed into centerpieces.

My T.B.D.B.T List?

(To Be Done By Thanksgiving.)

Ha.  Ha.  Ha.

Between one thing and another, including this:

pretty much nothing got done.

Although we did hang the matchstick blinds in the study.

I am thankful for even that small thing.

(Which I call small, because Howard did all the work

and I just had to watch and supervise.  He loves that.)

Meanwhile, at That Old House, preparations continue for

tomorrow's feast and love fest.

Mmmm . . . chopped onions and celery, getting all

hot and bothered and ready for the stuffing.

Our biggest blessing?

A family which really enjoys family gatherings.

And, of course, a full refrigerator.

The turkey, a modest 28 pounder, is in the fridge downstairs.
So it's really two full refrigerators.  Come help us eat!

Next on the food prep list?

Hot artichoke dip, two apple pies,

one walnut pie, and a pumpkin cheesecake.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

You lookin' at ME?

I'll be back to say Hi soon, and share a picture of

this year's pin-up boy:  Howard in his turkey shirt!

-- Cass

Dylan and Dad; a dog and his boy.

What Weeds?

So I have decided to look at my garden and
see the flowers, and not the weeds.

Delusional?

Possibly, but since the week before The Wedding, when we had a stretch of very hot and wet weather, the tough New Jersey weeds -- who have a very powerful union and are ruthless about muscling in where they are not wanted -- have pretty much taken over.

I am not exaggerating.

Avert your eyes if you are squeamish about these things.

Let's see... what is in this border?

The bleeding heart foliage is slowly yellowing, as are other spring greens.

Some of those newish annuals that look like tiny petunias are managing to eke out an existence,

and the daises up top are in bloom, although they're duking it out with some

giant spiny weedy sticky guys that I am afraid to even touch.

There are yellow daylilies in there somewhere,

and look carefully to see some geraniums gasping for air:

One geranium is doing all right, fending off its weedy neighbors.

But this poor little rose bush is surrounded by the enemy.

The hydrangeas on top of the stone wall did not do well this year.  So sad -- not enough blooms to cut for inside!

But next to the house, the goofy flat-headed hydrangea is doing respectably well,

although not up to its usual full-to-the-brim performance.

 These are among the more goofy-looking members of the hydrangea family.

 BEE!

Next to these fellows, there used to be a big, lush border of Black-eyed Susans.

Sadly, over-eager Fall cleanup help, and big clomping painters' boots this spring has made that just a memory.

Dirt, weeds, and a few scraggly plants.

I would show you what this used to look like, but you might weep.

We don't have much in the way of tomato plants this year,

but the two we do have are prolific.  And their fruit keeps ending up in the grass, half eaten.

I didn't turn this one over, but I guarantee you would find little animal teeth marks on the other side.

Not made by snapdragons!

We have loads of ferns.

And among them, some summer stock.

Peek for the pink and you'll find it.

And speaking of summer stock -- or at least summer theater -- 

I've got a post coming up tomorrow or Friday about theater in New York City,

and how an old dress of mine is making its Off-Broadway debut!

Meanwhile, I have not really made peace with the weeds, as they are not here to do good deeds,

but are intent on choking out the plants we want to thrive.  So, when the cellar project is finished

(tomorrow) and the weather turns cool enough that I can bear to wear garden gloves,

I'll pick up my sword and shield,

and go tilt at weeds!

 Meanwhile, I'll just look at this little bit of the view:

 Fresh paint, and soft floozy flowers.

It's Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer.  Visit Susan -- click here!
At Faded Charm blog, it's White Wednesday.  Visit Kathleen -- click here!
Visit Sue at It's A Very Cherry World! for Wednesday is Rednesday -- click here!

My Reds?  My flowers!  My whites?  My Daisies, and my newly-painted-white house!

It's going to take me awhile to get used to the house being white;

I don't recognize it when I'm driving down the street.  Doh! -- Cass

Nekkid Men, Vintage Lingerie, and The Grim Reaper

Did I get your attention?

Second things first. 

Two weeks ago, we had Alida's wedding gown hanging in the parlor,

where it could stretch out in solitary splendor, covered by sheets.

Now, another fluffy white garment is temporarily hanging on the same breakfront.

Remember peignoirs?

This is the peignoir set that my mother gave to me at my bridal shower,

back in covered wagon days.  So, yes, it is very vintage.

There's a slinky nightgown under a robe of lace and layers of chiffon.

I had thought of giving this to my daughter at her shower, but honestly?

I didn't know where it was!  Instead, I gave her a new peignoir set.

"Ma!  Don't put this on the blog!"  "Oh, of course not, honey."  Now don't tell me you don't lie to your kids.

My mother walked miles through the department stores, unhappy with what she thought were second-rate peignoir sets.  Striking out at her favorite Abraham & Straus, she got my set at Lord & Taylor.  Coincidentally, Lord & Taylor is where I bought Alida's set.  But I surfed miles online to find it.  Much easier on feet and fuel.

Mama also gave me a pair of white satin Daniel Green mules with big puffs of maribou feathers on the vamp.

I don't have them anymore; they wore out.

And speaking of things that wear out . . . 

third things next!

This past weekend Howard insisted on ditching the wedding flower

arrangements that were scattered all over the house.

Remember reading Great Expectations in school?  We were well on our way

to having Miss Havisham's flowers.  Not A Good Thing.

So, to my dismay, the Grim Reaper grabbed his big black trash bag,

and went on the hunt for fading blooms.

That is supposed to be a fierce and scary face.  This might be why our girls giggled when Daddy scolded them.

Oh, the massacre!  Oh, the gleeful gleam in The Reaper's eyes!

But all was not lost.  Never one to cry "Uncle,"

I grabbed scissors and hacked off some still-surviving blooms.

 Plopped 'em into a clean container.

 And there they are still.  Fading, yes, but not horrible.

I figure the G. R. can come and do his thing again on Saturday.

Two weeks after the wedding.  That's a pretty good run for fresh flowers.

Now, first things last.  Those nekkid men.

Get your glasses on, ladies.  These guys are sweet.

 It's Calvin (L) and Luke, diving into the ditalini and sauce at home on a hot day.

Don't you love orange babies? 

My niece Maggie's twin boys are 9 months old, and vertical.

Well, mostly vertical.

*********************************************************************

Loose Ends.

Ok, if I didn't know where my peignoir was, how did I find it?

By cleaning out Rubbermaid bins in the basement.

I also found the dress I wore on my first date with Howard.

Now . . . a Moment of Real Shame:

 It was after the wedding that I noticed a hanger on the parlor breakfront.

Where the wedding gown had been hanging.

The empty hanger dangled there through all that company we had.  I never noticed it!

Oh well.  One thing about That Old House -- nothing's perfect.

What is perfect, though, is this peignoir set.

My mother told me that I'd have it forever, and it would stay like new.

Why?

"Because, honey, you will only wear it for 30 seconds before it lands on a chair."

Oh Mom, how I'd have loved to hear your comments on the family weddings that you have missed.

If you want the recipe for my mother's go-to fun and dee-lishus crowd pleasing cocktail,
my niece Alice was a guest blogger today at Cailen Ascher. 
Go visit for the ridonkulously easy recipe for 
Muttinis.
Alice will explain -- here.
Salut! -- Cass

Wedding Flowers!

Okay, there is just so much I want to share with you
about our daughter's wedding this past Saturday,
that I'm breaking it down into categories.

Today it's flowers.

Now please keep in mind that I didn't take any pictures on Saturday, and these flower pics

were taken today, Tuesday, so the flowers are looking a little -- shall we say -- peaky?

The bridesmaids wore navy blue chiffon, and carried bouquets of cream and pink flowers.  

The stems were wrapped in navy ribbon.

The flowers in action, at the church.

That's Anne on the left, then friends Alyssa and Christa, and the groom's sister Elizabeth on the right.

Alida's bridesmaids.

Daughter Anne, the Maid of Honor, unwrapped her flowers

and got them right into a rose bowl when she got home on Saturday.

 Wise child -- they held up pretty well,

and made a perfect centerpiece for our bagel and pastry buffet table on Sunday morning.

Alida carried a traditional cascade bouquet of roses, small calla lilies and stephanotis.

It's looking a little sad today . . . I did not have refrigerator room for it, and really don't know what to do with it!

 All whites and creams and greens; it was lovely.

The stephanotis for the Josh's boutonniere came from the same bunch used in Alida's bouquet.

Our florist Charlie is a true romantic!

He made spectacular arrangements for the church.

They have all 3 ended up at our house!  Two medium arrangements:

 Yes, these are medium.  By the way, that's the cake topper on the shelf above; 

it's a wooden cutout Alida got on Etsy and painted creamy white.

And this is the large one -- a massive burst of blooms that was in front of the altar.  

 I asked for something over-the-top and gorgeous, and he delivered!

I only wish I could preserve it.

After I'd ordered the wedding flowers from Charlie, I told him that we were having an After Party at the house on Saturday evening, and an all-day Open House on Sunday.  "I want two arrangements for the buffet tables.  Tall and sort of spiky and not similar to the wedding flowers.  Something different."

Here's what we got -- and remember they are 4 days old!

 The Stock is getting quite brown; I will remove it and a few other bits tomorrow.

View of the backs of the arrangements.

 Love the spiky 'dos.

 These were exactly what I wanted -- sort of modern, kind of funky and fun.

Can you believe those spiky purple flowers on top are related to garlic?

Now these two fun arrangements found themselves jazzing up each end of the dining room table at our post-wedding parties;

our Saturday buffet table was outdoors in an ice-filled chiller table to keep cool, and our Sunday buffet

was in the sunroom on the round oak table, and the round rose bowl with Anne's bouquet

fit it so beautifully that we used that.  But the dining room looked great with these, and they amused people.  

I love a good florist.

Well there are still the wedding centerpieces to show and explain, but I'll leave that for another post.

I made a vow to work very hard at doing nothing today, so I'm off to finish that particular chore.  ;-P

Join me? -- Cass

Link Party!

At A Stroll Thru Life, it's Tabletop Tuesday -- click here!

Oh my!  Can't have a post-wedding-week post without a pic of our bride, can we?

In the vintage Rolls Royce, having a bit of champagne with her brand new hubby before heading to the reception.

It's fun to be The Bride!