Happy Thanksgiving

Here followeth a Casa de Crazy Thanksgiving Day Tradicion:




And a new (old) addition to our warped holiday hilarity:


We hope you have a pleasant, tasty, mellow, comfortable, healthy, not-at-all-contentious Thanksgiving day if you are in the USA and an all around good one if not in the USA or not celebrating.

Here are the links if you want to view on YouTube:  Alice's Restaurant , Thankful and Turkey Drop

Thankful

 I have a few traditions on Thanksgiving. Not many - the menu; recording and watching the Macy’s parade, forwarding through commercials and talking heads to see the twenty minutes of balloons, floats and high school bands we’re actually interested in hidden among all that junk; and my day-before-Thanksgiving list of some things for which I am thankful, in no particular order and in no way complete:

What remains of my left foot, Nubbly, which perseveres and does its best not to pain me even when I deserve it
The doctors, nurses, and techs who probably saved my life IN 2019  and helped me get back to living it when I was hours from being septic, and already waging war with osteomyelitis, gaseous gangrene, and MRSA
The care that family and friends gave me while I returned to upright living (or what now passes for it, which is pretty darned good) once more
The Evil Genius
Micah (who was Sprout and then Blossom when she reminded me that she's a bit grown, now and isn't a sprout any more, and I'm not weeping over that, you can't prove anything)
Mom, though she be gone from us
The house in which I live (beloved Casa de Crazy) even when it reminds me that chaos and entropy abound
The vehicle which takes me where I need/want to be
Gypsy
Kerri
T, who may be my ex-husband but remains a staunch friend
Mr. Grey
Mizz A, gone but never forgotten
Kit
Sam-I-Am
PJ, who is gone from this world but always with me
Mizz Beth
Martha 'n' Milo (who lives always in our hearts)
Avalon
Dica
Donna
All of my friends who put up with me when I am most myself and therefor least likable. They are the net beneath me when I fly and fall
Kira, Jon, and Ric, with whom I am privileged to make music
Bread
The scent of leaf loam and woodsmoke in the crisp autumn air
Apple cider
Books, music, and art
Clean, plentiful water
Clean air
Clean clothes
Freedom
Nature and the ways she finds to show me something new of herself every day
Words
Song
Dance
Adversity, that joy is all the sweeter (Okay, okay, the joy is sweet enough, so basta with the adversity for a minute, please)
Every creature and plant that I consume to sustain myself, because without the life I take, I would have no life to live
Love - that it exists at all is a wonder, and I feel blessed to know it in many forms
Chocolate, gift from the Gods (yes, even the perversion called "candy bar") (Mmm...candy bar...)
The cats by whom I am kept
Honeycrisp Apples
Strong hands
Strong spirit
Strong will

Laughter

Cussed determination not to curl up and die just because life can sometimes be a succession of truly awful, bleak, and desolate days...but sometimes it isn't
My couselor, Jessica
The Internet
You

I hope you have a blessed day, and that the things for which you're thankful outweigh the things for which you're not.

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all, from us at Casa de Crazy to you out in the Blue Nowhere and beyond.

Counting Down

It is Thanksgiving week and there is much happening here at Casa de Crazy and Dragon’s Rest.

We’re celebrating at Dragon’s Rest again, this year, our way of keeping Mom with us even though she is gone.  Angie, too - if she cannot be with us, at least her kitties can enjoy a few morsels of turkey.

The Evil Genius will not be coming - bit of a commute from the other side of the country.  More keylime pie for me (and Ed, and Tony).

Not gonna lie, this year is going to hurt.  Last year did, but we found laughter and love and joy, and we will again.

Some friends will be joining us, though, and that’ll be fun.

This is a somewhat traditional post for me - every year I write a little something about this week, as it is the lead-off to The Silly Season (aka Christmahannukwanzakyule) and often one of my busiest here at the Casa.

So, here we go.

Sunday - Baking bread for dressing.  Micah (Blossom, Sorout) is going to help, and we’re doing it at the cabin so there’s less to transport on Wednesday.  Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning.

Monday - cutting bread into cubes so it can air dry for dressing.  Did I mention cleaning? Transferring turkeys to the fridge,  then back to Casa de Crazy.

Tuesday -  Baking keylime pies, mashing turnips and carrots.  Panic over the cream supply - will half a gallon suffice?  Is two pounds of butter enough? Thaw the turkey stock for dressing and gravy.  Chop onion and celery for dressing.

Wednesday - Pack it all up.  Back to the cabin.  More housework.  Lort, the housework.  Setting up the extra table and chairs.  Prepping the dressing.  Still panicking about the butter…maybe last minute shopping is in order?  Stuff the turkeys with herbs, butter ‘em up, and season them before putting the pans in the fridge so they’re ready to go in the morning.  

Thursday - Turkeys go in to bake.  Dressing goes in to bake.  Green beans are steamed.   Boil and mash potatoes.  Are five pounds of potatoes enough?  Maybe I’ll make ten… Finishing up any last minute cleaning.  Friends and family trickle in.  Set the table.  Fill the water pitcher.  Watch TV and baste the turkey.  Start Dutch apple pie baking and start chocolate silk pie thawing (because Marie Callender does pie so well, I'm happy to let her).  Serve.  Eat.  Coma.  Dessert and coffee/tea.  More coma.  Play games.  Pack leftovers to go for guests.  Eat more.  Sleep well.

Friday - Head to GARF to work with Kerri at her booth, stopping by Casa de Crazy first to love on the cats therein.

Saturday - More GARF, then home for the night.  Start planning holiday goodies for shipping to family and friends.  Get ready to make meringues so Mom’s tradition lives on.  

Sunday - Back to the cabin.  Naps interspersed with making Thanksgiving casserole and turkey stock/soup.  Would ye be unreasonable to buy another freezer or three?  Maybe beginning Christmahannukwanzakyule baking.

How is your week shaping up?