O Christmas Tree...

 I have been enjoying the tree for the last week. It's not a theme tree...it's all the ornaments collected over the years. Today Dad hung the light over the dining table. It's the one we had growing up...straight from the 1970s. I love it.

I like a tree with tons of lights, but the lights these days are so much brighter, so I put a dimmer on it. Dad showed me this trick last year. I don't know why I never thought of it....if the room is very dim, you can have it nice and soft. If it's day light, turn the lights up brighter. Love it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 We ended up having four for dinner because my sister came too! That was a nice surprise. This is the first time I've had anyone over for dinner at the new place.

 We made sweet iced tea, because that's the way you do it when your mama's from the south. YUM.

I didn't make near as many dishes this year because we had just a few of us, but we had turkey, dressing and the usual Thanksgiving type things. Since I was not having a crowd this year, I just cooked two turkey breasts...two because I loooove to have sandwiches from the leftovers. Cooking just the breasts was lots easier and faster than cooking a whole turkey. Mom made chocolate pie from grandmama's recipe too, which is my favorite dessert.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving Day!

Getting ready for Thanksgiving

This year the kids are going to their uncle's house with Joe, so it will be a quiet dinner dinner with Mom and Dad. I have been working to get things put away enough here so that we can have dinner at my house.

The table is working out great. It's just the right size for this little room. Mom and Dad have a cute light that I'm going to hang over the table, but I haven't gotten that far yet. I did get some chairs though. I went to Pier one and got them during their sale. They have a distressed black finish, which is great...because they'll surely get more distressed as time goes by! Even though they are new, they look great with the antique table. I'll have to post a picture without the tablecloth after Thanksgiving.

 I got a little more storage by adding a bookshelf to the dining room. Lots of books and some treasures made by my kids.

I made a pumpkin pie and some deviled eggs tonight. I'm cooking turkey breasts tomorrow, so I don't think I have to get up as early as for a big turkey.

Dining Table

Mom did some scouting around town and found a table that was just right. It's only 42 inches across, which is perfect because the dining room is small. It has a lot of leaves, so I can stretch it out for holidays. It's oak and looks good with the buffet. I'm going to get black chairs (the one in the pic is from my desk in the next room).

This table is from Brad's Antiques on Howard Street. Like so much older furniture, it's solid and was cheaper than a new table...even the inexpensive ones. Gotta love that!

Dad and I hung the old school map tonight. I love maps...such beautiful colors. Got another palm too, and potted it up in the same container I used at the old house. It will probably live in here in the winter and on the porch in the summer.

Vintage Barkcloth

I bought these 1950s barkcloth curtains, and I was going to resell them at the shop. But then I brought them home from the shop and pinned them up at the windows. The color of the flowers is the same as my living room curtains, and they look pretty nice. So I'm seeing if I can remake them for the little bay window in the dining room. I'm lucky they were long enough to be apron length curtains.

Right now I'm trying to decide whether to hang them with the rings showing more (as they are in this picture), or with the hooks through the rings, which makes them hang a bit higher and hides the rods. That might be good because, as you can see, the rods are not custom bent for this bay..they are just 3 rods hung at the same height. I really like the looks of the rings showing though, so I'm thinking I will go that way. I'll deal with the rods somehow. These curtains were such a good bargain that I might even look for others, so I can change out the look at the holidays or during the summer...mabye something lighter for summer.