Fall is absolutely my favorite time of year and I can't believe it is already time to say farewell to it. My dad's birthday was on October 15th and I have always associated the peaking color of the leaves with him and his birthday. This year the colors came later and seemed to last much longer. I like to think my dad had something to do with that. I seemed to feel him close every time I saw an especially brilliantly colored tree. Now, though, it is time to look forward and enjoy the holiday season.
I really like Thanksgiving, the least stressful of the big days. Typically,we have had the kids, both of our families, and our traditional
"Thanksgiving in a box".
Thanksgiving with our parents 2005
This year was different in that our family was sitting around several different tables. Liz and Page were in Missouri, James and Han stayed in Des Moines, Dave and Harriet were in Florida, Mom was at Elmcrest and Nan was in Ottumwa. So Mike, Adam and I debated about staying here, going to a friend's house or heading to Galena. In the end we decided to celebrate at home. We kicked off our holiday season with a quiet dinner for three but I think I will always remember this peaceful year fondly. For one thing, after thirty one years of marriage I "cooked" the dinner all by myself. Mike is the cook in the family but he took a back seat this year and Archer Farms and I took over. I've never really gotten into the whole cooking for pleasure thing but I have always loved setting the table. I take a lot of grief for my copious collection of dishes, In fact, I am considered a "dish whore". My Thanksgiving plates are actually among my very favorites.
Years ago I saw a picture in a magazine of a Thanksgiving table set with brown Spode and various toile dishes. There was a lot of mixing and matching of odd pieces and I loved that. I decided to try and find something similar and I was lucky enough to find these at TJ Maxx. I have been adding to them for several years, a few here, a few there. Liz found a couple more salad plates for me this year and they were only $2.99 a piece. It just makes me love them even more.