Symmetry

Question. Who makes pumpkin pie a full week before Thanksgiving? Answer. Apparently someone who intends to eat it beforehand.

Perhaps my craving began when I noticed the sunset seemed to fade skyward into the color of pumpkin.

Whatever the reason, I further justified a half a pie a day is such a small price to pay for the sake of symmetry.

Plus, no where on my Thanksgiving menu does it read "Pumpkin Pie."

With A Little Help From My Friends

The saga of my Thanksgiving preparations continues . . . Armed with inside information from Pink Porches latest post, I decided to add some art to my Great Grandmother's chairs.

This may be a good time to tell you I was also armed with a large bottle of Extra Dry inspiration . . but I was sharing it with a friend. . . a very artistic friend.

Problems ensued, but my friend (we'll call her Diane) whose ideas flowed as freely as the champagne, came up with a solution to my very first dilemma. I quickly learned that the wood in the chair and the ballpoint pen had issues with each other. The wood was playing hard to get and the ballpoint pen wasn't trying hard enough. In others words . . . there were no words showing up on the chair as planned. That's when Diane asked if I had any carbon paper.

Pure genius, that Diane!

I finished the transfer with the carbon paper and then it was time to choose my weapon. So you think you can paint?

Diane noticed I was having a little problem with my hand eye coordination.

Did I mention she was a genius?

Yep, with champagne and a sharpie you can solve anything.

Except

maybe an empty bottle!

Eagle Eye

What's up little crow?

At the beginning of our walk today, the crows were making a racket scattering wildly and sounding alerts. But this little crow sat steadfast on a bare branch overlooking the harbor.

Wonder if he thinks he can out manuever this fellow.

What is he looking at anyway?

Ahhh . . . there it is.

Here comes his mate.

The cod was gone by the time we returned from our walk and guess who missed another great photo op again? Darn.

Night Lights For A Coastal Nest

On the Coast of Maine this time of year, sunset is around 4:00. That's when it's time to enjoy all my favorite lights. This one is in our main living area.

So is this one. This lamp has 4 of those flicker flame bulbs, with just enough tacky to always make me smile.

Here's my glowing pendant light that hangs over my kitchen sink.

The bottom narrows into a graceful twist, and in the daylight you can see the twist is just clear glass.

I love the old look of this glass, it's actually an outdoor fixture that I found at the local hardware store and it's what we use as an overhead light in the kitchen.

I have a little "diner booth" in my kitchen, a built-in with bench seating. Over this area I hung a little wrought iron tealight candelabra that is really handy when the power goes out.

Which thankfully doesn't happen that often anymore.

Fussing With The Food Table

On Thanksgiving, I decided to set up all the food on a separate table from where we will dine. Thinking a candle or two would be nice to have here, this "Message in a Bottle" candle holder was easy to do with some peel and stick letters.

For a focal point, I'm using driftwood sticks that I collected from the shore and plopped into one of our raku pots.






Fussing with the food table makes me hungry, so I decided to try out the recipe for the Blackened Salmon Fillets that I will be making next week. Here's a shot of it sizzling in my cast iron skillet. This is a very good recipe!

Here's the lovely serving dish that will hold the salmon. It was a gift from our friends.

Here fishy fishy . . .

I just love my fish platter!

Thanksgiving Fish

Before you get the wrong idea, I must tell you I really don't make it a habit to print up my Thanksgiving menu, but I've always loved the look of the Edwardian script font and thought it may give me a little inspiration while planning my Thanksgiving table.

Part of my planning is to build the menu around my serving pieces too, like this beautiful piece of pottery that will hold the lobster bisque. I found this several years ago at Alone Moose Gallery in Bar Harbor.

After reading somewhere recently that fish, perhaps even lobster, was served at the very first Thanksgiving back in 1621, I delighted in my already planned choice for this meal. My small round chart table only seats 4, so I had to come up with a table for 6 and the only option was to use my craft table which is a little rustic because I had painted the top aqua last year.

The scallop shells were added at the same time, and yes, of course it was me that highlighted them with a little gold leaf.

I also needed 2 more chairs to go with my white slipcovered set of 4. Here is one of my set of 2 chairs that once belonged to my Great Grandmother. They will be perfect to use at each end of the table.

I can't help but wonder if it was my Grandmother who painted over the wood, if so, seems things like that must run in the family.

Leftover Sea Swells

Today at Schoodic Point

The wave action from the last of the tropical storm that made it up here last night.

Yet just a few miles away all is calm.

Prospect Harbor

Quite a contrast.