Are you enjoying this Thanksgiving Weekend and beginning of the holiday season? I sure am! This weekend, my Thanksgiving cactus burst into bloom all over. I think these blooms are so interesting, with their shapes that make me think of little rockets.
The plant has blooms all over, most are red.
On the other side, there are a few yellow ones blooming, and more buds on the way on the fronds behind.
Several people asked about the difference between the Christmas and Thanksgiving cacti on the leaf shape. The spiky ones are Thanksgiving. But if you cannot decide, look at the pollen on the flower. Thanksgiving cactus has yellow pollen, while Christmas cactus pollen is pink. The photo below shows the yellow pollen.
On another corner, a dozen more buds and partial blooms mean more color to come.
Over the weekend, a new visitor, and I have to say I was happy to see him/her. I spotted him in the forest edge a few days ago, and had hopes of him coming closer. This day he did, and when I tried to slowly go out to the veranda with a sandwich, he ran off. But an hour later he was back. This time, I just barely opened the door and threw out a sandwich, which he did not see land nearby.
I waited inside with the camera while he continued to root around for seeds that had fallen from the bird feeder. He’d get close, then turn away. I kept thinking that surely he could smell the peanut butter! It took patience, but finally, he found the tidbit.
He snatched it up, and began chowing down. After a moment, though, he took the treat and ran off with it to eat it in the woods. So, I have hope that I’ll have another squirrel friend soon. Now we have to name him.
On the feeder, winter has brought some of our year round residents to eat. A goldfinch in winter drab keeps an eye on a red-bellied woodpecker.
Another goldfinch gets a beak-full with a house finch and a chickadee.
Here, yet another goldfinch (there are at least a dozen here) shares the bounty with a house finch and a titmouse.
A moment later, the titmouse has flown off while a Carolina wren takes its place.
In the sewing room, I’m starting on Christmas sewing. I can’t decide whether to make this into a hot pad, or a wall hanging.
I figure by now you’ll need a few ideas for the leftover turkey beyond the usual soup or turkey and dumplings from the bones. Leftover Chicken or Turkey Mornay is a lighter version than I have had in the past, scrumptious with the topping of mornay sauce and lots of cheese. It’s a great meal to use your individual au gratin dishes, but if you don’t have these, it works fine in a larger baking dish.
This recipe uses left over turkey and cranberry sauce along with some barbeque sauce, to make a totally new meal. I used toast only because I didn’t have any sesame seed buns, but they are great with any kind of bread – Sloppy Toms with Cranberry Barbeque Sauce.
See this post on Holiday Leftovers to see how to make stuffing waffles for a leftover lunch with lots of crunchy goodness. It will make the leftover stuffing/dressing irresistible with leftover gravy and a bit of turkey.
From my first year of blogging, this recipe for a Turkey Noodle Casserole will feed a crowd. It is a great idea for leftover turkey to feed a houseful of guests or take to a holiday potluck. See Casserole for a Crowd.
Coming up on Friday is the Stashbuster check in, so get your totals ready. I have a challenge quilt in the design stage, and I hope to begin work on it this month. I have to have it done by March, and it is going to require some hand applique, so I need to get that underway. I’ve been working on putting away the fall stuff and pulling out the red and green, watching holiday movies as I play with decorating. I hope you are having a great holiday weekend! Are you putting out your Christmas / Hanukkah / holiday decorations this weekend? What’s your go-to leftovers dish?
From My Carolina Home 
Thanks for the leftover recipes! I made Turkey soup last night and I am trying a Turkey enchilada recipe tonight. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out. Good luck with your new squirrel friend. Hopefully he becomes a little braver and will venture up to see you.
have fun with your squirrels this winter. I have used up most of my small turkey already and have one bag in the freezer for another meal. I wonder why some Thanksgiving cactus’s flower and other times no buds. I have one that has alot opening, another with one flower only and one that has none and they are all healthy plants
Excellent, a new squirrel friend. Many years ago we didn’t have any squirrels, they were living in the woods across the road but never ventured by our house because we had no trees. Fast forward a few decades and I’m surrounded by trees & squirrels – makes viewing out the window very entertaining.
It’s really great to see another person enjoying the squirrels! I love them and make sure they get treats beyond the bird seed (Although I buy the expensive bird seed complete with fruit bits and nuts!) Miss Gen loves her “kitty TV” viewing the antics of the squirrels.
I really enjoy your bird feeder and all the wildlife that it attracts. I am thinking I need one out my kitchen window. Our resident cardinals, blue jays and squirrels have plenty of nature’s bounty to fill them up this fall, but I always wonder what becomes of them over winter. They are a hardy lot. My daughter brought me a giant aluminum pan full of Thanksgiving bounty, and I enjoyed having it for “brunch” on Friday, and eating up the sides at dinner for 2 nights. I just LOVE the waffle maker idea for your stuffing leftovers! GENIUS
How fun to find a new squirrel friend! Hopefully he’ll get more comfortable with your treats so you can get some good photos. I love Thanksgiving leftovers – I think we have about one meal’s worth left – maybe enough for a casserole. Enjoy your projects today!
Good morning, Carole. The Thanksgiving cactus is beautiful! Your bird visitors must bring you lots of pleasure as does your new squirrel visitor! Happy Sunday!
Oh my…We do have leftovers and your ideas read as a good idea. I will give them a try..So glad the is a new peanut butter visitor.
Just took down all my fall decorations today as we just celebrated our Thanksgiving with our son and d-i-l. Today is turkey hash day for leftovers. It’s bit size stuffing and turkey pieces, egg noodles cooked and gravy. Just throw it all in a skillet and serve it in bowls while watching football! Leftover rolls makes sure you don’t leave any of that delicious gravy in the bowl ! Now I’m hungry!! Love your new squirrel. We have so many and they are scurrying about today as the weather is calling for 10” to 15” of the white stuff beginning tomorrow when that lake effect variety comes off Lake Erie. Time to hunker down.
Your holiday cactus is really looking terrific and I love seeing your bird neighbors! I was witnessing a food fight at my feeder yesterday. Really, there’s plenty for them all!
Many of my Thanksgiving cacti are in bloom. I also have 3 true Christmas cacti (one is more than 35 hyhears old), but they won’t bloom until closer to Christmas and sometimes not even until January. We have so many squirrels (and black walnut trees), I couldn’t possibly tell them apart to name them. They bury the walnuts all over my gardens. This was a banner year for black walnuts, so I’ll be digging up plenty of seedling trees in the spring.
Fun to contemplate the next projects, what to do with leftovers, etc. Oh the possibilities!
One of our leftover favorites is pumpkin pie for Breakfast!
Hope you’re enjoying the rest of the weekend!
We love pumpkin pie with our morning coffee too! Both taste so much better then!
So happy to hear you have some squirrelly visitors again! I like the idea of the Sloppy Toms with Cranberry BBQ. Our go-to is turkey soup. Eating a bowl this morning for breakfast as a matter of fact! Haha
Lovely to see your plants doing so well. Pretty flowers on the cactus..
The birds are gorgeous, too.
Good luck with your sewing plans.
You always have such beauties to share – plants, bird and food! I am happy with my stashbuster numbers…its going down little by little…thanks for that encouragement too!