Christmas ... some of my favourite things ....

Since you've asked to see some of the

final results of our Christmas decorating

I'm quite happy to oblige.   

(Go ahead, twist my arm!!)

Well.   The holiday decorating is about

75 percent completed as of this posting

with the exception of the den where I

still have the small tree to decorate, plus

a bit of tweaking here and there where

needed.

Every year I get so excited to open up 

all the boxes and storage bins and start

pulling out the ornaments that I love so

much.   Our tree features ornaments 

from all over the place ... Hallmark 

and Michaels,  Winners and Simpsons

(which no longer exists) and Pier One

... to name a few.    

Here is the tree, all lit up and glowing

with lights and glitter and joy!!   One

thing that I really love when it comes

to choosing an ornament is sparkle!

If it sparkles it's mine!

I'm also a traditionalist when it comes

to Christmas.   My colours are red,

green and gold.    Well, most of the

time.

The odd purple ornament with gold

design is quite acceptable when it's

as beautiful as the one above.   And

when it has a reflector style centre to

catch the christmas lights and shine 

even more, well, I'm okay with that.

The room divider is a great place to go nuts dedicate to

Christmas decorations.   I strip it of the usual

stuff that is there for half the year and pack all

that away where ever I can find a spot.   With

fingers crossed that I'll be able to find it all again

in January.   Ahem.

Many of the crystaline pieces ... trees, sleigh and

the one Santa to be specific .... all light up which

makes it easier to see everything at night and makes

it all quite festive without trying to jury rig strings

of lights ... trying to hide the cords and find a 

way of plugging them in without having extension

cords covering the floor and going in every 

direction. 

I also use those little battery operated tea lights

for added light instead of real candles .... which

make me nervous.

The book case has some favourite ornaments

including my Rudolph pieces and my favourite

snowmen pieces.

I picked these guys up one winter season from a 

local drug store and they were on sale for a ridiculous

cheap price.   

I love these guys!!   This one has a place in the

back for tea lights ... and again I use the battery

operated kind.

Rudolph and friends.   These were Hallmark

ornaments from quite a few years ago.

In the kitchen I've decorated the hutch shelf with

my favourite angels and Santa.    

In the living room I put bows on each of the

lampshades.   Some of the bows I have made

myself ... such as this one.

Many of my bows were made for me by my

friend Tony.   He makes me one every year.

We have an agreement you see.   Each year

I send him a box of my Christmas baking,

including a batch of scones which are his

particular favourites.   And in return he sends

me a hand made bow.   

These bows I put out wherever I can find

a spot that will show them off to their best

advantage ... and wherever the cats can't

get their paws on them.

************************************

Decorating went well for the most part this year

with one or two exceptions that did delay us a bit.

Unfortunately our Christmas star for the top of the

tree conked out and in spite of our best

efforts to resuscitate it it was quite dead.   I've been

looking for a replacement but can't find anything

that appeals to me.    I'll keep looking but if I don't

find anything suitable I'm not going to worry about

it.

Then there were the fancy little hooks that we use 

to hang ornaments on the tree.   Much to our 

annoyance and dismay we could not find them 

anywhere!!!   I use to keep them in one of those 

plastic margarine containers but we couldn't find it 

this year.   

We opened all of the many, many (many)  boxes 

and dug through mounds of tissue paper and 

piles of Christmas lights, stuffed toys and whatnot ... 

without success.   Frustration was setting in. 

Precious time was wasting.  

Then I glanced at a foot stool where

small boxes of ornaments were already 

unpacked and waiting to be hung on the tree ... 

and remarked to my helper Darlene  (who was 

digging in yet another large box nearby) ... 

"If we can't find the margarine container of small hooks 

perhaps we'll have better luck looking in this little box 

marked SMALL HOOKS!!!"

A short break for egg nog was in order after that.

After a long, exhausting day of Christmas decorating

we were sorely in need of sustenance and relaxation 

(and in some cases liquid refreshment of the alcoholic 

variety)  so we headed off to the Copper Kettle pub 

in Glen Williams for a nice dinner with friends.

I had Steak and Guinness Pie for dinner, with

hand cut fries and steamed veggies and for

desert Chocolate Guinness cake.   Yum!!

Above is a photo of the usual suspects.   Me on the 

left .... Darlene third from the left .... DH standing

tall on the right behind everyone ... and Brenda

(seated in front) owner of the pub and dear friend 

... and our friends Pete and Terry. 

You should see Terry's tree.   Her tree makes mine

look like Charlie Brown's tree in comparison.  

See.

So, that's what I've been up to this week.

Next on the to do list is the overseas

letter and cards and then the regular

cards.   

Hope you're not bored to tears.

Cheers!!