in between taking many many pictures of the birds during the snowstorm on sunday, i wandered around in the living room photographing various bits of xmas decor.
the lake is frozen now, by the way, in case you wanted to come over and go skating. kevin said the geese were sitting on top of the ice but then he heard it cracking and they were happy because they could splash around. so maybe you should wait a coupla days before skating. we actually used to go skating out here when this was my grandmother’s house. i have a very vague memory of it, or maybe it’s just the photo of it that i remember. i do remember that it was COLD.
i bought this sparkly silver branch and the cool sparkly birds at a deep, deep discount after xmas last year on the grandinroad website. it’s a martha stewart thing, i think. i love it, but because there aren’t enough surfaces in the living room for all the decorations, this is off to the side and not so easy to see at night when we’re more likely to have guests. maybe i will think of a better place for it. maybe next year.
the problem with having so many ornaments is that there are some that are so cute that i don’t want them to get lost in the huge array on the tree. i decided to hang these on the lampshade, but i think it doesn’t look so great here in this picture, what with the big ornament hangers hanging down. it looks better in real life because the hangers blend in with the shade. we got that big dragon in the middle on the island of kauai on our honeymoon, in the TOWN OF HANALEI. he’s puff, of course. i don’t remember where we got that cute little collection of xmas dogs, but they really need their own tiny tree.
we’ve gotten a few ornaments with our names on them, but right now these are sitting on the table. i must find a place for them!
i broke down and bought this a week ago. it’s an advent calendar log cabin, and i had been eyeing it covetously all last year, hoping it’d go on sale after christmas, but it never did. behind each little door on the side is a charming little woodland animal. i LOVE it.
a close-up of some of the animals. that’s a hedgehog down there on the lower left, in front of the wolf and the coyote. there’s a little skunk behind the goose but you can’t see him so well. i got this from gardener’s supply company, and there are millions of reviews of it and some people complained that the animals aren’t to scale, but i think that’s part of its charm.
you could just see the happy sheep face peeking out above – i bought this manger scene at shopirish.com because i LOVE THESE HAPPOY ANIMALS.
my grandparents got this from some relative in 1941; it was down in the basement in its original envelope, but we never used it. it’s a cardboard hallmark greeting card holder. i know grandmother must have displayed it because there’s ancient tape on the bottom of one of the pieces. it’s a clever thing, and they should re-make it. maybe i’ll write to hallmark today and suggest it.
we have many mollie ornaments; i bought this one at shopirish.com. that guy in red next to her was made by an ancient relative, i believe. must ask mom.
i love this big happy mollie dog, plus this wedding couple.
winnie wasn’t so thrilled with all the picture-taking. I NEED TO GET OUTSIDE, he’s saying here. right now he’s asleep on the chair in the office, but later he’ll be angrily meowing at me.
this sweet little yellow angel is the first ornament that mom and dad bought when they got married in new york. the poor thing looks like she’s been attacked by a werewolf.
another ornament from kauai, plus a shell from key largo.
the cutest christmas puppy, plus the collection of plush xmas guys that randy has bought me through the years. on the left is the christmas pillow. we keep it on the couch all year long, turned the other way so you can’t tell it’s christmas. i don’t know why we keep it out because we have lots of other pillows. laziness, probably.
i now have five minutes before i must start BAKING AN APPLE PIE. kevin’s piano class is having a potluck luncheon and he volunteered me to make a pie EVEN THOUGH THE FREEZER IS GETTING FILLED WITH XMAS COOKIES. luckily i have some frozen pie crusts that i was going to use for thanksgiving before i went crazy and made my own crusts. i read the instructions for the crusts and it seems really, really easy, so that’s good. but I MUST HURRY, because i have to cut all those apples plus it takes a while to bake.
i bravely ventured out into the yard yesterday morning and took some pictures and maybe i’ll have time to put them up here before the middle of the night. we’ll see. it’s so nice sitting here in my warm red robe…
ok then,
mrs. busy busy busy xmas hughes.