Christmas-ing

The past few days have found me busy with Christmas things: writing out and mailing cards, making shopping lists, putting up the last of the decorations, planning what to bake, etc.

We spent a couple productive hours out in the gardens, too, doing the cleanup that we did not have time to do in October or November. We trimmed back dead plants, raked, put the sidewalk edging back in place--mostly--where Larry pulled it up to replace sections of the walk with new concrete.

Larry's stepladder tree on the patio. Just lights wrapped around a wood stepladder. He calls it his redneck Christmas tree.

I cut back some bushes, put away lawn ornaments, tidied the patio, and generally got the place back to winter shape. The new sections of walk are really nice, one of those tasks that we put off several years longer than we should have.

On the porch

Now the only outside thing left to do is put up the greenery--the pine boughs tied with ribbon we always use to trim our porch and deck. Since it's raining today, that job will have to wait.

This year's tree. The brighter lights are the bubble lights.

Yesterday we drove up to Amish country in Ohio to buy some Christmas gifts. Not telling what they were since some future recipients may be reading this! It was a pretty drive on a rainy day, and we really enjoyed ourselves.

Today I have more shopping to do for a few last gifts, wrapping, gift bags, and baking items. I won't be baking much since my sons and their families really don't eat many sweets, and we don't need to either. So a few batches of cookies to mostly go to neighbors, mail carrier, and so on will be the extent of my efforts. Such a shame because I love to bake, but I applaud those who make healthier choices.

I love this time of year. Watching the light fade earlier and earlier each day only builds my anticipation of the coming of Solstice and the slow return of the sun.

Long, slow evenings spent wwatching Christmas movies (we own a large stock of them now!), the fire going in the fireplace if it's cold enough weather, the dogs inside with us--it's just plain cozy, that's all.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.