Last night of Christmas ........

yep.... tomorrow I'm going to take it down.... don't really want to ...and usually try to leave it up for my little old neighbour who is Ukrainian and celebrates about January the 8th I think.... but,  Greg is making noises about it being up far too long....sigh.............. oh, well, this year I put it up earlier and got to enjoy it much longer than we did last year.

The little guys on the couch will miss it too.... no more sparklies to admire.... I'll have to find them something interesting to do or to look at.  ..otherwise they'll cause trouble... I know those guys.

Today I put away the rest of Christmas... moved a lot of boxes around in the storage area... tossed a few and found new ones..hopefully all will now fit better into the niche I allow for the festive stuff.  Then, need to re-organize the whole storage area ... it would be nice to toss and purge things...but..I know darn well the second I do...I'll need whatever it is I threw out.  Forget it.  I'll just save it.  All of it.  Somebody else can deal with all of it when I'm long gone.  And good luck to 'em...hahahhahha......

So, .....more snow tomorrow.  We have record high piles of it already...but, a new cold front is blowing in and they are forecasting between 5 and 35 cm... of the new white stuff...oh...goody.... my biceps and forearms are getting a great workout... actually my hands feel it too.... oh, and my back ..and my legs..and my ...hahahha.... yeh..... I know....

Still have some cranberries left and must make some chutney...

Might just head out to stock up on grub ...in case.... don't want to get caught short if the weather takes a total nosedive... have to be ready for anything.

Goodbye (for now) Christmas stuff....

 'night, 'night little mousies... time to sleep til December now....

Makin' babies....

... maybe I had some of you there...hahhaha.... don't ya just love deceptive titles?  Sort of a regular on the news and great for selling scandal rags near the checkouts at the grocery store.

I'm making my walnut mice babies...that's what I'm really up to ... for the tree....and to give away.  They are pretty cute and almost everybody wants one for their own tree... why wouldn't they?
                                                                               

Remember last year when I was panicking that I would be buying a Safeway BBQ'd chicken for Christmas dinner ? ...(turned out I didn't have to resort to that, but, it was close) .... because this was where my oven was still sitting on the 21st of December  ..... in the dining room!  Because the cabinet guys couldn't get things right.  Not this year.  All is done ...but, now...I don't have my new dining room table and chairs..oh, well...we still have the old one....and I ain't taking it out til I see the new one in the back of a delivery truck!  which may be first week in January...or not......

photo of the week...

Some of the simplest arrangements of Christmas-y bits are so expensive I can't believe it... ....save yourself a few bucks....

If you are like me and have done some Christmas craftsy things over the years... I bet you have some faux greenery, big ribbons and "stuff". If you don't have any... Michael's, and other places, have poinsettias .. greenery.. wreaths, swags, and garlands... half off by early December... even some of the florists and cute little knick knack places have some wonderful bits and pieces.... last year I got a wonderful garland with some great realistic looking pine twigs in it. Not used here... I made a front door wreath with it...

but, look.... a simple bucket...mine is brassy with some shadowing in a verdigris colour around the stars... bought it for $5 somewhere two years ago....

A few huge Sugar Pine cones as they were called on the package... whole package of about 6 for $5 at a nursery.... the other bits are stuff I found in my huge bag of goodies that I add to, or use from, every year....it hangs at the back of my storage area...

pick and choose...some of mine have some gold sprinkles on the edges of the greenery... and I found a fruit pick that has glassy looking bits on it... almost makes them look frosty or like they were dipped in sugar.... pop them into the bucket... in an attractive manner...and voila.... you have an arrangement.... that would be about a $90 touch if you were to buy it. 'Scuse the bear's foot in the photo....

After the festive season...I toss it all back into the bag and re-hang it... next year I can use it for this or something else... .. perhaps by then I will have other containers...if I find something nicer...but, for now...I kinda like my starry night bucket. If you don't have ideas for arranging... just take a look or even a photo of some at your local florists... or at a decor shop.....they won't know but what you are taking them to show somebody before you buy one.