Puttin' On My Holly

Now that Thanksgiving is over, I am allowed to start puttin' on my Holly.  However, the older I get, the more of a chore decorating for Christmas seems to be.




Check out this pillow (for sale on line).  Cute, but not for me. 
I still have a little kid's love of the season and am enthralled with all the lights and Christmas decorations.  I love little antique Christmas villages, snowmen, Santas, angels, beautiful Christmas trees, and holly.  But just not all the work to display it all. 

Most days this week, the spirit was willing but the body was weak, I just couldn't face the task of all the work to decorate.  But I was so excited about family being here for Christmas day, I wanted to 'do it all up' with decorations and Christmas cheer.
  

Saturday 11/26 - The day dawned with a pink sky but the sunshine was never seen again, after a few brief sun rays during the morning hours. 
 

Monita helping Joe pack his bag in preparation for his annual trip south, even though we would not be going to Long Boat Key this year.

I had woken at 3am and finally got up at 3:30.  After six hours of sleep, there was no getting back to sleep.  I spent the bulk of the morning finishing and posting my blog, and then getting caught up on e-mails, Facebook, and my computer games. 

I wished the house could magically be decorated for Christmas because I wanted the pretty lights and festive mood.  I guess the past two days had worn me out though.  I did get half my Christmas cards personalized however.  Last week I had addressed the 60 envelopes to send cards in.  Now to just get the newsletter copied.

Cowboy keeping up with the girls...
...while Zorro lagged behind.

  

 When I arrived at the ranch I added shavings to our two run in sheds.  Joe had parked the trailer in the alleyway between them.

Then Jean and I went for a ride, and Maggie got to come with us this time. 









This is the only photo I took of Jean, but we were on the move, so it is not well focused. 






We rode the trails past Lake Kirkstone, and ended up going five miles.  We did some 'stop checks' to slow our girls down and give Maggie a chance to rest.  She behaves fairly well while out with us.  Above and right of Robbie's ears in this photo you can see Maggie sitting in the trail, as she had been told to do. 




My photo, at the same spot, barely shows Maggie between Amiga's ears.  We don't know what had caught the attention of our horses and the dog. 

I like this photo Jean took of me.

Joe was moving the trailer when we arrived back and then I fed our horses.  I had a beer and snack while working a new Christmas scene jigsaw puzzle with Jean. 




These three black boys had shown back up in the field next to our barn when we were un-tacking.  We feel kind of bad for them because they seem to be rather neglected.  

After dinner Joe and I watched Survivor and then two more episodes of Dead To Me.

Sunday 11/27 - Joe was up much earlier than usual and out the door by 6am.  He was making his trek south to visit friends and family for the next eight days, with poker tournaments at each end (Sundays) of his travels.

This was my first step in getting started on decorating, which I did after Church with Shirley.  It took me at least fifteen trips up and down the stairs to haul all this stuff down from the bunk room storage area.

 
I had locked the cats in the sun room so none of them would sneak into the bunk room and I could just leave the door to it and the upstairs hallway open.  Once finished bringing this all down to the living room, three of the cats were quick to investigate the pile of stuff.  Mama Styx (always slow to warm up to change in her environment) stayed clear until evening. 







I got out of the house to go to the ranch to do my Sunday chores.  I had left Maggie home because I needed to bring the six foot ladder home that I use to decorate above the mantel, and there would not be room in my little car for the dog and the ladder. 

After mucking the shed and dry lot, I took some stuff down to the barn, got the ladder loaded, took Cowboy back to his paddock, and then went to feed our horses.  As they were eating, I heard a racket near our chicken coop.  So went to investigate.

Our chickens were all inside the coop but the neighbor's Guinea hen was on the roof of his shed, making all the noise (video).  I was going to shut our girls in for the night, but when they heard the chain removed from the gate, they came out to see if I had a treat.

Once home, after dinner, I did a little pre-decorating preparation.  I removed several of the accessories from my interior design, dusting them and where they had been as I stowed them away for the month.  I didn't last long, did a little at my computer and read until I got too sleepy.
 

Monday 11/28 - With Joe gone, it's nice not having to tip-toe around the house and keep lights off that shine into the bedroom.  These short days, I am usually up a few hours before sunrise, and almost always four hours before Joe. 




Just behind where I sit at my desk, Maggie lies in front of the space heater.





Well, Babe loves to be with Maggie, so this morning, the cat tried settling there with her.  In the third photo, she is licking (cleaning) Maggie's ear. 



Then the cat practically laid on the dog's face to take a nap.  It didn't last long because neither animal was comfortable. 

I worked and played, here at my computer for longer than necessary, as usual.

Then I got busy with decorating from 9:00 - 2:30, taking breaks to walk the dog and to eat. 

Much of my time was again spent cleaning and stowing away stuff that is usually displayed, decorating my house in the 'safari' theme.

Stevie was thrilled to see the ladder come into the house.  She loves it as a high perch, where she can look down on her world, and be away from the other annoying cats. 

I decided to start puttin' on my holly in my office first, because it is where I spend most of my time.  I began by washing all the windows and frames. 

Babe and Monita thought they could help with the string of lighted garland, but I put a quick halt to that.  Seen here, Babe napping after I had finished.
Not only is my office now festive, the clean windows allow for more sun rays to enter. 








I got lighted garland hung above the kitchen sink, but only half the lights worked.  I usually check them before putting up the lights.  So down they came and I was now discouraged.  So, as planned, I went to get my Christmas letter copied and hit the gym.

I wasn't sure how my workout was going to go after four days off and because I was feeling so lazy and it was so late in the day.  But halfway into my elliptical warm-up, I suddenly felt very energetic.  I proceeded to have a very good workout.  I showered at the gym and was home by 5:30.

Earlier I had caught Monita napping on the decorations.  She had finally wore herself out. 










I often see her sleeping in this position, as if to block her eyes from the bright light.  So silly and cute.

Well, by the time I did my usual evening chores, I did not have the motivation or energy to start back in on decorating, so played games here at my computer until bedtime. 

Tuesday 11/29 - Jean sent this photo of Amiga last night.  She had brushed all three horses and was lunging Robbie and saw Amiga standing there, sleeping.  If you zoom in, you can see Amiga's eye mostly closed and her bottom lip relaxed.  LOL

The deer are my usual morning entertainment out the window.  Can you see the five doe in this photo?

In this next photo, taken less than a minute later, you can see all five of them. 

And then a few minutes later this big buck entered the scene and scared the five girls off. 

 

I had errands to run, so didn't goof off here at my computer too long. 

I dropped a jigsaw puzzle off at the library, took a thank you card to Karen (who had done chores over Thanksgiving) and hit the recycle center.


Then I picked up my new glasses at the clinic.  They are progressive lenses for near and far vision (allowing me to see clearly at almost any distance) and the transition lenses are light sensitive, so change from clear to tinted when exposed to sunlight.  I continued my errands, dropping some stuff off at the thrift store and shopping while there.  Then I went in search of horse food (TSC was still out), lighted garland (which I got at both Lowe's and Big Lots), and canned cat food (Walmart was still out of the kind my cats eat).  I tried wearing my new glasses while driving and shopping, but they were making everything (all vision) worse.  I know there is an adjustment period, and the eye doctor had suggested first starting just at my computer, where I look out at the deer and then down at my computer.

On the way home, I snapped a quick photo of this brand new house that burnt down on Thanksgiving.  It is right across from the library, ¼ mile from our house.  The new owners were supposed to move in next week.  What a bummer and a big loss, but at least all their personal belongings weren't in there yet. 







Stevie was perched atop the ladder when I got home.  It was now in the living room, giving her a bird's eye view out the window. 








I unloaded my car, ate a quick, late lunch, and with Maggie headed to the ranch.  It had been a beautiful morning and I had planned to go for a ride. 

Well it had clouded up and was looking a lot like rain.  I checked the weather and the predicted rain had been moved from 4:00 up to 2:00.  I headed out anyways, knowing I might get wet.  Here is Maggie and Amiga going down Beachwood. 

It had been a great ride, feeling really connected to Amiga without the distractions of other horses and riders.  But, after cantering a few times, she was really wound up and rushing on the way home. 







So I rode past the little trail that turns off to our back gate and instead took Amiga up the power line to then go over through the woods.  Well, the three neighboring horses were there, and came running over to see us.  This got Amiga really wound up.

After some spinning and head tossing by Amiga, I got her to stand still so I could take this second photo.

I hadn't gotten rained on, but by the time I had my horse un-tacked, brushed, and hooves cared for, a storm had moved in.  Maggie raced up the driveway ahead of Amiga and I as lightening and thunder accosted us and raindrops began to fall. 




Jean let Maggie into the ranch house and by the time I got Amiga into her shed for feeding, it was pouring.  Patty was there feeding and mucking, so I offered to help her.  I got this photo of me jogging the wheelbarrow back to the shed, from a video Patty shared. 
 
I visited with Jean briefly, collected the frightened dog, and drove home in a pounding rain. 

 

This is what my dining room table looks like.  My house is a bigger mess now that I have started unpacking the Christmas bins.  I have to sort through everything and unfortunately fix broken strings of lights (because they are so old or a bulb has gotten loose), as the next step to puttin' on my holly.  And yup, there's Stevie in the midst of it all.

I shooed her off the table and cleared a spot for me to eat dinner.  Again, there was no more steam left in me to be productive, so no decorating or Christmas letters got done today. 

I fell asleep to the pounding of the rain and blowing of the wind, as Maggie hunkered down in our closet.

Wednesday 11/30 - The rain and wind woke me up several times during the night, and I wondered if our goofy horses had taken shelter or not.  I was hoping Wanda and Rose were also high and dry.  By daybreak, when it had finally stopped, we had gotten 2½  inches.
In this photo at my computer, Stevie was on my lap and Babe on the bean bag that my feet were under. 






As predicted, the sun did come out and it was a pretty day.  But colder air had started moving in and the temperature began dropping by mid afternoon. 






When I took this first photo of Monita laying in the sun, she immediately sat up, and something caught her attention under the garland.  Babe who had also been enjoying the suns rays took note as well. 

In order to get their cute faces, I snapped my fingers overhead.  This is the extent of my photographer skills however.

Much of my day was spent at puttin' on my holly. 

I found this one garland accessory on the floor.  The bird was missing it's tail, so I asked Monita if she knew anything about it.  Her answer was incriminating and not helpful.  Later I found one of the three tail feathers in the laundry room.  The little devil cat. 



I was tempted to skip the gym and keep decorating because I was not making very good progress and wanted to get more of it done.  But, I knew a workout was more important, so walked the dog before I left.  While out in the street with Maggie, I was talking with Rodger, and we saw several groups of sandhill cranes fly over.

I also took a few more photos of the cats in the sun before leaving.  In this first photo of Styx, you can see in the background, one of my much loved decorations (given to me by Shirley and Judy in 2017). 




And then I caught this cool photo of Styx and her shadow. 

I had another good workout, and am wondering if over the winter, late afternoon gym visits will work better for me, since it is getting dark and I can't be doing things outside. 



This is the last photo I took today.  (Monita in the sun... it's best to leave a sleeping devil lie).

It was 5:30 and well past dark when I got home.  All got fed, including myself and then I worked on Christmas cards until bedtime.  After my daily devotion, I only read one chapter of my James Patterson novel before getting too sleepy. 

Thursday 12/1 - I was meeting the farrier at the ranch and wanted to drop all my Christmas cards off at the post office on the way, so after a shortened session here at my computer, I finished off the rest of my cards and then hit the road.

Rio and Cowboy went first, so Chris didn't start with my three horses until just before 11:00.  Jean came down and held Robbie while I finished up some tasks around the barn.

Then we did a few chores up at the house, like stowing away the reusable wasp and fly traps.  I also grabbed this pumpkin to take to my deer.  Jean had spilled its seeds out for the squirrels.
 


Once home, I cleared my puzzle table off to start this advent calendar puzzle Courtney made and had given to me on Thanksgiving.  Each bag has up to 49 (7x7) puzzle pieces in it and are to be worked each day.
Pictured below - That little section went together very quickly. 

I think this is going to be the easiest way I have ever worked a 1,000 piece puzzle, but it is going to take 24 days to complete.  I love the picture, with all the festive holiday stuff, and a reminder of all our Christmas's spent in Florida.  This year is going to feel so different, not spending a week at Silver Sands with everybody.  We will all be forever thankful to Mom for giving us this gift of getting us all together (she paid for the condos every year).  And like last Christmas, we will miss Mom.  




I spent the remainder of my afternoon working on decorating.  I put finishing touches on the mantel and shelves, including attaching the one tail feather back on this bird.  But I still need to add snow.

I hit the hay early, giving me more time to read, so I can soon finish my novel.

Friday 12/2 - I was out of bed at 2:30am, 30 minutes after taking my thyroid pill.  I did yesterday's blog and then played advent calendar games until getting too sleepy to be successful. 

After two more hours of sleep, I started my morning again with a third cup of caffeinated black tea at 6:30am.  I got nearly seven hours of sleep total.  Jean sent this photo to show the wind sock and how windy it was out at the ranch.  I watched leaves blow from the golf course, into and across our backyard. 



I worked the puzzle (42 pieces) of my next day (#2) of this fun advent calendar.  Stevie was no help. 

Even though I didn't have symptoms, I took a home Covid test that was negative.  (Dan and Vale tested positive on Sunday and Patty tested positive on Wednesday).  Jean and Courtney had symptoms, but kept testing negative.

It was a dark, cloudy, windy day and our living room was void of sunshine.  In this first photo, Babe is licking Maggie's ear again. 

Even adding light to this second photograph, it was quite dark in the living room. 

Babe settled in with Maggie, seeking warmth because of no sunshine.  I put on Christmas music to get me in the mood and make the season bright while puttin' on my holly.  I still had tons of decorating to do. 

Monita was laying in the 'snow' that needs to go up on the mantel and shelves.  She is quite the stinker. 

I moved the cat and got the snow placed, which wasn't as easy as it sounds.  And then I combined three photos to show my results.  I had also started some decorating outside. 

I had an appointment to take Styx and Babe to the vet so cut all four cats' nails before going.

I had troubles getting Styx first, and then Babe out of each carrier for the tech to weigh.  Once I had Babe out, I just held her on my lap while waiting for Dr. Kari.  Look at those big eyes. 

Then Babe spent the rest of the time hiding, with her head tucked under my arm.  Both cats weighed a little over 7½ pounds and checked out to be healthy.  They each got their rabies shot, the whole reason I had taken them in.
 

Once back home, I vacuumed the balcony and pulled the 'ready to go' (pre-lit and decorated) Christmas tree out of the bunk room storage area.  I plugged it into the timer and it was nearly finished.  I just had to fluff it, adjust some lights, and replace several ornaments that had come off during the transfer. 



For dinner, I cleaned some meat out of the freezer that had been there awhile, fixed Carol's butternut squash she had brought back in October, added onions, and baked it all.

Puttin' on my holly this week hasn't been too arduous.  It helps to have Christmas music playing.  I plan to continue decorating over the weekend and hope to get it all completed before the end of next week.  I wish I took more joy in the work, but I love the results, which definitely brighten up our house.

Before getting too sleepy, I was able to finished my novel (The Horsewoman).