The Holidays are officially over

Christmas, the Twelve Days of and all, is officially over.
My sister would have it that you should be able to get all your Christmas stuff packed away in two hours or less. I would have it that it would be better just to have maid service, but that's a dream that I won't see any time soon.
I got the last of the decorations down to the basement and took the wreath off the door. I must admit the house looks a little bare now, but it will soon be February and time for Groundhog's Day and for the Valentine decorations.
Now I have time to file my catalogs and toss the old ones. I love looking through catalogs. It amazes me sometimes at the things people come up with for other people to buy. Of course, I only buy the necessary stuff--clothes, books, Christmas gifts, books, books, and books. So bring on the catalogs, I say. Where would the Post Office be without me!

The Goose is getting fat

The weather here in Kansas has been pretty icky for the last week, so to cheer me and possibly you up I'll put in a picture from my recent trip to Australia. This is from Tasmania off the shore of Oyster Bay near Freycinet National Park. While it was still fairly chilly while we were there, it was better than the last few days here.

It's not just the goose that's getting fat. I have been busy sampling and tasting things as I've been preparing for Christmas dinner. I'm not being very traditional this year. There will just be three or four of us friends, who have all been at my house a number of times to share holidays with my family. I made the decision early this year to do no traveling over the Christmas season and, because of the weather, I'm so glad I did.

We will just enjoy (I hope) Beef Daube with penne pasta au gratin, broccoli with optional cheese sauce, homemade Ciabatta, tossed salad and an apple salad. For dessert I'm making gingerbread trifle and a pumpkin pie. That should be enough for the four of us!

I have started knitting again. I have two projects in train. I'm working on the second sock. The first one seemed to go a lot smoother. At this rate, I'll never get the second one done. I'm also trying out a dishcloth pattern that is way more intricate than need be. Not only does it have a four row repeat, but row four includes a p3t. I hate purling anyway, and then to have to jam three stitches on and get them all off at once is just plain painful. At least the yarn feels good.

It must be Christmas. Last night was our annual L.O.T.E party with our visit to the Martin City Melodrama. This year's production of Rudolph The Recycled Reindeer was absolutely terrific, only marred by the the L.O.T.E.'s insistance on performing their own tootling version of Deck the Halls when they were introduced. We promise we will never, never do that again! We will leave the music to professionals from now on. Thanks to Jeannie and Jon and the rest of the cast for the hilarious evening. (And the dessert afterward at The Cheesecake Factory didn't hurt.)

In honor of Rudolph the Recycled Reindeer I did my themed Christmas tree with, you guessed it, reindeer. Actually, I chose the theme last year during the after Christmas sales, and I must admit that the tree looks pretty good. Between what I already owned and what I bought over this past year, I have a herd of about three dozen deer. I couldn't stand it any longer and bought a tree with the lights already strung. I had to promise my daughter I'd get rid of one of my other trees, since she thinks I have too many. I went one better--I discarded my two big ones--a tippy big fiber optic thing and my 7 1/2 foot space hog.

I have started another blog with my book reviews/comments/rants so will probably not include too many here. But then I've only read one book since the last post--too busy cleaning house and cooking for the party.

There is something about mechanical creations that hates me. They just take one look and give that evil bwahahaha and my life becomes misery. It apparently was the vacuum cleaner's turn this month. In the midst of all the cleaning it died--may it rest in pieces.

"Tis the Season to be Merry

Getting ready for a party can take far longer than the party itself. The bad thing is that I love to plan parties, love to organize parties, (hate to clean the house for parties, which is why I like to plan parties for other people to give), but I really don't like to go to parties.



I also love Christmas time, the whole over the top, over-decorated, over-fed, over-everything--except I don't want it to start until December. Actually, I like the idea of the 12 days of Christmas between December 25 and January 6. We used to laugh about my mother's habit of using so many sequins on Christmas decorations--if it didn't move it was apt to get a little holiday "sparkle". The only thing safe was cookies--and those got lots of frosting and sprinkles or sugar.



I have been reading On Kingdom Mountain by Howard Frank Mosher. Miss Jane Hubbell Kinneson is just enough off balance and feisty enought to appeal to me. The two problems facing her, the proposed highway through "her" wild mountain, and the hunt for Confederate gold by the high flying Henry Satterfield, are big but she is equal to anything. She is armed with a sense of her own rightness, several drams of Who Shot Sam, and an ever-ready over/under shotgun. I liked this story and think it might even make a charming movie (although that rarely happens). Where is Katherine Hepburn when you need her?



Time to go put up another Christmas tree. This year I am only putting up three; the big one in the living room, the smaller one on the upstairs landing, and my poor Charlie Brown tree. It's probably the last year for the PCBT. It leans against the wall and is shedding it's little fake needles all over the bathtub. (Yes, I know it's not usual to put a tree in the bathtub, but what can I say. At least nobody else is using that bath this season.)