Category: Christmas

12th Night 2024

Packed our Christmas decorations into a storage tote. We’ll move the tree (in its mailing tube) and the tote to our storage cage two floors down in a couple days, once we’ve rounded up any stray decorations.

Christmas Goodies

Grateful for friends and their decadent homemade treats from here in Minnesota and England (that wonderful Christmas cake). Not shown: the best homemade lefse (all gone).

Keeping Christmas Local

Tree designed and crafted in Minneapolis from Minnesota deadfall cherrywood. Four-season lamp (winter side showing, stained glass) designed and made by a colleague as a retirement gift for Dwight. LEGO snow village designed and built by Dwight, destined to be torn down and rebuilt next year. The snow is rescued polyester fiber packaging.

Kurisumasu Sushi

Gyaru peace sign (mandatory in Japanese selfies), in front of a boatload of sushi at a family lunch today. I’m wearing a Yokohama soccer team shirt, reminding my brother-in-law and nephew of a fine evening in a Shibuya (Tokyo) bar.

Santa’s Been to the ATM

Carefully curated Christmas presents for our teenage nephews were about to be tastefully packaged in envelopes. Our entire Christmas gift shopping.

Unpacking Christmas

We take our time with the Christmas tree. We’re old-fashioned like that, waiting until Twelfth Night to take it down. So today, we simply laid out the ornaments on a table. They’ll slowly make their way onto the branches over the next couple of days.

LEGO Snow Village

Kicked off the decorating with LEGO gingerbread houses designed and built by Dwight. Decorating the tree can wait for another day.

Handel’s Messiah

Handel’s Messiah at Orchestra Hall from the nosebleed section, aka the gods (UK English). First performed in Dublin in 1742 it still sounds good today, even from the cheap seats.

Cactus Blooms, Christmas Looms

Our Christmas cactus is living up to its name, with many buds still waiting to open. We won’t assemble the tree for another week, but Dwight is busy creating two or three gingerbread houses using his architectural LEGO.