Carefully curated Christmas presents for our teenage nephews were about to be tastefully packaged in envelopes. Our entire Christmas gift shopping.
Category: Seasonal
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.
A Merry Countdown.
My thoughtful sister-in-law has gifted us an early Christmas present: an advent calendar filled with 24 miniature wine bottles, all different. Each day we’ll open a new door to reveal another liquid delight.
Nativity Scene for Sale Unbundled
With Thanksgiving behind us, Christmas selling is kicking into high gear. As I headed to get a haircut, I noticed a manger scene on sale outside an antique store. The ensemble is priced at $295, but can be purchased piecemeal. A baby Jesus that lights up is a mere $40, the manger is extra.
Thanksgiving 2023
It’s finally time for dessert: Dwight’s apple crisp and whipped cream. Life is good. Grateful. Table centerpiece by LEGO from a kit, rolling plant racks by Dwight with lighting by Tom.
Pieceful Thanksgiving
With Dwight immersed in his Sunday plant-care routine, I assembled the first 400 pieces (out of 800) of a LEGO dried flower centerpiece for Thanksgiving. The end result, though lacking some apparently superfluous parts, seems OK to me.
Fading Fall Foliage
Cycled through fading fall colors on my way to meet a friend over coffee. A downpour on the way home was soon forgotten after a hot shower.