"Get a move on Mary"

Hello everyone.

Tuesday we arrived home so late from Arizona after flight delays on both

 segments - the new norm - and fell into bed around 2:00 am Wednesday! 

 It was however a lovely trip, and seeing many family members was so

 enjoyable after such a long time apart.

Since then, not the best of weeks, but I've worked my way through it

 managing to get back to physiotherapy, restocking the fridge with essentials,

 and cooking - always so good after so many restaurant meals when

on the road. 

I'm now trying to get into the spirit of Christmas as it's coming

 fast and furious here in my neighborhood. Colored lights, white lights, 

blow-up Santas, faux reindeer wearing red bows, wreaths on front doors etc.

I've done nothing yet, other than place this cute yarn tree with a wooden

 star on the mantel. Found at SuzAnna's Antiques 'Holiday Open House' a

 couple of weeks back, it caught my eye. I have a load of leftover knitting yarns

and thought I might copy the idea later. Meanwhile it stands there to remind

 me to get a move on with Christmas decorating!

Bob will definitely be helping me a lot this year as my movements such as

bending, reaching, even standing for long periods, are compromised by my

back issue. I came home to not great results from the recent MRI and now

 have an appointment set up for later this month with a neurologist. 

Today, I'm sitting at the dining room table with my lumbar pillow tucked behind

 me - the most comfortable position currently - and writing Christmas cards.  

Later Bob will spend time raking/blowing the thousands of leaves 

accumulated whilst we were gone, making a pathway to the potting shed to 

bring out the faux Christmas tree which always goes in the gazebo

 to light the dark winter nights - I will decorate it best I can.

Over this coming week the Christmas boxes will come down from the attic 

storage area and I'll decorate a bit at a time, but perhaps not as much as

 I usually do. 

Fortunately the weather here has been close to perfect all week and will

continue over this weekend - we are counting our blessings.

Cherubs are waiting somewhere in a box!

Winter garden chores. . . . . . . . . .

The sky early this morning.

The week has started well here - the new plumber we are using arrived on time

 at 8 AM to fix shower and sink problems. All flowing well now and perhaps we can

 get on with other waiting house projects on the long list. 

Potting shed in January ice storm. 

The temperature will reach the mid-60's today, even warmer tomorrow!

We plan some garden work, mostly trimming shrubs as it's that time of year for 

such jobs here in the southeast.  We may still have cold weather of course,

no way is Winter over, but having a warm break with a chance to work outside 

in comfort is a huge plus.

 The potting shed does NOT look tidy and clean like this at present!

Today might be perfect for donning gloves and a cozy sweatshirt 

and getting out there. . . . . . so that's it for now!

Outdoors in winter. . . . . . . . . .

This morning we awoke to our first below freezing daytime temperature this season.  

Now, at 10 o'clock, with brilliant sunshine and no wind, it has warmed to 40F, 

however we are in for a week of very chilly temps.

 Winter has arrived at last in the southeast. 

Still no snow in the forecast though. I do hope we will at least have one snowstorm 

with a few inches on the ground - fun for the children, garden will look glorious for a 

day or so, and plenty of photo ops for those of us who lug our cameras everywhere.

Nothing pretty to cut in the garden at this time of year. 

My flowers are one of the bouquets from our recent family 

wedding. I hope perhaps it will dry and I can continue to 

display it and recall that exciting, wonderful day.

The bride and groom are cruising the Caribbean right now, 

having a wonderful time I'm sure.

Speaking of the garden, yesterday we spent several hours in cool sunny conditions -

quite invigorating I must say - removing most of the outdoor decorations. Have left the 

fairy lights on the side arbor and gate, pleasant to view on a cold dark night when 

arriving home. I removed all the decorative ornaments from the tree in the gazebo, 

leaving the lights, another pleasant winter warmer when peering through 

the kitchen windows into the darkness of the garden beyond. I may just leave

it there until early Spring.

While working outside, I hung this adorable tiny birdseed covered cottage, a 

gift from my neighbor Lori who knows how much I love the wild birds.

The first bird I saw visit, within minutes of hanging, was one of my Carolina wren 

family - it checked the house from top to bottom but didn't snack. Wrens apparently 

don't eat commercial seed as I rarely see them on the feeders either.

My now dead and shriveled Boston ferns still hang on the porch. As always, 

year after year, the wren family come at dusk and sleep the night away in their 

makeshift hotel. I don't have the heart to take the baskets down until replacing 

with fresh ones come Spring.

Yesterday, more raking/blowing also took place. Most of the leaves are down 

now, another mountain at the curb awaiting the final city pickup later this month.

At 5 o'clock, garden tools were wiped clean and stored, gloves and scarves

 were pulled off, jackets unzipped . . . . . . . time for hot chocolate as we'd missed 

teatime, but we felt like we'd accomplished a lot to keep the winter garden looking good.