*****MERRY CHRISTMAS****

So, it's the night before Christmas and Rick and I are enjoying a couple of movies and a nice and quiet evening at home.


We totally avoided ANY stores today - and we don't plan on going in on Boxing day either!!! 


It's been a fairly cold day today - cats are pretty bummed out about the cold - they don't like to go out in the cold at all!   Buddy is the one who spends the most time outside - today he sat and stared out the window.  how sad


The weather doesn't really affect Nibbles as she generally spends her days in the window anyway- watching and waiting for Kris to come home.  Oh she likes it (sort of) when we pet her, but we're not Kris and I think she merely puts up with us as inferior substitutes.  As soon as she hears his car (sometimes long before you can see it turning down our road) she runs to the back door and cries until he comes in.  okay, she sort of freaks out until he comes in.

well, tomorrow is turkey day - we got one that was big enough to send lots of leftovers home with Jamie and Julie.

Our tree - that's Nibbles sitting on a present.

And same tree - daytime shot- with Buddy sitting on a present checking our the tree

What a difference a day makes!!!

well, just in time for Christmas, we had some snow last night and it sure  helped banish the Green Christmas Blues!!   Rick even went out this morning and cleaned the laneway.  And if the cooler temps keep up, it might even stay!  Anyway, it's nice to see it in time for Christmas!

Another "just in time for Christmas" treat was going to the post office to pick up the vintage Christmas coach and horses that I bought on ebay about 2 weeks ago.  I wasn't sure it would get here in time for Christmas - it usually takes 2+ weeks for mail from the States and this was packaged in a fairly large box.  On our way into Ottawa this morning, I checked our mailbox and nothing.... but on the way home, I checked again and the card was there telling me there was a package waiting for me at the post office.  What a good thing our little Haley Station post office stayed open all day today - many businesses closed at noon!   The is identical to the one we had growing up and while the horses are different and some of the cardboard people are missing, I'm still glad I got it.  It was made by Hallmark in the late 1940's and is made from a fairly light cardboard - so it is a wonder it survived this long.

So, into Ottawa today to do some last minute shopping and to stop in to see brother Phil and his wife Janet.  Always great to visit with them even if only for a short time!  I brought a plate of our home-made treats and Janet gave me a plate of her Chistmas baking.  Why is it that somebody else's treats taste the best????

A busy enough day -we still have a few things to pick up at Wally-Mart  - groceries mostly - and since it is open until Midnight, we'll go in around 9 o'clock tonight and hope the last minute shoppers have mostly gone home!

Pictures today - our White Christmas (compare to my picture taken only a few days ago) and my "new" vintage Christmas decoration!

still not a white Christmas

well, we had a bit of snow last night and today, but not quite enough to hide all the green grass!  I always feel kinda bad for the kiddies getting sleds and other snow toys when we don't HAVE ANY SNOW!  
I'm okay with it though.  Still don't have my boots out of the closet - but getting close to doing so. 

We've been busy last few days baking and finishing off Christmas stuff.  Today we had our office lunch with lots of goodies.  Too much food, actually!   No supper required tonight!

This afternoon, I was listening to some of the gals in the office talking about Netflix and I came away with the mindset that I, too, would sign up for Netflix right away.  Well.....after searching Netflix for several movies that I would like to watch and some new releases and discovering that Netflix had almost NONE of the movies I wanted, I decided to take a pass for now.  We're okay with our dish for the time being!   Besides we tend to watch the History channel, NatGeo and similar channels mostly - not so much movies.

I'm would like to say that I'm not in favour of the way Google and Blogspot appeart to now be in bed together.  When I'm writing my Blog, I keep getting a message that I need to download Google Chrome to get the best use of Blogspot.    But, I don't WANT Google Chrome and I quite resent being told I have to download it.

I'm noticing more and more "integrations" like this.  I even got fedup and disabled my Facebook account a few weeks ago (not that I used it anyway)   my main reason was that one day going on to my Facebook page, I discovered a new note that I had registered on the History Channel to play the new American Pickers game - which I did (stupid game - don't bother with it...) but I don't remember telling the History channel website to plaster that little bit of info on my Facebook page!!!! 
And while I'm whining.......I now have a new version of Word to get used to - CAN'T THEY JUST LEAVE IT ALONE?????   whew - I'm tired of have to learn new programs all the time. (maybe I'm just getting old....)  But, how much fun would it be if your friendly neighbourhood grocery store re-arranged all their food every couple of months????

Okay, enough, whining - my picture today was shot ajust few days ago from our front lawn - just showing how green things are.

'nother nice day!

We had another unseasonabley warm day - I think it hit +11 C.  I  guess I could have hung out laundry to dry if I'd wanted to.  Mind you we're trying to do laundry and other things after 7 during "off peak" hours. 

The pellet stove seems to be saving us a considerable amount on our hydro bill.  We used much less electricity this November than we did last November.  Of course, it hasn't been all that cold either.  Still, we haven't had the electric heaters on at all - and that's a good thing!

Not much on the go today - popped into the office for a few minutes to pick up some paperwork for a nice little place we're listing just outside of Renfrew.  Don't expect much action over the next couple of weeks, but you never know.  There are always people looking!

I snapped this cute picture of Nibbles in all her Christmas finery - well....actually we have MORE Christmas finery - I just can't get it all on her at once......

still unseasonably warm!

I think I'm  getting used to having a green Christmas but I can't say I like it!  And unless we get some colder weather and some real snow it's gonna be another green one!  I remember shopping down on Sparks Street 30+ years ago at this time of year and there was ALWAYS a lot of snow.  Now I barely break out a winter coat and boots until January!

Rick got a start on wrapping presents today and then a quick run into town to finish up some shopping- I think we'll call it DONE!   Although there are always a FEW last minute things to pick - but we've still got nearly two weeks to go!

Tonite I'm watching White Christmas -a nice old movie I enjoy every year at this time!  Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye singing "Sisters" in semi-drag is just plain good entertainment! 

So far our pellet stove is working well - we haven't had any heat on at all since installation.  Of course, it hasn't been all that cold, but we still would have had the heaters on during the past month.  I'm curious to see what our energy usage is for the month of November.

Supposed to get freezing rain tomorrow - fortunately we don't have much on the go and may just stay put for the day.

Picture today is my village - I got Rick to make me a base with a bunch of holes drilled in it.  So now I just have to stick the lights up through the holes and pop the houses over the lights.  All the cords are hidding under the wooden base.  Worked very well, I must say!

great evening!

Last night saw us off it Bill and Andrea's for our annual Christmas dinner.  For the past several years they have had us and several long-time friends over for a "pre" Christmas supper where we eat, drink and yak!  As usual Andrea cooked a fabulous dinner of ham, meat pie and scalloped potatoes!  Home made bread and a cake topped off the dinner.  No low cal stuff here.  A very enjoyable evening!

We have got our house done up for the season,  even my Christmas village is up this year!   So far we've avoided the crowds at the stores - if we have to do any major shopping, we'll go in during off hours.  I think Wal-mart in Pembroke is open 24/7 until the 24th but I'm not sure I want to shop at midnight!

As to be expected real estate is pretty well dead.  Just a few things going on - nothing to get excited about.  Things will start to ramp up again in January/February. 

A month or so ago I posted a picture of a cardboard coach that I saw on the internet that was just like the one we had when I was younger. It came out every Christmas and was part of our mantle scene.   Last week I saw this one offered on ebay and I put in a bid and won the auction - hopefully it will be in before Christmas - just a nice little piece of nostalgia.....

Today's pictures - the shed Kris (and Rick) built out back  my new ebay find!

nice weather!

Well, we've certainly had a run of nice weather given that it is December 5th! Quite warm - I think it was plus 6 or 7 today. I haven't bothered to break out my winter boots or winter coat. Any snow we had to date has melted and the grass is looking rather green (again considering the time of year!.

Today, we decided to get up off our tushies and get some shopping done - not really doing a lot this year - Jamie wants money to put towards a new laptop so he can play the new Star Wars game. These games are quite sophisicated - one has to pay a monthly fee to play - but according to Jamie he's been waiting for this game since he was 16 so it is (in his opinion) a must have!

We had our office Christmas party on Saturday and stopped in at Jamie and Julie's apartment - it's quite nice and they like it. They each have a computer set up - they're definitely gamers!

Our party was at the Scarlet Lady in the Market - it was one of those dinner theatres things. The theatre part was a bit hokey (to be expected) but the food was disappointing for the most part, I'd have to say. Still, the evening was fun and not a bad place for an office "do".

So, we hit a couple of stores today - including a bulk bin where we loaded up with stuff for Rick annual batch of nuts and bolts - wouldn't be Christmas with 'em!

The cats are enjoying the warm weather - but Nibbles doesn't go out too much - she is a a bit of a "lap cat" as you can see. Normally she will only sit on Kris' lap, but since he isn't home all that much, she's starting to make do with Rick's lap.