Patty And Den's Festivus!

I think we love the holidays so much because we get to stay in our own house. For most of our lives when we lived all over the country...we mostly trekked to Ohio or Colorado for the holidays...but now we really like to not travel on the holidays. When our parents were the focal point and there was snow and skating and skiing and nieces and nephews and pets and sharing bathrooms...and food everywhere...that was where we wanted to be. But now it's fun to stay at our home. We were always torn...we hated leaving our house but could not wait to get to our parents. Now that we are both orphans...we stay put with our own traditions.

Festivus!

Den is working today so Festivus officially starts tonight with dinner here...it's a typical PA restaurant...I think it used to be an old dairy or part of an old dairy.

Bar and entry...

Inside dining room...

It's cool on the inside...fireplaces and soft lights...and great foods. It's now owned by a new owner with a Southern flair...Den plans on having shrimp and grits...I want fried green tomatoes! I will pop in tomorrow and let you know how it was!

Good news!

Our tree is actually staying in the stand and as predicted...the girls are totally ignoring it. It does not interest them...

No lights...

Just lights...we are decorating over the week end! And it is fuller but I do love it...our plan is to sit tight here and decorate over the week end because it is crazy on the roads...

So...Festivus...Day 1...begins! Next week's activities are planned...I am finished shopping...so it's just wrapping stuff and getting cards out and little gifts of cash for our mail lady and garbage and recycling dudes...and something for Lauren our stylist and My...my nail guru...maybe I do have a little more to do...and we still need to see the lights at Longwood...but it will all get done...

Longwood Gardens is crazy busy because of this...the annual Christmas lights. It's beautiful. Dinner reservations at the restaurant inside Longwood is sold out a year in advance!

Some photos plus I put in a link to the video...

Off to do stuff! Oh...this book is really good...the chiller/thriller that I needed...

Happy Friday!

Patty

 

 

 

 

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Tinsel...Or Rather The Total Absence Of It!

Here is the list of things that we no longer can leave out or use...

Tinsel/icicles

Satiny beautiful ribbon bows

Curly festive ribbon

Any kind of fake greenery...attached to anything

Dried Christmas decorations

Plastic of any kind

Poinsettias

Bread bags

Rubber bands

Shopping bags

Wide tape

New things can be added to this yearly...I now cannot leave anything wrapped in Saran Wrap or Press and Seal on the island...we learned the hard way by watching Roxie chew a piece and swallow it...

These two...we love them and try so hard to keep them safe but at times they are a step ahead of us!

We have learned to hand tie our presents with wired glittery ribbon...they have no interest in this. We also just stuff the tree with lights and ornaments...carefully scrutinized and inspected ornaments. And every now and then someone/ Roxie Blue...will bat at the ornaments and steal one...so they are much safer falling on carpeting...nice soft thick carpeting!

I need a fast paced mystery! I choose this one!

It is pouring rain here today. We are off to get my toes pedicured...then out to lunch...the chopped wedge salad at Victory is calling to me...then we have to grab something for dinner...then back to the tree! The untinseled tree calls to me!

I hope you are staying dry!

Hugs...

Patty

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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It's All About The Tree!

We still get a live tree...in fact...there are some years we get two smaller trees...and sometimes we get a really tall tree and put it in the sunroom. The ceiling in the sunroom is vaulted and we can get a tree that is really really tall...our first year in this house we had a 12 foot Fraser Fir. We needed ladders for lights and ornaments. The drawback to the tree in the sunroom was that we could not see it from the family room. We can only see it when we are in the kitchen or eating dinner. But it could be seen from outside and it always looked amazing. It was really funny because all the houses on our pond have the same vaulted sunroom and even though the houses are far apart we can still see all of the "sunroom" trees. Now we try to change it out every year. This year we put the tree in the middle of the living room...so we can have a fire in the fireplace...if it ever gets cold...and watch the tree from the family room.

It's in the stand now...soaking up water. We will decorate it tomorrow. We also have very different tastes in trees. I like lean sparse trees and Den loves fat full trees. We try to compromise and that sort of happened with this tree. Candles in all of the windows...unbinning some more Santas...and we are done! I really truly love this stuff!

Sometimes I love putting all of the same kinds of things together.

However...collections only entice the kitties...they spent today weaving in and out of these trees! They can climb up to them from the family room sofa!

And I always find felled trees in the morning. Or snowmen and Santas that have been rearranged. My kitties don't ever bother the tree...they are more about the collections...

Just finished this...middle grade and sweet...a boy, his grandfather and a mountain! It was a sweet sweet book!

Waiting for our cards to come...I couldn't decide so I bought all three...

Off to read!

Fondly...

Patty

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A Plethora Of Stuff!

I can get seriously excited about books! But I have so much to read! I just got these two from NetGalley and I have wanted them forever! I even preordered the Elizabeth Brundage book...I just cancelled it!

Den is in Texas...it feels as though he is working full time again! This merger with DuPont and Dow has made him really busy! But...he still has tons of time off and he is still enjoying what he does and when he is gone I just read! He left yesterday for a meeting but is on his way home right now! The girls are very naughty when he is gone...I didn't even know Lucy could jump this high! They play chase around the TV! See my other new duvet cover?

I spent valuable time this morning trying to get this to work...it's an app that promises to easily get rid of unwanted email. I have to find a PW to something before I can use it...it's complicated. And I tend to obsess when things don't work!

Christmas morning casseroles? I want this one! The Kitchn is filled with 20 of them...both sweet and savory! Yum!

So I am totally not ready for Christmas but I love doing little things every day...today more Santas come out...tomorrow the tree...it's fun! I love my SNOW sign... It was 70 degrees here yesterday!

Off to shop!

Have an awesome day!

Patty

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Whew! This Day Just Flew By!

Today was just a busy day...but fun busy! Once I finished the stuff I had to do...I spent the day with Frank! Yep...Frank! Frank is the nine year old son of a one hit wonder author...Mimi... who has been tricked out of her fortune and must write another book in order to survive! Enter her publisher and Alice. Alice is sent to Mimi to help her get things done. But Frank...oh my what a delightful character. I loved his comments, his clothes, and his thoughts. He dresses sort of cast off 1930 ish and knows every movie and old movie star. He is probably on some spectrum of some disorder but he is a delightful yet heartbreaking character! Frank has rules that can't be broken! I loved this book! I really loved this book!

No clue what I am reading next...perhaps one of these or perhaps not one of these...it's that weird time of year when the book has to be just right...the perfect fit!

 

Off to read!

Patty

 

 

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