Posted tagged ‘Christmas stockings’

“November always seemed to me the Norway of the year.”

November 10, 2014

Today is a lovely fall day with a slight breeze, mottled light shining through the backyard branches and birds at all the feeders. It is a quiet day. I don’t even hear cars. I do hear the snoring, especially Gracie’s. She seems herself. The next test for her is Saturday.

I have to buy cat food and litter today so Gracie and I will be out and about later. I also need some cold cuts so I can keep hiding the horse-sized pill she takes each morning.

I have started my Christmas shopping. Everything I’ve bought is on one of the guest room beds so I have to start checking what’s there and making a list of what I need. My sister in Colorado never helps. I ask and she says she’ll have to think about it. That drives me crazy. My other sister usually has one big item in mind and always asks if it is too expensive. It never is. The best part of Christmas presents is getting something you really want. I may drive my sister crazy this year as I have nothing in mind. I’ll just let her surprise me.

The three boys are getting Hess trucks for one of their gifts. They get one every year. The baby will only be 5 months by Christmas, but I figured I’d start his collection. Both babies got hand-knit stockings already, and I have ordered each of them a wooden box containing three handmade ornaments including Baby’s First Christmas. Kids are easy. Adults seldom are. To some I give magazine subscriptions including Afar, Smithsonian, Bon Appetit and Yankee. They are always a big hit as gifts. I’ll also do some hunting in local stores as I love to find different and off-beat gifts, and there are a few stores I can always count on for something special.

Well, my back is horrific today. I did too much yesterday. That’s always the way with me. It happens all the time. I am a slow learner.

“Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind. ”

November 10, 2013

Today is finch day at the feeders. I saw several goldfinches sporting their drab winter colors and a few house finches with their red chests. A couple of doves were at the bird bath drinking. It had been cleaned earlier but has leaves again. Soon I’ll have to hunt down and plug in the heater for the bird bath. The birds love finding water in the winter.

I have nothing much to say today. I haven’t been out to see the world or spend time with people. Mind you, I’m not complaining as I have been reading and watching Christmas movies. The movies are on the schmaltzy Hallmark Channel so I know all will be well before the endings. That lonely business executive will realize she loves her hometown and her old boyfriend who still has a crush. Santa, the real one, will get his memory back in time to make his rounds. The orphans will find families, and the Scrooge-like characters will love Christmas again. Everyone will joyfully celebrate the season.

I went Christmas shopping yesterday in the catalogues and found several gifts I need to order. Some are for stockings, one of my favorite parts of Christmas. My mother was the best stocking stuffer, and we all, my sisters and I, inherited that gene. I only do stockings for my friends Clare and Tony now. I used to do them for my sisters but not anymore, and I really miss the fun of finding neat little things for their stockings. I had traditions. They always got a pair of earrings and my sister Moe got a Life Saver book. I used to find the worst Christmas movie I could for her. It was a contest we had every year. I think I won the last Christmas movie stocking battle when I found a movie made in Mexico about Santa, his wizard and the devil. I always prided myself on the odd and the strange. One year I gave my sister a killer clown puppet. We both loved the horrible Killer Klowns from Outer Space movie, and that puppet was perfectly alien and scary. I used to e-bay for stuff and enjoyed the hunt. I still do for Tony and Clare.

Well, the happy ending is close so back to my movie.