It's Late In The Season

It was late in the Season, but I scurried to downtown Roanoke for a last minute gift.

The little red farm truck was there selling live trees, wreaths and greenery for those who had yet to don their home with the fragrance of a forest.

You simply can't beat the look, hustle and bustle of an old downtown that takes you back to days of yore, beeping car horns and shoppers scurrying across  the busy streets.

Pay to park lots, parking meters, and high rise parking buildings help to manage the scenes, and if my husband could survive there, I would choose to have an old. small apartment over a store.

The lifestyle would suit me well.

My little Elf On A Shelf girl would have come along,

But downtown simply had no place for horse parking.

Neighbors stopped by with goodies in a cellophane wrapped box,

just one more thing for us to eat!  But we love that we are surrounded by good people.

 

A pretty flower arrangement from my husband's mother arrived, and it's nice to know that at 87 she still thinks of us each Christmas with a display that brightens our home.

Rowdy loves the red and green of Christmas and hiding directly within it is a game he plays each December.

And he was nice enough to think of his girlfriend, Izzy, and brought a matching Christmas scarf home for her from his visit to the vet.

They are simply stylin' in their pinecone neck scarvess.

 My husband's present arrived a few weeks early this year and parking it beneath the tree was a problem, so we parked it in the driveway instead.  This photo was the last one taken before those golden leaves in the background fell to the ground from a windstorm followed by the first snow of the season.

So in early December we said goodbye to the golden leaves and hello to the snow of winter.

 

But snow never gets us down.... as long as we can get to the grill life is good!

 

The lights come on with each sundown and  cast their reflections on the rainy, wet driveway,

and we ooh and aaah when we step outdoors with the pups.
It's only right that we should enjoy them, since our home is hidden from the road and only those two homes we share our driveway with can see them.

And my husband brought us home a pink poinsettia from the grocery store this week, a must have each year at this happy time.

I'll say goodbye for a few days now as each and every one of you enjoys YOUR gifts of the Season

and time with your loved ones next to the warmth of your heart fires

and Christmas trees.

Merry Christmas to all!!  

See you soon.

What's Happening Around Here

 Here's some updates for December at our house.

A package or two have now appeared beneath the tree, and somebody is applying the 'snoop' factor.

She pokes at the bulbs each morning as she comes out of the bedroom,

and now that nose is poking at packages.

AND HIS poking nose has discovered his dads' already unwrapped Christmas present sitting out in the driveway.

These two pups don't let anything new around here get past the smell test.

 With all of the nighttime light already in our driveway, I'm not sure it needed any other statement,

 but, what's one string of lights going to hurt?

 I added a third red truck to my Christmas fleet on the mantel, and this one is a Woody sold by Target.

I love that the Target red trucks don't cost an arm and a leg as some of the trucks do this time of year.

 I also added one ornament to our tree, because who can resist a little pink reindeer with a look that harkens back to the look from mid-century?

Not I.

This is also from Target, and they had such great Christmas decor and tree items this year.

Kudos to Tar-Jay!!

 Do you light your tree often?

Ours are on a timer and pop on at 7AM until around 10AM, and then again from 5PM until 10PM.

We went to a lot of work to put it up and decorate this full sized tree this year, so we are going to enjoy it as much as possible before it's time to take it down and tuck it away into the basement.

You should too.

It's sort of akin to using your best dishes on a daily basis rather than just once or twice a year.

'Enjoy Things While We Can' 

 has become our motto as we've gotten older.

And, last but not least is the letter board which will display

small and fun messages throughout the year.

They are a great gift for that person you just don't seem to know what to buy.

I couldn't find a large one here in our town.... they seem to be sold out, but this 12x12 does nicely next to our wine cabinet.

And THAT my friends, is what's happening around here.

Hope your Season of Giving is going smoothly this year and everything is falling into place just as you had planned.

MERRY CHRISTMAS