The Christmas Excursion

So today I did my annual Christmas walk through downtown Marietta. It was either today or Monday, and the last thing I feel when it's almost sixty degrees is Christmassy.

I parked on South Park Square in front of the Australian Bakery Cafè, but left stopping there until later, and instead headed toward East Park Square. The Corner Shop (the British store) wasn't open until 10:30, so I skipped it and went into the candy store. This carries loose candies (what we used to call "penny candy") in bins around one edge of the store, and then shelves of rare and not-so-rare candy bars around the edge of the rest (underneath the candy shelves are specialty bottles of soda in so many flavors, including banana, and in mixed hues of labels). There are also different candies on "floating" shelves in the middle, plus they sell metal signs with funny sayings on them. I saw something that had a recent nostalgic memory and kept it in mind.

Next door is The Local Exchange which has souvenirs, some books, and food gifts; I tasted some local honey, but decided not to buy my favorite pretzels, since they give me bad reflux. Then onto the combination antique store and audiophile shop where Luke the white standard poodle usually hangs out; I found him asleep in the little office at the back. I looked at all the cool memorabilia they have, including old cameras, typewriters, and phonographs, checked out their bookshelves (swelp me, I never knew Wally Cox wrote a book based on Mr. Peepers), and then heard a familiar piece of music playing in the section of the shop set up as a little den with phonographs and speakers. Checked out the phonograph, and sure enough it was George Winston's "December" album.

From there I crossed the street to check out the little decorated trees in Glover Park; each is decorated by a different elementary school in Cobb County. Passed by "Santa's" house, and gazed in happiness at the bright blue winter sky over the sketched leafless trees and the fountain bubbling at the center of the park. The bandstand was empty today, and two inflatable "wooden" soldiers stood guard at the other end of the park.

I crossed North Park Square to give a wistful look at Shilling's Restaurant; they finally closed after so many years. I remember Juanita always talking about her and Johnny going to Shilling's for special occasions.

I crossed to Church Street to go into The Keeping Room (gift and food shop), but it was closed (how odd before Christmas!), so just crossed back over to West Park Square and walked past the Dance Company, Piastra (the Italian place), the kids' store Lollipops and Lizards, Hemingway's Restaurant. Dropped in at the Tea Room but they had much fewer items for sale than usual, so ducked out again, and instead crossed Whitlock Avenue, went past the pizza place and Theatre in the Square and ended up at Park West Vintage, the new (well, before last Christmas) name for what used to be DuPre's old hardware/feed store now antiques shop. I love walking through here at Christmas to see how the various stall owners have tinseled up their areas to make it festive: sometimes it's just a tinsel garland, sometimes it's more vintage stuff.

I can't even describe what's in here: old furniture, vintage clothing, old radios and clocks, vintage artwork, old magazines (or pages torn from old magazines to make "art" to hang up), kitchen items, sets of china, vintage jewelry, old light fixtures, old bedframes, silverware sets, a few books. Mostly there are china knicknacks: cows, dogs, cats, other little animals, children, angels, bells, cups, and more. And to add to the fascination, the bones of the old hardware store, with the metal beams above and the old wooden floor below, a wooden floor polished smooth not by endless coatings of shellac and floor wax, but by the dozens of feet that came through the store over the years, farmers' boots and businessmen's shoes, ladies' sturdy Oxfords and pointed-toed heels, children's hobnailed shoes, and even the barefoot country kids who got sent for a few pounds of chicken feed while Mama was busy with the preserving and Daddy was out doing the harvest. So many people, so many years, you almost think you can hear them talking.

Anyway, I spotted a nicely illustrated book about King Edward VII for not a lot of money and picked that up (it's been vetted by Antonia Fraser, which should lend it verisimilitude) and very reluctantly skipped a couple of Shiny Brite ornaments, then went back to the corner and turned down Powder Springs Street. When we drove through here the other day I spotted an antique store I'd never seen before. It's called the Marietta Mercantile, and I climbed up the steps and grinned at the note about the door with a mind of its own, and was greeted by the two attendants.

This is a lot bigger store than it looks from the street because it goes way back and has a small ell in the rear. Nothing I couldn't live without, but one really simple and cute Christmas idea: resting red Christmas balls in "silver" candlesticks. Very festive.

Now I started heading back for the car (as you can only park free for two hours and my timer was running down) and did stop at the Australian Bakery. Last year they told me that close before Christmas they were expecting gingerbread boys. Either not so this year, or they didn't get them last year either, but none today, just sugar cookies in Christmas tree shapes with icky frosting. Instead I saw the Union Jack outside the Corner Shop and went in there. Lots of goodies, but nothing I really wanted to take home. The Doctor Who items must have sold poorly, because I found none in the store.

Finally I went back to the candy store and bought the nostalgic item I was looking at; will save it for Christmas Day.

And then, more prosaically, I had to hotfoot it home because the exterminator was due for his quarterly visit at one. But it was a nice time, nevertheless.

(Previously on my "walk" I had also gone to the antique mall on Cobb Parkway near the Big Chicken. But they moved at the beginning of 2018 and when I went to the new place on Canton Road last Christmas I was so disappointed, as a lot of the vendors didn't make the move, including the person who sold the old books who usually had a bunch of vintage children's stories, and almost no one had bothered to perk up the place for the holidays. Sad. I love the brightness and the color of Christmas; the world seems washed out after it is gone.)

Our Autumn "Social Season" Begins

The first of our autumn events arrived today: the annual Yellow Daisy Festival. We arose early to eat a quick breakfast and so Tucker could have his dog walk before we set out on the 37 mile drive to Stone Mountain Park. Traffic, of course, was minimal for a Sunday morning, and we got there at nine o'clock with our early pass. It was nice and quiet for a while, but it was already warm and very sticky. I was perspiring profusely before we were halfway through. It was harder walking than DragonCon for me, and I almost missed one farmstand that we really wanted to buy from.

As always, the crafts are a mix of everything: cute kids' clothes, toys, lots of different types of jewelry (the person who I got the Doctor Who headband from had a Walking Dead headband this year), homemade clothing (one lady had beautiful hand-woven sweater/shawl type items I would have loved, but they were very expensive, and worth every penny of the work!), pottery, food items of all sorts (jams, maple syrups, soup and casserole mixes, nuts, sauces), tools to work with foods (barbecue forks, hand-carved wooden spoons, bread knives), metalwork items, the occasional furniture items, hammocks, textile crafts—well, name it, it's there. As usual, there are lovely things we'd like, but can't afford: weathervanes, yard decorations, hammocks...but we must pass them by. However, James did get a new leather wallet, and then we stocked up on food goodies for the rest of the year: Smack Yo' Mama barbecue sauce; MeadowCroft Farms sweet onion relish (we love this stuff on steak and pork and even lamb!) and also sweet pepper and onion relish for James and some blackberry jam for me (till we can get to Ellijay for the blackberry spread I love); First Sergeant products (bourbon pineapple and brandy cherry sauces for us, and medium hot salsa for his burritos); and the first of our two fudge dessert indulgences. I also bought another bar of dog soap.

I was exhausted when we got done and we'd only been there two hours. We are usually there longer, but I did not buy anything from Country Pick'ns this year. It made me a little melancholy, but I've kind of mined them out for my interests. I have Christmas, winter, fall, seashore, kitchen, and pet elements all over the house at various times of the year, and I made fall and Hallowe'en items into a Thanksgiving theme. Her other themes are camping (which I used for a wedding gift), beach, gardening, sewing, and cooking, and I don't do any of those. Would have loved to have seen them do art/painting, writing, etc. But it's sad to have to "abandon" them.

We came directly home, getting caught in a short shower which quit the minute we got the power chair in the house. Spent the afternoon enjoying the air conditioning. I even fell asleep.

James made pork chops for dinner with the bourbon pineapple sauce with a cucumber side, we caught up on Mad About You, and now we're watching stuff off the DVR. It's almost as "high" as the to-be-read piles.

Second Sunday of Advent: A Christmas Miscellaney

This snow storm unexpectedly delivered to us on Friday has been novel in many ways. It pretty much almost set a record for Atlanta snows, depending on where you were. The record is 8.3 inches from 1940, and if it hadn't rained I think we would have made it or gone over. We had 7 inches on our deck on Sunday morning. Furthermore, today we still have snow on the ground—not some small bits of white stuff in perpetually shady places, but snow still on lawns and bushes. It commonly snows one day and then goes up to 60℉ the next.

So it's been a nice Christmas-y coda to the weekend (except for the poor folks who are still without electrical power). It sure was beautiful on Friday. I'll not soon forget crunching on the new fallen snow, watching the streetlights and the Christmas lights come on, the unearthly silence that a mantle of snow throws over the landscape, the beauty of the clearing sky the next morning with the stark white against brilliant blue.

James started the day in lovely fashion by making biscuits. This cleaned out our Bisquik. Since apparently we can't go to the grocery store without forgetting something—this time it was onions—there was another item for our grocery list.

Our most pressing need was getting James a new hard drive. So our first stop today was MicroCenter. He got a hard drive and a hard drive enclosure so he could get his files and his Eudora mailboxes off the old hard drive (then perhaps he can reformat it and use it as a second drive). They had Fitbits on sale, so for Christmas I bought him a Fitbit Alta with a heart monitor. When he does cardio rehab he has a certain heart rate he is not supposed to go over; I want him to find out what that is so he can do exercises at home during bad weather or other times he can't attend. The doctor gave him stretching exercises to do at home, and he has weights he lifts. He can use the Fitbit to monitor his heartbeat.

So we stopped by Publix to get onions and Bisquik and a little more yogurt, and picked up a few more things like always. We had a fun time in dairy: they always put my yogurt on the top shelf and being a shrimp I can only reach so far. This time they were so far back I couldn't even get them with James' cane. So a lady with a schoolage son helped us, and he was quite chuffed about the whole thing. And then we went by Mink's, where I had to once again go on a search through the dark corners of the store to find a bottle of hearty burgundy (all I ever find is Gallo Brothers, so it's not like I even have a choice) so I can make cookies.

And now for the fun portion of the afternoon, it was our annual attendance at "An Atlanta Christmas." Last year they did all our favorites; this year they did mostly new scripts. My favorite this year was "The Role of a Lifetime," a previously-performed story written by Brad Strickland about a down-on-his-luck actor playing Santa Claus at a 1950 department store who is stunned by a little girl's Christmas request and what he does about it. It's very sweet and very reminiscent of stories written by Thomas Fuller, who wrote the original "Atlanta Christmas" sequence of tales. Kelley Ceccato did a new story this year, "The Sleigh of Unbroken Dreams" (or it may have been a typo in the program book and it's "Unspoken"), about a trio of elves at the North Pole who dream about giving a different type of toy to children rather than the commercial standards, just like another elf did long ago. With the help of a retired reindeer, they work on making their own dreams come true. I really, really enjoyed this one, and think it would make a fantastic children's book! I was listening to it envisioning the characters as illustrations and wishing I could draw the way I saw the pictures in my head! "Rory Rammer" was "A Visit from St. Rex," a perennial favorite.

We picked up Chinese food on the way home and ate by the light of the Christmas tree. Watched Alaska: the Last Frontier, which ended on a tragic note with Shane having fallen off the roof of their new house (it was finished a week earlier) and broken his back.

Trim Up The Tree...

...but not quite yet!

As I'd reported in my main blog, on the first Sunday of Advent I managed to get the Christmas candles up in the front window, the door wreaths up, and the wreath, little blue tree, the Santas in the chairs, and the Father Christmas flag up on the porch, and draped the net lights over the bushes out front. The other lights would have to wait. I had taken Monday and Tuesday off, and this helped greatly. I spent Monday morning divesting Thanksgiving and dusting off things, and putting out the Christmas stakes (reindeer, candy cane, and jingle bell) outside and the mailbox cover. Plus Woody and Holly, the log reindeer. I'd planned to have the foyer all decorated when James got home, but the string of lights on the mini-ornament tree failed and I wasn't going out during rush hour. Instead I toted all the boxes that needed to come upstairs upstairs (I even managed to get the village upstairs; it's not heavy, just awkward.)

Tuesday morning I had to run to Michaels. All they had were LED strings in sets of fifty. I used them, but the tree now looks garish. Sigh. The kids today will grow up thinking LEDs are normal and pretty, but they will never know how soft and sweetly lovely incandescent lights were, comforting and gentle rather than garish. Anyway, I was able to finish up the foyer, and then I put up the library tree and the decorations dotting the library shelves and the couple of things in the downstairs bath.

Wednesday I had to go back into work; got my telework training done for another year and sent a file on for approval. Unfortunately I think the chicken salad in my sandwich was starting to spoil. I got very queasy after lunch and finally came home. I logged on to work via my computer in case something needed immediate attention, but it was all quiet and I swigged some Pepto Bismol and finally had a short nap. James was late so I roused up and busied myself putting greenery in the china cabinet and cleaning off things in prep for decorations.

Thursday was a telework day, but I got a bunch done during lunch and after work: put up the ceppo on the china cabinet, the feather tree with the vintage ornaments and the gilded walnuts I made as a teenager (so I guess they're now vintage, too!), and finally the table, which had to be cleaned off first (I swear, horizontal surfaces in this house gather so much junk). I did everything but the "1910 tree" because there wasn't time, but did get to the gingerbread and candy cane decorations in the kitchen. This was all possible because James came home late because he was picking up his new glasses. They are pewter colored and look super with his beard. I even had the Christmas village up on the mantelpiece before he walked in the door.

Friday morning the decorating continued—the "1910 tree" becoming the centerpiece on the table, the Rudolph tree going up in the hall. I had to dust and polish my entire bureau before I could put the little Italian and Scottish decorations up our bedroom. I absolutely don't understand how the bedroom gets so dusty. I could probably leave the spare room without dusting for a year and it wouldn't accumulate as much as it does in our bedroom in a week.

All I had left was the woodland tree, but it was time for me to get dressed and head to the Apple Annie Craft Show at the Catholic Church of St. Ann off Roswell Road. I don't even know anymore how many years I have been going to this event. I like this church; it's a pity it's such a long drive away. There were a lot of jewelry vendors this year. I stopped to talk to the first one, who was a man who made his own links (jump rings) out of wire and then he makes chain-mail bracelets from them. If "chain mail" sounds big and awkward, these weren't; they were fine and beautiful. He does the chain work and his wife the beadwork. I felt old; I mentioned Trifari to him and he had never heard of it. ☹  It was such a part of my life growing up that it's hard to believe that no one remembers any longer except for some jewelry collectors.

Well, I had two surprises, one sad and one good. The sad one was that they are remodeling the meditation garden, so I couldn't have my usual peaceful visit. I was a bit unhappy at first, because they have torn out all the plants and the pond and the statues and they're putting in granite. But it turns out that they are building a columbarium, a place to inter ashes, like the place at the Church of All Saints where Amy Rutledge is, and a prayer garden. It was supposed to be done by Christmas. I know when it is done it will be very nice but I was sorry that the rustic look of it is going away.

The happy surprise is that I ran into Claudia Barbour. We chatted a few minutes and I invited her to the Twelfth Night party.

Most of the things I would have liked to buy were very expensive: solid wood lazy Susans with beautiful blocky designs, natural wood "no electric" speakers (I actually would have bought one of these but we had nowhere to display them properly) with beautiful geometric decorations, solid wood crosses hand-carved. Not a lot of cute clothing for grandchildren this year, either.

Did stop in the sanctuary to say some prayers before I left. I always pray for James and Tucker and Snowy to be healthy and for me to be a better person, but mostly I prayed for all this political hatred to end. Reading Facebook has become a chore and the vitrol from both sides is frightening.

I stopped at Michaels on the way home to get some Sharpie markers, Trader Joe's to stock up on Christmas goodies, and finally at Kaiser at Town Center to pick up my levothroid. I was thirsty and feeling a bit cranky, but then the phone rang in the purse of the lady ahead of me, playing the Boston Pops' "Sleigh Ride." It cheered me up no end.

I got the woodland tree up tonight before settling in to watch Christmas specials tonight: John Denver and the Muppets, A Muppet Family Christmas, "Santa Claustrophobia" from Hill Street Blues, and Christmas Past.

 
Christmas on the American Frontier 1800-1900, John E. Baur
I got this at the library book sale, having taken it out at least once. Taken directly from diaries, journals, and histories by the people who lived the experience, chapters address different aspects of the American pioneer experience, starting from the founding of the country and the customs brought from Great Britain, France, and Spain and introduced to the native inhabitants, some who took great enjoyment from the holiday, but sadly, mainly due to alcohol. Some inspiring stories tell about settlers, cattlemen, explorers, and trappers making the best of what they had and sharing what little they had with others, or riotous dances at distant ranches, but more often the tales are bleak: people lost in blizzards just feet from the homes they were heading for, groups on short rations enduring another hungry day, cowboys spending the day tending cattle and wishing for some camaraderie, rough-and-tumble miners breaking from hardscrabble life for one day, and even British immigrants learning to endure the wild Western weather. Other customs are learned as Spanish customs like farolitoes and La Posadas catch the eye of visitors.

This book is from 1961 so the text may not be as softened as it might be at the present time, but the main draw here are the actual words of the pioneers. Coloring-book type illustrations break up the text. Slightly dry, but with some surprises (for instance, the word "hop" as a synonym for a dance; it sounds like a 1950s term, but goes back at least one hundred years earlier).

What We're Thankful For

One Thanksgiving-oriented activity I have been reading about for years is the concept called a "Thanks Jar." You take an empty jar, decorate it if you like, and leave it somewhere where the family can access it, along with a pen and some paper, on November 1. The idea is for everyone in the family to write down things they are thankful for, whether profound or everyday. Ideally, every family member should write something everyday, but 100 percent participation 100 percent of the period isn't the point: it's about thinking about being thankful for what you have rather than thinking about what you want. I'd actually read the idea for this several years ago, but I either didn't have a jar or I forgot until the week before Thanksgiving or I thought "There's only two of us; is this worth doing?"

After my frustrating allergic reaction to the shingles vaccine and James' heart attack, I figured if any year called for a Thanks Jar, 2016 was it.

Plus this year I remembered to save a spaghetti sauce jar. The instructions for the project said you could paint the jar, or even engrave it. I went for the simple approach, the deep purple Advent-color ribbon I had in one cupboard and a clearance kids' craft project (make an autumn necklace). The little slips of paper were just copier paper I scored and cut into eighths. And one freebie pen.

We decanted the jar this weekend. I'll leave you to guess who wrote what (some will be apparent) and there were some duplicates. Some of them required extra thanks. :-)

• milk
• iced tea
• Christmas music
• the woman who has put up with me for 26 years
• chocolate
• Snowy songs when I come home
• cold nights to snuggle under blankets
• beat the "widowmaker"
• 4-day weekend with my sweetie!
• my job
• gingerbread
• sunrises
• Thanksgiving (for reminding us what's important)
• a warm puppy
• all our friends
• sunsets
• James being better
• Tucker
• Books!
• Snowy
• Lassie
• good friends
• FALL!
• for surviving "the widowmaker"
• Christmas!
• sunrises
• dark chocolate
• sunrises
• a place to live, a job, good food to eat and lots of fresh water
• sunsets
• Eastern Standard Time!
• budgie song!
• wispy cirrus clouds against bright blue autumn skies
• James' cooking
• brisk breezes
• all the men and women who serve/have served in the Armed Forces
• our home
• did I mention books?

 I enjoyed this. I want to do it again next year.

Kringly With a Chance of Song

Whew! The weekend whizzed past so quickly there was hardly time to take a breath, let alone a blog. I'm supposed to be baking cookies, but I've gotten a late start because of some unexpected chores, and am wondering if I should put it off until tomorrow. Unfortunately it's supposed to be an unseasonable 60s this week, so I don't want to bake late in the day when it's too warm. And so much is left to be done (but on the other hand I can't wrap some gifts until UPS delivers 'em, and that will be later in the day).

But on to more festive affairs!

Sadly, one wasn't festive: James had to work on Saturday. Not only work, but a swing shift from noon to nine. We'd planned to go to the second Christmas concert at Ragamuffin and...but that's later in the story.

First came Hair Day, with all the happy tumult that brings. Juanita brought me a belated birthday gift (a "Harvest" scent Yankee candle that will prove nice in those dog days of summer). James got his hair cut and then was able to sit and talk until about 10:30 when he had to leave for work. I stayed for lunch (Alex's homemade lasagna and Lin's Asian salad), then skedaddled out to finish a bit of Christmas shopping for James. I came home hoping to wrap a few gifts, have a nap, and eat something before I left for Roswell, but the nap got nixed because the Christmas boxes are still sitting on the futon. I don't nap on the bed, and the sofa was strewn with Christmas magazines. I did wrap about an hour's worth of gifts, then had my leftover steak from Longhorn for supper.

(Digression: after our day of physician ennui on Friday, we drove out to Acworth with our 25 percent off total purchase coupons for Books-a-Million. This was a quarter off the price of everything, even sale books and already discounted items. Worked out okay; got a couple of gifts. We ate at Longhorn and had to wait there, too, but then I expected that on a Friday night!)

So I went to the Ragamuffin concert without James. It was nice but wasn't half as much fun. In this concert they didn't stick to a strictly Christmas theme, but also did some other songs, including a three-song Beatles set, and Louis Robinson sang Perry Como's "And I Love You So," which reduced me to tears thinking about my mom. They gave out crocky little door prizes picked out at Goodwill—I got a New Orleans Santa, complete with Mardi Gras beads and a purple sack!

Drove home to a cozy house, a hopping budgie, a barking dog, and a reading hubby.

Sunday morning we hurried to Costco before it became too crowded, since we had some good coupons just about to expire. Had breakfast at home, and, sadly, despite my shopping on Friday, had to go to Kroger for James' new prescriptions. Only then were we able to go out and have a little fun: we wanted to see what Christmas decorations they had at Ikea. It was a so-so trip, as the Christmas stuff was minimal and the store looked like raving hyenas had been at it. I've never seen Ikea look so untidy. Plus they don't have the little nesting baskets any longer. Phooey.

I did find the pepparkakor, the Swedish ginger cookies shaped like hearts which Swedes traditionally use to decorate their tree (you don't dare do that in Georgia; you might as well hang a placard on the door stating "Welcome, Ant Families!"). No big boxes like a couple of years ago, but I got enough to fill the cookie jar and enough to fill it again. At two cookies every couple of day they should last for months.

In the evening we had our annual "WENNmas" party [Remember WENN fans]. We chat for a while about Christmas, and then watch "Christmas in the Airwaves" together. By the time we're done I'm all awash again.

Operation Christmas, Part 3

Well, the idea was to get a bit of Christmas decorating done during lunch hour while I was teleworking. Maybe I could even get up early and unpack a few things before starting.

No dice. I had five new orders when I logged on Wednesday morning, and my Guam order was still ongoing because I can't even contact the hotel's events management people until 6 p.m. due to the time difference. My team lead ended up talking with them via e-mail until 10 p.m.

But finally it worked out, and I got some things advertised—but I never did get much done during lunch because I didn't take one either day, except for the fifteen minutes when I put up the ceppo on the etagere on Wednesday.

But things have proceeded:

•  Dining room and kitchen fully decorated.

•  Village up on the mantel.

•  Rudolph tree up.

•  Christmassy nicknacks on the bookcase.

•  Decorations up in the spare room for any Christmas visitor.

•  Woodland tree up.

•  Airplane tree out of the box and table prepared.

•  Santa and wire tree up in the library, as well as the lighthouse "vignette." The library tree is still in the box, waiting for me to get the table out.

•  The little tree and its Scottish and Italian trim are up in the bedroom.

•  I have put the "Peanuts" band from Hallmark in front of the television, with a cute foldup "Ho-ho-ho" in front of it.

I didn't get much done, except for the Rudolph tree, the village, and the woodland tree and getting the other stuff out because today was the annual "Apple Annie" craft fair at St. Ann's Church in Marietta. Knowing I wouldn't get a parking space if I went early, I chose to sleep late, listen to a Sherlock Holmes radio show on BBC4X, eat breakfast, and then finally go out about 10:30.

First I went by Sibley to return Acceptable Loss. The Sibley Library is no longer open on Fridays due to budget cuts, so I had to put it into the book dump. Then, since I needed money, I stopped at Publix, which has branches of my bank. I also checked out the twofers and got juice, diced tomatoes, chocolate chips, some crackers for the Twelfth Night party and some for James, and a couple of other things. I also bought a contribution for the Food Bank, so I got a free reusable bag in a Christmas theme. I bought their other two designs, so now I have a set of Christmassy shopping bags.

Finally I headed out to East Cobb. Despite the fact it was Friday and I usually have a quiet ride, the traffic was terrible. A bunch of people must be taking Fridays off to shop. I stopped at the Mount Bethel post office to send something off and get stamps for Christmas cards, then went on to Betsy's Hallmark. The parking lot around the shop was packed; there must be a good sale either at Stein Mart or Kohls. I had to drive around twice before there was a parking space closer than five rows down. I didn't mind the walk, but it was stupid since I was going in the store only to pick up the last of the "Peanuts" band (Snoopy) and a card for my sister-in-law, whose birthday is the day before mine.

Once done at Hallmark, I went on to Apple Annie. By this time it was 12:30 and there were parking spaces in front of the church rather than on Roswell Road. I had a nice time. Most of the stuff is jewelry or cutesy kids' clothing, but I did buy some gingerbread-themed stuff and a sheep—I can't resist sheep—from the "prim lady" and some notecards and the "Prayer of St. Francis" in calligraphy from the "papyrus lady." I also got two cute cards to frame, a Woodland Santa, and "American Cowthic," two Holsteins doing the "American Gothic" pose. They sell baked goods for charity, so I bought eight brownies on a cute Christmas plate for $6.

Before I leave, I always go into the little courtyard between the church proper and the parish rooms. (Sadly, I couldn't peek into the church proper as a funeral was going on.) This is a triangular area with rose bushes, a Japanese maple, and some statuary, including the Virgin Mary, a cross, a weeping figure, and a statue of St. Francis. It's very peaceful and lovely, although the water feature was covered up with wire. This was covered with scarlet maple leaves. The rose bushes near St. Francis still had a few brave blossoms despite the heavy frost earlier. I sat on one of the benches and enjoyed it for a few minutes.

On the way back I stopped at Bed, Bath & Beyond, but didn't see anything I wanted to wait in line for. I did stop at the little used bookstore in the same shopping center as Hancock Fabrics. It wasn't overflowing with romance books like most used bookstores, but there wasn't anything I was looking for.

I decided to stop at Abecedarius on the way home as I hadn't been there in ages. I think it's the only cross-stitch store left in Atlanta, so I'd better appreciate it. I found three small patterns including a cute "Quaker" Thanksgiving design. This pleasure was completely blunted by the annoyance of driving down Roswell Road, which, like everything else, was clotted with traffic and people doing absurd things, like cutting across lanes without looking. At one point, I was stopped in traffic waiting for a light across from a gas station. There was a left turn lane next to me, and the westbound lanes are separated from the eastbound lanes by a narrow concrete divider higher than a curb. This didn't prevent some jerk in a jeep from just cutting his wheels when he came opposite the entrance to the gas station and bouncing right over the divider rather than going a few car lengths further on and making a legal left turn.

When I got home it was four o'clock and I was tired, but I did put up the Rudolph tree. When James got home we went to Giovanni's for supper (we were headed for Stevi B's pizza, but when we got there it was gone). Wow, the place was nearly full—first time I've ever seen that many people there. Once home I unpacked the box with the library, airplane, and woodland tree, and put the woodland tree up.

Then I asked James to bring the white board upstairs, and put up the village while watching Christmas Past. We also watched Flying Wild Alaska, which had enough snow to last Atlanta for a couple of winters. :-)

9 Days Before Christmas

My last day of work before a nice break until January 3!

Listened to the two new Revels albums that James bought me for my birthday. "Christmas Through the Years" by the Portland Revels was mostly medieval holy music. "Welcome Yule!" is the anniversary album, with familiar favorites like "Lord of the Dance" as well as new offerings. Later I listened to some Rick Steves' Christmas podcasts, but most of them were repeats of shows I'd already heard. Also listened to a "BBC History Magazine" Christmas podcast which was an A-Z historical quiz. Supposedly there is a Christmas issue out; I need to go look for it!

The one fly in the ointment was not being able to finish some small modifications. One wouldn't complete and for the other I didn't have the correct information.

Tonight when James came home we stopped by Wendy's for supper-on-the-fly and drove into Buckhead to the Atlanta History Center to attend one of the two Candlelight Nights. We skipped Tuesday's figuring the weather would be better tonight; boy, talk about a miscalculation. It was just foggy when we left home, but as we threaded our way down West Paces Ferry Road it began to drizzle, then rain. And it rained off and on all night, so the nice candlelit paths were mostly extinguished. :-(

When we got there we listened to an a capella do-wop group, ten older men singing Christmas carols, including "The Twelve Days of Christmas" intertwined with "Carol of the Bells," a lively do-wop "Jingle Bells," and even "In the Still of the Night." Then we wandered toward the back where a group of one man and several women were playing traditional instruments like dulcimers and autoharps. The sound of one single dulcimer playing a plaintive song like "Silent Night" can be one of the most haunting sounds in the world.

They had some little snacks downstairs, cookies, pecan tartlets, and brownie bites, so we had a couple of those and then emerged to a foggy, damp world. We walked down the hill, crossing the little brook that runs through the property, but sorely missing the doused candles, on the way to the Swan House, which was the home of the Inmans from the 1920s. (One lone candle, sheltered under some vines, remained burning outside the house.) Outside it looked like a fog-shrouded London night; inside it was warm and welcoming, minimally and tastefully decorated with small red packages in pyramids or red irises, and one tree at the foot of the circular main staircase and another in the upper hall, the latter in silver and gold and decorated with glass swans.

From the Swan House we walked to the Tullie-Smith farmhouse, which is from the 1800s. They had docents dressed in period clothing, a gentleman in the dining room talking about the family, a woman in hoop skirts, and two younger women, one making tea cloths on a loom, and one spinning on a large spinning wheel. They could only have electric candles, so the rooms were quite dark.

Then we walked out to the separate kitchen (kitchens were a separate building back in those days, due to the heat in summer and the threat of fire) where they had been baking a pie and gingerbread in cast-iron spiders with hot coals on top (the gingerbread looked delicious, but they were not allowed to give samples), and then to the blacksmith shop, where someone was still at work at the forge, and finally back to the history center for some hot cocoa. As we sipped the cocoa we listened to the folk instrument group play "Jingle Bells."

And then it was almost time for them to close down, so we left and came home through the residential streets of Buckhead and also those nearer home to check out Christmas light displays.

Watched the last two days worth of Ellen and then a segment on Jimmy Fallon's show where Ben Stiller and Jimmy played charades against Ben's parents, one of my favorite comedy acts, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Between the latter, Jimmy nearly hit the floor laughing. He always looks like he's having such fun.

97 Days Until Christmas

The best way to spend the time until Christmas is to enjoy the autumn.

Here an entire collection of fall festivals dot the weekends up through October. It starts out with the annual Yellow Daisy Festival the weekend after Labor Day, with booths that line the different trails through the Stone Mountain exhibition grounds. Wares range from cute clothes for Grandmas to shower their grandchildren with to foods (barbecue sauce, soup and casserole mixes, candies, dips, maple syrup, and more), crafts to outdoor displays, children's playthings to homemade soap, musicians CDs to recycled products, home decor, fudge, furniture, ceramics, and more, with the obligatory food stands—and even souvenir bags, postcards, and mugs. Booths are liberally laced with artificial garlands of colorful autumn leaves, and a hope for cool fall is in the air.

This is usually followed by a little show called "A Blue Ribbon Affair" which proceeds the North Georgia State Fair. Well, "proceeds" except for this year. We arrived at the park today to find out they had cancelled it despite announcements to the contrary. Made a bit of a dent in our day.

Will just have to dive back into my collection of fall magazines, including Blue Ridge Country and Birds and Blooms, having finished up Yankee and Vermont Life.

"On the Ninth Day of Christmas..." (Evening Edition)

The floors are washed, the carpet and stairs are vacuumed, the sofa is clear, Willow's had a bath...I think we're ready. (Well, after I clean off the dang coffee table, anyway. it's like a magnet that attracts stuff.) :-)

We went out for supper at Golden Corral, which, surprisingly, was not crowded, and stopped at Staples on the way back to get a mailing tube. They had some pretty wintry (not Christmas) stationery and labels at half price, which I bought, and also two great gift items at half price. More things for the box!

The bad news: the friend we were expecting for the weekend cannot come. :-( She caught a bad cold from her nephew and needs to get it under control by Monday for work. As Podkayne says, "Snellfrocky! Hangnails! Dirty socks!"

The good news: a friend of ours got in a car accident this afternoon, but is okay except for a few bruises. The car, however, is totaled. Whew. Thank God it was only the car.

A Holiday Weekend (and a LONG Post)

Friday seems a million hours away! We had a super-busy weekend, which unfortunately started out, for me, badly. I tried a new salad at Sweet Tomatoes and I liked it, but it didn't like me, so I was in the bathroom for about an hour at 2:30 a.m. By the time I got back to bed I was chilled and it took me ages to warm up and fall asleep.

Nevertheless, we had a full plate on Saturday. Before lunch, we had to go to the bank. I'd had a bland breakfast with a Pepto Bismol chaser, but James grabbed some lunch our and we went to BJs for a few groceries. James bought me a Christmas gift and we also purchased WALL-E, which we never saw in the theatre but everyone has raved about it. Then we had to go to Kroger for bananas and yogurt and other necessities.

I still wasn't feeling up to snuff, so James dropped me off at home and went to the hobby shop. I took some ibuprofin and then slowly proceeded to decorate. I put up the gingerbread things in the kitchen, the feather tree (it's on the little microwave cart this year) with its surrounding vintage-looking toys, the refurbished ceppo (on the curio cabinet), and little feather tree surrounded by my Santa collection (on the china cabinet). I also decorated the console and the secretary next to the birdcage. (Schuyler has the two musical things, natch: the silver-based Santa snowglobe and the Charlie Brown and tree Hallmark ornament). I also cleaned the hall bath and put all the blue decorations up: an angel, two Santas, a snowman, and the blue snowflake hand towels, plus the decorative soaps. I have the tree plugged in in the foyer, but never did get the ornaments on it.

James got home around three and I took some ibuprofin and lay down about four o'clock for a half hour. While I didn't feel like turning cartwheels, I was in "good stomach" enough that I asked James if, since we were going to be on that side of town anyway, he wanted to take me out for my birthday dinner. He said yes, so we left about five on our way to the annual Atlanta Radio Theatre Company performance of "An Atlanta Christmas," this year at the Alliance Theatre venue.

But first we were off for a treat: we went to dinner at the Colonnade. This restaurant has been open for about 80 years, originally on the corner of Piedmont and Lindbergh until they lost their lease in the 1960s. They moved to Cheshire Bridge Road in front of the Cheshire Motor Inn, which, back in those days, was a good neighborhood. It's a bit run-down now, with girlie bars and "adult novelty" stores, but the restaurant, in slang parlance, "still rocks." The food is so good that when the kitchen caught fire in the 1970s, evacuating diners walked out with their plates and forks so they could finish eating.

I understand the pork loin, beef short ribs, and fried chicken are all good, but I can't tell you, because I go there for the turkey dinner. I am really not a stuffing/dressing fan and usually only take a mouthful or two, but I slice up my turkey at the Colonnade and mix it with their absolutely fabulous celery dressing and eat it all tooth and toenail. I love their applesauce; it is not over-sugared. And the baked potato was delicious, too. I thought we might have to wait, as the place was about 3/4 full, but we got right in and were served right away—served so fast, in fact, that our dinners came before the rolls!

Pleasantly full, we returned to our route. We were a bit early, so we stopped at Book Nook. I discovered there was a third Nicholas Meyer Sherlock Holmes novel, after The Seven-Per-Cent Solution and The West End Horror, something called The Canary Trainer. I also found a really odd book (text printed on pink paper!) called Christmas in the World, which seems to be someone traveling around the world and meeting all the evil spirits of Christmas, like Krampus and Black Peter.

Finally arrived at the theatre; we hadn't been at this venue before. Boy, is it dark outside the building. Not a lot of signs that there is a theatre there at all!

Anyway, it was the usual enjoyable performance. There were two new skits this year, a news show spoof called "Rudolphium," about the discovery of the element that makes reindeer fly, and a rather silly skit about pirates and Christmas spoofing lame television holiday specials. Not sure what the latter had to do with Atlanta, though, but it had some very funny parts. The actress who portrayed Tiffany, the assistant to the mall Santa Claus in "Santa Claus Blues," was hysterical. Tiffany is always portrayed as being young and very earnest, but in this incarnation, she was also filled with wonder, as if this was the best job she ever had.

It was getting rather late, so we chatted only a bit after the performance, then headed home. I asked James if we could go past the place where my old apartment complex was, the place I lived when I first moved to Atlanta, which I always referred to as "the Cubbyhole" (it was a studio apartment). Last year when we drove past the location they had torn down the entire complex (Peachtree Garden Apartments), and when I went by a little later in the year it looked as if they were filling in the little "valley" the complex was in. Well, the area is still unfinished, but there are now two huge buildings there, complete with parking garages.

We came home via Mount Paran Road. This is one of those routes that is increasingly being taken over by McMansions of every stripe: there are "Italianate estates" and an "English hunting lodge" (complete with a waterfall and pond out front!) and many Classical-design homes. One we refer to as "Mr. Inflatable" because he has inflatable decorations (which I think look horribly tacky) outside the house for every holiday, even if it's only one or two. He had at least a dozen of the darn things in front of the house for Christmas, including a Tigger in a nightshirt.

Anyway, near "Mr. Inflatable" is a rather new development with these imposing Classical-style homes, and the two closest to the street seemed to be having a dueling lights contest. Every inch of both properties were covered in white lights: house, windows, trees, bushes, fenceline. It was bright!

We were up at nine this morning so we could have breakfast before the Marietta Tour of Homes. While yesterday was rather cloudy most of the day, today was sunny and clear—and only in the 40s. So much better than two years ago when it got up into the 70s and it was sweltering! The wind was quite keen, especially before noon, but it became more comfortable as the afternoon hours came on, but some people were bundled up like Eskimos!

We noticed something this year about all the tour homes: the decorations seemed to be the traditional greens—cedar and juniper as well as pine and holly—with red bows. One house did have fruit as part of the design, but with pine underpinnings. There were no "avant garde" type decorations like the people with the sofa frame two years ago.

The first house was the Hardage-Smith House, circa 1890. This had a very interesting shared fireplace system; the four main rooms shared the same flue in one corner of the room. The mantelpiece of the parlor was covered by little putz houses and bottle-brush trees from what looked like the 1950s, and the owners also had Santa collections like mine in several rooms, even the master bedroom, including a group of them which were two inches tall and shorter! As with most of these homes, they have had modern additions and this one is seamless, with the same molding and doorframes in the entire house. The bath had the same black-and-white tiles I remember from the old homes of my cousins.

Oh, one of the things on the wall was a framed report card of one of the owners' grand (or maybe great-grand) fathers, from 1920, complete with marks for deportment.

The next house was called "Oakmont" and had a varied history. It was originally "Kennesaw Hall," a small plantation home, originally with 800 acres. The property was burned by Sherman's troops and only the foundation and the granite slave cabin in the rear survived. It was rebuilt and made into quite a large Queen Anne type house in Victorian times. Over the years it was actually downsized to a small one-story house, although then a small half-story was added above. For a long time a piano teacher lived in the house, giving lessons in the cabin, and most Marietta children of the time would have had piano lessons with her.

The house is still small, but the owners have done marvelous things with the place. There is a new state-of-the-art kitchen (like all the houses), but the old one still stands used as a combination laundry, mudroom and craft room, with a floor made of reclaimed bricks. The upstairs is a marvel of all available space used: there are cubbies on the stairway and a cute little den in the main area at the top of the stairs. At either side of the den are the little girls' rooms. Each has a bed, plus spaces under each dormer where a friend could stay for a sleepover or they could just read. One little girl had a private space in what probably started out as a closet under an eave. It had a light inside, a little pallet and all sorts of little girl treasures. The kitchen had great drool factor. The big stove was flanked on either side by what looked like architectural wood decorations, but were really vertical spice drawers. You couldn't tell unless you pulled them out!

They also had cool antiques like a wind-up Victrola and railroad memorabilia and the last existing set of shelves from the larger house's library. When they started refurbishing the house, they discovered the rest of them rotting in the yard!

The former slave cabin has been turned into a guest house. It was completely made of stone and you can still see the burn marks on the inside wall of the bedroom portion, which has had the plaster stripped from it, from Sherman's march through the city.

The third house was of World War II vintage, the Wellons-Brackman-Gronewald House. The woman of the house is an interior designer and it showed, although it wasn't flashy. The house is dotted with beautiful antiques including a campaign desk. Like most homes of this era, the original part was very small, and in the rear the kitchen has been extended and a master suite added, and a screened porch on the side was turned into a compact library.

The High Cotton House was next. This was built in 1867 and the insulation in the walls, future remodelers discovered, was packed cotton! It used to have a complete wrap-around porch but part of it is now reclaimed by a nice comfy den. The parlor had a beautiful carved oak fireplace surround and mantel (originally from a brothel in Savannah!) with a peacock-shaped firescreen. The master bedroom was completely done in beautiful ice-blue paint with matching spread, curtains, etc, even a blue Persian rug, and a wonderful flocked Christmas tree with blue ornaments. The master bath had a gorgeous pink dogwood-theme stained glass window over the bathtub.

We had a bobble here. We took the opportunity to go upstairs and when we came down James slipped on the step nearest the landing. (Well, the people near us said he slipped on a tilted board, but when he stumbled there was a sharp crack, as if the step had given under his foot.) He caught himself, but his right knee is still hurting.

The fifth house is officially called the Orr-Johnson House, but the docent told us it was nicknamed "Mosley Hall," since the hallway was so wide it was "mos(t)ly hall." LOL. It was a large hall, filled with antique cabinets. One had a collection of statues of the various gift-bringers in different countries, like Santa Lucia and Grandfather Frost. The doors to each room had big adjustable transoms over them to regulate the cool and warm air circulation in those days before central air and heat. A beautiful stained-glass window was in the parlor and this also had the most unusual stool made of longhorn horns, dated 1915.

The owner obviously does cross stitch and many of her projects were dotted around the house. I was quite taken by a Christmasy one in the kitchen (another redone kitchen, of course!); I would love to have the pattern! It said "Christmas is holly with berries of red, and the heavenly fragrance of warm gingerbread."

The final house was a few steps away, the Cash-Cooney House from 1907. This is owned by a couple (the house originally belonged to the woman's grandfather) with four boys, all but one who are sports fans, so the bedrooms were quite heavily decorated with sports themes. They also had themed Christmas trees. The little movie-watching room had a tree hung with movie candy boxes, and dad, a baseball fan, had the neatest tree, which was covered with enlarged baseball cards and boxes of Cracker Jack! As with all the homes, the kitchen had been completely redone, this in a beautiful cherry finish, and we were directed to what looked like a corner cupboard at the rear. When you opened the doors, it turned out to be a pantry closet the size of a walk-in closet!

Our final stop was at the tea room, this year located at the Anderson Mansion, one of the big old Victorian houses on Whitlock Avenue. We each had a small treat, as we were intending to have lunch at home. This house put me in mind of my original allergist's office, which was on Waterman Street in Providence, once a toney neighborhood. Dr. Freedman used the first floor of a similar-type Victorian house and there were other medical offices upstairs. It was the same setup, parlors in the front and a kitchen in the back, the pocket-panel doors, etc., except when Dr. Freedman had it, the place was rather dark. When he retired and my next allergist, Dr. Sturam, took over, he had the place redone. It was much brighter, but he had a lot of the historical look removed from the place.

At home we had some lunch and James had some Aleve and rested his knee. We then spent about 90-minutes putting up the lights outside. We did the same setup as last year, with the lights around the columns and the purple stars "falling down." Then James got that "guy-look" that men get around Christmas lights and disappeared into the garage. We had bought about five boxes of blue miniature lights several years ago for a dollar a box and two sets of blue LED bulbs. We put the LED bulbs on the stair railings, then one set of miniature lights zigzagged on the railings, one set draped over the bushes in the front of the house, and one set draped over the bushes toward the side. So we're even more "bluetiful" than before. :-)

Seriously, I like the minis on the bushes especially; it looks like small blue stars have dropped on them.

We had turkey breast with salad for supper and worked through the rest of the backlogged What's My Line episodes. GSN's showings of The Name's the Same ended and we saw some of the early episodes of To Tell the Truth where Bud Collyer collected the "votes" from the panel rather than them putting up their choice and stating why they picked that person.

While we were doing this I was trying to catch up on things on my laptop. To my surprise it was running very slowly and oddly. Windows Update kept coming up and telling me my Windows Update was not on, and sure enough, when I went in, it had been disabled. How odd. Not only that, but when I went into Internet Explorer, something called "Antivirus 2009" kept popping up saying I was infected with at least three things including a two Trojans, one wich was showing up as "critical." For me to clear this problem, I had to install this "Antivirus 2009," which I didn't want to do, knowing nothing about it. But you could only run, save or cancel it. When you cancelled out of it, it didn't stop; you had to use Task Manager to get out of it. Well, when I did this I got a message saying "Are you sure? If you install, your PC will remain unsoiled." "Unsoiled?" I don't think Microslop uses words like "unsoiled."

So I ran AdAware and it was screaming about a Trojan called "Virisure" or something of that ilk. I removed it. I guess this "Virisure" encourages you to install this Antivirus thing to get rid of it, probably installing yet another Trojan in its place or not removing it in the first place. What a pain in the butt.

Sigh...still never got the tree in the foyer decorated!

2008 Marietta Pilgrimage Home Tour

Woot! The homes being toured this year are on Whitlock Avenue. This used to be the "ritzy" area and the homes are all big Victorian/Queen Anne types with wraparound porches, chandeliers, and "all the trimmings," as they'd say in The Right Stuff. The Christmas decorations should be quite nice.

This year's tour is December 6-8. Tickets can be purchased at the Marietta Historical Society office at Marietta Square (it's not on the square; it's across from the train tracks, opposite the little engine and tender).

(Ah! And the Mistletoe Market is in two weeks at the Cobb County Civic Center. Why they hold the darn thing in October is a mystery, but...there it is...)

Saturday Frolic and Sunday Shopping

Here it is Epiphany already! How does one slow down the doggoned clock on happy days? Yesterday went by like a breath of wind and today, even though James is at work, the hours are flying by.

We were out only briefly yesterday to stop at the hobby shop and then at MicroCenter before getting some sodas at the supermarket and hurrying home to prepare for the Twelfth Night party. We have been leaving the cooked goodies (this time we served chili, cocktail franks in barbecue sauce, split taquitos, mini egg rolls, and honey barbecue chicken wings) and the chips and dip in the kitchen and the rest of the goodies (cheese spread and M&Ms in the center of the table so folks could still gather round the table to eat; there is always space at the coffee table and we also have these clever plastic gadgets (not trays) that carry a paper cup and paper plate and have a hole for your "plastic silverware." James did the cooking part and the cheese spreads because even the light whipped Philly was very stiff, and I did the rest, and we were just finishing as the first guest arrived.

It was a wonderful party, full of stories and laughter. Our friends from Warner Robins got to attend, and we even enjoyed the company of Sue Lawson's mom. It's always nice to have a Mom around. Even Jessie managed to have a good time although she'd just had her wisdom teeth out on Thursday and was in a bit of pain throughout (I gave her a little ice cream to cool her mouth).

Willow went crazy barking for about an hour, but eventually began to wander around happily panting and searching for leavings. By the time the last guest left she was tuckered out. Schuyler, I'm sorry to say, although she had no trouble with the small game night we had, did not enjoy a full-blown party. Not sure if female budgies are just not social critters like the males—certainly Pidge and Bandit ate up all the attention—or if it is just natural shyness, but she wasn't happy much of the night, except when I gave her a stalk of millet and then when the crowd lessened a little.

We left the dishes because James had to get to bed due to having to work today, but everything else was cleaned up last night and I did the vacuuming again today so now all is spotless. Since I had the table cleaned off and will be transferring the Christmas things to winter things over the week, I did not replace the Christmas runner. Instead I used the food-based mineral oil I finally found and gave the table top (which is solid wood) a good oiling. It was looking pale and dry, almost like dry skin on a person, from lack of oils, since it hadn't been treated since we bought it seven (?) years ago. I put a good coating of oil on with a paper towel, let it absorb for half an hour, wiped the excess off with another paper towel and left it a bit more, then finally buffed it down with a holey old sock which has been washed and saved for dusting/polishing purposes. It looks so lovely; the color deep brown again—how wonderful that a clear liquid brings out such a wonderful color.

I didn't sleep in after James left for work, but instead set out for the store. I had a 30 percent off coupon for Borders and Borders Bucks as well as some rewards coupons and got the Inside the Victorian Home book I had become so enamoured of on New Year's Eve. I also bought James a new aircraft calendar and, through some shopping, purchased at least six more gifts for next year! These are all gifts I know people will like and use, not just "this is on sale; I can give it to so-and-so," and three of the things I would truly not ordinarily been able to afford. I also bought two Christmas books at half price.

"Christmas, Christmas, Wonderful Christmas!"

Had a nice sleep in yesterday courtesy of the Big Boss, but I'd really intended to go to Harry's earlier. It wasn't quite a Dickens Christmas there—

"...[t]here were great, round, pot-bellied baskets of chestnuts, shaped like the waistcoats of jolly old gentlemen, lolling at the doors, and tumbling out into the street in their apoplectic opulence. There were ruddy, brown-faced, broad-girthed Spanish Friars, and winking from their shelves in wanton slyness at the girls as they went by, and glanced demurely at the hung-up mistletoe. There were pears and apples, clustered high in blooming pyramids; there were bunches of grapes, made, in the shopkeepers" benevolence to dangle from conspicuous hooks, that people's mouths might water gratis as they passed; there were piles of filberts, mossy and brown, recalling, in their fragrance, ancient walks among the woods, and pleasant shufflings ankle deep through withered leaves; there were Norfolk Biffins, squab and swarthy, setting off the yellow of the oranges and lemons, and, in the great compactness of their juicy persons, urgently entreating and beseeching to be carried home in paper bags and eaten after dinner..."

but it was crowded with folks piling their carts high with goodies for the feast. I also dropped in to Publix for some dessert goodies for tomorrow, and started next year's shopping at Michael's.

I had hardly arrived home and done laundry and vacuuming and other minimal chores when I realized I did not have enough salad dressing for the salad we were bringing to dinner tomorrow, so I nipped out to Food Depot—not as crowded as I feared—and found it, surprisingly, first try!

Then I was finally ready to sit down, with Schuyler's cage next to me, to her surprise and wonder, and I had lunch—yummy salad greens, milk, a bit of the demi baguette I bought myself as a treat, and pistachio nuts—and we watched The Homecoming: A Christmas Story and the 1980, 1981 (two shows), and 1982 Ask the Manager Christmas shows, from Joe receiving his spotted tie as a gift to Dan telling Dana about the "Christkindl" custom at his house for the first time. Oh, yeah, and the eggnog and Joe intoning "Rudy Cheeks, Rudy Cheeks, Rudy Rudy Cheeks." Always shed a tear now at the end of the 1980 show when the cast and crew do their "Merry Christmas" and the late Cliff Allen appears.

Oh, also got a nice late surprise in the mail: the copy of The Victorian Christmas Book that I had bought from Amazon Marketplace arrived. The Country Diary Christmas Book uses so many quotes from this book that I couldn't resist ordering it: it was 30 cents, an ex-library book, but quite intact and with an excellent cover.

By then it was time to load Christmas gifts in a Xerox box, get Schuyler back to her perch on the bookcase and clean up, and take Willow outside. To our surprise, we met James at the door—they let him out fifteen whole minutes early! Soon we were in the truck and heading to the Boulers for Christmas Eve dinner. We went the long way, through Dunleith, the neighborhood next to our old one, but they did not do luminarias for Christmas Eve this year; I don't know if they have quit or did them over the weekend.

We had a grand time at the Boulers, with the Spiveys, the Elders and the Boroses, plus Keith—noshed our way through turkey, ham, beef roast, some veggies, dessert, then did presents before the fire. Keith, as always, gives the most unique gifts: this year we received a bird feeder, a bag of birdseed, and a guide to wild birds of North America. The Boulers' dogs watched us enviously from the upstairs balcony: G'Kar, the Jack Russell, shoved himself between the banisters to stare at us.

We came home via a roundabout route to check out more lights. When we got home, I was still in gift mode, so we opened our gifts under the tree. I had bought James a new copy of Top Gun (he only had the videotape), two books about the space program and one about World War II fliers, a DVD set of WWII videos, and a 4GB jump drive. I received the book of The War, London Then and Now, a bag for my new camera, and some Japanese Cherry Blossom cologne from Bath and Body Works. We also received some cute gifts from Emma, who bought me a cute pig Webkinz. I think I will name her "Peggy" after Mike's guinea pig (I know, not the same species, but both cute!). Miss Schuyler got a nice big piece of millet from Santa, and Willow got beef and cheese treats (which she has been staring at since last night).

We then sat and relaxed and listened to Christmas music and then the Midnight Mass from the Vatican, which lasted over an hour tonight.

This morning, therefore, we slept in, despite the pinpoint power failure at 8 a.m. which turned James' C-PAP on and off again. Willow finally started to bark, at which we discovered Santa had sent Atlanta a Christmas gift: it was raining! It rained steadily for nearly two hours, then cleared, but it looks as if another bank of rain is headed this way. I'd rather have snow, but we need the rain.

While I went out searching for a newspaper, James made French toast out of the last of the challah loaf we bought last weekend. (Last year we had hit six places Christmas Day and never found a newspaper. One place even told me they didn't print a newspaper on Christmas. Nonsense! Large Metro area newspapers are like hospitals; they never take holidays.) I was successful in one try and we ate breakfast—luscious French toast made with Splenda and topped with the lovely Grade B super-maply syrup my cousin Donna bought us two years ago—and read the paper along to the end of the Walt Disney World parade and then Christmas at St. Olaf's.

Anyway, it's about time for me to go wash the salad...Merry Christmas to all, and Buon Natale, too!

[Later: I should say we had a great time at the Butlers, but that would be redundant—we always have a great Christmas dinner there, and the company is always delightful.]

All on a Christmas "Eve Eve"

Had some problems last night that I am pretty sure were attributable to not taking one of my pills and then taking another before bed. This happened another time when I did not take the Prilosec (or took it after the fact) and then had chicken. Poor Schuyler must think we are nuts, especially with us having stayed up past midnight and my watching "Christmas in the Airwaves" a second time on chat with Rodney and Mike.

Needless to say we had a slow start this morning and did not make it to the Colonnade on time to have lunch; the after-church crowd was already milling its way out the door. We went to Ryan's, which used to be Olde Country/Hometown Buffet. I only had a little steak—it was so highly peppered even James complained—and a few spoonfuls of mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, a bit of crust from a tiny slice of apple pie and some chocolate cake. It seemed to sit okay.

We then drove up to the Stage Door Players to see ARTC's annual "An Atlanta Christmas." They had a new sketch this year, "Civil War Triptych," which was originally performed when "Atlanta Christmas" was a stage production rather than a radio show: a Civil War Christmas was described by turns by a white woman (the preparations for the feast), a black woman slave (the "Christmas Gif'" tradition and the happiness of the relative freedom of the celebration), and a Confederate soldier (privations of camp and homesickness). Plus of course all our favorites, including "USO Christmas," the affecting "O Tannenbaum" about the Christmas truce, and "Are You Lonely Tonight?" We sat between Lin Butler, Stephanie Gould, and the Rutledges and enjoyed beginning to end while I snapped photos.

We must have arrived at the Colonnade for supper during a lull: we got right in and were served promptly, and then people began to arrive again. The Colonnade opened in 1927 and, despite one loss of location and one fire, has survived ever since. They serve "down home Southern food," and you can't pass tables without seeing big plates of fried chicken, but my favorite here is the turkey and dressing: it's the only dressing I eat all of and in large quantities. Their applesauce is not overly sweetened, either.

Unfortunately my tummy was still in a tender state and I have been tasting supper ever since.

We were home early enough to watch "Christmas in Yellowstone" on Nature, a beautifully photographed overview of the park in winter. How I loved the red fox pouncing in the snow, and the beautiful wolves! Also saw Rick Steves European Christmas.

Trim Up the Towns

We took a ride to Helen, Georgia, today. There is a gristmill, Nora Mills, dating back to the early 1800s, just as you approach the town and James likes their country gravy mix. (They also have a wonderful multi-grain "pioneer porridge" that is great on cold mornings.) Plus, since Helen has a Bavarian motif, they "do" up a lot for Christmas.

The clouds were scudding across the sky all day, so we never knew quite what the weather was going to be up to. First it was high cirrus clouds, then it became overcast, and by the time we left not a cloud was left. It was in the high 40s, maybe up into low 50s by midafternoon, and quite nice for walking around.

We bought Willow some "gourmet dog treats" for Christmas and wandered in and out of different shops: quilts, the glassblower's store, a Christmas store (the old store is gone, darnit), and others. The streets was roped with garland and ornaments, and on corners and in front of shops were colorful "lollipops" made with bright cellophane coverings.

When Hurricane Katrina made landfall a few months ago, it brewed storms that swept through Georgia, including up in the north Georgia mountains where Helen is located. A tornado ran roughshod through the southern part of town as well as destroying many trees around the Nora Mills area. We had seen the report on the news, but like all things, it was quite different seeing it in person. They had fixed the Econolodge, which had its top story sheared off, but the area that had once been outlet stores was badly damaged, and sadly, the beautiful expanse of trees behind the outlet mall area, which had been a picnic area along the Chattahoochee River, and a hill of thick trees beyond that, were ravaged. The hill looked as if someone had begun clearing it for a development and then left it to rot: broken, bent trees and lots of mud.

After we left Helen, we headed back for home, but made a side trip to Dahlonega (site of the first US gold rush, back in the 1830s). This is a pretty old-fashioned town with older buildings around a town square that contains the old courthouse; I had seen photos of it decorated for Christmas in the latest Points North magazine and had wanted to stop by. Amazingly, we found a parking space right on the square and were able to walk around and window shop at the old stores, now mostly occupied by antique stores and gift shops, as well as go in the used bookstore and in the general store. There was a large decorated tree before the courthouse and an even larger, real fir tree between 15-20 feet high next to a wooden sleigh and reindeer affair that James figured was where children came to visit Santa Claus. The storefronts were wound with garland and lights and there were candles and wreaths on the windows of the old courthouse as well as in many of the shop windows.

We hadn't eaten lunch and, surprisingly, couldn't find anywhere where we could just have an inexpensive sandwich it was either a big dinner at four available restarants, or sweets, nothing else. So we had to leave without making an inspection of the antique stores nearby because James' blood sugar was showing as low.