What I miss most about working at Christmas --is the "making". Of wreaths, swags, evergreen boxes for doorways, steps or window boxes full of evergreens, pinecones on sticks and winterberry. This wreath is one that I made many times over. Each of us had our own "way" of making the Katahdin but the elements were always the same.
Riley's Vet called late in the afternoon to answer a question and she mentioned going to my workplace and looking for me. She also mentioned no one working looked familiar. I said it's the same for me--I go in and don't recognize anyone. I do venture into the lunchroom and most of the old gang is in there. It's warm in the lunchroom.
Overnight it must have melted a bit and froze--the driveway and sidewalks are ice. I can see the shine when I look out the window. The snow on the grass is coated in ice. The wind is blowing and as we say here in Maine--"it's wicked cold". Not a good situation for an old dog. Or woman.
I sorted out my art supplies drawer looking for a box of push pins. No luck. I want to display my Christmas cards as they arrive. Two yesterday. One from down the road and one from Florida. Hey, Diane. I could try the string method. I had been using my sewing pins and now most are crooked.
Yesterday's baking got a big thumbs up. Both the Banana and Orange Cranberry are excellent. I did add an egg to the vegan bread recipe and now the crumb is much nicer. And it gained an inch in height as well. And I'm not Vegan but sometimes they have nice simple recipes that I try out.
Watched a Small Town Christmas on Hallmark Mysteries and it was very nice. I discovered the regular Hallmark movie channel is all about flash, glamour and romance. The Hallmark mysteries channel adds some "plot" to the mix and no one is driving BMW's or holding an iPhone or iPad all the time or arriving home with 30 shopping bags of "gifts".. No four inch heels for a walk. In snow.
And in yesterday's movie they made gifts and little regular old gingerbread houses--like the kits you see at Walmart. You know, like regular people. And all the houses made in the contest looked goofy.
G is just getting back from a floral delivery. He made enough to buy gas.
Our oil bill for heating the house and water was over $600. With the annual service contract the total came to close to $1000. Merry Christmas. A lot of families will be sitting there looking at their bills and possibly crying. And that's just the first oil bill for the Winter as they will come every month from now until April. Living here in Maine is a real hardship for people in the Winter. In the olden times, the boilers were fed with wood and the old timers had to set their alarm clocks or sleep in the cellar to keep the fire going but I heard the heat was steady. As a child we had a coal fired furnace and were always nice and warm. The oil burning furnace we have--well it's cold in here before the furnace kicks on. And it's a big house. In January and February it will seem like the furnace is going all day long and I only heat to 64. The bedroom wing gets up to 61 and has a door between the house and the wing.
Well, enough talk about being cold.......I am going up into the Magic Attic---42 degrees-- to find some gingerbread man colored felt. With my coat on.
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