Crane and lights

 Tucked into a Christmas Card was a wonderful surprise! 

An Origami Crane!  Just perfect! Thank you Larry!  I have been following his blog a number of years:) 

We went out one evening to see "the lights"  the Lions in Grand Forks North Dakota do a bang up job with the display every year.

Monday we had two appointments.  I had to renew my military ID because it was expiring...now I have an Indefinite one.  Far Guy saw his Pulmonary Doctor and she is pleased with how well he is doing.  Keeping our fingers and toes crossed that he escapes the flu or any such germs. 

Three more medical appointment round out our week.  Will it ever end?  I see my worthless Rheumatologist on Wednesday.

Andy is on Christmas break and he is a much better cook than I am!  Last night we had twice baked potatoes, chili and fruit.  He already has Tuesday nights meal planned and the meat is being sous vide.

( cooked at a very low temperature in a special container that holds water) 

Minnesota weather; Monday it was sunny and the sundogs were out again.High was 5F or -15C low was 2F or -17C eh!  Tuesday we may get above freezing!!!

Far Side

Buckets

 The next door neighbor hires his Christmas light decorating, he lights up the neighborhood.

I took this photo before the snow.  Note the green buckets! 

The bears and the peace letters all have green buckets to elevate them above the snow, it probably also helps so they don't freeze down.  After Christmas the fellow will come by with his really tall ladder and take everything down. 

I took this photo last night as you can see we have snow.

Far Side

Light

 Let there be some light! 

I wanted to put up some lights....I wanted white lights.  I have blue and red...I just wasn't feeling those colors.

Leah had some white lights for sale on the local swap and shop Facebook site.  She dropped them off on her way into town and I commenced decorating. ( Leah has been a faithful blogger for years!)

Before

After ...the colored lights in the window are the solar lights that are outside under the bird feeders.

So we have some light...along with two Santas and a metal container with a Chickadee on it with some sparkly stuff and an old light bulb ornament.

When I crochet at night I use a floor lamp with a three way bulb.  My bulb lost it's high setting yesterday...my baby brother was going to town so I asked him to pick up a bulb...he came back with a smart bulb that was smarter than we are. 

Far Side

Lights and Shiny Brites

Last night we picked up the elderly folks and went to Wadena to see the Christmas lights.

This place has quite the light show during December.  They have their own radio station and the lights are in tune with the music.   It was the first time my parents had been there.

On the way back home since I had my camera all set up and on the tripod for Christmas lights …we stopped by Main Street.

Nice to have one block of Main Street all to myself.

The Shiny Brite tree didn’t happen this year.  I was way to busy with other things.  However I did put some of the new/old Shiny Brites on my spinning wheel.  I bought two packages of ornaments at a second hand shop for $1.50.

There is a tree up there that hangs there all year…the Angel stayed up all year too…I added the Santa from Maddie to the grouping.  Tis very festive! ( And will be real easy to put away)

Happy Christmas Eve!

Red Lights

Last year we bought new lights after Christmas.  Neither of us could remember what color lights we bought…we knew they were not blue….cause we have had blue lights on our trees for many many years.  We needed a change of color. All our light stringers were old and needed to be replaced.

I can see now that a few lights should be rearranged.

So far we only have lights…hey it is a start!

We had a busy day on Saturday, I ran errands whilst Far Guy was enjoying breakfast with classmates.  I joined them after my errands.  Then I made more Turtles…and worked on Christmas cards.  Made supper for my parents and my brothers and their brides….pizza, salads and you guessed it Turtles for dessert.

OCD and Christmas Decorating

I have a fair amount of OCD. I betcha never guessed that.

This year I put the Nativity on the left and the Angel on the right above the fireplace. Really pressing the limits. I made the Nativity figures in a ceramics class in 1986.  Far Guy made me the creche out of pine lumber.  The tall Angel came from a  garage sale over on Bass Lake one year I think I paid a dollar for it.

We rearranged the living room for the tree…that is out of our usual box also.  Chance must have OCD also as he looks bewildered when he cannot make the circle…I have it blocked by the loveseat.

We have never had the tree in this corner before. The ornaments may survive dog tails better in the corner.

No ornaments on the downstairs tree yet but the tree is up and it has lights!  I am working on the tree upstairs…it is almost ready to decorate.

Had to take a break in the late afternoon.  I warmed up a corn bag and snuggled with it under a down quilt and watched the 1943 Movie Lassie Come Home and then I had a nap.  I got up and cooked us a wonderful supper.  Steak, sweet potatoes and green beans.  Far Guy was not sold on the sweet potatoes he said “I wasn’t looking forward to the sweet potatoes but they weren’t too bad.”

It was –20 F or –28 C eh on Saturday morning.  Too cold to snow…so it didn’t.

Slow Going

Far Guy worked on the downstairs tree one afternoon.  It has lights.

No decorations yet…but hey I like the lights!  I am thinking that the one older stringer needs to find another spot besides on the tree.

The tree upstairs is a work in progress.

I go upstairs and grab a box of ornaments and hang them…and repeat until life interrupts.   It will take a few days to accomplish…for sure I will have it all decorated before Christmas.

We have been busy.

I made some “cookies” for a cookie exchange.

We helped set up the silent auction and attended a benefit for Far Guy’s Cousin who has a rare and incurable disease called Arachnoiditis.  There was a great turnout…she was a Chemotherapy Infusion Nurse so she has touched many lives.

Blue Lights

We have always had blue lights on our tree downstairs.  A.L.W.A.Y.S. Far Guy was progressing quite nicely with his project.  Imagine his frustration ..when two stringers of lights were half lit and half dark.  *&^%$%$#@

I rode along to town..I was tired and a trip to town means I get to relax for 20 minutes twice.  In and out of stores the quest for blue lights continued.  Wally World where there were only clear lights, the Dollar Store where there were clear and multi and Ace Hardware where there were clear and multi. 

Far Guy was disgusted, he said “I am glad you are with me.”  As if I wouldn’t believe that town would have no blue lights. So what is up ??  Do people no longer like blue or green or red lights?   Is everyone buying artificial trees that are pre lit?  Are stringers of only blue, only red and only green over the hill?  Perhaps they are collectable? Are twinkling clear lights the new “blue”?

We bought a set of multi..thinking that we have a bunch of lights off the blue stringers that we can switch out and make a new stringer of all blue.   Far Guy said “I threw them in the garbage, but I suppose we can take them out.” 

He neglected to tell me that he emptied his coffee grounds just before we left. 

Uffda. 

I rescued them and began a quick search for something that could be wrong..a loose bulb ..a bad wire.  I found it and marked the bad spot..onward and forward..the next stringer was not so easy..but we started changing bulbs and found the one lousy bad bulb… so the tree is blue again.  The brand new multi stringer is packed away.. and blue lights are on our list of things to look for should we go shopping in a larger town.

A few more gifts have been purchased.  The Christmas Letter was written, edited, edited again and sent.  Notes were even written in a few.  The Shiny Brite tree is finished and all the boxes stored away…and we have blue lights on the tree downstairs.  The Christmas menu is being discussed. We are moving right along..10 more shopping days.  Time flies when you are having a decorating/shopping blast.

I had to mess around with settings on my camera for half an hour ..but I finally got a good shot.   The exposure might have been a bit long…I put a small notebook on my list..I need one for camera settings.  Those blue lights sure are pretty:)

Bubble Lights

We got the downstairs tree up.  This year it will have one stringer of Bubble Lights for the entire season.  Last year we put them on the tree for awhile..then we took them off..they get pretty warm.  If they worry me too much I will take them off the tree and pack them away.

Chance and Far Guy admiring their work.

The Bubble Lights are mesmerizing..the liquid heats up and then they bubble..some are slow.. so you have to tap the glass tube to get the bubbles moving.

The tree would only have lights..but the Calvary(Jen, Andy, Noah and Adam) stopped by on Sunday afternoon and the tree was quickly decorated.  Many hands make short work of a big project.  www shopjendotcom  delivered three gifts to be wrapped. Far Guy was going to drive 90 miles to pick up two items…and Jen graciously agreed to pick the items up for us.

More packages were delivered in the mail yesterday..we are getting quite a pile upstairs on the gift wrapping table.

The Calvary brought extra cookies from the cookie exchange..so we won’t be baking any cookies:)

Health Updates:

Far Guy is still exhausted..he tires easily..but managed his mile walk yesterday morning.

My Mom is surviving..she walked a short distance (five feet) with the aid of a walker in Physical Therapy yesterday.  There has been big medication mix ups several times at the Nursing Home..she is not getting her pain medication in a timely manner and then she gets behind and cannot catch up with the pain and lies awake all night in pain.  I spoke with her Nurse yesterday..and I believe my brother spoke to the Charge Nurse.  I told one of the Nurses that I can call every two hours if that is what it takes to get a Nurse to give her the meds. (they said that was not necessary)

It is very frustrating..yesterday I immediately knew that she had not slept well.  She has to be able to sleep to heal and to get better. 

Treatment for a broken pelvis includes bed rest, physical therapy and  pain management.  It may take 8 to 12 weeks before she is all better and is able to care for herself. 

Bubble Lights

Do you remember the Bubble Lights that were very fashionable back in the 1950's? They fascinated Far Guy, he would sit and watch the bubbles for hours. He says that the bubbles were larger back then. I am not quite sure if I believe this or not, somehow lots of things seemed larger when you were a child.

We have one strand, they are not the old, antique ones but a little bit of nostalgia we were able to purchase at Ben Franklin a number of years ago. Noma, who was the King of bubble lights introduced a string of seven bubble lights, they do come with some cautions. Always use bubble lights in an upright position, allow several minutes for the bubbling action to start, if any fail to bubble a light tap with your finger will start the bubbling action immediately. Contents: Methylene Chloride. If a vial breaks, open windows and do not breathe.

The bubble lights were on the tree for a little while, they are headed back into their box. Far Guy can get them out again just before Christmas. The vials are glass and anything glass can break, as I have discovered in previous years. Chance! He has a big fluffy tail, that he wags with wild abandon. Sometimes he gets into a little trouble with the Christmas tree. So for the safety of all..the Bubble Lights bubbled for just one evening:)

Let There Be Light!

The Christmas Tree that is fake but Made in the USA found it's way out of the box yesterday! It even has some lights on it, blue ones, Far Guy's favorite! Maybe in a few days it will actually have some decorations on it. I am really getting into the Christmas Spirit this year.

Do you know how hard it is to get an acceptable night photo of Christmas Tree lights? First you have to plunge the entire house into darkness..not real hard these days anytime after 4:30 works fine. Then you have to turn off the TV. No one wants to look at a photograph of CNN. The camera must be held perfectly still. Three seconds is a long time. Far Guy thought my twenty minute photo session was too long. "Are you done yet?" " How is it coming?" Now I understand he dislikes cooking by flashlight but I just needed a few more minutes. Reminder to self : Self buy Far Guy a Miners hat with a light.

A Tripod! That's what I need. I have tried about everything else. Books stacked up, a few books and an upside down bowl, a chair, you name it and I tried it. The log stairs worked the best! If the camera is not held still for those three seconds of exposure your Christmas lights look all squiggly. Kinda like little birds with wings. I had a whole bunch of those shots..now deleted. A few looked really artsy fartsy so I kept them. Controlling light and motion seem to be a key to good photography.

Now if I could just stop the sun from setting so early on the days that it actually shows up for work:)