Chance: A Shiny Brite Secret and a Sty

Hey!  It’s me..the blogging Border Collie.

I have been just miserable..I have a sore eye.  Someone thinks I may have whopped myself in the eye running through the brush after a squirrel.   I was blinking my eye as fast as I could..it was all yucky too..and I was squinting.  Far Side found some old doggie ophthalmic ointment from the last time I scratched my cornea.  She said “Chance you are a repeat offender.”

Tuesday morning I went to the Vet..I know the routine.  They always want to know how much I weigh so I just walk to the scale and hop on and sit down..  Hmmm..  62 pounds.  Then they want me on the table..Okay I can cooperate.. I put my front feet on the exam table..Far Guy decided to help hoist me up.  They put gunk in my eye..I look to the left and then to the right.  Far Side is behind the Doc..looking..she can’t see a scratch or anything..finally they decide I have a sty which looks like a tiny little pimple on my lower eyelid.   My eyes.. both of them..  got all rinsed out..it felt yucky ..but I sat like a good boy.  The Vet gave me a treat..I refused it..no way was I taking that treat after an eye wash.

We got a new tube of ointment and my eye is much better..I get a treat every time they put the ointment in my eye. I will be good as new in a couple of days.

I went to see Far Side’s Mom yesterday..she is back at home and recovering nicely from her bad fall.  She has a new ramp at her house and a walker and a wheelchair.  I am not a bit afraid of any of those things because when I was a pup I went to the Nursing Home to visit just about every day.

Now ..do you wanna see the Shiny Brite Secret? 

Shiny Brites are the Christmas ornaments that Far Side collects.  They are on the huge tree upstairs.  I watched  supervised the decorating..now are you ready for the secret??

There are no lights on that tree only Shiny Brites picking up what light they can.  Far Side thinks it is quite magical..she is easily impressed:)

The Coffin

Far Guy has been building me a coffin. He built it out in the garage, I told him what dimensions I needed and he came up with a design. I helped him seal the outside, but we are leaving the inside bare wood, because I like the smell of pine. He loaded it onto the wagon behind the three wheeler and brought it to the patio door. We put a strap on it to lift it up through the door, we really need some steps back there..after 12 years you would think we would have had steps on our list. But no, we just hoist stuff up through that door.

I tried out the coffin, I started to giggle and couldn't stop. It was comfy and I had plenty of room to roll around...getting back out was a hoot, but I made it without any assistance. Of course Far Guy could have just dumped me out. It is perfect.

My entire ten foot tall artificial Christmas tree now has a home, and there was room left over for all my Shiny Brite ornaments to be safely tucked away! I have my very own tree coffin.

Here are a few of the new/old boxes full of ornaments that I purchased at garage sales this summer.

We needed a tree topper, and I have been looking for a Shiny Brite one..one day Far Guy found this one, it is very pretty, he suggested I buy it just until I find a perfect Shiny Brite one.

I don't have very much room for many more Shiny Brites in the tree coffin, but I do have all that room in the closet where the tree was temporarily stored and the spot where the three totes were..so I still have a little room. So the quest for more Shiny Brites will continue:)

Wistful Wednesday : 1990

A long time ago..1990 to be exact.. I had a dream. No not one of those Christmas nightmares either. We were living at the resort..one area of the house had really tall ceilings..I wanted a really tall tree to go in there..why should I let the short seven foot ceilings in the living room restrict me?

I found the perfect tree..it was near the edge of the swamp..I loved it..it had lots of cones in the top..and oh my was it tall. I had to wait for Far Guy and his chain saw... I was so excited..everything was going to be just perfect..I could see myself dangling on a ladder stretching for the highest branches..just like in the movies..maybe I would even put a dress and heels on and everything..make up too ( that is a stretch) ..but I had a lot of imagination back then. The winters are long in Minnesota. Plus that when I get it all decorated to the hilt..someone can take a photo of everyone in front of the tree..what a dreamer I was.

Finally the weekend came, Far Guy commuted back then, he left in the dark and came home in the dark..his commute was 85 miles one way..what a trooper he was..working in the city to allow his girls the best of country life! Of course I could run the chain saw..if a tree was down..if it was tall and huge and still in the air..I would chicken out. It was perfect..it came down in one fell swoop..the dogs and I always waited in a spot of safety and they would sit by me and wait until the tree was on the ground then they would run and bark...silly dogs..there were four of them..all Shelties. I was so happy..my tall tree was going to be a reality!!

Then Far Guy did the unthinkable..he trimmed my beautifully tall tree to about seven feet tall..I began to bawl.. it WAS perfect..now it had been detrunked. Apparently he had not been listening or I had not stated loud enough that I wanted a huge honkin tall tree in the hall..one that reached the ceiling..and the ceiling was about 12 feet tall. He offered to tape it back together with duct tape..how sick is that? He offered to cut down another tree..now that would have been wasteful..so I settled for another Ho Hum Yup it is a real tree and it will smell good and the needles will drop all over the floor and I will have to remove pitch from the floor. The cats will think that it is tall enough to climb anyway..they often perched in our Christmas Trees like real live ornaments.

Ho Hum Bah Humbug..

The girls posed for a photo that year..they were eighteen and fifteen..I was a real pain in the butt Mom..can't you tell by the expressions on their faces? I was a pretty rotten photographer back then too.

We needed a little kid to perk things up..one with the wonder of Christmas in his eyes.. my Nephew Jacob was perfect..and my Mothers tree was perfect that year too.

Now that the upstairs is completed..I told Far Guy about my dream again..I also mentioned it to one of my daughters..they both think it is silly to want a tree that reaches all the way to the ceiling...my son in law thought it was a pretty cool idea..he offered to find one for me and drag it into the house..tall and whole. What a guy!  Our very wise daughter said "Mother, you know a real tree is just going to lose its needles and get caught in the carpet and when you walk barefoot up there you will get needles in your feet...and the pitch..don't forget about the pitch Mom." So..even though my upstairs is completely done..including drapes....it does not have a tall tree this year..we are going to look for a fake obnoxiously tall tree after the Holidays..maybe even one on sale. One that I will need a ladder to decorate.. a tree large enough to hold my entire collection of Shiny Brite ornaments ..wouldn't that be a treat!

Talking about treats..the grands will be descending on us about ten o'clock this evening..and there is a storm coming..so we could be snowed in for days :)