My "After" Christmas Ornaments!

  For the past month or so, all thoughts have been on decorating the Little Bayou House simply yet beautifully.  Well, I tried.  The simply part was...well...simple.  The beautifully part probably is arguable.  I am not the best when it comes to coordinating decorations.  It is more "toss it in the air and see where it lands" with me.  My cousin claims that she thinks I may have FSS or Flat Surface Syndrome.  You know...if there is a flat surface...fill it?  Perhaps I do since there is not a vacant spot in the house.  Things are everywhere.  I finally had enough of all this and started undecorating before the Big Day even got here and I am even more ready to toss everything back in a box now.  I need a break from all of this, plus, I really want to start thinking of the next Clue Hunt on the Bayou!  These other holidays are good but sometimes a good thing can be a bit much.

  Taking down decorations is never as fun as putting them up.  I started with the kitchen and then moved to the tree.  While the kitchen was easy and all decorations are down and stowed, the tree still stands almost intact.  My little granddaughter and I did remove all of the candy canes merely because the dog, PJ, was sniffing them a little too often for my comfort.  I just knew he was on the verge of no self control so the canes had to disappear before they "disappeared".  While she and I were removing the canes, we both noticed that some special "ornaments" were still on the tree.  On Christmas morning, Mary Ruth had found that Santa left her some "touchable bubbles".  After the hubbub of opening gifts had settled, her daddy decided to blow bubbles for the kids.  These things are great!  They do live up to their name!  The kids could catch the bubbles without them bursting.  Yep, great!  The bubbles also stick to everything!  As bubbles wafted with the breeze from the open door, they settled on the chairs, people's hair, the dog, the ceiling fan and, of course, the Christmas Tree.  This settling on the tree's needles was pretty remarkable in itself.  The prickly needles did not burst the bubbles.  Soon, the tree was covered with dozens of nice sized bubbles.  It was actually beautiful!  I figured that the bubbles were temporary so a few dangling here and there would do no harm.  

  Temporary...ha!  I now have a bunch of "after" Christmas ornaments on the tree.  This morning, while Mary Ruth and I pulled off the candy canes, she spied bubbles.  Even twenty four hours later, the bubbles were still gorgeous.  As the day proceeded, heat from the hot, sunshiny day filled the Little Bayou House and dried up all of the bubbles.  Well, it was good while it lasted!  Now I am tempted to only use bubbles on my tree each year! How easy would that be?  Set up the tree, blow bubbles and forget about it! Every few days, more bubbles would be added to replace the old...a five minute job max! The bubbles look like clear ornaments and sparkle beautifully in the lights of the tree!  Perfect!  Then after Christmas, I wait one day to let the bubbles dehydrate and then take down the empty tree!  No storage of masses of ornaments is necessary! Even more perfect!  I am ready!  I actually love this idea!  Now to get Santa to bring me an early supply of these touchable bubbles!  Santa, I have been good..I promise!

Jingle, Jingle, Here come the Christmas Hedgehogs!

  The other day when my sweet sister-in-law, Cynthia, helped me decorate my Christmas Tree, she was amazed (or maybe amused) at some of the ornaments.  Everything on the tree has a story..some good, some funny, some just heartwarming.  As we hung the ornaments, the conversation lingered on the stories behind the ornaments. I suppose anyone within hearing range might have thought we had both lost all of our marbles since our chatter bounced from topic to topic.  The tales ranged from how Mom bought the wooden Jumping Jacks for a mere nineteen cents a piece and now those are growing in value..to the plastic Santas that Grandmother had and are now worth a small fortune.  Then there was the story of the Christmas Hedgehogs....that are priceless to me albeit worthless otherwise.  

  The hedgehogs in question were given to me by my sister, Susan. She and I always exchange some quirky gifts for Christmas and are supposed to keep the price below one dollar.  Now to a lot of folks this would be virtually impossible but to us, it is part of the fun.  We scrounge thrift stores, garage sales, neighbor's barns any place that we can find the "perfect" gift.  Years ago, she brought me the two hedgehog ornaments.  The little guys are so...ummm...unusual (yeah..unusual!) that they are downright cute.  They always bring a smile when I see them which is about the only good thing about a hedgehog hanging in the Christmas Tree.  I cannot imagine the havoc a live one would create if it got hung up in the tree!  

  All this talk of hedgehogs got me to thinking about the critter.  I pondered why I have never seen one around the Bayou.  Duh...I felt really dumb when I read up on the animal.  It would be extremely rare sight if I ever did see one roaming about the hillside since there are no hedgehogs living in the wild in the whole United States.  This makes me sort of sad since they are evidently rather nice to have in the garden. Why, we do not even have porcupines! Man, I do believe we are missing out on a good thing.  It seems they eat a ton of garden pests which makes me wish the two ornaments would suddenly come to life and make their home on the Bayou.  Susan, I want a hedgehog....a real one...or two!  Also, maybe a porcupine just for good measure!

A Favorite of Ornaments

I am still dillydallying around with the Christmas decorations.  Normally by this time, I would have the entire Little Bayou House bedecked with Christmas Cheer from top to bottom but since there will be just the three of us this year, I just cannot seem to get in the spirit of things.  The tree is up, the garland strung on the stair rails and a few knickknacks adorn the shelves but this is far from the norm.  I thought perhaps if I stop with the decorating and start baking, I would be happier. I hurried to finish up any small projects so the boxes could be stowed away in the closet.  Tomorrow will see me in the kitchen hopefully stirring up a few tasty treats as well as some Christmas Spirit.

I put a few last ornaments on our pared down tree.  According to my son, Michael, we did not need the ten thousand or so ornaments dangling from every limb of three trees.  This year, we have one tree with a minimal of doodads.  He refused to cart down at least half of my decorations which suited me just fine.  One of the final ornaments to be hung is perhaps one of my all time favorites.  Oh, I have plenty of favorites that people have given to me, made for me or bestowed upon me but this one is special.  The ornament is a tiny little ceramic school house with a cutout window.  Beaming at me through that window is the cutest little boy!  My oldest son's kindergarten teacher made each one of the students a little ornament to take home.  It was a gift for their parents.  Oh, how I love this little thing!  Now that my son, Mark, is grown and has a lovely wife and a darling little girl of his own, the ornament means even more.  Since I do not see him often, I cling to memories from the past.  I smiled when I picked up the ornament.  That adorable little gap-toothed grin.  Those sparkling, happy eyes.  That sweet child that stole my heart.  Yep, this is definitely a favorite!  I am sure glad this was in one of the boxes that Michael saw fit to tote downstairs!  My Christmas would not been nearly as happy!