MERRY YULE, Reader Dear!

  The Unwrapping

I'VE WRAPPED UP

the wrapping-up!
As I'm sure you'd agree, Reader Dear, it's high time I wrap it up.
It really will seem such a scant amount of hours until we're wrapping up the unwrapping!

Now all this talk of wrapping may not hold your rapt attention, Dear Reader, but
it's the best I've got.

Though there IS the afternoon sun I can show you, as it nicely adds decoration to the decorated tree.
Yes, the sun is...uh, hold on...

The sun is...uh...disappearing.
At least, it appears to be disappearing.
It's getting dark outside.

And....

Oh, my Christmas tree stars, I think it is snowing!




Someone, I believe,  decided to decorate ALL the trees!
Have a merry Christmas Eve, Reader Dear!
......

"IT HAPPENED AGAIN!"

 exclaimed one of my tenants, the other morning. "When I was taking a shower, all the lights went out in the kitchen and the bathroom --but the clock on the stove kept running!  I still  think we need a new dryer! The breaker to the dryer was hot, so I had unplugged the dryer.  The washer was running at the time, and it kept on running."

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DECEMBER HAS UNDONE ME.

It didn't start out bad.  In fact, the episodes of snow were almost magical.
But, Friday the Thirteenth, alas.  It was ugly.
Monday, the sixteenth, a black cat ran across the road in front of my car.
I muttered to the cat, "Running a little late, my dear, aren't we?"
Ah, but I should have known!
......

Well, here it is, Viewer Dear--the good, the bad, and the ugly.

All good.
All good!
(Yes, he's wearing an apron.)


......
And then.
My computer crashed.  And when I devoted an entire afternoon to trekking to the store where it was purchased, and standing, sitting, standing in an everlastingly long line, I got these words from the woman who was (it seemed to me) lackadaisically checking it out:  "There's nothing wrong with your computer.  Have you talked to your server? Oh, and by the way...your one-year warranty just expired a few days ago.  If you want to renew it, it'll cost you two hundred dollars.  It would have been one hundred, but you let it expire!"

......

Dear Viewer, 

With a little prodding, you may recall that I'm a landlord.

I've got an empty unit.  By a one-woman vote, it's Least Favorite Unit.
It appears to have suffered from lack of tender loving care during entire tenancy of previous dwellers (in excess of three years).
Must I translate for you, Reader Dear?
Grime!






In addition, hands down, this is my Least Favorite Time of Year to be dealing with re-rental.

     "Now" also takes the prize as Worst Time of Year to be Installing New Vinyl in Drafty Old House.  "Keep the heat turned up high for several days in advance of installation, and following," instructs the installer.

Immediately, the weather snaps unseasonably cold.
......

And the plumber?  "You're not going to believe this," he tells me by phone"* but I'm over here to fix the dripping faucet, repair the washer hoses, and re-set the toilet, and the toilet is totally busted! Big cracks all over; if you knocked it too hard, it would fall apart! You can see it's been leaking for quite a while. I'm going to have to get you a new one.  And...uh...the water heater is shot, too."
....
*Five minutes post-black cat.




.....
Full Moon Redemption

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And then...BAM!*

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*(totaled my car)                                                          

POST-THANKSGIVING

I've got what's often called a mish-mash.  Or an olio.
Thanksgiving leftovers for you, Reader Dear:

As a general rule, guests don't go home without their footwear. 
But, as a general rule, some of our guests don't follow the general rule.

 

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Here's a photo of the antique toy played with by our Thanksgiving Day guests (the kind who go home without their footwear).  Folks in my bloodlines have been playing with this little truck and trailer for ninety years (well, not continuously).  It's held together by string.

 

 

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In a Black Friday reversal, I made a trip to the thrift shop to divest myself of a trunk load of stuff.

It was marvelous.  I didn't have to fight any crowds, and I got to enjoy the newly-hung Christmas adornments along the way.

 

 

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Here's a startling new turn of events. The Yard Man and I have begun eating Christmas trees!  He brought a miniature one along home from the food co-op, and I thought as how I might cook it up.

We decorated the small tannenbaum with butter and salt, and O! Deck the halls! It was quite tasty!

Right now we could be making plans to set up a Christmas tree stand with all of the ones he's carried home since (if we hadn't, you know, eaten them.)

 

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Speaking of the co-op,  I went with The Yard Man to the Oasis food co-op Christmas party.  (It was actually held the  week before Thanksgiving.)  Most of the employees and guests were Amish, and they had quite a lavish display of food--turkey with all the fixings, succotash, salad, and so much more. But when I went to pull my camera from my pocket, The Yard Man hissed at me.  "Put that thing away!" he demanded.  (Amish, you see, my Dear Reader, are not supposed to own or use cameras.  It's hard to tell, though, how they actually regard it when someone outside of their religion turns a shutter eye on them.)  In the spirit of the evening, I did stash my camera (um, very nearly).

(If I hadn't been  hesitating to flash my camera all around, I'd have photographed the homemade ice cream, the homemade egg custards, the homemade cakes... [uh, I did say lavish, did I not?])

 

 

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