Yes, He Brought Me Coffee

Hello, and welcome to another late post, made around five in the morning, ten finger typing on the lap top. I have not even had coffee yet but expect my husband Steven to bring me a cup when he gets himself one right along here.

Last night I began to made a Tired Tuesday Post and just did not want to do it. For one reason, all I wanted to do was whine about how stressed and depressed I felt. For heavens’ sake, many, many people are stressed and depressed. I do not have any more reason to feel so than anybody else, considerably less than some. And from me, it is getting dull.

One thing I did to help myself last night was to go for a run. It was not a bad run. It was certainly not a long run. It felt as if I was running fast, for me. Unfortunately I had my Garmin on and was discouraged to find that fast for me is just under a 13-minute mile. Well, what am I so discouraged about? I am not racing against anybody.

On the brighter side, quite literally, a few people still have their Christmas lights on. Tradition has it we should leave our decorations up till January 6, you know, Twelve Days of Christmas. I have long wanted to throw a Twelfth Night Party. For one reason, it would postpone my Post-Christmas Letdown. For another reason, I like to give a party.

I see I have rambled on for more than 250 words. By my rules for me, that is more than respectable for a Late Tired Tuesday Post. I wonder if I should also categorize this as a Non-Sequitur Post. Or add a category of Just Babble On Till 200 Words Category. Any thoughts?

Here’s the Cow Bell!

This evening, I bestirred myself to take a picture of the Cow Bell I mentioned in my last blog post.

Is it not adorable?

I also took a better shot of the sugar cookies from the So Sweet Candy Cafe.

They tasted as good as they looked.

Yes, we already ate them.

For anybody just tuning, these were part of a Christmas present from my sister Cheryl. I wrote about it yesterday, I neglected to give any information on the local businesses where she shopped. In lieu of my usual Tired Tuesday Post, I shall do that now.

The So Sweet Candy Cafe, where she got the sugar cookies, is located at 531 Varick St., Utica, NY, phone number 315-765-6463. They are open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Newport Marketplace, where she purchased the Cow Bell, is located at 7583 Main St., Newport, NY, phone number 315-845-8822. They are open 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.n. Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Awesome Country, where she found items pictured in yesterday’s post, is located at 106 Park Ave., Booneville, NY, phone number 914-489-1460. They are open 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

I close with another picture of the cow bell, showing a few surrounding decorations. I am still feeling the Christmas Spirit, and I hope many of you are too.

There might be a couple of Halloween decorations there as well.

Sometimes Monsters Help

I do not know why I feel so tired. I have accomplished very little today, and even less in the area of writing. I know, the only thing to do is to pick up a pen and write. Or a stylus and start picking out one letter at a time. So this is my Wrist to Forehead Sunday Post.

“Follow me! To the Graveyard!”

I throw in a picture to pep things up. I love this shot of Elliott Ghoul. The reflection makes it look like he is holding a Santa Claus doll. My Christmas decorations stay up till at least January 6th. I would really like to have a fabulous 12th Night party, but this is clearly not the year for that.

Another favorite ghoul.

I loves me some Svengoolie. We watched a DVR’d episode earlier. I got some knitting done.

December 2019.

This post is becoming a little disjointed, but I guess I have kind of a spooky Christmas theme going on. Above is our skeleton Bonita, in last year’s Christmas outfit. In the background you can see Santa Claus and Darling Duck.

I am strongly tempted to grow my hair out.

One more Christmas monster picture. I wonder if I can blame today’s post on my Post-Christmas Letdown. Hmmm…. sounds like a lame-ass excuse to me. All I can do is hit Publish and hope for the best. As always, thank you for tuning in.

Christmas Past Post

As the Grinch famously said, “Tomorrow is Christmas. It’s practically here!”

“Looking for me?”

Since it is also Thursday, I chime in with a Throwback Thursday picture. This jolly old elf made his first appearance on our mantle in 2016. We acquired him from the Herkimer County Historical Society. It is, in fact, only half a Santa. He had blown into their yard during a windstorm. They posted him on Facebook, but nobody claimed him. I am certain I have told this story before, but as I often say, reduce, reuse, recycle.

There’s a happy girl!

This picture is from December 2017, a close-up of a busier area of decoration. I have mentioned that we were more elaborate in previous years. Perhaps we will be more so in the future. I started to put “No doubt,” but in fact I have my doubts. However, my purpose now is not to dwell on doubt but to enjoy Christmas Eve with a Throwback Thursday Post.

Here’s a fun bunch!

I skip ahead to December 2019. I think all of these decorations were acquired prior to that year. A few of them are still out. It is my way of making Christmas last all year. Oh, don’t start on how making Christmas last all year is about giving and goodwill etc (you know who you are). I KNOW THAT!!! I hate those holier than thou sorts.

Look at the size of that list!

I close with another shot from 2018. This Santa is in front of our fireplace this year. He is a Throwback piece himself; my mother found him for us in an antique shop in Pennsylvania while she was visiting my sister.

I hope everyone is having a delightful Christmas Eve and will have a Merry Christmas. Or, if you do not celebrate, a delightful Thursday and merry Friday. I personally plan on having a Lame Post Friday. As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

Will Santa Come Down That Chimney?

Who could blame me for having a Tired Tuesday Post on Tuesday of Christmas week when I am trying to learn a new job? Oh, you probably could (you know who you are).

It is increasingly difficult for me to write. I have barely written in the TV Journal.TV Journal. Writing is not the only thing that is difficult for me. Clean my house? Not likely. Shop for Christmas presents? Nope.

And just listen to me whine about it! What a pathetic display. Maybe I could lighten things up with a picture.

A jolly scene.

Here is a picture of my fireplace taken earlier this month. Regular readers may recognize it as a different angle from a picture I took for last night’s blog. You may notice the absence of fake poo.

What a difference a year makes.

This is my mantle I 2019. Steven did the decorating. I believe he has a knack for it.

Just look at all that stuff!

This is December 2017. If I was trying to cheer myself up with these blasts from Christmas past, the effort has failed. All I can feel is disappointed in myself for having such meager decorations this year. But let us not travel further down THAT road.

I occurs to me as I look at these pictures that Santa would have a hard time coming down this chimney, if he were inclined to do so. Lucky for him I was bad all year.

 

 

I Need a Little Christmas

Christmas is just days away. I wore Christmas socks and a Christmas vest today. I listened to Christmas music as I drove to and from work. And yet the Christmas spirit eludes me. Perhaps I can chase it down with a few Christmas pictures.

I draw your attention to the little Christmas trees.

My sister Diane sent me a picture of her mantle via instant messenger. I was delighted, because she used the garland of crocheted Christmas trees I made for her some years ago. I invented the crocheted Christmas tree back in the mid 1980’s. I was pretty pleased with myself.

It is not as elaborate as when Steve does it.

I naturally sent her a picture of my own mantle. Full disclosure: we did not make a concerted effort with this. We just put stuff up as we found or acquired it.

Pardon the mess.

And this is our fireplace. Yes, that is fake poop on top of a pile of scripts on an old television. I just now noticed it. When I took the picture, I was more annoyed with myself about the bottles and jars I left sitting n the stool with the wine light. Not annoyed enough to clean it up and re-take the picture, I’m afraid.

Now I am laughing at myself. Here is my messy house, with Christmas decorations and fake poo. It’s not quite the Christmas Spirit, but it’ll do.

Making Spirits Bright

Full disclosure: I don’t know anyone who does.

Earlier this evening I went for a walk and took several pictures with my phone. Let me tell you something about me: I don’t like posting on the Tablet, typing one letter at a time with the stylus. I find it well nigh unbearable on my phone. I got most of the pictures uploaded to WordPress. Now I am tired.

However, I still have the wherewithal for a Monstrous Monday Post. Before I left for the walk, I took picture of a couple of our own Christmas decorations that I think my readers will enjoy.

Yes, that is a Santa hat.

That ghost was in an upstairs window for Halloween. He was a little too bright to leave on all night. I brought him downstairs recently for that very quality. I added the Santa hat, because I found some for a good price. I also put a Santa hat on another Halloween friend.

Meet Elliot Ghoul.

He is still plugged in and occasionally lets loose with an evil laugh and an invitation to accompany him to the graveyard. The cool thing is you can see the reflection of our light-up Santa. I was unable to get Santa to light, but my husband Steven cleverly solved the problem.

Unlike me, he is a little too bright.

The beauty part is, I have several pictures and a couple of paragraphs saved as a draft. That means tomorrow’s blog post will be a breeze! I guess Mondays aren’t so bad after all.

Short Walk, a Few Pictures

I thought I would go for a little walk with my camera instead of my usual Monstrous Monday Post.  It was just starting to get dark, so I could admire neighbors’ Christmas lights.  I probably would not take many pictures, because neighbors are not usually out for me to ask permission.  However, I did not despair of getting a few shots.

Can you read it?

The first thing that caught my eye had nothing to do with Christmas. It was in the parking lot of the apartment building at the end of our street.  I think they could use a new sign, but since nobody was, in fact, parked there, perhaps that one is OK.  Continuing through the parking lot, I saw something I could definitely take a picture of.

Baby Jesus isn’t there yet!

This is at Trinity Lutheran Church.  Next I remembered a wreath on a hitching post nearby.  That should be OK to photograph. 

I have long been fascinated by a hitching post in this day and age.

As I continued to walk, I saw a tree in a yard I liked, but it was still too light out to get a decent shot.  Then I saw a jolly snowman and friends that I could not resist.

I thought it would be OK, since you can’t really see the house.

Soon I was heading toward my own house, which I graciously gave myself permission to photograph.

I took it at an angle, so Frankentree would not block the lights.

My Santa Claus will not light.  I tried changing the bulb, but no luck.  I can’t think of anything else to try.

It was a pleasant little walk.  I must walk or run in the evening more often, so I can enjoy the decorations.  If I see any neighbors, I will ask permission to take pictures. 

 

I Muddle Through Another Monday

These are my people.

I have been watching Deadly Women on Investigation Discovery and wondering what sort of a blog post I should make. After sharing pictures from horror movies yesterday, I did not want to make a Monstrous Monday Post. I did not run, so no Rumming Commentary Post. Perhaps a Muddled Monday.

Bonita loves to dress for the season.

Or I could just throw in a picture of our skeleton, Bonita. Her little friend usually gets put away with the Halloween stuff, but this year he had fallen on the floor and I missed him. Look how happy he is to get to stay out for Christmas!

I just put the boa and scarf on Bonita today. I’m afraid the gold scarf looks more like a pirate than a fashionista, but at least the color is right.

It’s a party!

I backed up to show a couple more of Bonita’s friends. We usually put Santa on the porch, but I wanted a little more light at that end of the room. Burt the Birtday Gorilla could probably use a red hat or something. I’ll work on it.

I did a few other chores today, job search and household. I have nothing major to report yet. I hope to wait until I actually have something to report and not make any cryptic Facebook posts like, “Time to make a big decision!” But no promises.

In the meantime, I am over 200 words. I say score, even for a Muddled Monday!

Let There Be Lame!

I know I said yesterday was my Friday, but yet I am having Lame Post Friday today.  For one reason, I thought of that title, which fits in with a picture I just took.

Ducky likes wine!

We’ve seen the duck before, but the light was a Christmas present from my husband Steven.  He just finally got it placed in front of our fireplace,  replacing the Santa that previously resided there (who, us be late in taking down all our Christmas decorations?  SAY IT AIN’T SO! ).

I hope you are not uncomfortable seeing Christmas decorations in June.

Here is a view showing Santa, as well as some other seasonal decore.  We did get most of this taken down before 2020 was too far progressed.

Regular readers may remember the duck from other pictures, including one of my favorites.

Bonita is better dressed these days.

The picture was originally taken to highlight Bonita, our skellington (I was calling skeletons skellingtons LONG before Jack Skellington was a thing).  But I love that you see the duck grinning out of the box and Santa peeking around the corner.  That Santa stays there most of the year.  We usually put him out on the porch in December.

So this is my post of skellingtons, ducks, Santa and a light.  Sufficiently lame, I hope.  I also hope to see you all on Saturday, whatever sort of post it turns put to be.