Deck the halls

Yesterday morning after breakfast (pancakes with Boy Scout Troop 109), we drove out to Potter's Tree Farm in Baldwinsville to get our Christmas tree. We went to Potter's last year and were impressed with the quality and value of their trees, so it was the logical place to get this year's tree.

Potter's is a cut your own place and James enjoys hunting the perfect tree; Aidan, not so much. Here is Aidan's "how many more trees are we going to look at?" face:

Please note the lack of snow on the ground. Hello, it's December - where is our snow? I don't want a blizzard or anything, but a few inches of snow are welcome. The icicle lights on our house are looking absurdly out of place without a backdrop of snow.

Anyway, back to our story. Compared to last year, James didn't take long at all to find a tree he liked:

He does look pleased, doesn't he? Aidan took a turn at cutting through the trunk:

I did not take a turn at sawing - I would have had to put down my cup of coffee and there was no way that was going to happen.

We got the tree home without any mishap or mayhem and started decorating after lunch. Even Spenser got into the decorating spirit:

That is his "you are SO going to pay for this" expression.

We always enjoy going through our boxes of decorations and reacquainting ourselves with favorite ornaments. Ours is not a designer or theme tree, but a joyous gaudy mishmash of memories:

Those with sharp eyes can count five stockings by the fireplace. Although our cat Daphne has been gone for many years, we still hang her stocking each year. And if you check my stocking, you will find a lump of coal that my dad put in my stocking when I was a child!

Our house is decorated - let the holidays begin.

November knit bits

I am pleased to say that I accomplished my November knitting goal of completing the two holiday gifts I making this year. The first item is a gift for Aidan's teacher, a simple buttoned neckwarmer:

My hope is that Mr. A will keep the scarf at school to quickly put on for recess and stay warm while keeping the students from killing each other. The pattern is Fourteen by John Brinegar and once I found an online video that showed me how to knit into the row below, it was a fun and easy knit. I used Baby Alpaca Grande Tweed by Plymouth Yarn and oh, baby, is it soft.

I also finished the other item on my list but I have no picture to share because a) it is still blocking, and b) there is always the off chance that the person for whom it is a gift will read this post and I don't want to spill the beans. Stay tuned for a post-holiday sharing of the photo and description.

I also quickly knit up a cute little star ornament from leftover yarn in my stash:

It is for a knitting friend who recently experienced an unfortunate life-altering event and a group of people is sending her these little crafted hugs to put on her tree.

As for the other goal of maintaining my walking schedule of three times a week...well, not such a success there. Between wet weather, holiday guests and winter laziness, I did get out several times to walk but not as much as my goal. While I am going to try and remain active outdoors as much as weather permits, the only goal I am going to set for December is to make it to New Year's Eve with my sanity intact. And for those who know me well, you know just how much of a challenge that can be.