Christmas is Packed Away

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6X_l75X7BqNI4vJ-IOYzq1cTy8zs9Eq0SXLLzozJveUUIk9LDR5Sc0iB_wj1pdqT-xsDJb2rSml95yCvvVui1CAFJjHUPyFqcl7-CTuyTAR8HP1TRpuKktDgniTPo1qcxaEyWbW5eurs/s1600/P1020318.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6X_l75X7BqNI4vJ-IOYzq1cTy8zs9Eq0SXLLzozJveUUIk9LDR5Sc0iB_wj1pdqT-xsDJb2rSml95yCvvVui1CAFJjHUPyFqcl7-CTuyTAR8HP1TRpuKktDgniTPo1qcxaEyWbW5eurs/s640/P1020318.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I had the best weekend filled with rest and relaxation.  How about you?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioMbuWs0xWhKmPWIUP7nYCsQFFA-34-MCxhtI5sU7Aj-VeqV3_1uHXWVSsfAAlth1MmmHstdIDr92IVDKWfUKFt_DSKdl95Y5CjZRlUnM3HxoFxV8Y6GBgOQUozxqciCfYuj6r8k4Bbvc/s1600/P1020321.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioMbuWs0xWhKmPWIUP7nYCsQFFA-34-MCxhtI5sU7Aj-VeqV3_1uHXWVSsfAAlth1MmmHstdIDr92IVDKWfUKFt_DSKdl95Y5CjZRlUnM3HxoFxV8Y6GBgOQUozxqciCfYuj6r8k4Bbvc/s640/P1020321.jpg" width="360" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The living tree is planted outside although I can't help but feel guilty everytime I see it.  It looks so sad and lonely out in the cold.  Am I transferring?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I undecorated the pruned tree today.  It took me about three days to decorate and about 15 minutes to take apart.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwd4XdYJJo4qCOxza7UxaVjOPh9xVu8gsujUHarprBBtZYgLjVhI7SlLEuRXrLagHtD66DUmlLGxB_LC8xVrdYwwXukVzSUiZreRYVpliZNHFGgnwS-me585BtUVN-9x7nDpub95Z_3ow/s1600/P1020312.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwd4XdYJJo4qCOxza7UxaVjOPh9xVu8gsujUHarprBBtZYgLjVhI7SlLEuRXrLagHtD66DUmlLGxB_LC8xVrdYwwXukVzSUiZreRYVpliZNHFGgnwS-me585BtUVN-9x7nDpub95Z_3ow/s400/P1020312.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I don't know why it took me so many years to figure out I should just take all of the ornaments off and place them in a basket rather than wandering around the living room with ornament boxes laid out on every surface looking for the box each ornament came from.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-mHRbnNuKFrwkDsBv0A-qZxLsoFKRQcmQcPkYljZyDCpZFGJW7QYEYbvCvnyaQzs7KbHhel_43sebzqFP4DR4koouXq1q-9hYgiwosIyHQ1aDRJB4938ykzPOLgHFNFoi8pzZk3bGelQ/s1600/P1020335.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-mHRbnNuKFrwkDsBv0A-qZxLsoFKRQcmQcPkYljZyDCpZFGJW7QYEYbvCvnyaQzs7KbHhel_43sebzqFP4DR4koouXq1q-9hYgiwosIyHQ1aDRJB4938ykzPOLgHFNFoi8pzZk3bGelQ/s400/P1020335.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And then I set up all the boxes on the dining room table to make quicker work of putting everything back in its place.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqaI_TfepeEBjT2iKDT_boAwIMlcayLmUigsvpCYJ6Ih_rLl4R2GiRGhCDHaMuQar3Pai_dEWp69Ho4dkUc2ViKZEXHDcz-hI8KxRIQ23W4rRzZV3v9DWhKgVHyASzLqDNhDOQVxXDtQg/s1600/P1020342.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqaI_TfepeEBjT2iKDT_boAwIMlcayLmUigsvpCYJ6Ih_rLl4R2GiRGhCDHaMuQar3Pai_dEWp69Ho4dkUc2ViKZEXHDcz-hI8KxRIQ23W4rRzZV3v9DWhKgVHyASzLqDNhDOQVxXDtQg/s400/P1020342.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">All the lights are neatly wound up and packed away ready for next year.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">But the day wasn't without incident.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLCqfk6dP68uTBq-O3qbGqU9sHbFUoMGxtXMP940UmBRZqY4pjV8ry2LgORndCQdRb-XV7Su6uDbEuwaGt9HmxXW9G_zycW_mfaStMwLNxZSh7fqf5P72Gkt1_kIjC5leny-ZoD0a47XA/s1600/P1020311.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLCqfk6dP68uTBq-O3qbGqU9sHbFUoMGxtXMP940UmBRZqY4pjV8ry2LgORndCQdRb-XV7Su6uDbEuwaGt9HmxXW9G_zycW_mfaStMwLNxZSh7fqf5P72Gkt1_kIjC5leny-ZoD0a47XA/s400/P1020311.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Broken item of the season.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCOu5wAkUTLMhvIbWJMW5E1FeV9he2s_hnfybIunQdAFW8FIJBmSG3YQDoX1vzo5uJonewzmCHzMXFw4dpWFSz0asAA1-FiFufu2FDwkqZ8OQfmlkKpHvTyEe4ozUGLKkl3kBJf5zQTno/s1600/P1020322.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCOu5wAkUTLMhvIbWJMW5E1FeV9he2s_hnfybIunQdAFW8FIJBmSG3YQDoX1vzo5uJonewzmCHzMXFw4dpWFSz0asAA1-FiFufu2FDwkqZ8OQfmlkKpHvTyEe4ozUGLKkl3kBJf5zQTno/s400/P1020322.jpg" width="368" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And I was unpleasantly surprised to find a big patch of mold growing under the tree!  I'm not sure what happened.  Perhaps the tree stand leaked?  I've scrubbed it up and there's a little stain but I swear I can smell it.  I think it has to go.  Thank god I'm too poor to have nice Persian carpets.  I'd be more ill.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Everything is packed up and put away in the basement except the outside lights which I usually leave up until somewhere between the Epiphany and the date that a former neighbor left me a note in my mailbox that the lights should come down.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWNKy3sacaH94sZTrFRDkZlJaC4Zxo6WmRACYeSx1i2vPiQqPDI-dPhgUVoybjGStyKnN45eEYtDYUv9jSxsK2cwj4Us7Fgtgzc2P_nWcAcqIxOTecvXGfgu-V0oIa4mk9wLx1GNZEfoo/s1600/P1020262.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWNKy3sacaH94sZTrFRDkZlJaC4Zxo6WmRACYeSx1i2vPiQqPDI-dPhgUVoybjGStyKnN45eEYtDYUv9jSxsK2cwj4Us7Fgtgzc2P_nWcAcqIxOTecvXGfgu-V0oIa4mk9wLx1GNZEfoo/s400/P1020262.jpg" width="393" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Hey, while I think of it, did you know you can keep paperwhites from getting too leggy by giving them a shot of gin?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Yup.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Read about it at <a href="http://www.yankeemagazine.com/issues/2011-01/home/marys-farm-paperwhites">Yankee Magazine</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh04yISkjh8SpNWrFC_TLwn_jLF2w-61L3WolnsEuPYfrpy6xuXx58FAs0If6_lnZJchXfaalyKmaAocdr47d4WctLZTPIlQUvKhtPNksVfUG80DNYAjtMmW9DchDVW0BpgL3CSK53T5Qs/s1600/P1020348.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh04yISkjh8SpNWrFC_TLwn_jLF2w-61L3WolnsEuPYfrpy6xuXx58FAs0If6_lnZJchXfaalyKmaAocdr47d4WctLZTPIlQUvKhtPNksVfUG80DNYAjtMmW9DchDVW0BpgL3CSK53T5Qs/s400/P1020348.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Although we've been really lucky with warmer than average temperatures and no snow since October, there's cold weather coming.  So we're all snuggling up and hunkering down for what we hope is a very short winter.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Still working on my damn goals for 2012.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">How 'bout you?</div><br /><br /></div>

Christmas is Packed Away

I had the best weekend filled with rest and relaxation.  How about you? The living tree is planted outside although I can't help but fee...

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