Well, today again the wind drove me off the porch. I’m missing my porch pondering and bird watching. Temperature was great, beautiful blue sky but the wind…. So figured I might as well tackle taking the decorations off the large Christmas tree in the living room. Only broke two Christmas balls but it was a chore taking off the lights. The tree touches the ceiling so Stew had to help too. Not going through this next year. After we wrestled the 110 pound tree down we, well, I had to carry the four parts downstairs to the basement. Next year I’m having a nice cedar tree from the farm. If no one can help me, I’ll gnaw it down myself. Only three more Christmas trees to go. Not counting the ones upstairs!

Thinking of keeping the skinny tree in the breakfast room up and making it a seasonal holiday tree. Put little Valentines on it years ago and it was really cute. The corner, in the grandkids bedroom, where this tree usually hides till Christmas, is filled with renovation boxes so I need to find a new hiding place for the boxes and the tree. You’d think in a house this big I could find it a spot. I’m ready to admit I’m a Christmasholic! I need an intervention! Chief said I could fill up a 90 room house and I think he’s correct.

You know I wonder about things so I decided to do a little Christmas tree research. The first decorated Christmas tree was in Riga, Latvia in 1510. Really! Guess we just have to believe that! Electric lights for Christmas trees were invented by Thomas’ Edison’s assistant Edward Johnson in 1882. A sad fact to me is that 98 percent of Christmas trees are grown on farms!

Only two percent of trees are cut from forests. Always an exciting time for us when Daddy brought a cedar tree home from the farm. Chief and I walked around the farm several years ago and cut a cedar down. We struggled to get it back to the truck but we were so proud of it. I decorated it with family photos and glass balls.

Got the nicest surprise in the mail yesterday! One of my friends told me she was sending me a bird calendar. The package was in the mailbox yesterday. In the package was a beautiful bird calendar, a song bird puzzle, and THREE packs of Doublemint chewing gum! That is a true friend who sends gum! Made me happy!

Don’t know if y’all talk to your dog but I do. No, she doesn’t talk back but she listens intently. Stew comes down and says, “Who are you talking to?” “No one,” I say. “Why?” He already thinks I’m losing it so why add fuel to the fire.

Penelope was terrified of the dryer buzzer. She’d run upstairs and hide under Stew’s bed. My son Thomas removed the dryer buzzer but now she’s afraid of the washer. The water is loud when it fills the washer so now she’s running upstairs when the washer is running. I think she’s neurotic. Looked up the definition of neurotic— intense anxiety or panic in non-threatening social functions like going out to eat, a work function, or a friendly gathering.

I might be the neurotic one. I’m happiest at home. Guess most people are I suppose.