Our Tree

    I finally got our tree up and decorated today.  It wasn't a great feat...it's only a 2ft tall (and spindly) table topper that I've used for the last 10-15 years.  (Putting up the big tree got to be too much work, so I switched to this tabletop one.  I actually gave away the big tree and all the ornaments Mom and I had made over the years...a dumb move but....).  I've got 4 strands of mini lights on it and a couple of dozen snowflake and star buttons that are hung on ornament wires.  I also hung the cute little stitch markers

that I got in swaps over the years ('balls of yarn', enameled and silver animal charms), there's a crocheted wreath and a Hallmark ornament or two.  Last year I got 2 paper gift labels that were 'special' so

they were added.  I found that Snowman on a Sled that Mom had made in the back of a cupboard and he's perfect to hide the battery paks for the minilights.  I don't know what else I'll add this year...it looks pretty good to

 me!  I'll add a photo of the tree when the sun goes down.

   I really had to do some cleaning to get this far.  I wanted to move the table my printer was on over so the tree would be more visible from outside...incase a squirrel or deer walking by would be interested.  To do that I had to move the printer to the other end of the cedar chest.  I decided to move the ceramic dogs (Samantha and one of her puppies, Lady Di-can you guess when those puppies were born??)  I thought they'd look cute next to the tree, so they got dusted off and moved closer.  I think I'll find a placemat to put down for them as a rug to make the scene more natural.

   I had to add a layer of styrofoam to the tree's base because Fanny had knocked it over so many times with her tail it wouldn't support the metal rod that's the 'tree' trunk.  I had planned to replace the styrofoam in the base but decided it would be very messy and just added a 2" layer to it.  I taped it all together with packing tape and it seems a lot sturdier now.  I just want it to last this year.  I looked for a new tree at Walmart this week but they were too big and too expensive.  I think I'll order one from Amazon and turn this one into a bird feeder or something!

   While I was cleaning for this move, I found things that I didn't even know were missing!  A pair of 'good' scissors, a single short size 8 knitting needle, and a long circular size 4 or 5 needle, the dvd "Mama Mia", a nice little rollup tape measure from a Swap, the dog's muzzle and the newest pair of dog's nail clippers (who hid those??), and a dime!