Kwanzachristmakah

Happy Kwanzachristmakah Everyone!

Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall. 

~ Larry Wilde

You know you're getting older when Santa starts looking younger. ~ Robert Paul





It looks like Santa Paws was here.

Christmas at my house is always at least six or seven times more pleasant than anywhere else. We start drinking early. And while everyone else is seeing only one Santa Claus, we'll be seeing six or seven. 

~ W.C. Fields

I once bought my kids a set of batteries for Christmas with a note on it saying, toys not included.

~ Bernard Manning

Did you ever notice that life seems to follow certain patterns? Like I noticed that every year around this time, I hear Christmas music. ~ Tom Sims

I bought my brother some gift-wrap for Christmas. I took it to the Gift Wrap department and told them to wrap it, but in a different print so he would know when to stop unwrapping. 

~ Stephen Wright

The one thing women don't want to find in their stockings on Christmas morning is their husband. 

~ Joan Rivers

Wishing you all the very best of the holiday season however you may celebrate it.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like... No Posts of the Week

Sorry folks. I just haven't been making the rounds enough this past week in order to bring you a substantial Posts of the Week. I have collected a few and I will include those the next time I publish a POTW but for now, I hope you'll forgive me. Perhaps I can placate you with 1) a few Christmas lights photos and 2) the promise of a Benny post for tomorrow? What? That'll do? Thank you. I kind of thought Benny would save the day.

A couple of weeks back, my next door neighbours Jen and Mark sent out an email to our friendly neighbourhood. Clever people that they are, they came up with a good idea for an evening get together.

They had a fake Christmas tree that they no longer needed, but instead of throwing it out, they asked each of us to stop by with an ornament or two and make an event of decorating the tree. They had lights, tinsel and several ornaments of their own, to which we added ours. And there was hot chocolate, shortbread cookies and a nip of this or that to warm us - which it did but not nearly as much as the camaraderie.

Oh, I should mention that the tree was set up on their front deck for all of us to see each night when we walk by. And what kind of a blogger would I be if I didn't share that sight with you?

The tree was still a work in progress at this point. You can see a couple of our neighbours hanging ornaments.

A gold star for our efforts.

Standing back a bit, I snapped this shot a few nights later. I liked the way the some of the fence lights were visible through the car window.

And here's the reflection on the car's body. It's become a photo tradition around here since Frank photographed a similar image a few years back.

Thank you Jen, Mark, son Alex and mom Grace for inviting us to join you. Stay tuned for a Benny post, tomorrow.

At First Glance (And Winner Announced)

Thank you to everyone who entered my Casserole Giveaway a couple of posts back. A random draw produced the lucky winner. Congratulations to Joanna Jenkins of The Fifty Factor. According to her blog, she'll be away from internet access until Sunday, but she'll have this little surprise news waiting for her upon her return.

Below are a few photos taken over the last couple of weeks. Please remember to click on each image to enlarge.

An out of focus park bench as seen behind a branch of colourful spindle berries. They'll remain bright like this through much of the winter.





At first glance, what do you think this is?




I can tell you what it is. I just can't tell you why. They're areas in the surface of the mostly-frozen pond which are beginning to thaw. The black center is water. The dark gray is icy and the white, of course, is snow-covered ice. There is nothing directly above those spots which could be dripping onto them. I don't know why this happens quite like this - do you?




The green leaves are ground cover which hadn't quite yet died. The yellow and red leaves had fallen from nearby trees. I liked how the light dusting of snow frosted the foliage.




Similarly, I thought this tree looked nice with it new winter coat. I left a peanut between its trunks after I took this photo.




At first glance, you can see a photograph of Frank taking a picture. Of what?




What you see in his viewfinder was my bird feeder. This little chickadee came to dine and stuck around long enough for me to get a shot of my own.




Long-withered Queen Anne's Lace still looks pretty against its snowy background.




In a few days time, the sun will begin to set just a little bit later each day. For now, dusk seems to come so early with lovely streaks of colour.




Ducks line up along the top of the dam while the mauve and magenta sky reflects in the lake behind them.





At first glance, you see a set of blurry Christmas lights...





But back up and you'll see that you were looking at their reflection in the parked cars. This was taken at a slightly different angle than the previous cropped photo.

See you with more in a few days.