Christmas Has Left The Building

Last night when I was sitting on the couch staring at the unlit Christmas tree and wondering

where I'd put the 3 Kings, their camels, and the camel driver now that Epiphany had come and gone (since there was no room for them on top of the TV armoire) I decided that today I'd put Christmas away for the next 11 1/2 months.  So I did.  I was exceedingly glad that I'd only put about 2/3 of the ornaments on the tree this year since it is a total pain in the keester to take them off and put them in their designated boxes in the red and green Christmas crap tote.  Down came the jingle bell wreath on the door into the garage, the Santa hat with plastic nutcracker and jingle bells on the front door, the palm frond Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer (or Kangaroo, if you're OJ), and the Scrooge "Bah Humbug" plaque from the wall.  I wrapped the garish 3 Kings that Mom made in ceramics a jillion years ago in bubble wrap, making sure to carefully wrap the equally ancient avocado half-burnt candles that she said were perfect in their urn shaped candle holders and are irreplaceable, and unwound the gold foil holly garland from the dinette chandelier.  Oh, and the Charlie Brown Christmas tree that droops next to the kitchen TV, complete with blue flannel Linus blanket for the tree skirt, got crammed back into its "as seen on TV" box from Walgreens.  (omg, I just realized that without the porcelain Nativity set my entire collection of decorations could have come from White Trash R Us)

Just as I finished doing yoga this morning this handsome Cardinal came to the platform feeder for a snack.  I was sure that he'd fly away as soon as I moved to get the camera but he stayed just long enough for me to snap this.  Isn't he beautiful?







I started reading the old-ish Cliff Janeway series of detective novels by John Dunning last

month (by reading you understand that I mean listening to audiobooks so I can knit and read simultaneously) but no one, not even Audible has the third volume, The Bookman's Promise.  No set of 9 CDs from the library that I'd have to copy onto my laptop and then fong into my iPod, no audiobook from Overdrive or RBDigital (formerly One Click Digital) which I can borrow through the library, no audiobook I'd have to buy from Audible.  I finally ended up buying a used real book for ten cents ($4.89 shipping) from a seller on Amazon.  It came today so I'm going to be reading it old school, an actual hardcover book that I have to hold and turn paper pages.  The odd thing is that the first two books and the last two books of the 5-book series are available to borrow as audiobooks.  What's special about book 3?  Maybe I'll figure it out when I've read it.



This evening I got the Black & Blue Shrug knitted down to the bottom ribbing.  It's much blacker in person.  After that I'll go back to the top to add the neck ribbing, then weigh my remaining yarn to see how long I can make the sleeves.  I'm hoping to get to at least elbow length.


January 8--Hans von Stuck, Advertisement for the International Hygiene Exhibition, Dresden.  Min hated the poster that hung in the entry of the building.  It showed a single, huge eye in a firmament of stars.  She thought the lashes looked like spikes and she was convinced that someone always watched through a pinhole in its pupil.  Mon would turn to hide her own eyes when she entered.  If she forgot and made eye contact with the eye, chills ran down her spine and her knees felt weak.

That's all I can think of.  I have to go downstairs and take all last weekend's clothes out of the dryer because tending the fireplace for three days made it smell like a chimney when I unpacked yesterday and I don't want them laying in a heap overnight getting all wrinkled.  Nighty-night.
--Barbara