When we were purchasing our tree, I went inside to see if they had any paperwhites. Sure enough, at the end of an aisle in one of the greenhouses, there were some pots available. I bought two – one is in the kitchen and one in the den. I missed having them last year and I’m embarrassed to say I never thought to check for them at our nursery! Amazing how much they’ve grown in the two days they’ve been here.
No tree decorating yet. We went out to the shed to grab the bins of ornaments and we ended up doing some organizing there, keeping items away from the parts of the roof that leak the most. It’s not perfect, the roof needs to be replaced, but we have so much more room than we did! I’ve started to dump the soil out of the pots on the porch and now I can stash them on some shelves we have in the shed. I will no longer have to crawl over things to reach them when I’m ready to use them again in the spring. We did cover some things with tarps, just to ensure they are safe from water. Anyway, that took a long time. Then we had to move the egg cup cubby to get to the storage area under the stairs, which is always a bit precarious. I found the Christmas stuff, which I’ll going to store in another bin in the shed instead of under the stairs, so that I can stash the porch cushions there instead and Don can store some of his bulky guitar cases, as well. (The office now looks much better, with the guitars fully on display.)
In a small house, everything has to have a place, and if you change one thing, the dominos start to fall and you have to adjust everything else. That’s what happened yesterday. Crawling on a wood floor is never fun, nor is contorting my body so I can see into that small space. We were tuckered out after all of that, hence the decision to decorate today.
The bins are inside, ready to be opened when we decorate this afternoon. We have a few errands to run this morning. And of course, it’s going to rain. A friend of Don who used to be in construction recommended a roofer, so we called him this morning and he’s going to stop by sometime next week and look at the porch roof to see where the problem might be.
And that’s all we can do for now.
I just finished John Connolly’s newest book, The Dirty South, this morning. I’ll start in on Moonflower Murders next. Connolly is always, always excellent – the book was one of my birthday presents from Don.
Stay safe.
Happy Friday.
That is great that a roofer is coming
Very very important.
Sometimes I think a large sum of our money is spent maintaining the shell of our house. You don’t want wood rot to start.
Maybe he can give you an estimate for your main roof as well.
I wish you the best.
Thank you, Linda.
Stay safe.
glad you soon get information from the friend’s recommended roofer. may it be helpful and you be pleasantly surprised by the projected cost.
love that photo … the paperwhite bulbs and pottery shapes, the colors, the whole combination of things and all the vertical lines … all lovely.
happy decorating of that beautiful Christmas tree and happy friday!
stay safe!
kathy in iowa
Thank you, Kathy.
Stay safe!
Good luck with roof…been there…done that…prayers dear girl.
Thank you, Brenda.
Stay safe!
I love paperwhites! I am afraid my cat would chew on them though. I only have 1 house plant where she can’t get to it. So many houseplants are toxic to cats. I don’t have your green thumb anyway.
You are right…one task often sets off a series of other tasks. That is how my morning is going.
Stay safe
You too, Marilyn.
Thank you!
Ah, paper whites. They always look so lovely. I’ve never tried to grow them…wondering if they are poisonous to cats. Our neighbor gave us a poinsettia…they are mildly poisonous I’ve read. Mildly? Not taking any chances, I put it on top of the chest in our bedroom….Bowser can’t jump that high.
Sounds like you were extra busy yesterday. Glad to hear you’ve got a roofer coming to take a look. Hopefully, it’ll be an easy fix.
Have fun decorating the tree today…I’m looking forward to getting ours up and fluffed today. Stay safe! ;)
We were extra busy today too. Now to rest for the weekend!
Stay safe.
What a pretty arrangement. They look so perfect there. Your home has something interesting in every corner. I look forward to each photo and never tire of Mockingbird Hill cottage. I left the house early today while the sun was out and went to a local farm stand and bought too many vegetables for just the two of us . Now I have to figure out what to make with this weird squash that I bought. I walked a couple of miles and then came home in a better mood than I have been in a long while. Not happy but somewhat calmer. I am pacing myself also….no rush to do anything. No pressure. (for now) Looking forward to seeing your decorated tree.
I’m gad you’re doing better today, Maria.
Take care of yourself!
Stay safe.
I’m so happy to hear that someone will be coming to look at the roof. It is so difficult here to find people who aren’t booked for months ahead. I think everyone staying home has added to the remodel businesses. Just looking at the price of lumber is pretty astonishing right now. Wow!! My hubs is the Pres of our village cemetery association and they needed a new roof for their storage shed on the cemetery grounds. He called everyone in town and they are all booked. One day this fall on a walk w the dog he saw some people working on a garage in the neighborhood. He struck up a (masked) conversation with one of them, and it was an Amish man from a few counties over and he said he would be happy to meet him over by the shed. He mailed a bid. We thought it would be at least $2500.00, but it came in at $800.00 and they will finish on Monday. Serendipity!! These are, indeed, strange times!
Looking forward to seeing the tree all decorated. I know the soft Christmas lights each evening here make it, to me, a perfect way to end each day. It really is joyful!! Take care.
Send that Amish man here, Chris!
Stay safe.
I completely relate to the small house and domino effect when you move something and so on. I’ve been doing that a lot this week and now I’m behind on laundry and a few other chores. I’ll get to them since they don’t go anywhere. Enjoy the decorating.
Thanks, Linda!
Stay safe.
Hi Claudia. I really like the size and shape of your tree and am so looking forward to see it decorated. And, I feel your aches from contorting your body to get into spaces that were not an issue until the last couple years. It seems to just get a bit more difficult as time goes by.
Lately the muscle spasms in my hands and fingers make it hard for me to type and hit so many wrong keys that my online activity has been limited to reading, but I enjoy that.
It’s time now to relax and enjoy the Christmas season. We are and have been doing our best to survive a very trying year and so need to focus on our selves, our health, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually so that we can be there for and love each other, cuz it’s not quite over yet.
Take care…
Kelly
It isn’t over yet, but I sure am going to enjoy this season, Kelly!
Stay safe.
I’ll look forward to your decking the halls. I know what you mean about the organization. I keep doing it over and over again and am always surprised what I find!
Thanks so much, Jeanie.
Stay safe.