Merry Christmas to All

Some Christmas Decorations

This doesn't give an idea of how a three year old decorated the tree, but if you look towards the bottom two feet you'll notice that most of the ornaments are there.

Decided to go simple with little trees and Santa's sleigh on the shelf that Brett redid. It was originally pink and the brackets were broken. He rebuilt them, stripped and sanded the paint off and then applied the gold leaf paint and black lacquer.

The mantle. I need to figure out a different picture to put up there. I love the oil painting, but it is a bit too big.

One of my favorite ornaments...a felted giraffe figure dressed as a bomber pilot.

I just like the way this gumdrop garland sparkles with the lights.

My Version of Life in a Crystal Palace (1)

My Version of Life in a Crystal Palace (2)

Dogs-a day in the life

Tater getting a feel for Lili's mood.

Testing Lili's patience.

"come on Lili, chase me"

"Now leave me alone runt!!"

Meeting Harley

Today Caroline and I went to Auntie Cheryl's to meet Harley. Both Cheryl and I were a bit concerned with how poor Harley would react to a pretty active little one; but one the way there, I let her know a bit of his history and made it very clear how she was expected to behave around him. She is pretty wary of Sammy Bird, so I think she understood what I was trying to convey. Well, it turned out that Harley likes company. I have only had one personal experience with parrots and Tiny would have been a mouthful for Harley; there is a lot of respect for Cheryl taking this guy on. He is quite beautiful and I can understand why Cheryl was drawn to him...he just has this look in his eye that is so sweet. Although, the look could have been of longing for the blue coat I wore today. I was amazed at the behavior change in Sammy as well. I was almost tempted to hold the cantankerous fellow...like I said, almost. He is such a love. Caroline was very attentive to any instruction that Cheryl gave her and was quite respectful of the birds. She impressed me with her calmness around them. She was quite enamoured with Harley. I think his size really took her by surprise.

Anyway, the following are a couple of the test pictures I took with the camera.

Handsome Sammy

Lovely Harley

Not too clear, but thought it was cool with the way he looks like his is sitting in the village in picture.

He likes to check stuff out from an upside down vantage point.

What a pretty face he has.

Caroline in awe of the big bird.