Most certainly a mess in the morning...

I guess this is our new Christmas tradition—wait for them to open their gifts, and then begin the recycling of all that wrapping paper.

Hope that your Christmas morning was equally messy and fun!

(At least they waited for us to open the gifts.)

Merry Christmas!

May all your Christmas dreams come true!

PS: I, Cyrus, am not the guilty one, even though most of you have guessed it was me. The other one, sleeping peacefully on the sofa behind me right now, will most certainly make another mess in the morning. But we still love him...

What you wish for

Dreaming of a White Christmas

Are you sure?

We are supposed to pick up a Christmas tree and our Christmas cards at the printer today. When it looks like this outside, it makes me not want to leave the living room. (I opened the window to take these photos. No, I did not go outside.)

Just the thought of walking around trying to find the perfect tree when it is windy and cold, and the trees are all covered in snow. And then bringing it home in the back of the new truck and having it all covered in snow...again. Brrrr!

Cyrus is thinking he might like to be out there chasing critters, but it looks like even he is thinking twice about it.

Woody is still snoozing on the sofa with his blanket draped over him.

We might just skip our walk today.

Porch rocker project is complete (at least half of it is!)

The blue chair on the left is the earlier version—orange one is the same chair, just finished. I took the first photo on October 2, so I guess the painting and caning process took exactly 2 months. It seemed like much longer.

I bought 2 of these rockers in 1992 to celebrate my purchase of the NJ house with a front porch. My previous post has more rocking chair history: Porch rocker paint project postponed

Now that there are helpful videos on YouTube (this one comes with baby chicks chirping in the background) it is much easier to do the caning. I tried reading the book again this time, but ended up playing the video over and over until I got the hang of it. Definitely not like riding a bike—it doesn't come back to you.

I ordered the cane from HH Perkins both times. They also sell plastic cane, but I asked if it lasted any longer than the real thing and they said no. The natural just looks so much better than anything plastic. But I will definitely try sealing the cane this time to see if I can make them last longer than 20 years in the hopes that I will rock on longer too. I don't think I will have the energy or inspiration to cane these a third time at age 80.

Now how long before I am inspired to start the second chair? Months at least. I have no fingernails left.