ALMOST CHRISTMAS!

I was feeling a little like this bear looks earlier this week.  Every year I battle Holiday blues, and this year it was happening again.  But then, Wednesday night I started to snap out of it.  We had a wonderful little holiday celebration/potluck dinner in the ESL class where I'm a volunteer tutor.  We had delicious stuffed canneloni brought by our student from Italy, wonderful chicken enchilladas in a savory mole sauce from our Mexican students, yummy fried chicken, and chocolate brownies for dessert.

Today I finished up my Christmas shopping and decided to take some pictures.  I don't have a mantel, so here is a Martha Stewart Christmas wreath from years past that became home for my little Santa owl, an evergreen arrangement on the coffee table, and the shelf behind the couch.

 

 

That is a real birdnest in this evergreen arrangement.  I found the nest on the ground after a storm last summer.  I microwaved it in a microwave safe container, and stored it in an air tight bag for a few months.

All of the Santas in these pics are ones that I've painted starting in 1992.  I just added the Santas and a couple of other things to my couch shelf.  The little old toy dog on the couch was my sister's.  I think his jingle bell collar is so cute.  The two bears were mine.  Santa brought them.  The little panda's name was (is) Po Po.  Fuzzy, the blog mascot, is not convinced they are not for him.  He is still stalking them.

The picture of the two kitties with the brown and beige crock and some holly is a very old trade card from the first years of the 1900s. New Year's herring, or maybe just sardines.  I have had it a long time.  I bought it because the brown and beige crock looks similar to one that I had collected.

This is a Holy Infant of Prague Figure.  The little folk art painting next to it is one I painted for Christmas in 2009, when my daughter was expecting my grandson.

 It's almost Christmas!