Well, I made it through last week. Both of my appointments - Angel’s grooming and a visit to a former neighbour - were canceled for Friday. We had about six inches of snow Thursday evening and overnight. I had a good bit of shoveling to do but I survived as always.

The chap came on Thursday as promised and installed my new window coverings in my computer room and kitchen. The photo on the left is the window in my computer room - the colours may be a little off as the photo was taken in the evening with artificial lighting. I really like the style of this window treatment - it does give the room a certain softness. My computer room, which doubles as a sitting room, has always been one of my favourite rooms in this house. The room was actually meant to be the second bedroom and is small and cozy.

This photo shows the window treatment over the patio door in my kitchen. I also had the same made for the kitchen window over my sink. The style is very similar to what is in the computer room but is a little more practical for the patio door. The centre section doesn’t hang as low so a taller person doesn’t need to ‘duck’ when going out or coming in. The kitchen is actually the main room a person sees when entering my house. When you come in my front door, you look up the stairs and the kitchen is straight ahead. The new covering has a much nicer effect than the old topper. I have garland and blue Christmas lights on the railing of my deck - you can vaguely see the lights in this photo. You can see the lights better if you click on the photo and look at the larger image.

Saturday, my youngest niece came and helped me get the rest of the Christmas decorations up including the tree. I think she did a better job of arranging the lights than I would have done. I enjoy my Christmas tree but I don’t really enjoy trimming the tree. It does make it more enjoyable when there is someone to help. So far, Angel has been quite good - very occasionally, she will start to get near the tree but she walks away when I tell her a firm ‘no’. She did manage to chew on part of the wooden tree stand when I was talking on the telephone. They are just like kids! I took more photos of the decorations and will post these and others to my web site after Christmas.

I better get Angel out and then off to bed. The clock is about ready to strike midnight and Angel has her grooming appointment scheduled for the morning. If I don’t post another entry here prior to Christmas - I want to wish each of you reading this a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy Hanukkah to all our Jewish friends.

Goodnight all,

Gail and Angel