Once Upon a Time There Was a Shabby Little Tree...

 Soooo my favorite tree of all... is this little beat up, raggedy, faded white christmas tree .  I have had it for years

The base is gone, and all of the branches are twisted...

But when i add a few twinkle lights and some pretty ornaments it looks like the prettiest little magic fairy tree ever...

 before i decorated it, i pulled out a bunch of ornaments and stuff... and laid them around, and i had some ribbon i was going to tie on it  - 

but in the meantime, i stuffed the unwound ribbon into the base of the tree for safekeeping

... and when i looked back at it... i loved the way the ribbon looked all pooled and drippy and loose, so i decided to leave it just the way it was...

in fact if i'd had more ribbon i would have done it all around the bottom of the tree...

 of course the cord is showing in the photos...

 I would show you the tree lit up, but in photos it just looks like a glowing light blob - 

i have no idea how to take photos of lit up Christmas trees...

i wish i did because they are so pretty

...And below is this years front door wreath... 

It's a grapevine wreath that's another thrift shop find

 and I change it about 3 times a year for the different seasons

I had this crazy vine with silver balls on it in my closet upstairs that drove me nuts ,because it was just always in the way, and getting tangled up in things, and i almost got rid of it a hundred times

but i decided to wind it around my wreath to see how it looked

 and i think it's kind of fun!

 (this just reinforces never getting rid of stuff...not good!)

 Want to hear a very short Thanksgiving story...?

My sister dosen't really enjoy her mother in law - let's just be nice and say it is a bad personality match - but let me say this - my sister is really nice to everyone sooooo ... you figure it out

anyway... she was having her over for Thanksgiving with the family, because it is the nice thing to do of course...

As the mother in law arrives - In my sister's words:

"So as soon as she walked in the door,  I grabbed a bottle of wine and started drinking " -

finally the table was set and the candles were lit

 and after a while we sat down to the beautiful Thanksgiving dinner, 

I was the one who was supposed  to say the blessing ... 

and i had been drinking wine ...

anyway i started to say the usual blessing we have said a thousand times,,  and rattled off  the first sentence... and it sounded kindof mushy 

like - let ush give thanks... uhhh

and couldn't remember the rest!!

it's that moment when you realize you're totally buzzed and you've slurred your sentence, and sound like a drunk

so when i realized i had forgotten the blessing,  I said 

"SHIT"! 

 it just came out!

and then the kids started laughing at me, because they thought it was funny, and then their dad fussed at them for laughing... so i asked the mother in law to say it - and of course 

she said THE PERFECT blessing"  

anyway... I know it's a silly little story

but i thought it was  funny

if i'd been there i would have fallen out of my chair i'd be laughing so hard

now i could be wrong...

 

but from my knowledge of Thanksgiving prayers past

the "S" word is not generally supposed to be part of the blessing as a rule

 

we all do the best we can, don't we...

just a few more ...

a Merry Christmas sign from 

Castle and Cottage

a few birch logs in an old Homer Laughlin platter

and some pink and white gingham fabric torn up and made into a  shabby little bow...

I'm sure i'll be adding touches here and there through the month

no telling what other things will end up on the tree

or what other prayers will be said in a less than perfect way

but that's all for now...

...the end...