Decorating the Kitchen

Having the Christmas spirit at the end of an evening of decorating. That was yesterday's goal for me.

• Out and in to the garage, trying to figure out which of the decorations to use this year. First bringing in the set with one theme, then the set with another theme.


• Settling on having the nutcrackers hanging from the garland that circles the ceiling -- the place where I hang the ornaments.


• Changing my mind to using silver as a theme -- just white and silver, instead. Sorting through the ornaments to find only white and silver. After 50 years of buying "Xmas", I have much to choose from in the way of ornaments.


• Finding batteries to put in the 12 inch acrylic flocked trees -- whoops, the trees now change color from white and silver to the red, greens and blues and slowly change into each other. Oh well, this is fun, anyway and I will keep them inside.


• When Mak walks in the door he says to me, "No Christian iconography here?" I take him to the clear glass nativity scene that is sitting on a raised mirror and he smiles, "Oh ... nice." I offer to bring in the creche set where the each of the figures is 15 inches high, and he laughs for he can see that already there is "no room in the kitchen".


• I remember buying that nativity set -- not just one, but enough of them that I could give them away for I loved the look of the clear glass and light shining on it. Kelve only took his under duress, to make me happy. Leo returned the set -- looks to eerie to me, he said. I still have one set extra, if anyone is interested.


• Mak sits down to eat and I turn off the kitchen light, plugging in the lighted wreath on the wall, and setting one of the acrylic trees in front of him. There is only one small tree changing colours in front of him, for I don't have batteries for the other 2 yet. Another spectacular show of pyrotechnics while we eat supper together is coming next week ... if I can remember to pick up more AA batteries ... and I must also bring in the other set of 3 trees. This is fun.


• David comes home late at night and I ask him if he can use his height to put the fir garland up. Kelvin has already gone through it, inch by inch, helping the limbs to spring out from the branches after being packed away for 11 months. I have some baked blackened chicken on the counter, a recipe I just got from Charise. I hope that the delicious smell on the chicken of the garlic, dill and balsamic vinegar will bring out Christian goodwill in David and the he will put the garland up. He will say yes, later. All he wants to know is method. "Tell me again how to put that up," he says, for he can remembering slipping that garland up on the wall for me last year.

The job is done. I am not humming Christmas tunes yet. I haven't found the seasonal CD's yet. That is coming.

Arta