The Un-Holiday Special and more...

- After seeing a few starlings in the back one morning - I LOVE their sound - I saw dozens of little wrens in the front yard.

I counted at least 10 in the two rose trees alone. They were all drinking and bathing in the dew that was on the leaves. After they retired to the treeline, I re-filled the bird bath for them up front.
- I saw Santa at the grocery store over the weekend. He was chatting with some kids and their father.

I guess Santa was stocking up on his chocolate chip cookies.

I wanted to eavesdrop on their conversation - is that naughty? - but I needed to get back to Mom since her blood sugar was acting up again. (I later learned that Dad saw Santa there on another day as well. I wonder if the store hired him to walk around? That's kind of weird).



- I'm more than ready for some cool temperatures! The highs lately have been 80. This crappy sunny weather is really clashing with the Christmas decor outside.

Okay... so it really has been gorgeous out there and temps in the 80's are a vast improvement over a triple digit heat index, but it is almost DECEMBER after all. I think we deserve sweater weather in the very least.

- On the way back home from Pearland to Austin on Thanksgiving night, my sister had a frightening experience. They were driving home when they noticed police cars and ambulances and Swat Teams all over the place.

It turns out that some guy shot and killed a state trooper and they had been chasing him down for 2 hours. My sister said that they shot the guy, but he wasn't killed.

- The barn renovation came to a standstill over the holiday. It's still going to be a while until it's finished. (Only two men are working on it, so I guess patience is the key. They say that on Saturday it will be done, but I'll believe that when I see it).

The good news is that they started building the cupola today.



- Most of the outdoor Christmas decor is out, but not all of it since I haven't found a few things. I haven't even really bothered looking at what's out there now. I just don't care this year.

Even our Christmas tree isn't up yet!

I'm just not in the mood, because of the warm weather, and poor Mom is really sick. She caught some kind of cold/flu after Thanksgiving. She has a really bad cough.

- The morning after Thanksgiving, Abby wanted out at her usual 4 - 4:30 AM time.
While out there the skies were so clear that the stars were GORGEOUS! The only bad thing was that there was a lot of noisy traffic going on for so early in the morning. I guess people were heading back home early.

- We noticed that a woodpecker has pecked 8 holes on one of the old posts inside the barn. (I have no idea if it happened recently or a long time ago).

- I couldn't sleep the other night, so on my tv I went to YouTube to search for old Christmas sitcoms and specials. During all of that I discovered the infamous "Star Wars Holiday Special."



I totally get it now. I completely understand why George Lucas and Co. are so ashamed of it. That was the STRANGEST and most BORING holiday special I have ever seen in my entire life. It wasn't even about Christmas, and half of the movie is just Chewbacca's Wookie Family snarling and growling at one another... and there aren't even subtitles!

It really was the creepiest, strangest experience of my lifetime. If an alien spacecraft landed on our roof right now, it would pale in comparison to the Star Wars Holiday Special.



I'm thinking those writers were either stoned out of their minds or had a personal vendetta against Lucas. (Lucas had nothing to do with its production, as he was filming Empire at the time).


- UPDATE: So now it's Saturday and I'm sick too! This is so not fun.

- Last night Mom said she heard a pack of coyotes and their babies really close by. She said it sounded like they were on the other side of the neighbor's property.

But then fast forward to this afternoon, and what do you think Mom saw near Round Top on the way home? She saw something she hadn't seen since she was a little girl. It's disturbing, so brace yourself.

She saw 4 or 5 dead coyotes slung over a farmer's barbed wire fence; a warning to any other coyotes disturbing his cattle.

So it looks like the coyotes are more active than normal around our house as well as in Round Top.

- Good news! The barn renovation is finished!!!! (They finished it yesterday, but had to return today to gather their tools and clean up).
What's funny is that the workers mentioned that our neighbors were nosy and constantly driving by.

The neighbor talked to him today, and it looks like he's going to hire him to work on their barn as well.























































Just a few pics of some goodies we bought recently, mostly Christmas-related.

Believe it or not, the sweet tablecloth and dishes came from Walmart of all places!







I love this. This illustrated map, for the antique show this year, I really loved... so imagine my delight when I found the same image printed on a nice dish towel. It was in an antique shop in Carmine.

Hopefully, we'll be purchasing a few doors from this place over the weekend. The lady at the shop is giving us a really SWEET deal on them! We're going to use them in our barn.





Bokeh, because... well, because the stupid camera wouldn't focus. I like bokeh, even when it happens when I don't wish it, so... I give you Bokeh.













And more bokeh, which pretty much looks the same.









Well I'm gonna sign off now. Miraculously, I haven't had any bad headaches for almost 2 weeks now but today is another story.
I took TWO BC powders, and drank a Starbucks, and still it feels the same.