Merry Christmas

"Oh my, it's fruitcake weather!" (from Truman Capote's A Christmas Memory) In our case, it's time for mini-pecan pies. This recipe was handed down from my mother. Fairly easy to bake, these treats are a hit at home or the office.

Hunting Santa is a new addition this year. He was wrapped and tucked into Ray's mid-December carry bag. Figured his deer lease trailer could use some decorating. Ray got a laugh out of it, and now Santa hangs on our tree. Guess he's guarding the presents.

"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care ..." (The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore). We have stockings and also Mr. & Mrs. Santa Claus. I love these two. They come out of the original sent box that's taped and glued and disintegrating. But I patch because it has my mother's writing on the tag, and she delighted in Christmas so much.

Penguins guard our front door and keep out the winter cold. "And the Grinch, with his grinch feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling; How could it be so?"

"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas ... perhaps...means a little bit more!"

Peace on Earth, Goodwill Toward Men

Merry Christmas.

As Tiny Tim observed, "God Bless us, every one." (A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens)