A New Thing

 But first, an old thing. 

My town had its annual Christmas parade Friday evening after a two year hiatus. I’d planned on going, and Cody and Brennan were going to drive down and watch it, but in the end, none of that happened.  I just didn't feel up to it.  Oh, I wasn't sick, per se, I just felt run down.  I think it's because they have us going in at 4:00 again.  The older I get, the longer it takes me getting accustomed to getting up in the middle of the night. 

Lucky for me, the local paper livestreamed the parade on their Facebook page, so I was able to see it.  Honestly, it's pretty much the same old parade year after year.  Mostly cars with "Eat At Joe's" signs taped to the side, a few floats, and of course, the highlights of the parade are the 7th & 8th grade band and High School band.  They were still playing the same songs they played when Cody was in Jr. High and High School.  It brought back so many memories. 

Oh, yeah, and Santa Clause.  

The tree lighting was a bit of a disappointment.  Last year, they had a few different people come and sing.  One of the local ministers led the crowd singing carols, and finally, they had a countdown and lit the tree.  This year, at the end of the parade, Santa just got off his sleigh, walked over and plugged the tree in.  Not even a countdown.  I liked last year's way better. 

Oh well, at least they're not having the parade at 3:30 on a Tuesday afternoon any more.  Every year, I'd have to take half a day of vacation just to be able to watch my son march in the parade.  He was in it every year from first grade (cub scouts) through his senior year (band).  The only time he missed was 6th grade, because he'd already quit scouts by then, and sixth graders don't march with the band.  

Despite my feeling puny, I finally managed to get the last of the decorations out and the boxes all back into the shed.

By the way, the wall isn't dirty right there on the right side.  It's where I tried to sand the texture off because I'd planned on re-painting it.  It didn't work so well, and I decided just to wait until I could get this whole area remodeled. 

A bit of good news, though.  I think I've solved the issue of my shed flooding.  And what did I do to solve it?  Why, I dug up all those canna lilies.  Since I got the last of them dug up, we've had a couple of very heavy rains, but no sign of flooding in my shed!  Nothing is wet, and no mud on the floor!  

Don't envy me my exciting life...

So anyway, my friend Marcy at Amnicon Studios clued me in to a new thing that the homesteading crowd is apparently doing on Instagram this year.  I'm not a homesteader, though I wish I could be.  If only I could find a Godly, French speaking man who knows how to live off the land and has woods and a pond....I don't ask for much, do I? 

Here is the list of prompts they've posted.  

I can't guarantee I will be able to do this every day, but I'm going to try.  I'm already behind, so let me catch up a bit. 

1.  Selfie.

I'm not big on selfies, but I did take one last month when I voted. 

2.  Morning Frost

This one is from last year.  We've had some frosts already this year, I just didn't get out and take pictures. 

3.  Cup Of Cheer

OK, this one is a really old photo, and I don't know why I took it at this angle, but it's very special to me.  See, this cup of hot chocolate is from my first and only white Christmas, way back in 2010.  

Now, I wonder what happened to that mug.  It was also one of my favorites. 

4.  Festive Furry Friends.

This is as festive as the old girl gets.  Sleeping on my snowflake blanket while we watch Cheesy Hallmark movies.  But at least she leaves the tree alone, so there is that. 

On a completely unrelated note, one of my bucks dropped by to see if there was any corn to be had.

I wish someone would come and cull these bucks from the herd, because every last one of them has the ugliest racks I've ever seen.  

Frankly, I've never understood why some states don't allow spikes to be hunted.  If you ask me, there should be an unlimited number of them taken, because of the inferior genetics.  All of my bucks are spikes, and I'd love to have them hunted.  

It would have to be during archery season, though, because of this being a residential area. 

Now, if you've made it this far, a bit of news for you.  They've announced the dates for the release of Season 3 of The Chosen.  Episode one will be released next Sunday, December 11 at 7:00 PM Eastern, 6:00 Central. 

I'm already counting down the days!