Merry Christmas

Let's start with our Christmas Eve reality:

Tis the night before Christmas

and all through this place

there's no heat a flowin',

not even a trace.

The furnace has stopped, and

now it won't go.

The temp is a fallin'

though so far it's slow.

A party we've planned

for tomorrow afternoon,

but if the heat won't start up

folks will leave here real soon.

On Christmas eve

just who do you call?

The builder who's usually

no help at all?

And who was the sub

who put in the furnace?

Of that piece of info

we can't find a trace.

This story will start

again with the dawn.

We'll either have heat

or we'll soon be gone.

To be continued. . . .

Scottie got up of course

as the loudest and first.

Feeling cold air, I

suspected the worst.

Alas it was true,

no heat would there be,

and my heart filled with fear

for a ruined Christmas party.

I got up quite grumpy,

feeling cold and depressed

Yet I managed to pull on a robe,

not ready to get dressed.

While I lit up the oven

and mixed up the scones

Scottie got busy with a

job of his own.

He cut up some wood,

though damp it might be,

and built a nice fire

to warm up little me.

By the time we ripped open

the gifts we'd received

My heart had lightened;

I was feeling relieved.

It might be a bit cold here

and the fire makes for grit,

but I suspect in the long run

it won't matter a bit.

We've found Christmas gladness,

I'd even say cheer, and

All I could wish is that

You all were here!

So, that's the way it has gone. We had a nice Christmas morning with fresh scones and a fire. Thanks to some low clouds we didn't get the really cold weather that can come with very clear weather. The fireplace kept the downstairs nicely warm. Check out Scottie - with part of the uniform for the racing team he's been invited to join - AND with the bike horn, which turns out to be a great dog discipline tactic!

We had way, way too many deserts, but the folks who showed up really seemed to enjoy them. We'll have deserts to contribute to the upcoming New Year's Eve and New Year's Day parties.

The table looked really nice with all the Christmas trees. Friend Yvonne sent me a tree that she has had for years. It's really crazy how many things she and I have shared in common for all these years without even knowing it. Y also sent Scottie the bike horn and got a big laugh from both of us.

Our tree will get the decorations pulled off soon so we can plant it. Have to come up with a name though. . . .



Oh, we'll also need to get the heating contractor here!



Well I'm tired. It's 7:30, and I'm already in bed!