WOW! What a difference between Charleston and Portland! First off I must say that I am highly jealous of everywhere else in the US that is getting snow, because we certainly aren't! Portland got a complete dump for Christmas and I think they are expecting more. I on the other hand was sweating my buns off and fighting mosquitoes while trying to hang my outdoor lights.
Yes, it was quite an adventure decorating the outside of the house. An adventure in Folly! Now Tom and I haven't decorated the outside of the house in a few years and we've obviously never decorated the outside of this one. So it started with the idea of getting some net lights to drape the bushes in front of the front porch. We bought one that sounded like it would be the perfect size. However I assure you they are not as wide as they claim. The one we bought was enough tho cover the end of the bush and I had to go by two bigger ones to cover the rest of the bush.
Then I found these cute little prelit saplings to flank the driveway. However the cord that runs between the saplings is about 2 inches off the ground. The HVAC guy walked through and killed the first set and I walked through and killed the second set and the third set I bought just plain didn't work. I bought another brand through Home Depot which were bright white LED lights and you could have landed small aircraft with them. So we'll just have to find something else next year.
Then I was trying to find time for Tom and I to decorate the front porch and garage together, but one way or another it didn't happen. So, I did it myself on night, and as I said it was warm, muggy, and buggy. I got it done about 10 minutes before Tom came home. So I said " I got the porch, you get the garage!" Well then none of our ladders worked because they were to short. When we did manage to get Tom on the roof, he felt it was to steep. So I have two unused strings of icicle lights that never managed to make it onto the peak of my garage roof to finish to look I was going for.
Then came the Christmas Tree hunt! I saw a tree at the local fruit stand we liked. It was gorgeous and would have cost us $60-$70 in Vancouver. I almost died when I saw the price tag - $250!!! We didn't get that tree, and it was still sitting there a few days before Christmas. We did visit tree farms in the area, but their idea of a Christmas Tree down here is Leland Spruce, or larger versions of what I grew up thinking of as a shrub cut into Christmas tree form. We were getting very discouraged. We did find a lovely tree - from North Carolina - at Chik-Fil-A (think the Burger King of Chicken breasts.)
Happy New Year EVERYONE!!!
The BIG BROTHER
13 years ago
