"You can skip my house this year Santa!"

I think I may have over-Santaclaused and it's not even December yet.  That big red suit hurts my eyes and that constant ho-ho-ho-ing is making me edgy. Forget about the reindeer!  They're cute and all, but they don't smell good.

 

I should have some good recoop time now though, since this whole gaggle was deposited this morning at the old hotel for the holiday craft show. The ladies who checked me in were doing a little ho-ho-ho-ing themselves when they saw what I brought.  "Oh, this will go, and that will go!"  they exclaimed.  "You won't have anything to take back home!"  They're always so kind.  

"And by the way," they added, "you should bring more felted pumpkins next year."  There's a lady, they said, who comes to the fall show as soon as it opens and walks around gathering up my pumpkins.

When I got to the bee ornaments, they really started buzzing.

 I found some in my craft closet (when I was cleaning it out for the hosing).  I scribbled them in on the bottom of my inventory sheet.  "Oh, those will fly right out the door!" said my ever-so-perky cheerleaders. I considered returning home to scrounge around for more junk, I mean artful creations, since they were in such a receptive mood and all, but the traffic was thickening up.

Meanwhile, I'm going to stay in the house for the next few weeks which should pretty much eliminate any chances of further Santa sightings.  As Christmas approaches I may even put some yellow police tape across the chimney.

"It's always somethin'...."

....as Gilda used to say.

Last winter our Concondo complex

had a big problem with ice damming.

I can't exactly explain that to you,

but let's just say that snow on the roofs

began melting into the units.

Not ours, fortunately, but many.

The damage has been fixed,

and now the prevention measures

are being taken.

This means that on Tuesday

I must have my Treehouse closet

empty and free so that workmen

can get inside

and shoot an insulation-filled hose

up into our attic which is only

accessible from there.

So Mr. Gadget--gotta love him-- has

been encouraging me today

to get an early start.

I have no idea where he actually keeps his

cattle prod, but it's always within

easy reach at times like this.

It will all be worth it, I'm sure, because

we'll likely have no ice-damming problems

just like last year.

So, one more thing from the cruise,

with the exception

of Halloween costume pictures which will be

forthcoming, it's always interesting

to notice what people wear on cruises.

These happy ladies were

all adorned in black and white stripes

at the sail-away party.

I have no idea if it was pre-planned

or just an amazing coincidence.

Maybe they had the Halloween date wrong.

With any luck, I'll be back with more

Halloween pictures

 before the hose gets me.

 



Hog heaven

Mr. Gadget and I are just back from a cruise.

We sailed from New York City

and passed under the Verrazano Bridge--

with barely any room to spare.

The weather was warm.

The seas were smooth.

The scenery was lovely.

The desserts were delish!

The Halloween celebration was spooky!

But not all was bliss.

Meet the......

They were onboard in record numbers.

They're the pesky little piggies

who plant their towels, books, bags,

sunglasses, and other place-saving devices

on deck chairs almost before dawn.

Some save more than one--

a shade chair and a sun chair.

Others save chairs for their

entire extended family.

Mr. Gadget and I are already planning

activities for our next cruise.

We'll have a big ol' pig roast.