Patrick came over on Sunday and helped me get the street decoration up as well as all the lights on the house. I finished after he left, putting additional lights on the hedge and the ficus tree next to the front porch. Also put up garland and a wreath at the front bay window. And that was it. While it didn’t rain on Sunday, it was cold and windy, and I gave up doing any more decorations at about 4:30 pm. I started around 11 am, so I was ready to collapse and warm up.

I still need to put up wreaths and garland on the front porch, but overall the house looked pretty good considering we did it all in one day. It looked good until today, that is. For whatever reason the lights on the front of the house won’t go on tonight. The plug seems okay, so all I can figure is that a fuse on one of the light strings has blown. Unfortunately, it’s dark by the time I get home at night so I can’t figure out what’s wrong until Saturday. The street decoration, the garage and the hedge are all still lit, so it doesn’t appear that I am being a scrooge.

Will try to get up early on Saturday and finish up decorating the front porch and see if I can get the lighting problem repaired. Also need to find another timer since the lights that are no longer lit have to be plugged in manually every night. I have at least 3-4 timers somewhere in the garage. Just have to dig around to find one.

Meanwhile, I’ve finished almost all of my shopping! Stopped on the way home tonight to pick up some candy for Robin and will pack up a small box and get it sent off tomorrow. Still have to get a few other items, but know mostly what I’m getting and will only have to go to one store this weekend.

And then I’ll start baking and doing what little cleaning I still have left to do this weekend. Oh, and wrapping gifts. Not sure what the entire menu is for Christmas, although Patrick asked if I liked lamb. Will probably have Patrick and Veronica here for Christmas Eve, so am planning to get a small ham for sandwiches and make some some salads and snacks to go along with the ham. All in all, Christmas should be calm and enjoyable once I get through this weekend.