On my daily trip home to Rutland from Manchester I spotted Christmas trees at the Beebe Farm in Dorset for sale. First I must digress a bit… this year I am lucky enough to have a wonderful girl from Brazil staying with me. Carolina is actually the niece of the girl I had as an exchange student 31 years ago… isn’t that something! Anyway, I was not going to put up a tree, but then I got to thinking how selfish that was because she is so far away from home and a tree might cheer her up. So I bought a tree, a real tree, and stuffed it into the hatchback of my car. I got into Rutland and realized that I needed to get shopping done for Carolina without her with me so I stopped at the Rutland Mall. Yes, I said the Mall. I really should have myself committed, every year I swear I’m going to shop early and every year I’m last minute Charlie. You would think that someone like me who HATES shopping would want to avoid the animals at the “zoo” if you know what I mean, but nooooo I become one of them. It is not a pretty sight, and when I am finally finished I look like Jack Nicholson in “The Shining”!

After my trip to the “zoo” I headed home where I tell Carolina and my cousin Brittany to get the tree out of the car, get it upstairs into my place and put it in the tree stand. I go next door to my Uncle Paul’s. Fifteen minutes later they come over to tell me that the base is to big for the stand and that they need a saw. I was a little leery giving a saw to a klutz, and to someone who has never held a hammer in her hand never mind a saw, but they would not be denied. After 2 hours of laughing and carrying on we finally had a tree in a tree stand. Progress! Some other good family friends gave me a box of lights and ornaments so Carolina and I decided to decorate… then I decided that Carolina should have all the fun so I sat back and supervised! 🙂 (I’ve been told on more than one occasion that I am good at that)

Ciao for now… Bubbie & Me