Doing Home Therapy and Loving it!

 I may be the very last person to take down thier very last Christmas tree from 2025!

As I write this journal entry on Sunday night, I still have four fully decorated trees in two different rooms. The dining room has two trees and the dining table is heaped high with Christmas decorations and debris from other rooms. Then there's the sewing room with another two trees plus ALL the Christmas debris!

However, I am not fretting since we are not really entertaining or hosting dinners and such so I am not feeling pressure to get it all done.

I've actually been doing a lot of thinking lately - what with all the life changes we all face as we age - and I think Christmas 2025 was my last big hurrah.

I'm going to be scaling it back over the next few years and when and if I reach 80 - that will be my last year of hosting Christmas Eve. 

I think it's good to plan and think ahead - it kind of comforting in a way.

As I am taking my Santa walls down, I've decided to only do one this Christmmas and that will be in the living room. Next year I'll do the den wall....and in the meantime....I'll be asking my children if there are any favorite Santas they would like to have and then I will sell some of the others.

I'v enjoyed painting each and every one and want others to continue to enjoy them.

Our cats seem really happy to be home.

They love the debris and I had to halt remaking this wreath as first  Tabitha claimed it....

and then Samantha claimed it!

I have finished the foyer and decided on a botanical theme.

It just kind of happened.

I have both live and faux plants.

I'm loving the transition.....of winter to spring and summer.

I do things differently every year.

But this angel wall has remained pretty much the same for the last 25 years....

Louis Dean and I spend several hours outside each day when the weather permits.

I decided to move this table over against the house (where the morning shade is) and it serves as a little cafe style place to have breakfast, coffee, and watch birds and have my quiet time.

I usually prepare healthy meals and I also need to remind myself to make sure I feed Louis Dean.

He's seldom hungry so I have to think ahead and make sure he eats enough.

In taking care of others, we often forget to take care of ourselves.

Turns out I had totally missed getting a mammogram last year - or a flu shot.

I called the imaging center and had an appointment the very next day.

Results were normal and Louis Dean was so relieved as he lost his beloved Ellen to breast cancer.

I find that limiting our errands to two a day works best for us.

My mammogram and a stop at Krogers was on the calendar for Thursday.

I always check their meat section for reduced for quick sale buys and came home with pork chops and four pounds of hamburger.

Errands one day and stay at home the next.

We need these home days now more than ever,

I'm glad Louis Dean loves salads nearly as much as I do.

Early bedtime for me and a movie for Louis Dean - MacArthur!

I have so many books and once I read one - I give it to someone I think will like it or to Goodwill.

It's fun to go look at all the ones I have stacked up in the guest room closet and on the staircase to the bunk beds and the library shelves in the sewing room and the shelves in the foyer which hold mostly the Readers Digest Condensed Books. Hundreds of books. More than I can read in my life time. But I'm picking them one by one......

I love my Saturday night dinner and movie with Ilene!

Louis Dean and I had a glass of wine as we waited for her to arrive.

I made a special cocktail using blueberry wine, sparkling water and a splash of buttery chardonney for me. Ilene is a very light drinker so I make sure her drink is low in alcohol.

I made my version of the strawberry/spinach/pecans/eggs/veggies salad from La Madeleine ...

with poppyseed dressing.

Delicious!

Our entree was Shrimp Pasta Fetticini!

Not Louis Dean's favorite but I love it and sent some home with Ilene and I have more to use for meals this week. Summer is still in Texas and she may visit again and enjoy a good meal.

I chose the movie for this weekend and we watched it.

Alas, I enjoyed it better back in 2003.

It wasn't nearly as entertaining for us in 2026.

And I thought Louis Dean would be interested in it - but he wasn't.

Next weekend will be better.....

You can't go wrong with James Bond!

I think I love him since he reminds me of my Benjamin...