Santa and his reindeer came to our abode last night to celebrate the beginning of the twelve days of Christmas. We managed to get a couple snapshots before they left to go back to the North Pole. Perchance we will be able to get a few more pictures before Christmas time is over ;) enjoy!
I can't tell you how many different Christmas Trees we have had over the years. Being on a tropical island poses the problem of finding just the right tree. I have had the traditional fur trees live and fake and they just cry out, "What am I doing here?" My personal favorite was a scrappy pine of 25 feet with the trunk some 9 feet before the branches extended for the ornaments. It didn't go over big with the family though. The other native small long needled one didn't either and was a bad choice because it was hard to hang ornaments on. The sap was evil also. The traditional trees that are trucked down the island chain are always expensive and usually dry out within a week no matter how much water you provide. I've lost a few "fake" ones with the lights prestrung on them to flood waters and they are in some land fill now in Honduras I'm pretty sure. This year I try again... I wanted an old German feather tree. Expensive is the word here. I didn't plan ahead or I'd have made one myself. Maybe next year. This $19.99 one from Walgreen collapses in an instant so set up is fantastic! It does need a couple friends (trees) so I can put all my ornaments up. I would love to have three, this one, a tall feather one, and a cute shorter one to cluster them like a magical forest in the house. Spread the village into townships below them.... All on different marble top round tables. I think the best part of the holiday is putting up the tree and pulling out the nutcrackers and garland, the ribbons and bows, the colored lights and the holiday dishes. I amuse myself each year with this because it's hard not to be with family up north with the traditional sweet smelling trees and snow that we all fantasize about down here in the south. Hearing "I'll be home for Christmas" puts pangs in our hearts not to be at the homestead. Key West at Christmas sometimes feels like the island of misfit toys but somehow our dreams put us close to the ones we love. The Krew wishes everyone much Holiday love and warm thoughts of all that makes you happy.
She's 17 already! It's hard to believe, the time has flown by so quickly. You turn your back for just a moment and the giggly little girl has become a composed young woman.
Queenee, PopPop and I went out to dinner at The Sun Tavern in Duxbury with Barbara, Mark and Rich. I had Beef Wellington, which was very good, and Queenee enjoyed her lamb. She wanted to order the duck, but was sure she would be disappointed, having been spoiled by Mr. Bill's most excellent duck. PopPop ordered Veal Oscar and thought it average at best, but he is rather picky about these things. 
After dinner, we went back to the house for some cards and to celebrate BluePhan's birthday. She opened her presents, then lost some money playing poker. I think Mark and Mom probably lost, the rest of us came out a bit ahead. I did really well for the first few hands, then cooled dramatically. Oh well.
DamCat had picked up an ice cream cake and we had that and sang a round of Happy Birthday. All in all, a fun evening.
I'm not inclined to do much celebrating on my birthday. It always seemed to be just another day to me, and honestly, this one would have been no different. But that's what family is for, right?
Queenee found lots of things for me - several pairs of socks (which are great because it's something I always forget to buy for myself), sweats and pj's (my uniforms), a Munch The Scream t-shirt, ginger, a beautiful wooden box (y'all know how I love boxes), sugar scrub ... well, she went crazy, as usual. And FluffyDuf found a blanket with skulls! How cool is that?
The whole process is finally complete and he has reached his goal. Dinu is a US citizen.
Well....... another year and alot of changes. What a perfect summer with no storms, gorgous weather, plant growth and eased tensons. Everyone is thankful for it! 
Want the crap kicked out of your kid every day for the rest of the school year? Send him out dressed up as a toilet for Halloween.
Is this the cutest horse on the planet or what?Standing just 17 inches tall, she is never going to be a champion show-jumper.What a precious! She lives at Goose Creek Farm in St. Louis, MO. I imagine she is quite an attraction.
In fact, the tiny mare is so small she would struggle to leap over a bucket.
But such things are of little concern for feisty Thumbelina who has just been officially recognised as the world's smallest horse.
The five-year-old received the title from the Guinness Book of Records after her astonished owners realised she was never going to grow any bigger.
She was born on a farm in America to a couple who specialise in breeding miniature horses.
These popular show horses usually weigh about 250lb and reach a height of 34 inches when they are fully grown.
But when Thumbelina was born, it was immediately clear she would never grow to this size.
At birth she weighed 8lb - the weight of many new-born babies - and eventually she grew to a mere 60lb.
Thumbelina's extraordinary size has been put down to dwarfism, which makes her a miniature of a miniature...
PopPop was going down the deck stairs this morning and this enormous blue heron flew up into the trees. What he was doing in the backyard is anyone's guess. After a bit he flew off, probably closer to the pond.
After dinner, we went to the Boston MFA for a brief lecture about the MFA's American art collection. Afterward, we had the galleries almost to ourselves. There were about 200 people there (it was a members thing), which meant you could actually enjoy walking through and seeing the art. Several of the curators were on hand to answer questions and discuss their favorite pieces. One of mine is this charming portrait by John Singleton Copley that just happens to include a Southern flying squirrel. Deacon's favorite painting, Thomas Cole's Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, was also on view.
Sophia has proven to be quite the hunter. Considering she is not allowed out (she goes right to the street) you would think she wouldn't know much about hunting, never mind actually catch things. When I was in NY, she caught several mice that were in the house. Last night, she caught a flying squirrel.
After last night's card game when she was saying goodnight to the assembled company, the Queen saw all the beautiful mums that the girls had distributed around the front walkway. What a nice surprise from Key Dear! Today we'll enjoy the beautiful weather and have a cookout with the Damcats and maybe with the Dawgs, if they listen to their messages. More photos will no doubt follow.
Hello from Key West! Queenee and I are on Duval Street in front of Sloppy Joe's - PopPop is somewhere along the sidewalk, not believing in waving to webcams.
Tropical Storm Ernesto tore through the Florida Keys a few days ago and left behind well watered plants and some overturned lawn furniture, as seen in this graphic photo.
Today's excitement was provided by this young robin, who smacked himself into the large kitchen window. PopPop was a tiny bit pleased about this - not that the bird got hurt, but that he couldn't see the glass - since he had just washed the windows a couple days ago. Anyway, after sitting on PopPop's veggie collection basket for a while, then on the basketball hoop (had to move him from there, Little One was reaching for him), then in the wet grass, he finally flew off. There are mass quantities of robins in the yard lately, we must have had 5-6 nests hatch. There have been some other young birds flitting around that are clearly not robins, and today I finally realized they are young Baltimore Orioles. We had two pair in the lower yard this Spring. At least one pair nested successfully!
Dinu had his anterior cruciate ligament put back together yesterday morning. The surgeon said everything looked good (as if she would say anything else) and he should be fine in a few weeks. He was in a lot of pain yesterday when we first came home, but is feeling much better today. He has a pump dispensing a painkiller directly to the nerve in his knee, and that helps a lot. It is connected to a catheter in his femoral artery. He'll have that taken away on Monday and then it's just percocet, which will be fine.
Yes indeed. Queenee and I have started walking after dinner. We could both stand to lose more than a few pounds, and our knees need the exercise. She doesn't walk as far nor as fast as I do, but that's to be expected. She'll be keeping up soon enough.
Deacon got this fab awning from a job. Sounds like the guy is replacing everything. There is a tear in the fabric, but who cares, it still shades the kitchen window and really helps keep the house cool. It's wonderful to have all that sun in the winter, but these 95F days we can do without the additional heat.
There were many tales of caution, as seen in blackened and cancerous smoker's lungs, enlarged hearts, tumor-filled organs, and hardened arteries. Just look at this image and tell me you don't want to watch your weight. The fat guy died at 50 when his enlarged heart couldn't take any more.
There are cases of body parts, both whole, laid open, and sliced. They had the three tiny bones from an ear canal. It's a great show for anyone who wants to learn about the body. You get a real appreciation for just how remarkable a body is, not to mention how specialized. I think this pose might suit me! 
Decided to take a detour across the street at the BBC tonight after work instead of going home. Saw them decorating with red, white, & blue & Red Sox balloons and couldn't resist the temptation, so me & my pal Joanna go over and......The Rem Dawg is making an appearance on his night off, so I call E....and doesn't he just muscle his way in....won a t-shirt (Polly...I think we'll be mailing that to you!!) Got a visor and a couple of coozies, a little photo-op...and voila!! E & Rem Dawg at the BBC!! Fun night. Red Sox nation out in full-force.....go SOX!!
