Christmas preparations

 I'm making very slow progress on my plaid skirt; at this time of year, there are multitudes of extra things to be done. You have to decide which thing to do. 

Like make a batch of gingerbread spice. That was important. 

When, in the mornings, I ponder all the things I'd like to do, need to do, feel I should do, etc., in the course of the day, I've been asking myself, what is it that you'll be glad you did, at the end of the day? That clarifies everything for me!  It's the balance I'm always searching for. 

I put on my gaudy Christmas apron today, and baked a gingerbread for a birthday cake next week. I did not use the aforementioned spice mixture, as I like the recipe as it is; it's something I pinned because I liked the way it looked. This is it, and it actually reminds me of something they used to sell at the grocery store when I was a kid, called Spanish Bar Cake - do you remember it? Do they still make it? It had raisins inside, and I think it was spicy - it may have been a gingerbread. I wouldn't want to read the ingredient list now, but it looked like this photo, and I'm sure that's what drew me to it. Anyway, mine is safely in the freezer, and I'll make the cream cheese frosting on Monday (the Spanish Bar cake had regular frosting, a "buttercream".) 

I realize I don't mention the cats much. Dolly was very photogenic, and she was often surprising us in interesting ways. Daisy is so young and active that it's hard to get her to stop moving. 

None of these photos are any good. But they illustrate my point. But here's something -

And speaking of Christmas trees, I am throwing out our old one - the lights don't work and it sheds. I think Daisy would eat the "leaves"; she puts all sorts of things in her mouth. If we bought a new tree, it would have to be so dense that they couldn't climb it, and with the realistic type of needles which would hopefully be unpleasant to chew on. Last year, Annie went inside our tree and laid on some lower branches - she bent them down, and they wouldn't bend back; there was a big gap there afterward. So I'm not sure what the solution is. I'm pondering a three-foot tabletop model for the time being. I don't know - time is passing, and maybe if I put enough decorations out, it can look festive enough. But I do love a Christmas tree! 

Anyway, there's a lot to do, isn't there?

For any birth makes an inconvenient demand; like all holy things.*

-  from Christmas and Common Birth by Anne Ridler

*taken from Malcolm Guite's Waiting for the Word