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All the Christmas decorations have been stowed back in the attic until November. Christmas presents have been or are being assimilated. Christmas delicacies are now New Year’s baggage. Sybaritic December has given way to sober January.
In other news, the Abster is nursing strained ligaments in one ankle, suffered during basketball practice. It is reported she has to wear a supporting boot constantly for a couple of weeks. She was wearing the boot and getting around okay just a few days after the injury but the trainer examined her again on Monday and prescribed the boot treatment. It was feared at first that there may have been a fracture so maybe strained ligaments is better but wearing the boot will be onerous anyway.
Our weather is cold and dismal, mostly. I debated whether to go out to the Bluff as usual Wednesday morning but finally decided to go and I’m glad I did. The overnight low was 39, a significant improvement over previous nights, and, though it was breezy, the clouds burned off and the sun came out so that it turned out to be a nice day. I even went to the golf course in the afternoon to hit some balls. I was anxious to work on a few suggestions John had given me.
Ever since Kari bought new patio furniture year before last their old table and chairs set they brought from Garland sat in their driveway next to the house. They offered it to us but we weren’t sure we wanted a table on our patio. We had the swinging settee from Joyce’s mother’s house back there and were satisfied with that. When Chris got his pickup he wasn’t able to park it up close to the garage because of the table so we agreed to let him put the table and chairs on our patio with the understanding that if we didn’t like it we could dispose of it. It is good quality furniture and, though some of the chairs need repair to the webbing, it looks nice. It may be that the table will be disgusting after the birds get through with it though. The trees overhang the patio completely with predictable consequences, a problem they didn’t have down at 2005. Maybe it won’t be too bad and a little routine maintenance will take care of the mess. Or maybe it can be covered when not in use. Time will tell. It is nice furniture and could be a nice addition if the birds allow it and repairs are made so we don’t want to discard if we don’t have to.
Oreo, aka Cookie Monster, seems to be settling in to life as a shop cat. I’m not sure but what he and Sydney aren’t beginning to grow in affection for one another. There doesn’t seem to be any friction between them in spite of the amount of time they are forced to spend in the shop due to inclement weather and just the other day I saw them underneath a tree in close proximity to each other trying to enjoy what little sun there was.