We decided to do the Tour of Homes tomorrow, so we had to get most of our chores done today. Thus it was off to Costco before noon for gasoline for the truck, then milk and other necessities of life. James bought me a Christmas or birthday gift, and we had lunch by noshing on all the samples. The lobster spread was on sample today; yay.

Since it was cool, we just put the milk and eggs into insulated bags and went on our way, first to PetsMart and then Michael's. I wanted to buy Schuyler something she could chew on, since she has gnawed the center of her smaller swing down to lollypop stick-diameter in the middle. I also bought a new bar for the swing, a natural perch to see if I can tame her to stand on the perch since she's frightened of my hand, and some seed. We also got Willow a Christmas collar in place of the usual bandanna and some treats for Christmas. The place was full of dogs today: one man had a male and female Yorkie on leashes and their two puppies in a carrier. They turned a corner and found a Westie lunging at them. The male Yorkie lunged right back, yapping canine imprecations at him. We also saw a woman with a tiny warm-brown cocker spaniel puppy that she had just picked up. I exclaimed "Oh, she's the color of gingerbread! How perfect!" I think I may have given them an idea for a name!

On to the hobby shop and then to Lowe's for a board to place on the mantel. Since I bought the Woolworth building, the village will not fit on the existing space. We bought a melamine-coated board instead of just a piece of lumber that would have required painting and had it cut to the correct length. Now we just need to paint the two edges and I can letter something appropriately festive on the front.

We came home with out loot, walked the dog and fiddled about with the computer, then went to Ikea for supper. I have been having the chicken marsala instead of the meatballs, but they had none tonight, so instead I had the salmon with apple glaze, which came with plain potatoes and baby carrots. It was quite good. (It still came up on me, but that's normal. ::sigh::)

We were there because (a) I needed an extra shelf for a bookcase downstairs and (b) have been wanting to get James a better night table (he's been using one of my mom's old end tables) and a better side table next to his chair in the living room (where we're using the other end table). The latter was out of stock, but we got the former, and the shelf.

This is also the time of year when the gingerbread hearts appear. In Sweden it is traditional to decorate trees with gingerbread hearts tied with red ribbon. In the American South this can often bring you tiny six-legged visitors. They are better to eat, very gingery but light; two are a perfect small snack to cure a sweet tooth and if I have an upset stomach I often eat one or two since ginger is a natural digestive aid. I used to find them in discount stores or Linens'n'Things, where I would buy them up after Christmas on discount, but Ikea has them in big boxes of 74 cookies. Last year I bought two and they lasted until June, so I got four boxes. A good thing we went, too, since they only had seven boxes left upstairs and none in the Swedish shop near checkout.

Labels: Christmas, decorating, dogs, food, pets, shopping

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