Day 24 - Hark the Herald Angels Sing

Back in my 20s when I had my first apartment and not much money, I was pretty sparse in my Christmas decorating.  This Murano glass angel was my one exception.  I am not much of a shopper and definitely not an impulse buyer.  I will usually forget about something that has caught my interest in a catalog (or now on a website), so I don’t spend a lot of money that way.  However this angel showed up in a catalog one year and I couldn’t get it out of my mind.  I loved the elegant curves of the glass and how it reflected light.  It was certainly not inexpensive (at least in terms of my budget at the time), but it was not hugely extravagant.  I finally decided to splurge and buy it and I am still very glad that I did.  I display it each Christmas and pack it in its original box at the end of the holidays.  This picture was the best of the bunch that I took trying to work with the lighting and such, but it still doesn’t do the piece justice in my opinion.  I think it is a fitting image for Christmas Eve.

Day 23 - Stuffed Kitty

I really like how this photo turned out.  This stuffed cat ornament is a memory from my childhood.  I have a whole set of these stuffed felt ornaments.  They were made by a friend of my Nana’s.  Nana bought them to help her friend out and because she thought they were sweet.  When she brought the first three to us, I immediately claimed this yellow cat as my own because it looked like my beloved cat Oliver.  I imagine that this was what was intended, but I remember trying to make that point very clear.   The photo was taken with the camera on “easy” setting where the camera is supposed to do all of the work for you.  I should be jealous that the camera can take better pictures than I can, but I am just happy to have this picture.

Day 22 - You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch

After Rudolph my next favorite Christmas show is How the Grinch Stole Christmas - the animated one – NOT the movie.  So of course I have a Grinch ornament for my tree.  I bought it for my first tree in Tennessee and have decorated with it every Christmas since then.

Day 21 - Presents!

So today I got out my camera instruction booklet – well the “Let’s Get Started” booklet.  I actually had to try to start using the Spanish version of the booklet before I finally found one in English.  I learned and relearned a few basic camera skills before taking today’s picture.  Today’s picture is presents!  I love presents under the tree.  They look so festive and fun.  Many of them are for Scout, but a few of them are for me.  :)   I worked on the zoom function with this picture and took several photos from different distances before choosing this one.

I also learned how to shoot basic video with this camera.  Perhaps I will post a video of Scout opening her presents on Christmas day.

Day 20 - Scout's Spot or Why I got a Christmas Tree

One of the main reasons I get a big live tree every year is because my “child” enjoys it so much.   Here is a picture of Scout in her holiday “spot”.  I have to leave enough room under the tree for her to have a designated area for sitting and sleeping.  She also enjoys drinking water from the tree stand.  I worked on taking this picture with both flash and without flash.  I had thought that the flash photos would be more exciting or exotic or something like that, but in the end the one with the flash won out.  Plus Scout was getting just a wee bit annoyed with my picture taking efforts.

Day 19 - Abominable Snowman

My all-time favorite Christmas program is Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer.  I think I know all of the dialogue and songs by heart.  One of my favorite characters is the Abominable Snowman.  I think I was a bit afraid of him when I was a child, but I always thought that he was cute.  I got this plush version of the “Bumble” as Yukon Cornelius would call him over 10 years ago.  I love him and put him out every year, but there is a glaring error in this image.   I will give you a minute to see if you can figure it out…………………………….OK – here it is.  In the show, by the time the Abominable Snowman is holding the star and putting it on the tree in Santa’s house, he has already had all his teeth removed!   Of course a toothless Snowman might not make such a cute ornament.   I guess whoever made this ornament was not the only one who decided to make this mistake.  Below is a picture of the ceramic Abominable Snowman ornament that hangs on my tree.  See his big toothy grin and then look at what he is holding in his left hand.