Fah-who foraze! Dah-who Doraze!

Welcome to Christmas! Come this way.

Yes, I know one string of lights is out, who knew the strings had fuses in them? And more importantly, who knew that the hardware store closed at 4 on Sundays? I'll pick up another tomorrow, and maybe some little lights for the 3 mini trees you can hardly see in the dark there.

Unlike the REAL presents I used inside the mudroom (you can see them through the window, above the quilt), the red wrapped boxes on the step are empty. The last time I did this type of decorations, we lived in Waterloo, and 3 separate times in one year, someone stole them. They're pretty boxes, but geeze, I'm not THAT dumb. How disappointed must the thief have been to open them and find nothing? And how stupid to do it again? And AGAIN?!

No one will take these, though. We have only one other neighbour on our road and they'd never even think of it. Anyone else who wanders down here is either delivering, installing, repairing, or hauling something away. Or lookie-loos with New York or New Hampshire plates, who for some reason drive down v-e-r-y slowly, then peel back out the lane like they're being chased by the Hounds of the Baskervilles. Can't imagine they'd slow down enough to swipe an empty box.