AUGH!!! and more trees

Hello everyone.  Today started off with me shaking in my red rubber boots.  I was proceeding to the cat condo (which now has egg-crate foam lined with thick sherpa) to feed the brats but not before I gave a panoramic snarl to the white crap that is now covering my yard.  Did I ever mention that I hate winter?  Something colorful and large caught my eye.  There he was.  The Godfather, the Drill Sergeant, Jack Hammer of the woods, the Grand Poobah of peckers.......the pileated.  Oh Lord I'm in trouble.   He's bigger than the cats!  Did his subjects call him in after being squirted off my house?  Did the clanging pans disturb them too much?  The sight of a wild woman jumping up and down flailing arms and screaming give them nightmares?    I was afraid to let him out of my sight to get the camera so I snagged this photo.

This Poobah Pecker can take the siding off my house in a half hour.  I'm providing nourishment (as recommended) for his #*$&*! subjects that were trying to nest in my house so he should be kind to me.  He's too big to land on their feeder - I'll make a larger feeder - and a sign with his image on it - with an egg-crate landing post.  Anything O Poobah.   I watched him fly away as I bowed, but I'm not leaving the house just in case. 

 Here's the results of the drawing.  I went to Random.org and entered all the names, it created a list and assigned numbers, and then two numbers were drawn.

I hope you like your gifts!

I decided to forget about stringing lights on the last tree so it is back in the attic.  This smaller version has been used for years and since it already had lights, I brought it down and decorated it the same as always.  The little schooler Santas that I earlier put on a wreath since I wasn't planning on their usual tree, and rust.  Rusty jingle bells, stars, and pine cones.  What a difference since staining them!  I like the tree so much better than prior years and am glad I darkened the light sage Aida.  It looks great with the rust and even better with the lights off.

The little stool next to it is something I found at our local antique mall a while back.  It's a darling little shoe shine stool.  Usually the lid is down and it looks like an ordinary little bench but the Shinola label matches the colors on the tree so I left it open and will fill it with greens and enormous rusty bells.

So with all these trees and others in the attic, why am I keeping the 3' I just purchased?  Because I may never find a little one with branches that stiff for heavy ornaments.  I think it's perfect in my tiny parlor.  The price tag is still on though, just in case.  I'm done.  So you've seen all trees.   Except for the main one...

 Which goes in front of the window next to the fireplace now that it's complete.  Now we're done.   The glass ornament filled with colored ribbons has "BJ" on it.  We have a local pet cemetery, chapel, and they also do cremations.  Any pet lost in the year is remembered with a personalized ornament at a chapel service held at Christmas time.  I couldn't go last year, but Mark did.  They would have heard me wailing downtown.   Anyone is welcome and it's a packed house every year for our pet service.  I'm crying already!  So that's it.  For sure.  I'm done.  Back to stitching.  I want to finish Frances Bliss and start on the Woodlawn that I plan to post for sure, next time.   I was planning to make our cottage cheese pierogis for Christmas eve, but none of the stores carry dry cottage cheese anymore and the regular (even well drained) isn't the same.  So I'll make some of our favorite cookies and try not to eat so much dough that I only get a half batch.  Stay safe, have a great week, thank you for reading.  My sincere gratitude to everyone that participated in the offer, and to followers.  Thank you!