Double Christmas Flower

It has been a busy day cleaning and organizing my office and the rest of the house. Having a business in your home is wonderful most of the time. But then there are times when it can be a real hassle, especially when the office needs to be turned into a guest room for a period of time. All of my files, maps, documents, etc. have to be put away (where I can find them again), the desk, tables, bookcases, etc. need to be cleaned, and all of my suitcases, bags, etc. need to be stowed away in the attic.

Ah, yes, the attic. . . I haven't been in the attic in several years. I thought it was empty except for my box of Christmas wrapping paper and ribbon. Oh, boy was I wrong. There were boxes of old canvases, papers, notebooks, etc. from when my daughter and her roommates lived here. And there was quilt batting and material ages old. And buried way behind and underneath it all was my wrapping paper. (Groan!) So, I took everything down and tidied up the attic. It only took me about 3 hours - time that I could have spent cleaning the house. Oh, well. Out it all went, loaded in the car and driven to the local charity for donation.

When I got back to the house, I realized that the warmer air was starting to melt the 4 inches of ice in my driveway. So, I grabbed my shovel, broke up the ice blocks and shoveled them off. I had been trying to get the ice cleared off for days, but hadn't had very good luck until today. Then I realized that I had at least that much and more on the back deck. So, I broke it up and shoveled it off as well. I was glad to get that done since I wanted to use the smoker for the Christmas turkey. And these tasks had only taken another 3 hours.

Shortly after I finished these tasks, J and the pups arrived. J had just driven the 1000 miles from Denver and he was exhausted and ravenous. So, I zipped off to the store to pick up a few things, grabbed some take out, came home, made a couple of grapefruit margaritas and enjoyed our dinner.

Oh no! I hadn't taken any photos today! Well, my faithful little Azalea plant proved to be the perfect subject. I was going to blip the pups, but the are looking a bit scroungy right now. They need a day at the dog spa!

Thank you all for the wonderful comments, stars and hearts on Monday's moonscape and yesterday's sunset. I am deeply touched that you all liked them. Have a great day tomorrow.