Only 328 days til Christmas

The tree has been boxed up for a week now. It finally made it out to the shed yesterday. Now I just have to put the remaining Christmas cards away and move the ornament boxes back into the storage room upstairs. These are the ornaments I don't want to put back up next year. They will all go to the donation box except for the old-fashioned girl angel. My friend has said she wants it. The pink trumpets came in a bag of lovely glass icicle ornaments I bought at a Christmas fair this year — I don't like them at all.
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Gift for a gardener

My neighbours are avid gardeners and foodies. I just finished off a plate of Christmas baking they brought over. This is a big hard cover book about growing specific vegetables for recipes in the book. I enjoyed looking at the different garden plans for planting gardens to suit different world cuisines, but I'm not much of a follower of recipes, so it's time to give it to my neighbours and see if they are inspired. There's a great index listing dozens of veggies, which ones grow in which zones, and how to grow them. The plastic bowl is for flower arrangements; floral foam required (not for the neighbours). More of my Christmas tree.
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Just following the instructions

Last year at the gift-swapping Christmas party, I received this book. I took it to the party tonight, unwrapped, in the hope that someone would be interested and take it away. They were and they did. Thanks A! I also wrapped up another white elephant gift consisting of an assortment of tree ornaments. The person who picked the ornaments was not pleased, but was fortunately able to trade them later for a book she did want. All I care is that I no longer have to pack them up each year. BTW, I came home with an exquisite miniature piece of art. A handpainted matchbook with a raven on the outside and inside, decorated with gold paint and a bit of collage. Inside the box is a scroll with a First Nations legend about the raven and how light came to the world. And a matchbook hardly takes up any room at all.
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