Deck the halls

Hammering Man and the Mysterious Rabbi

We were downtown on Saturday afternoon for a Christmas concert at the Symphony.  First we had lunch at the Frye Art Museum, then stopped at the SAM gift store and said "hi" to Hammering Man.

It didn't get above 30 degrees all weekend, so I dug our dressy winter coats from the back of the closet-- it's usually too wet and warm for long wool coats here. That black overcoat and hat came from Bloomingdale's on a winter trip to New York, way back when in the 1990's.

Traditional Rabbi sightings are few and far between in Seattle, but back in NYC I look like a shiksa wife, trailing along behind him down the sidewalk. (Just our private little joke when John wears this get-up.)

Benaroya Hall looked festive for the holidays.

Cheap...Pricey...Very Expensive

Sunday morning we were out bright and early to hunt down a Christmas tree. For years we've been driving to McLendon Hardware in White Center for their weekend Christmas tree sale.  It's a circus, but you can grab a big, bushy Douglas fir for $20 or $30-- a bargain if you have room for the messy monster.  We always get a fat one because it seems like more for the money, and then somehow manage to cram it in our small living room.  By New Years the thing has become a dry pine needle bomb that literally explodes when we finally drag it outside.

Noble firs are much more expensive, and I figured there must be a good reason for this?   So when John asked where I wanted to look for a tree I said, "close to home."  No trip to White Center this year.  And in a few minutes we found a lovely cut Noble at the upscale West Seattle Nursery:  Slender but not too thin, tall and shapely, with branches in all the right places.  A real movie star of a tree with a price tag to match!

I'm looking at it now-- lights are on but no ornaments yet.  Usually I have the entire thing done in one marathon afternoon while John makes himself scarce in the basement. Instead I'll be taking my time on it today, and maybe tomorrow too.  It's a good stay-at- home project while our weather finally warms up and the precipitation goes from snow, to freezing rain, then back to plain old Seattle wet later in the week.