More about our birds. . . How we came to have the parakeet is a story in itself. Mother was out in the garden hanging up the laundry one sunny day and out of nowhere a blue & white parakeet flew right down and landed on Mother's shoulder. She nibbled lovingly on Mother's ear and mother said, "Well hello there" and the bird said, "Ooooh. Hello!" And Mother said, "So, who are you?" The bird replied, "Pretty Bird!" So, she kept her name. She never flew away after finding a nice home, having no desire to try living out in the big free world ever again. We never did find out from whence she came. I would like to add about the Mexican Love Bird. . . . . .that after cursing out the preacher and telling him to "Go to Hell!", and saying things like "Well, -uck a duck!", our love bird never said any of the really foul swear words ever again. Mother said it must have just been a cleansing thing for her, but I have always wondered just what Mother did to make her "repent" and come clean.??? And as for our parakeet, Pretty Bird? After her jello bath, she began saying, "Oooooh, Pretty Bird. Pretty Bird is a dirty bird!" We kids got so much fun out of her. She loved Orange Jell-O, not just for bathing but for eating it as well. She especially loved it when mother made it into a salad by adding grated carrots and chopped walnuts. Yum yum! She would walk across the table and sample everything. If she found something she particularly didn't like, she would make a mess of it and have a fit! So afterward she had to kept up during meals. She would fuss and squawk at us from her cage, demanding to be loosed at once! As you said, covering her cage was helpful in quieting her down. She would then say, "Good night Pretty Bird!" which would then of course, set us all into a round of giggles. ~Annie

Jeanne..your bathroom is a waaay too serene setting! I don't think I'd come out of there...I'd just grab a book and 'chill'!! lol Love your BOP decor...the little angel is precious and love that little tree. I think I mentioned once before that I had one just like it when I was a young girl..my DM would put it in my room. Seeing yours is always nostalgic for me. That 'Mission' shelf unit is a nice piece and is decorated with the sweetest things. Also love that special Nativity...it's so unusual looking...I love its simplicity! Thanks for 'tour' of your Bath...what a pleasant place to visit!! jane

Thank you again everyone for your wonderful pictures and virtual descriptions. I am not sure if I can get a bow around Buddy or for that matter if he wouldn't eat it before I got a picture. Whenever I take pictures of something in the house or outside he seems to get himself right in the way. It will be fun trying. I had a very good day yesterday. I put up my fibre optic tree and hung mirror and faux crystal ornaments. Did put my bows on the chairs. Tied bows around my lamps and I will finish the black tree today along with some other things that came to me overnight when I woke up at 2:00am to let the dog out. I even brought out things I haven't used and have had for many years. This year DS's Lego has been relocated per request by him to the Living Room which means that the tree will be in the family room. It will be a little different and as always the Lego will clash with all the purple. lol. He told me he would put it away till after Christmas, but I told him it was okay. It was a minor thing. Off to finish the tree. Linda

Re housecleaners--that was another motivation for me to at least get my tree down last week; I did it the day before the incredibly efficient person who cleans for me came so she could really get everything scrubbed and vacuumed up :). And about lights-after many years of carefully winding them around cardboard or storing in bags, and then taking them out the next year and trying to find strings that didn't have burnt bulbs and/ weren't twisted up....I am living the truly decadent lifestyle of buying several boxes of the 300-light strings from Home Depot, putting them on the tree and then THROWING THEM OUT. It makes me feel sorta guilty but mostly delighted to know that next year I will just spend another $10 and not have to worry or fuss with lights! I finally got all my holiday decorations down, boxed and back in the garage loft on Monday. I use only red or green plastic bins that seal tightly, the color so they are easily identifiable and sealed so no critters or dust can get in. Each box is numbered and I long ago created a corresponding list of the box numbers with the contents of each in detail. I sometimes make a few changes in content so I update the printed list each year and one copy goes in the loft with the supplies, the other stays on my desk. Each year when it's time to decorate I know exactly which boxes have what, which makes it super easy to unload and unpack when I get ready to decorate. It sounds more complicated than it really is I suppose--was a bit of a chore to set up but has saved untold hours of aggravation over the years and makes the holiday effort a lot easier. Controlling type A personality? Nah, not me.......lol