Easily pleased

I spend way too much time on ebay.  I very seldom buy things, but I love looking through vintage needlepoint kits.  Some have gone way up in price.  Needlepoint isn't available in the mass-market the way it used to be in the 80s.  Sometimes I find deals on beautiful kits.  The best ones have wool included instead of acrylic yarn.

This little beauty from 1983 was only $3.00.  For the hours of entertainment I'll get stitching it, it seemed like a good deal.  Then I opened it...

Score!  They meant for the ornament to be two sided.  But why make a Santa with two faces? I'm going to make two separate ornaments and back them.  One for me, one for a gift.  It's the little things like this that make me so happy.

Meanwhile, my attempts to cat-proof the village continue to be ignored.  Now both cats are setting up shop there.  Hopefully when we get the tree they'll settle onto the tree skirt and leave the poor village alone.

We had planned to get the tree today, so of course we had a storm last night.  Plenty of mud for us!  Hopefully the rain will ease up and we'll bring a beauty home.  Every single year, in the evening once the tree is up, my husband sits in the darkened room with only the tree lights on and says the exact same thing;  "This is the best tree we've ever had."