Christmas Gifts

We have a very nice fireplace in our living room and I have just discovered that I have no photos of it with the fire lit. We only light it on cold winter evenings which for us is usually the last couple of weeks in December and a couple of weeks in January. It has gas lit logs which are very realistic, but during the rest of the year it sits there , rather like a black hole. It does have screens which pull across but it is not very attractive.

And yes, that is the new Henrietta sitting there on the left. She's only there until the rainy season is over.

If I ever have a large vase of flowers I will often put it there. On the left side of the fireplace I used to have a seagull, in keeping with our rather vague nautical theme in this room. Other pictures on the wall have an ocean or harbor theme.

So this year I discovered a really nice fire screen which can sit in front of the fireplace when it is not lit and I asked for it for Christmas.


The little glass candle holders have a gold sheen to them. I didn't want more candles since at Christmas time we would be moving the new screen each evening, so I put one colored glass Christmas tree globe in each one. Of course I forgot to take a photo!

I have decided to try to come up with a seasonal theme to sit in the candle holders, so for now they sit empty while I make up my mind what I want to do. I will have to spend an hour or so at Michaels -- the craft store.

But there is a mystery here. Moth bought me a set of six very nice stylish cats all in different cat poses a couple of months ago. I had them up on the mantelpiece under the painting before Christmas and replaced them with candles and a nativity scene for Christmas. Now that everything Christmassy is put away, I can't find the cats anywhere! I know I put them away safely because I remember thinking, they will be safe there... but now...where???