Dog's Dinner

As you know, we do like to have a full tree with an eclectic mix of decorations (sometimes unkindly referred to as a bit of a dog's dinner) and so while I was at the Bargain Loft yesterday I purchased a few more items to complete our tree..

A white dove..

A white wooden cat...

An angel made of painted tin..

A blown glass snowman..

Dr Seuss...  (Well we are in the US..)

A Cardinal bird made of shiny metal..

An even shinier 'gold' fish

A rather Victorian looking Santa Claus..

And finally .. A bird house with snowman and Cardinals!!

I think we can stop now, we have enough decorations having also added several dozen baubles and icicles to the mix!

(Yes, it was quite a quiet day today, how did you guess?!). We have been shopping at the Outlet Mall at Leesburg but it was a chilly grey day which didn't make for very photogenic surroundings..

The Price is Right .. Or is it?

It was Black Friday today and the big sales are in full swing in the major stores. I had promised to help in the Bargain Loft but as we had extra help on the till I worked on researching and pricing a variety of items ranging from Christmas ornaments to Tiffany & Co and Baccarat crystal.  

The metal dog, above, is a money box.

Pigs!  One Belleek, one Nymphenberg.

Extraordinary and very heavy Czech cut glass fruit bowl, signed by its maker.

This beautiful Madonna figure is proving to be quite a challenge.  she appears to be made of olive wood, delicately carved with old painted robes and a bad case of woodworm!

Christmas Decorations at Thanksgiving

Working in the Holiday Shop at the Bargain Loft proved just too tempting and  I brought home with me a (partially working) pre-lit tree.  After a bit of work David managed to sort out the lights and we were able to decorate it.

Our decorations are in storage but this fluffy Cardinal bird was David's January sale bargain last winter and we had also bought this decoration from San Francisco..

..as well as this squirrel on a feeder, from the Christmas shop at Occoquan..

Finally we had a 'Bath' ornament given to me when I left the University..

We were obviously going to need considerably more ornaments so I set about choosing some from the Bargain Loft.  This red glass heart with sparkling crystals turned out to be a designer bauble which retails at more than $150!!

This is a hand blown glass bauble.

A gingerbread man and a toy soldier..

Mount Vernon in gold plated brass..

A post box..

A tropical tree..

A china cat..

A bird house..

And lots of baubles..

I don't think I have ever put up a Christmas tree in November before (Happy Birthday, Maggie!) but here lots of people do put up decorations at Thanksgiving in preparation for Christmas and at least we will have time to enjoy it before we leave in two weeks!  I am working at the Bargain Loft tomorrow so will be on the lookout for a few more bargain ornaments..

Thanksgiving Day today so a quiet one - we watched some of the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade from New York on the TV..

This evening we were invited to a Thanksgiving dinner with our neighbours which was lovely.

First Snow

It rained heavily all night and was still raining this morning and so we didn't really believe that we would get the forecast snow.

However, large sleety flakes started to fall during the morning and when I left the Bargain Loft to collect David at lunchtime (the beginning of his Thanksgiving holiday), it was snowing hard and pitching too.

The leaves were covered ..,

The trees too..

In the back garden all was still and white and the new bird bath was distinctly slushy..

David took a few photos of the birds as they stocked up for the night..

Festive Reston

The signs around Reston town centre have been suitably adorned for the Holidays and the shrubs planted in front are covered in very seasonal looking berries..

The Christmas tree which I photographed under construction a couple of weeks ago, in Fountain Square, is now fully decorated and will be 'switched on' after the Thanksgiving Parade on Friday.

Other lights and decorations are already in place in the town centre..

Today was a busy day at the Bargain Loft Holiday Shop - more than $3,000 in sales and fairly hectic.  I bought just a few items which will feature in a future blog..