The Mickey Factor

That's what my husband is calling my holiday decorating method this season--- "The Mickey Factor." So far, the little table-top Christmas trees haven't been at the top of Mickey Kitty's must-touch list. I've been unpacking holiday decorations a little at a time, arranging them around the house when the cats are napping. (Which gives me plenty of time during any given day.)

I figured that if Mickey Kitty didn't see the little trees in my hands, he wouldn't get so curious. With this newest kitten, whatever I'm holding is cause for inspection in his little kitty-mind. The Santas are all out, so are the angels, and all of the table-top trees are out, except the silver aluminum tree.

I didn't put that tree up last year because we had re-arranged the furniture in the dining room and the little round table that was in a corner of the dining room is no longer there.... and that's where the silver tree always stood. The little round table was the perfect height to make a four-tree aluminum tree seem like it was six-feet tall. That table is now in a corner of our bedroom and is the base for the four-foot tree that holds all the Victorian ornaments. I've got so many pink roses on that tree that it looks like a topiary, so I leave it out all year long. It's topped with a fairly large mermaid ornament, which stays on it all year.... then for Christmas I add an even taller vintage mercury-glass topper. I used to store that tree in my holiday closet, but now that closet holds decorations for Easter and Valentine's Day, as well as all the Christmas things, and there's no room on the floor for that tree.

I'm thinking about assembling the silver tree and putting in on the sideboard that's in front of the Oriental screen in the living room. That sideboard is now holding a small white feather tree that's decorated with Oriental men and ladies made of silk. My friend Frankie had found those vintage silk ornaments in a yard sale a few years ago and gave them to me for Christmas. She told me she had faith in me to find a good use for them. They stayed in their box till I found just the right little tree for them... they show up very nicely on the white branches. So, if the silver aluminum tree goes on that table, I'll have to find another place for the little Oriental tree.

I don't think Mickey Kitty will be able to ignore the silver tree. It's very full and sparkling, very tall once it's up on a table. I have a box of vintage glass ornaments just for that tree.... most of them are red, and all of them are light enough not to bend the aluminum branches. I can see it now--- Mickey Kitty running across the living room with a silver branch in his mouth, glass ornaments falling all over the carpet as he runs. Joy to the world.

I've been trying to get over a cold/cough that I've had for the past couple of days. Nearly 90 degrees outside, and both my husband and I caught whatever bug is going around. I'm not one for getting a flu shot, so I'll just take my chances with this. Hopefully, my bout with these germs won't be as bad as my husband's... he was awfully sick last week.

I just heard a little bell ringing in the living room and I went inside to see what was going on--- Mickey Kitty is stretched out on the raised hearth in front of the fireplace. He has one paw hanging off the ledge of the hearth and he's ringing the little bell that's in the hand of the large Santa that's sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace. The bell is handmade, of painted wood.... we bought it in Australia years ago when we went to Sydney. It won't break, and Mickey isn't trying to get the bell out of Santa's hands.... he's just sitting there pawing the bell so it moves back and forth and makes a little sound.

Jingle bells. How many more days till Christmas?