Two o'clock in the morning....

There used to be an old song.... "It's three o'clock in the morning...." -- I think that was a line in the song, not the title.  My grandmother used to sing that when she got up earlier than her usual wake-up time of 5:30.  She was very much a morning person, and got a lot done around the house before mostly everyone else got up for breakfast. (This was my grandmother on my mother's side.) But that's neither here nor there... I just thought of it as I started to type.

I am awake because I just made my husband some Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup.  He's had a bad cold for the past couple of days, and that's what makes him feel less congested.... a red and white can of Campbell's "Chickey Snoodle Soup" (as one of the "Mutts" cartoon cats would say.  I think of weird things in the middle of the night.)  I am also awake because of my husband's coughing... and coughing... and coughing.  I'm hoping that the next one to start coughing is not me.

I have been decorating the house for Christmas all week.... only thing left to do now is the vintage silver tree that goes in the living room.  As always, there is a Christmas explosion in this house. No matter where you look, there are little trees... and Santas... and angels.  All of which are preliminary to the live tree we will put up in the dining room right after Thanksgiving.  Christmas trees are in all the rooms now. I usually leave the silver tree for last... it takes the longest because I put vintage glass ornaments on every one of its branches and you have to get them all just-so in order to keep the tree balanced.  Back in the day (the 1950s) no one put ornaments on those silver trees... they would use a colored light-wheel to reflect primary colors onto the branches. Not exactly my style... hate the color-wheel, but love the silver tree. The ornaments make all the difference, as long as they're vintage and fit the era of the tree.

Tomorrow (actually, later on today), M will be here to start moving some of his stuff into the barn. By the end of this month, he'll be 'officially' moved in. Until then, he'll be coming here on Sundays to help my husband with things around the property, and get to know what his responsibilities will be.  I don't know if my husband will be cough-less enough to actually do any work outside today... depends on how much chicken noodle soup he eats between now and the time M gets here.

The barn apartment is all set now.... clean and sparkling, just-washed sheets, kitchen cabinets equipped with a few pots and pans, dishes and glasses and utensils.... ready for our new resident handyman to make his own. I told M last week that if there are too many decorative things up there not to his liking, he can just put them in a box and I'll either sell them in my antique shop space or donate them to the thrift store. The decor of the barn is all red/white/blue and Texas... no frills or ruffles up there... just Texas/Americana.

I haven't heard much coughing in the past few minutes. Maybe the chicken noodle soup worked and we can get back to sleep.