Signs of the Season

Just a few days ago, the hellebore in our front garden box bloomed.  It's looking much better and flowery than it did this time last year, when it was just a sprig of something we weren't quite sure was alive.

We've been decorating the house.  The mantel is crowded with candles and celestial objects.  I particularly like the angels, which are over the top.  The last few years, they've held up some LED candles that I created paper star-grilles for.


For the last week or so, partially because it's been so dark and partially because of wanting the light to come back, and partially to observe the solstice time of the year, we've been lighting candle in our fireplace.  Mark is super-paranoid that the cats are going to knock a candle over and burn the house down, so this is a good compromise.  We just lit one candle around December 14, and each following evening, we'd light more candles.

I'm not sure where the Solstice Deer has gotten to.  I guess we'll have to bring it out this June or wait until next year.