Misc. Update

 My husband said he wanted to make a snowman for outside.  I said ok.  Then he brought me a square piece of exterior plywood and said to draw it for him.  I said I couldn't draw it if I didn't have something to look at.  So he found a snowman on a popcorn tin.  I drew it.  Then he said I needed to paint it.  So I tried; the first effort looked as if it had a Beetle haircut.  I was trying to shade it.  I repainted the head.  He made blocks of wood for features on the head and buttons.  I painted them.  Then I added mittens and a real muffler.  It looked pretty good.  I didn't realize when he said he wanted to make one that he meant "we."

I think I'd like to add Victorian carolers for next year.  But I'd like a pattern and directions.  I started looking last night and found some, but I'd prefer affluent carolers rather than middle class.  Or even David Copperfield poor would be all right.

 I added icicles this morning.  I can't be the only person in the world who thinks icicles make it look even more spectacular.  But I may be the only person in my family who thinks that.

 More about jalapeno peppers: We stopped by the farmers' market yesterday on our way home.  Larry got a box of oranges and a box of apples to go with the the box of satsumas, a bunch of really huge lemons, a bag of kumquats and a gallon of oysters we got in Grand Bay.  All of the fruit is Larry's idea.  The oysters, rutabagas, and peppers were my idea.  I'm cooking the peppers with olive oil.  That is a large pot of large jalapeno peppers.  They cost $10:)  They will bring me a lot of pleasure.

The Christmas ornaments are stored in large popcorn tins.  This was Larry's idea and was a wonderful one. (See the snowman on the tin?).  Our ornaments have safely moved many times, packed away in these tins.  The larger sterilite bins hold the ribbons and bows so they don't get dirty or squashed.  The side of the box that holds our tree is barely visible to the left in that same closet. I don't leave all the stuff there all the time (just the tree).  But I didn't want to put the tins back in basement until Christmas is over.  I wrote on the lid in black marker what goes in each one.
Eating that much popcorn was a chore that Larry assumed for me so that I could have the tins.  Isn't he a helpful guy?