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We are almost there, general madness has set in, but it feels more like as if Easter is on the doorstep. This morning it was five degrees (roughly the same temperatures we have around early Easter), temperatures climbed up to 15 during day, sun was shining, the birds were out and active like in spring. Foehn was gently rocking the Christmas baubles in the trees, the cats must have started their spring love life at the wrong season. Mad times we are living in, not only because of the ill-fitting weather! I did not sleep much, because number four was not able to rest and was up and running all night long. So I read fanfiction (reading Homo Faber, which I had downloaded a few days ago, seemed too much of an ordeal at such a time). Found that some fics I had loved but not saved have been taken down, because their authors were intent on starting a writing career. Reminds me of a extremely well-written Wraeththu fic, which got re-modelled and made its appearance in a collection of Wraeththu stories. Only that it had lost its charme then. That was what I nicely told the author via forum. She was not amused but explained that the original fanfic had included original characters she was no more allowed to use in the publication. While listening to Christmas carols I did some house cleaning, because sis and her ailing husband had announced their visit for the afternoon. At least, I had cookies now. I did only get to know recently that Carol of the Bells stems from an Ukrainian folk song and classifies as American now. Maybe Selenskyj should claim the song back! Anyway, the song is one of my favourites. Alas, hubby does not like to listen to Christmas music. Sole exception is Bach's Christmas oratorio. A bit too heavy for everyday music I'd say! We had much fun with sister and her husband, even though the poor man does not look too good at the moment- swollen feet and hands which hurt. I hope they will soon get the results for his blood testing! He is on an antibiotic diet since three weeks!
Christmas cards are still resting next to my PC, but I found a sweater I will knit for my godson. Not a chance that it will be finished next week, when the family will come for a last visit before Christmas. Hubby has already wrapped the presents, I have been writing a list for cooking- definitely not easy, when Elsa is so very picky! Then there´s the thing with the Christmas ham- I will have to buy the meat next week, so that hubby can cure it. I will have to order it at the butcher- not so easy to get a pig thigh as a whole...

I got up early. Spent a lot of time in the shower, inhaling aromatic fumes. Watered the plants in the conservatory, four of them with old beer- should help with the yellow leaves of the citrus plants, but conservatory reeks like a pub now. Baked Florentiner. Baked nut slices. Baked orange shortbread cookies. Ate spareribs, even though I do not like those (but number four does). Drove to the apothecary for Grippostad, after coughing got worse. Installed the Christmas train. Called it a day at five and went upstairs to write this entry and spend the rest of the evening with reading.
What I forgot to do:
I did not write the Christmas cards, which pile up next to my PC. Missed the time slot for calling my doctor to order the much needed online recipes. Once again did not look for knitting patterns for a sweater for Matthäus. The boy was so fascinated by Elsa's cardigan- loved the stars done with the buttons.
I promise I will do better tomorrow...

All was well in the beginning. I got up at seven, had a nice breakfast, dressed and drove over the border for the Christmas train and the Christmassy air refreshener Aldi had advertised in the leaflet. Got all plus a few things more. Back home I had another cup of coffee- so much about reducing my daily dosis, but I needed it to stay awake. The heavy rain which had started during night and woke me repeatedly finally turned into a drizzle again, and the sea of water on our street trickled off. Good for the birds, because two cats lay in ambush to catch them, when they were taking their beauty bath. Bird spas are dangerous with so many cats around! I did two batches of cookies, which came out of the oven abysmally looking but are okay in taste. After baking it was cooking lunch then resting then baking again. Son number three called and told us that Matthäus had done a tumble and had been in hospital for getting stitched up. Flavius had done the same yesterday at the zoo. Two boys stitched up now... While I talked with son I noticed that all of a sudden I got a runny nose, and soon after I started coughing. Mission accomplished, Flavius and Cassian have successfully spread their germs. That does not bode well for Christmas. Usually it takes two to three days for me to go into full-blown coughing fits, and three to four weeks until I feel decent again. I hope the baubles and needles will stay on the tree when I am near...

...where those winds came from, but before I was able to light the second candle on the Advent wreath I had to retrieve it from the tiles on the terrace. Also had to rebuild Mount Nikolaus (that´s what Cassian named the construction towering over the wreath, because it reminds him of a mitre)- relatively strong winds had taken off with the whole wreath. Not a big problem save that one of the candles got a bit scratched as a result. It had started to rain in the early morning hours- at three I still found a sliver of the almost full moon´s light on the stairwell´s wall. BTW: Cassian made me take a photo of the moon yesterday, at seven fifteen in the morning- the boy loves moon-watching and even found Venus (tiny point top left in the picture).

The darkness of a rain day in December is oppressive, at least for me. Not because of the rain itself (t´was more like a drizzle and better than snow because less dangerous for drivers) but because double darkness (rain! December!) always makes me depressive. I started three cookie doughs but did not make any cookies. Doughs are in the fridge now. I should have done the washing- hubby thinks that having two boys with a cold sleep in the guestbed cries for fresh bedding. The two slept in the bed exactly one time and might be back the oncoming week. Hubby also wanted me to strip the bed in the guestroom, because Flavius had held a one-hour nap before lunch. Provision of work orchestrated by husband mine! That man won´t sit down and rest, but I did (hence providing him with work intended for me- serves him well)! I also did not cook but stretched yesterday´s leftovers with cabanossi and called it a day. And if you think that this made me happy you are dead wrong. Even being happy felt too tiring! Besides, I am not exactly happy at the moment, hubby´s mood swings are a bit daunting! I also missed the afternoon coffee with cookies (done by Milka), because I seriously detest sitting in a living room lit with the worst ceiling lamp husband mine was able to find in the shops. Its light always makes my head hurt! So I half-heartedly pottered about in the studio, eliminated old magazines and did absolutely nothing otherwise except for looking at knitting patterns for boy sweaters. Neither did I manage to fix the studio and give it some touch of Christmas nor did I find a fitting sweater for Matthäus. All in all a wasted day...

I am done with this year's decorating. Had the boys help me putting artificial snow, tiny houses and trees into glass vases, filled laterns with baubles, put the tiny tree up. Made twenty more winged keys, gifted the remaining keys and wings to the boys. The two coughed their way through the day, but it made no sense to barricade myself in the bedroom to escape their germs, because hubby had one fit after another when I left the living room only for a short while. Very ill-tempered that one was those last days- I blame it on him finally recognising that he might take a swift turn towards age-related forgetfulness. Or dementia. Or Alzheimer- his mother died with (of) it. Though coughing a lot, the boys were very agile- too agile for my liking. Plus they had a good appetite, mostly for sweets they found in their boots this morning- from Nikolo, with kind regards. BTW: At nine in the evening DiL sent a message that her boys were supposed to clean their boots for the presents. Well the two were in bed already for more than one hour, and I was definitely not ready to wake them!
Finally, at five in the afternoon, I dressed the rascals for the big Krampuslauf, and hubby left with them for son's house, where they'd eat shrimps and mussels for dinner then watch the show well-fed. I made me one last coffee, did a crossword puzzle, cleaned the living area then stacked the remaining boxes with decoration in front of the door to the basement for hubby to take them down tomorrow. If he feels so. Not so sure about it- depends on his mood!

DiL called in the morning to ask what she should pack for the boys. Strange, as often as she's off she should know by now. No word about the boys' health. First way after we had picked them up was to the apothecary- both are a coughing mess. Flavius also had a feaver. But mummy is off to have fun in Venice, dad is working, so idiot grandparents are to the rescue. I wonder how long it will take for me to catch that cough. In that case I will indeed call off family Christmas...

Now guess when I got up today! At six thirty, after having spent more than one hour writing shopping lists after studying several leaflets on my mobile. In bed, of course- no chance that I'd fall asleep again after my tour de loo, so I did something essential at least. Which will force me to get up early on Monday. I blame

wiseheart's LJ entries concerning shopping adventures for trying the same. Feast of the Immaculate Conception is a half-holiday in our country- schools, banks, administrative bodies etc are closed, only shops can open, if they want. Most want, because they need to straighten this year's meagre earnings. I vividly remember the shops opening on December 8th for the first time many years ago, when lots of door locks got sealed up with instant glue to prevent opening for clients. No feast day beyond the border, so off to Bavaria it will be, and early at that- lots of people living on our side of the border will do the same, hopefully later. Hope dies last.
Today and tomorrow are the last days with cool weather. From then on there'll be lots of wind and rain. Blessedly winds only instead of storms, which are supposed to befall Britain and Ireland. And the northern parts of Germany. There are times when I am glad that I do not live near the coast. There are more times I regret not living there...
Chances are that number two will take the boys back Saturday evening. He managed to weasel out of work early, so that he and hubby will be able to go to the Krampuslauf in their village- one of the most popular here. When I was young and visited grandma around December 5th, a Krampus would show up out of thin air and you'd better run. When we lived at grandma's- mum's- now son's house, Krampusse got coordinated, and at the evening of such a Krampuslauf we weren't able to get to our house- streets locked because of the infernal event. Our village wasn't big then but has 8000 inhabitants now, located between a small town and a slightly bigger town. Infrastructure got an upgrade, the village has a new centre were such events will take place- no more blocked streets now. From centre to son's house it's a five-minute walk. I swear that if hubby returns with Cassian and Flavius I will call off family Christmas! Today's parents are...now let's talk about something nice instead! I did more crafting, with lots of hoppalas. For instance, I glued more wings to tiny keys, only to notice after a while that half of the wings I used up had come from the keys I had glued minutes before. Happens when one works without glasses! The elastic string that came with the wings broke my nerves. No knot would stick, so I replaced it with sewing thread. I am no patient person, hubby heard lots of swearwords! But he got his spinach dumplings he hsd wsnted so long for lunch, together with gorgonzola sauce. I am not a spinach addict, but I tolerate it. Spinach dumplings are nice to eat but fickle to do. At least hubby came to the rescue when it came to cracking eggs, to avoid more drama! Afterwards I had a nice after-lunch nap. Woke laughing because I had dreamed of tyrannosaurus keks- a Vanillekipferl with sharp teeth. Oh my! Must ask Cassian if he'll draw one for me tomorrow. Got up and baked some cookies. No recipe, only melted a bar of chocolate, added cranberries, butter, egg and flour. Cookies look a bit odd but taste okay. Tomorrow I will put some frosting on them. If I feel so. Not sure about it. Since son number four will come for a visit I will have to do his favourite Christmas cookies- Florentiner. Very sticky these ones, very sweet, but also very good! And easy to do, which is essential!
BTW, in the afternoon I got a visit from our guest cat. Guest cat brought her sibling. Last time this happened cats had the same size. Now the red is huge- must be a male! A bit shy this one, but also very hungry. Never saw a cat going for the bird feed. Maybe it likes the fat I poured over the seeds?

What is it with me being awake from five thirty on each morning? Once again I got up early (six thirty), braved the cool temperatures in the living room (heating gets turned off during night and powers up at six only, because we do not find the right mix radiators- underfloor heating and woke to 24 degrees in the bedroom more than once. I prepared breakfast, took a fright at finding a not exactly tiny beetle on the dining table, which took off when I tried to catch it. Buggy must have come into the house by fir twigs and is terrorising us since then. Hubby went hunting with bug spray, but in the early evening it was still alive and flying along. After a quick shower after breakfast I dressed for a shopping tour to Aldi, only to realise that half of the things I needed for baking were sold out, and those in stock were the ones which are pricier than at the other side of the border. Half of Salzburg must have done shopping at Aldi- no eggs, no almonds, no marzipan, even the powdered sugar was sold out. They still had cocoa, walnuts and hazelnuts, all pricier than at Hofer. So back to Hofer it was, to get the rest of baking ingredients. Brought the groceries home then left in search of green blankets for the sofa on the terrace. Why do they sell red ones but not a single one in green? Have been to three shops, no success. Lunch came out of the tin- cassoulet with duck. We had been given the tin by Florence for cat sitting while she was in Paris, I had given it a wide berth for almost a year, because I do not love duck. What shall I say? It was very good, a sure sign the French can cook. In the afternoon I coloured seven more tiny brooms then threaded them together with the other 24 on golden strings. Tomorrow those will go onto the artificial Christmas tree in the conservatory, together with flying keys and golden angel hair. Still neither hide nor hair of my lay figures I wanted to dress for Christmas- I have gone through all drawers at least twice and opened each and every box. Nada. Maybe they emigrated when I carted the scaffold to DiL, because they thought they were no more needed. In the late afternoon I finally knew how to decorate the ugly rose arch in the front garden- only a few red baubles but lots of bird feed. I dressed for going out again and drove to Fressnapf. Spent more than 30 euros for fat balls and the like, so this better look good! At least the rose arch will be a place where the cats won't find a way up! After so much excitement I was really tired, especially after having missed the daily after-lunch nap. I told hubby not to wake me should I fall asleep when reading in the bedroom. Went upstairs, turned my mobile on, wrote this entry, heard the doorbell- and in came one of the neighbours for a visit... So much for catching up on sleep!

...because the boys will snow in at five in the afternoon (my guess is four o'clock- DiL might not be punctual when picking her sons up but is mostly early when deposing them), which means there'll be ruckus enough for me to give up on writing an entry. It was dark and wet today but less cold. I had to invest a lot of time into doing housework, almost ruined the rug in the bedroom by sucking the fringes in the vacuum cleaner (extra long fringes, extra hard to remove), got mail from daughter that she'd come in the late afternoon because she misses parts of her working uniform (and that I should look for it- I denied, I won't enter the chaos in her room), did a bit more decorating (found an old picture frame, replaced the painting by rusty metal fir trees and stags that had decorated last years' Advent wreaths), made curry noodles for a late lunch then fell into my bed for resting and typing- I am up and running since six thirty and am reasonable tired already. Besides, tomorrow I will have to be up even earlier- Cassian has to be in class at seven thirty. Must be the horror for DiL...

There are those days when husband mine feels adventurous and comes up with ideas for decorating. Poor lad did not have a chance doing so when young, with his mother converting from pious Roman-Catholic to even more pious Jehova's Witness. Christmas was a no-go zone for the family then. Hubby does watch reels, this I noticed when he brought in a piece of tree bole he had not been able to cleave and began to drill a hole into it, where he stuck a branch into. I only had to wire some thuja, and ready was a pretty tree for the terrace. Afterwards he cut the log we brought from son's house (had been a part of the late barn once) into pieces which I turned into small trees that don't look like trees but are very oeko. Hubby dutifully ate an orange so that I was able to make another tiny wreath out of the peels. The older, now dry one, got fastened to the arificial window hung on the wall next to the sofa. Then the Christmas baubles got brought up from the basement. For a while the livingroom looked like a playroom for Christmas elves blowing up boxes with baubles. It's better now but far from suitable for visitlrs. Good that the doorbell died, so we won't know if someone rang it. Tomorrow I will have to finish the Advent wreaths. Strange- I have two of them, all candle holders, candles aplenty but have no clue how to decorate. Hedwig, the Potter owl, must have flown off, the snitches, too. I am tempted to do the Forbidden Forest with Firenze and Snape chasing recalcitrant students. I also am experienced at doing tiny trees from scratch, might even look nice! The boys would love the scenery, all depends on my fingers now- today all my blisters decided to burst (too much wiring) and I definitely do not need any sort of infection! I will post pictures of the outcome, if there is one...

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