#300GoodDeeds - Day Fifteen- It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

We've just finished our Friday film. It was J's choice and she chose "It's a Wonderful Life". There's a line in it when Clarence says:

"Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?"

At the risk of sounding a little corny, this is what these blogs are about: making our lives touch so many others, whether that is to make life easier, raise a smile or give someone something to laugh about!

The tree in situ

We always decorate the house close to Christmas. The crib appears first along with the Advent calendar, then the tree arrives a good while later.  Well today was that "later"!  The tree is now up, bare and green at the moment, and tomorrow the house will undergo its complete transformation into the Christmas dream house.  The first few good deeds derive from this...

1. We knew when we picked our tree way back on day 2 of the blog, that it would be arriving today and also that we'd need to get rid of the lower branches.  In the past this has all been done by Alex (our brother), but he's now in Grenoble and not around to do these things.  This meant that J unleashed the loppers and together we hoisted it into the living room.  We've had to be firm with Dad, as he's got a bit of a lurg at the moment, so we've nabbed most of his jobs...
2. ...On the topic of which, we also fed the birds today so that Dad wouldn't have to brave the ice and cold. Despite the promise of warmer weather we had snow today and the mercury hasn't had it beyond 2 (this is poetic licence as we have a digital thermometer, not a mercury one)...
3. ...But thankfully J smashed and scooped up the ice from the garden path.  This was after she had laughed at me when I became stranded in the ice rink of the Newtonhill Carpark.  She can be pretty mean at times!
4. While we were on our morning walk, J hung up a coconut for the birds by the gate.  They had just begun to make a start on the one from yesterday, so we hope that when we go tomorrow they'll have polished off both of them!
5. J also picked up a poo someone had left in a plastic bag by the gate.  This is a pet hate of ours.  It's bad enough when dog-walkers leave the poo on or close to the paths, but at least this is still biodegradable - putting it in a plastic bag and leaving it is unacceptable, especially at a place with a handful of bins scattered about!  Rant over - we shall now continue.
6. The morning walk was not the only walk J did with Orlando, and she volunteered to do the second walk so that C wouldn't have to on her return from work.
7. On the afternoon walk J took a reasonable detour to post a Christmas card to one of my friends as I was teaching at the time.  This meant it caught today's post and will be with her a whole lot sooner than if we'd waited until tomorrow.
8. On his second walk, Orlando continued his one pup war on litter and bagged another bottle.
9. In order to return in time for the Christmas tree arriving, J and I had to whizz around the shops this morning.  J went into the bank for me so we didn't cause congestion by parking on the roadside, and I drove around until she had finished.  It was very busy in the bank, as it is starting to get busy everywhere - one could almost say it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
10. Sometimes people have to park close to the shops, especially when the ice is bad on the pavements, and this causes a bottleneck in the traffic.  I get a great feeling when I wait and allow other drivers through, particularly if they wave, I feel like I've done them a great favour.  So while being a considerate driver is a good deed, it is also a somewhat selfish one!
11. After this we trundled on to the shop and hurried around the aisles to complete the parents' shopping, sharing cheery smiles with fellow shoppers and conversations with those we knew.
12. We seem to time our dog-walks at the same time as the neighbours are heading to school, so we also had the chance to share smiles, waves and friendly words with them as we scurried on our separate errands.
13. J has been a "Good Deed Ninja" today. This is a title given to someone who not only does good deeds, but who does them sneakily so that people only find out at the most important moment.  She has earned this title because she sneaked away to iron all the clothes, telling no one, and Mum was very pleased when she discovered this job had already been done.
14. This evening we also did all the washing, drying and sorting of the dinner pots, a job Dad normally does but, as he's under the weather, we didn't want him breathing on the crockery and sharing his germs, I mean, working too hard.
15. Finally, we're back to Christmas!  Despite being short, J climbed up to the top of the bookcases so that she could put up the adhesive Christmas card holder.

Our house now looks and smells like Christmas and, unsurprisingly, it's been sounding like Christmas for ages!  Tomorrow is Decorating Day.  There will be laughter, tears (of laughter), and a whole lot of tinsel!  But for now, it's bedtime and happy weekend!

V x