





I’ve had to sleep at the barn for the last several nights, what with all the gifts sitting under the tree. Brutus and I have been playing tag team on the barn’s package security duty.

These little ones can be oh so devious…

Quite honestly, I wasn’t at all prepared for it! Who’d have thought they could be so inventive with their numerous attempts at gift pilfering?
So… here I sit, half awake and trying to clear the cobwebs of sleep from my brain, a full day ahead of scheduled package opening. Where is Tilly when I need her? Oh yeah, she’s not due back from the Pole til sometime tomorrow morning.

Why am I looking so haggard, you might be asking? I’ll tell you why…

The babe’s woke me up early, that’s why!
Just after the sun peaked over the ridge this morning, they all began marching about the tree with little signs above their heads, and making an awful racket!

They were apparently voicing their disapproval of having to wait til tomorrow for present opening time! In what was meant to be a song I think, they all started shouting out their little demands… over and over and over again. I have to give them an “E” for effort, because they haven’t stopped sing/shouting for a good bit, now. I keep hearing things like, “all day long, we’ll yell this song”, and “it’s not fair to keep secrets!”
You can tell by the way they’re shouting the song that it’s supposed to be a serious song, but when they sing a “Boo Hoo” chorus in between each verse, I start giggling…

I’m sorry, but when you hear all of their little voices boo hooing in unison, it’s nothing less than A..DOR..A..BLE!

Well… I best finish this cup of coffee and get to it! I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s gonna be a very long day.

I shall not be held responsible for what follows…
Gabriel picked the song for our post this morning!
May the lyrics of this song stick to your tongue… ALL DAY LONG!!!
You’re welcome!


I’m sorry, the prompt answerer you were trying to reach has left the office. She’s enjoying the holiday festivities right now, so she’s not here to give out any history lessons at the moment! If you’d like, you are more than welcome to leave a message…
and she’ll get back to you as soon as she can.
Oh, and there’s a plate of cookies on the table for anyone who took the time to stop by…


Good or bad, naughty or nice
Who’s full of sugar and who’s full of spice?

Just three days to go
and I’m sure that you’re hopin…

There won’t be any coal
when your packages open!

In all honesty, sometimes I’m rather good at judging a character…

Then again, there’ve been times where I wasn’t…

I think that perhaps it’s better if we slow ourselves down, long enough to get a better picture of things… just sayin!
Don’t forget your cookie…

They’re supposed to look like cookies in the shape of little gavels, but they didn’t exactly turn out the way I’d hoped. Don’t judge!

I realize that I’m only guessing at this, but I am imagining that our miss Tilly must be getting the full tour of elf town, the workshop and of course, the kitchen of Mrs. Clause. I say this about the kitchen because miss Tilly and I secretly made a plan to sneak a picture of her oven… I wish to confirm whether she also uses an Easy Bake Oven.

Don’t laugh… maybe she does use a special magic oven of some sort! What if the Easy Bake Oven I had from childhood was, in fact, a magic device? Maybe Santa pulled a fast one on my mom, or something. I never did look on the back of the box for the manufacturers mailing address, so it’s quite possible that mine was not like all the other children’s ovens! I’m just sayin it’s possible, that’s all!

Besides, look how jolly and round Santa always is, and everyone knows that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach… or at least that’s what I’ve always heard.

I have confidence in Tilly’s sneaking ability, as I’ve experienced it first hand, so there’s a good chance for a successful photo capture. She really is good at the whole sneaking in and out thing… I’m sure that’s why she’s of such help to Santa.

I can only imagine the number of homes now using the more advanced alarm systems and door locks, so it must be quite difficult getting in an out of certain chimneys. Well, that’s what I assume, anyways.

For now, we can only wait for her to come home with the goods, pictures that is… the real goods of Christmas are actually the giggles, joy, heartfelt hugs and love.
If you ask me, it’s the gift of love that’s the greatest goodie in the stocking!


Safely and securely tucked
beneath the shadow of the Almighty…
is the place I’m most happy
from morning til nighty!
It’s a bit rough around the edges, but it get’s the prompt answered!
Here, have a cookie…


As I’ve already mentioned previously, miss Tilly will be heading for the pole, here shortly… we’re actually standing in the barnyard at this very moment, waiting for Dasher to arrive. He’s supposed to be giving her a lift to the pole, while Santa and Rudolf are busy going over Christmas Eve’s travel plans.

Personally, I couldn’t be more thrilled for Tilly, what with seeing all that goes on at Santa’s place. But, the young mouse is seemingly uninterested in the whole affair. Every time I turn around, she’s distractedly staring off into to woods!
Of all the days to be disinterested in a ride from a reindeer, and a famous one, none-the-less…

If you hadn’t guessed it yet, something’s up with our honorary Santa’s Helper! I don’t know much, but I will tell you what I have learned, thus far…

Tilly met a mouse the other day, and a boy no less! They met when the girls were out picking pine bows for Squagon’s Christmas package, remember?

The only reason I know anything at all about our mysterious mouse, was due to Dinky. Mainly, because she had to traipse back from the forest all by her onesie’s. The poor little thing was not at all impressed!
Apparently, Tilly and her young suitor were so distracted with one another, they weren’t paying any attention to the little dragon. Add to that, the fact that the little dragon’s feet were getting cold… and then they lost her, altogether.

Dinky was rather put out when she got back to the barn… alone! Let me tell you, I received an earful about the whole affair.

Oddly, Tilly refuses to tell me much about the little guy, aside from his name. But, there was definitely a twinkle in her eyes when she spoke of him!

She did briefly mention that young Henry lives with his parents, in the old abandoned church just down the road from our barn.
Oh well… I know that Santa will have miss Tilly well in hand during the next few days, so I will leave things be… for now.
While I could send Brutus to do some snooping, as I normally might, I think I shall leave things to our young mouse maid this time around. Tilly deserves a bit of privacy, in this regard. I knew she was growing up, so I had already been preparing myself for the inevitable.
Clearly, Tilly has changed right before our eyes. From the once feisty little mouse babe that Santa brought me last Christmas, to the lovely creature that she has become…

Today, she’s both different and yet still the same, if that makes any sense. Since we’ve known her, miss Tilly’s always been a feisty, funny and adventurous little mouse, but now she’s more serious about things, you know… things of the heart.
I’m not claiming she’s in love, as I can’t say for certain until she tells me how she feels about the handsome little guy. But if it is love, well then, I want to treat her with the respect she deserves. When she’s ready, I’m certain that Tilly will share her thoughts and feelings about young Henry! Until then, we will just have to be patient, my friends.
Even if I wanted to corner the mouse with my nosy questions, I wouldn’t be able to…

There’s no more time left for anything but good-bye’s and well-wishes, as Dasher has just arrived for pick-up and I have to get Tilly settled onto his back!
Tilly’s going to have so much fun, I think, what with the new outfit their making her, as well as, riding side-kick with Santa, himself! If we’re lucky, the elves won’t take her camera away before she gets a few good shots of the big guy’s workshop…
a girl can dream, can’t she?

It just so happens that I spent all day yesterday playing an online game… but that’s not actually the last fun thing I did for fun or play. The funny thing is though, whenever I play a game for numerous consecutive hours in a single day, I’m guaranteed some crazy dreamtime.
So…. the last thing I did for play or fun ended up being the dream I had last night.

All night long I dreamt of either hunting in the forest, or working on the plans for my inn/cottage. Hopefully, we’re about to begin the build today, in-game.
I want it to have the kitchen out behind the inn, so there won’t be any grease fires to cause a catastrophe. It’s right on the edge of the wood, resting beside a river that’s not too far from our clan.

I want the lobby, dining room and hearth on the main floor, obviously, but there will be spacious rooms to rent on the upper floors. There will be a covered outdoor deck that extends about ten feet over the river. This way, we can build some of the guest rooms out over the water.

Hey… the prompt asked! I am just acquiescing to their request, which required giving you some information, making it worth your while to read my response.
Before you start thinking that I’m just goofing off and ignoring my holiday duties, fear not! I’ve already finished preparing your gifts, err… coal… ya, coal for your stockings.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot… I dreamt of cookies, too…
