'Tis the season...

...to be silly, apparently.

Here's our cute little fake tree, looking very Swedish, and the straw Julbocken hanging out in the general vicinity.

When I was growing up we always had a real tree, but Miss V was mildly horrified at the thought of chopping down a live tree. Also, we often go to Utah for Christmas vacation and tend to come back to a friable fire hazard where a live tree used to be, so it's Little Fake Tree for us. We have been known to add a little Frazier Fir scented oil here and there, because Christmas does not smell like plastic.

Since we have no chimney, our stockings (slightly edited to remove proper names) are hung on the wall with care. My maternal grandmother, now dead, made these felt stockings for everyone in the family. (Miss V's stocking is already in Utah.)

And now it's time for dinner. Tonight's offering is Turkey Soup with Barley & Vegetables, the traditional finale to the Thanksgiving turkey. It doesn't have a recipe; I just wing it. What's left of the turkey frame, water to cover, bring to a boil and simmer a while, strain, pick the meat off the bones, then start adding stuff to cook in the cauldron. In this case I added barley, chopped carrots and potatoes, mushrooms, the turkey meat, and will probably throw in some frozen peas and corn at the last minute. It largely depends on what's in the fridge. Usually I add noodles, but Captain Midnight loves him some barley. If it tastes as good as it smells, I will count myself fortunate.