Festive feline fiddling

At last, yesterday afternoon the Christmas tree was dry and I merrily lugged it indoors. I say lugged for this may only be a tree of tiny proportions but it is a growing, live tree and whatever its little roots are happily living in felt like lead!

I duly man-handled it onto the table that is to be it's home for the duration, scratching it in the process, oopsss, and set about the fun business of decorating it.

My first task was to deck it with lights, I had treated us to a new set this year, I spent an interminable length of time unraveling the wire, and placing them in just the right spot on the tree only to turn them on and discover half would not light. Ok, no big deal, I test the bulbs, I fiddle, I faddle and eventually discover two of the 3 wires in the line are cut! Good quality control you guys in the manufacturing process.......I suppose I should be thankful they where low voltage!

So out come last years lights, still in working order and the decorating procedure begins once again. I was of course duly 'assisted' by one small cat who has a particular fondness for all things in the Christmas decoration line! More time was spent picking up baubles from around the premises and disentangling small paws from tinsel, than was spent on getting the stuff on the tree!

I of course forget each year how 'helpful' Ditto can be. She is provided annually with her own supply of plastic baubles, in a vain attempt to distract her from interest in and demolition of the tree....... but somehow they are just never as attractive to her as the 'real thing'.

And so the battle has begun, this morning we awoke to find a mere 7 bits and pieces on the floor accompanied by a paw-full of mud, carefully extracted from the pot along with some pine needles and scattered about with gleeful abandon........this is only the beginning!


Within the hour!