happy christmas

reader, christmas is the baron's favorite holiday. she loves the decorations, the alleged feelings of goodwill toward humankind that are evinced by this time of year. she loves the cold, and the vacation days. she loves picking gifts for the people and dogs she loves. she loves, most of all, the actual day, where she and the husband and the rest of their four-legged family can be together, totally together, without the distraction of the dreaded blackberry, without the hassle of traveling somewhere else. they all stay home, they all stay together, her small family of 7.

it's one of her VERY FAVORITE days.

this year's christmas was an exceptionally good day. the baron and the husband had a house guest, a four-legged one - sasha, who was genial and easy to please. the dogs were mostly friendly to him; there wasn't much by way of tussling over toys, and by christmas day, sasha had been with them for the better part of a week anyway... which meant that peace reigned among the dogs.

see sasha, below:


the baron usually has a good bit of anxiety about shopping for the husband. she believes him hard to please in the 'shopping for' department; this year, she took EXTRA SPECIAL CARE in selecting his gifts. and, though she is loath to admit it, portland had a hand in helping her with her shopping.

one of the very best things she found for him came from this store, in portland, purveyor of all groceries vegan, including what you see below: vegan rice crispy treats.



for the dogs, the husband bought two new, HUGE dogs beds, intended for the big dogs. baron and harlan have other plans for those beds:



reader, the baron hopes you had a good holiday season.

ps: she'd like to tell her mother to PLEASE use those place mats, which are 100% cotton and 100% machine washable. it took the baron some 100+ hand-sewing hours to make them, and the thought that they won't get used (but will instead be used for decoration) is VERY DISTRESSING to her. so please, for the baron's sake, just use them. then wash them! see how easy?