The Hunt For Christmas Greenery & An Introduction To Our Newest Little (Furry) Friend

Hooray, it's finally here!  The desire to begin the task of decorating the house for the Christmas festivities, that is. By mid-December when most households have already hung their wreaths, draped their garlands, and bedecked their trees with cherished ornaments, we are just getting into the spirit.

As in most years, I turn my attentions first to the front door.  This year, I set out to make a classic boxwood wreath.  Unfortunately, my efforts were at once thwarted upon my arrival last Tuesday morning to the west coast's Mecca for everything floral related, the San Francisco Flower Market. Looking high and low, I was surprised to not have unearthed a single boxwood branch among the fragrant mounds of cedar, pine, and bay laurel available for sale.  Boxwood does not grow as abundantly in our area as in some other parts of the country.  This might explain why it was such an elusive breed of foliage to source.  Either that, or someone had already hauled it all away for their own decorating efforts. I did see rather a lot of fancy florists on the prowl, loading their carts with enough wreaths and foliage to decorate half the city and still have plenty left over to trim the Bay Bridge.

Just as I was about to give up on the boxwood idea, I espied a most luxuriant fresh boxwood wreath, though formed by another's hand.  Nevertheless, I was very happy to snap it up and take it home, promptly mounting it with pride upon our front door.  Mission accomplished!  I think it looks rather pretty, don't you?

Photo: Chronica Domus

In the quest to complete my greenery shopping, I suffered yet another minor setback.  The merchant who held an appealing stock of Christmas trees of varying shape and size was closed for the day.  On a previous market excursion, I had eyed a diminutive tree which I wanted to bring home and decorate. It was still for sale, but corralled with all the others behind bars which was of little help to me. Plan B was quickly hatched and a pleasant drive down the picture-perfect rugged coast to the seller's nursery in Half Moon Bay soon followed.

I know this may not seem like everyone's cup of tea when it comes to a suitable tree for the purpose of  decorating, but I just fell head over heels for this diminutive, lopsided, thirty inch tree.  Well, it's more of a sapling really.  Its gappy layered branches are just perfect for ornament hanging.

This is an Abies Magnifica, more commonly known as a Silver Tip tree, not Charlie Brown's tree.  It is seen here resting on a bench in our basement awaiting its decorations

Photo: Chronica Domus

This year, a new little helper has appeared in the wings, ready to assist me adorn the Christmas tree. His name is Norton and, surprisingly to us, he is a cat.  I write "surprisingly'' because I would have surely lost the wager, were I to have bet that we would take a cat into our household as a family pet. Sadly, both my husband and I are allergic to cats.  Although we both recall with much fondness memories of childhood feline pets, we've always opted to adopt dogs for our furry companions throughout our marriage.  This was certainly a new experience for us.

A month or so before our beloved dog Mavro died, we came across a kitten in a storm drain close to our house.  His meowing soon alerted us to his dire situation.  The little fellow was hungry, cold, and thirsty.  Over the intervening weeks, we slowly coaxed the kitten across the road and gained his trust. One day, he decided to follow me home and has remained here ever since.

May I introduce the newest member of our family, Norton.

"Hello, Norton is my name, being petted is my game"

Photo: Chronica Domus

Why Norton, I hear you ask?  Well, my husband and daughter named the kitten after the character Ed Norton of the American 1950's television sitcom The Honeymooners.  Ed famously worked in the sewers of New York, and as Norton the cat began life in a storm drain, they thought the name rather fitting.

Ed Norton as played by Art Carney 

Source: Pinterest

My daughter Patience is besotted with our new little charge and over the moon that her wildest wish has, at long last, been fulfilled. Patience has expressed her desire for a pet cat for as long as I can remember.  We are all still adjusting to life with a sneeze-inducing, formerly feral animal in our midst, but Norton shows us great affection and is more than happy to take up residence within our ranks.  We are, on the whole, very pleased to have him.

Now, please excuse me as I'm off to find the tissue box.