Morning study with new furniture! And unlike many things that I buy, this furniture is actually new, straight from Ikea. Sometimes you want things to be functional and sturdy, and I have to say . . . Ikea does this. Even their particle-board stuff --- the Billy bookshelves, say --- seems to hold up better than most other manufacturers' particle-board stuff, at least to judge by the bookshelves the Texasgirl has in her house. I have managed to avoid particleboard --- everything I've bought from Ikea has been either metal (our very sturdy, satisfactory bed) or wood (my kitchen island, ten years young this year and still possibly my favorite, most space-transforming piece of furniture ever).
Metal: add this Fyresdal daybed to my list of favorites. It did take the husband a good couple of hours to assemble yesterday, mostly because it has a million dowels in the seat, and you have to thread them into holes, and that takes time. But once assembled, it's amazing. It's very strong and steady and, unlike the old fold-down bed frame supporting my former daybed arrangement, it makes no noise when you sit on it. It has a nice strong back to fill with pillows so that you can sit without having to lean on the wall or window, pushing the daybed out from the wall. Now Dora can bounce on it without pulling the curtain down. The pillows currently are a motley assortment, but I can add more --- many of them came from Goodwill, so maybe I should look in there and see if I can't find a few other big ones that would work.
And I guess I could find a tighter sheet that would fit more sleekly, but I'm not going to bother with that now. Nobody here is going to care. I didn't make the whole bed up when I put the mattress on the frame --- it's just mattress with pad, then waterproof cover, then sheet. After Christmas, when everyone has departed, I'll put the two new memory-foam thin twin mattresses on the frame instead of this one conventional mattress, because the best thing this daybed does, ladies and gentlemen, is pull out from the bottom, like a drawer, to make a bed that holds two twin mattresses side-by-side, an almost-king arrangement.
Wood: Meanwhile, I am sitting in my new chair, with its lovely birch frame. The Texasgirl used to have a chair like this (only I think with a plastic frame) in her first apartment, and I fell in love with its comfort. It's an excellent addition to this room --- my writing room, but also the place where everyone likes to sit when I'm not working with the door shut.
The Fire Son is here --- he just drifted into this room to look over the books on the shelves, then drifted out again. The Viking and the Artgirl should roll up around midnight tonight. I think the Texasgirl and her Texashusband arrive tomorrow, probably again around midnight or even later, in the wee hours of Saturday. Then all the girls at some point.
Today I've got to go out to do some in-person shopping. Among other things, I need to acquire two more inexpensive stockings, so that everyone will have one, and some extra cup hooks. And probably some emergency stocking-stuffers. And I should probably at least buy a ham for Christmas Day, and some fish for the Christmas-Eve fiskesuppe. I realize that I'm too late out of the gate to get Norwegian brunost (brown goat cheese) for Christmas Eve, so I guess we'll just do an assortment of other cheeses to accompany our fish soup. Another thing I could do, possibly while the dudes are out with both cars, is bake some bread to freeze for Christmas Eve. And maybe make some cookies . . .
The tree is bought, and possibly I can prevail on the husband to put it up in the sunroom, though that doesn't absolutely have to be done today. He has some repair jobs in the offing --- a bed frame to reassemble around the bed in his office, plus a little repair to the seat of the bench at the kitchen table --- and those are priorities.
Beds are made up, major cleaning is done. People are going to be trooping in here with all their stuff, kitchen and bathrooms will be in constant use, and I'm just not going to stress about making everything pristine, because it won't stay that way. But at least our baseline is clean and ready.
Temperatures today are about 15 degrees cooler than yesterday --- quite chilly again.
Wearing:
*Secondhand Wool& Sierra (S) in Washed Navy, bought November 2024, last worn December 10. Total wears this year to date: 4, I think.
*Thrifted Banana Republic merino sweater/base-layer tee, bought November 2024, last worn December 14, worn pretty constantly since purchase, so that cost-per-wear is probably under $1 by now.
*Snag merino tights in Storm Cloud, bought 2022, in their third season of regular wear.
*Secondhand Earth Shoes Mary Janes, bought August 2024, last worn yesterday.
I felt like something cozy again today, especially since I've got to go out. Continuing to give my default boots a break by choosing these Mary Janes instead.
And now it's time to take the dog out.
AFTERNOON UPDATE:
Well, I've wound up not feeling great. Not terrible, just a headache (probably from the late night last night, sitting up to see the Fire Son when he came in) and a gurgly stomach that hasn't played up badly yet, but is making subtle threats.
So I haven't been out shopping. It might have to wait till tomorrow. What I did do, since the guys brought the Christmas tree in and set it up, was put lights on it. Maybe that will prompt people to decorate it tomorrow. Or me. It could prompt me to decorate it. It does smell beautiful, and at least tonight it will be shining in the window, so that we're caught up with the whole dang rest of the neighborhood, where trees have been shining in windows since before Thanksgiving. I'm sure people around here think we must be not religious or something.
I am baking some multigrain bread, just because I felt like baking bread. Weird what one does and does not feel like doing. Right now I do not feel like going out tonight, even though it is pub night . . . we'll see if I recover sufficiently in time. It's been known to happen. But I could just send the guys out to the new steak and ribs place we passed the other day, which looks all manly and stuff, and laze about here, which would be okay.
We shall see.
PS:
All my gifts are wrapped, except one which hasn't come yet but is due here tomorrow. Go me. That's a first. Much is undone, but that at least is mostly finished.