Better than a Christmas Tree

I was going to post a picture of our Christmas tree before it wilts completely, but the light on the hills through the living room window was so remarkable that I've opted for it instead. The shot is straight out of the camera.There is a picture of the Christmas tree of sorts...the lights are reflected on the left hand side. The birds are stickers on the windows to prevent the birds from flying into them, but also suggest decorations....

The Moore trucks arrived again this morning and the duct crew disappeared under the house in their hazmat suits again. I could tell because of the conversations going on underneath us:
Muffled words....
Guy outside ...WHAT?
More muffled words...
Guy outside...WHAT?
We decided to go out for awhile and check out a new (to us anyway) bakery in town. It was disappointing. John wrangled Spike while I went inside and ordered. I asked if there was a place to sit outside with the dog and the assistant pointed and said 'over there'. We couldn't figure out how to get to the outside without taking Spike inside until a helpful guy told us to go around the bank on the corner and through the parking lot to the entrance. The outdoor area turned out to be a narrow space between two buildings. It was damp and cold with no natural light so we carried our pastries and coffee around the block the other way so I could purchase a book at the knitting/craft store which wasn't open yet. We went back to the car, drove around the block headed home, and noticed that the store had just opened. John dropped me off and drove around the block again while I ran inside and got my book. I felt like a refugee returning to the safety of home when we pulled into our driveway next to all the trucks which had been thoughtfully placed in a line so that we could park in the garage. I think we have turned into bona fide hermits!

Somehow I spilled my coffee on the new book sticking some of the pages together. It's a bit unsightly, but I managed to unstick the pages and look through the book. I never finished the coffee, although it wasn't bad...just cold by the time we got home.

The job was finished by two o'clock and we had a little lesson on how to work the thermostat. It may take a bit of experimentation to get it right but we know that both the heating and cooling work because they tested the system before they left. I don't exactly understand the concept yet, but I guess I never bothered to understand exactly how the old furnace worked either. John expressed his satisfaction and said he felt like we had done the right thing despite having just written an eye wateringly large check before the last two guys left (tolerating a hug from me) .

Now where we before we were so rudely interrupted by fiberglas insulation drifting out of our vents?...