Papa Noel Getting Ready!

This is a repeat of the post I did when we spent Christmas in New Orleans.

While Santa is up in the North Pole readying his sleigh which is pulled by reindeer, way down south in Louisiana, his alter ego, Papa Noel is preparing his Pirogue (pea-row) to be pulled through the swamps by his eight pet alligators, Gaston, Tiboy, Pierre, Alcee, Ninette, Suzette, Celeste and Renee and, if it is misty, Nicollette, lighting the way with her glowing green eyes.

In the tiny villages and communities along the Louisiana Bayous, residents gather to light community bonfires to show Papa Noel where there are children waiting for his visit.

It will be a busy night for both Santa and Papa Noel!

Papa Noel!

New Bed

I am treating myself to another early Christmas gift, a new bed! The old one was my parents bed and I got it in 1994 when my mom died. So it has twenty some years on it (it was not new when I got it) and was beginning to show some sag.

I looked around town for something and eventually settled on a BeautyRest Queen size from SleepCountry in Courtenay. With a set of new Egyptian Cotton sheets and a mattress pad it came to just over $1,400 with free delivery and disposal of the old bed. Bed salesmen are a lot like car salesmen. They advertise the bed for $900 but by the time you get out of the store you have spent $1,400.

The new mattress is 14" high, 5" higher than my old one so I might have to keep a step ladder standing by. It also has a "Gel Pad" on the top surface which makes it non flippable but they say to swap it end for end every time I change the bedding.

I have been waking up at five or so every day so it will be interesting to see if the new bed gives me a better sleep.

Early Christmas Gift For Myself

Several years ago (decades actually) Brooks bought us a 42" Plasma TV, state of the art for it's time, As I recall it was around $1,000. It served me well and had the added feature of being able to heat the bottom room as that thing put out a LOT of heat!

But over time it started to seem a little fuzzy and I became envious of the larger size screens available so I have been watching. I finally found one at Canadian Tire's Black Friday Sale, a 58" "Smart" 4K Chinese brand for $365. too good a deal to pass up. I did a quick search for reviews on line and determined it was worth buying. If I didn't like it I could always return it.

Well, I like it. If it was set up beside one of the better known ($$$) brands it might be a little inferior but for my 74 year old eyes it is just fine and it is 1/3 the price of the better known brands. I am happy!