Two Whittled Pegs and a Funny-Looking Barkless Tree

 What the heck is this, you ask?  It's my Christmas present.  I know you're jealous. 

 I know you're also jealous that your gift did not result in you standing in the frigid weather, holding up a pole, freezing your hiney off, running back and forth to the house, taking off boots, hat, scarf, and jacket to check on your Chex mix (did you know you have to bake it for 1 hour and 15 minutes and stir at every 15 min. interval!) while your hubby measured, leveled, and cemented. 

Merry Christmas to me.

I am completely picking on Mr. Welder...and since I've started, I might as well go on a tad bit more.  His mom has always been known as not being that great at keeping gifts a secret.  For example, you'll be tearing into the package and it's like she can't take it any longer and you'll end up knowing what you're getting right before you open it.  As I wrote that though...I think she might be improving...and it's worn off on Mr. Welder. 

It was a couple days before Christmas and he already had the holes dug and the posts standing upright-similar to the first picture in this post.  I looked out the backdoor one morning (without my glasses) and just noticed the different color "tree" in our little mini forest.  I asked Mr. Welder if that tree looked weird to him, like the bark was gone.  I left it at that.  Later he took me out to have a closer look and he asked me what I thought it was going to be.  I really had no clue, but guessed a deal to put our picnic table under.  He told me that wasn't right and then went on to tell me what it was going to be.  He just couldn't keep the secret until Christmas.  He is building me a greenhouse/potting shed!  On Christmas morning he did draw a picture and give more details...and that afternoon his gift arrived by mail on the back patio with a big sticker letting him know what it was...so I guess we both could use improvement on the surprise factor. 

In summary, I think my gift is going to be really cool and cute and of course, I'll show you progress along the way.

 Here's a picture of Mr. Welder's gifts to make the men readers out there jealous...not sure there are any men readers-my dad doesn't do the internet-ha.  We have everything we want and get spoiled by our parents in the gift department, so we agreed this year not to buy each other gifts. I wanted something under the tree so bought a few things...like snacks that we'll share.  He had a few things marked in a woodworking catalog so that's what arrived by mail the day before.  And he needs clothes, but is hard to shop for, so that can be a date night.  Oh, I also got him some Bubba teeth...and silly putty to hold them in.  I guess he was already playing with those when I took this picture.

My stocking had a sweet card, 2 pegs, and my ornament.  We give each other an ornament every year.  You'll have to wait to see Mr. Welder's.  This year while making items for Bee Angels, he helped spray paint the tops of a bag of ornaments for a project I was doing.  This one ended up in his pocket...and then as my yearly ornament.  He was proud that he did not have to spend any money on it.  Yes, we are cheap, and so I was proud of him.  The pegs...well, you may remember he stole them from me a while back.  They were for this project that I never finished.  The ironic thing is, the project was for my "potting shack."  Remember when we moved that little shed for my birthday a few years ago?  Well, Jason's tractors always ended up in the shed.  I did keep pots in it, but never fixed it up how I wanted.  So, (if I can find all the other pieces), maybe I'll finally be able to finish the peg project for my potting shed in progress.

After opening all those gifts, I was exhausted.  Make yourself comfy, Herman.

I hope your Christmas was as wonderful as ours.

Did you get everything you wanted?