Epiphany!

I had every intention of posting on the big day, but alas, diligent updating of this blog has eluded me. I feel justified in having devoted my attentions to family & friends, which is, after all, what's most important about the season.

Well, the 3 kings arrived right on schedule, gifts in hand.

And we had no dearth of visitors of our own from foreign lands - Boston, NY, CT, and Switzerland via France. Even a visitor from the Jewish quarter in Prague! They provided eager assistance and ideas, which you can see in the slideshow.

Among the major advancements were bringing in new sand and shells for the beach...tiny shells collected from a beach in Kauaii decades ago provide true-to-scale realism...
The small details are filling in...the floosy chicken, the deer-plagued garden, the rabbit-haunted farm, complete with cabbages, pumpkins, and arugula...Comet, Windsor & Izzy, Marz & Venus...

And as a backdrop, the wonderful Boxing Day snow.

Here are 3 videos...one illustrating Phil's triumphant crossing sign, another with some details of my French helpers and their landscaping skills, and lastly, just a few serene shots of the day-after-Christmas snow.