Christmas is coming!

 JB decided to change up the area under our Charlie Brown Christmas tree. I spray painted the castle red. We won't be using it as a toy anytime soon. It came in handy last year.

This year, we are all set up. Presents are wrapped. We're good to go.

Notice the temperature Saturday morning, -11 C.

JB added more lights to his display, but it was a bit bouncy. Nutmeg jumped up, took a whack at the train, and it fell off the track. I used tweezers to take some fluff out of the train wheels. 

Back in July, 2011, I used a couple of pieces of wood to make a baby gate. It worked really well, but we don't need it anymore. I noticed Daisy climbing on it in the photo. (She's doing well, I've heard, rehomed in an apartment of JB's cousin's friend.) 

The train hasn't been working very well. I took the baby gate apart, and recycled the wood. I had another brainstorm, for Plan C for the train. Splitting the two pieces in half, I cut them up to fit the top of the card table. What a difference it made. The cardboard was to bouncy and the train kept losing contact.

As an aside, while I used my circular saw to cut it up, in the frigid -5 temperatures, I could smell the sawdust and I thought of my father. He was always building stuff. 

It works so much better. Cinnamon is quite cautious. He keeps leaving the room when we start up the train.