COLD PARADE DAY

A day filled with Christmas activities was seasonably cold with a sometimes icy sleet mixed with a chilling rain.
As daughter and I sat inside market nice and warm we watched the shivering parade goers as they came back through market on their way to their cars.
Our day was okay but not what you would expect with the crowd we had. Sometimes uptown activities hurt our business as our parking lot filled with parade goers today leaving no spaces for buying customers. One of my customers who had an order walked about 6 blocks to pick her order up, luckily Hubbie was still there and carried her 2 cakes back to her car.
Business on days like this depend on parade goers as they shop on their way back to their cars. Today in the cold,wet conditions all everyone wanted to do was get to their cars and get the heater going !!!
Mounted patrol worked to keep the parade watchers safe and out of the street.
Plenty of rosy cheeks on this parade day. Last year it was snowing on the parade.
Wonder how long these mermaids can stay out of water??
This scouting float brought back memories for me as we did a float very similar when we were involved in Cub Scouts.
The cold didn't seem to hinder the crowds today.
Nothing special in the parade here, I just love this section of main street with this old house which is now a bed and breakfast.
I was thinking today in a way I kind of miss the parade hassle but then again I don't miss the frigid weather or the sometimes inconsiderate crowds.
Another Christmas celebration was going on just out of town at the Historic Johnson Farm.
This house built in the late 1870's was built completely from bricks fired on site from the French Broad River mud. It was an operating farm and served as a boarding house for years. Before the 2 bachelor son's of Sallie Johnson died in the mid 1980's they donated the entire farm to the Henderson County School system to be used as a hands on museum to keep the memories of farm life during the late 19th and early 20th century live.In this picture you can see the mud bricks which have weather the years very well.
Today they celebrated Christmas with an open house.
The old furnishing are still in place inside this wonderful old house.
This is a classroom that has been set up in one of the many out buildings on the 15 acre farm.
The front room in the house is available for rent for weddings or other activities. I have been to several weddings there.
After daughter and I left market we shopped for supplies and also for our Angel tree little girl. The school were she works has an Angel tree with names of needy children there who need Christmas gifts and daughter always gets us at least 1 name. We found some great things for her and the saddest part was looking at the list she gave of what she wanted. The second and third things on the list were socks and underwear !!! How many kids in your family are asking for socks and underwear this Christmas??????
The weather is about as crazy as it gets around here today.
This morning it was 28 degrees and cloudy.
During the day it has stayed in the low 30's while spitting sleet or rain from time to time.
This evening early was bitterly cold 20's with light winds.
Later this evening the temps rose into the low 40's for about 3 hours only now to be plummeting back into the 30's with high wind I can hear roaring outside now.
Makes me wonder what the overnight is going to bring???
Daughter and I went down to #2 son's house and decorated it for Christmas tonight. We couldn't put up his outside lights because Flash the dog is still in his chewing everything up stage and would find a way to get to the cords.
I am going to finish my decorations tomorrow and get my cords ran to all my outside things.
#1 son and g-son came by for a while this evening and g-son is in awe of the whole Christmas thing this year.
Thankful tonight for a wonderful day filled with joy and celebration of our dear Saviors birth.
Good Night and God Bless.