Why does it always feel colder when it rains? We woke up to a hovering gray sky, and shortly after we walked the dogs, it started to rain, and has rained pretty much all day. And it has just felt chilly. I guess we could have turned the heat up, but propane gets expensive. And we have run out in the middle of the night a couple of times, something I'd rather not do again, thank you.

But that made it a good day for getting little inside jobs done, like reorganizing tools, sorting hardware, replacing lights and, of course ...

... making soup. Definitely a soup-and-grilled-cheese kind of day.

It was also a day to get our little house on wheels ready for Christmas.

The tree (all two and a half feet of it) was already done ...

... surrounded by ornament and mug trailers and a truck around a little crèche (modern-day shepherds?). But that and a wreath on the door was as far as I'd gotten.

The other day, I had taken the pantry door off and modified it a bit. The pantry is over the fireplace in the space where the old big, boxy TV used to live. It's a big space, enough room for a small freezer and a fair amount of food.

The first thing after breakfast this morning, we rehung the pantry door, Now it has a little mantle (the fireplace surround is next, as soon as it stops raining).

Then I hung garland and tied bows

And even though it still needs to be painted, I decorated the mantle,

By dinnertime, it was feeling very festive ... except for the boxes I now need to put away. That will keep until tomorrow.

For now, we're enjoying the coziness inside our little house on wheels.