Decorating for Christmas

Folks, this is happening! Come Friday, will Bruce be able to retire in such a fashion is the Million Dollar question?

Matt bought this book for his Dad a few years ago and it went unread until the last month or so, however, with the date drawing nigh, the advice within seems to be hitting home. Let the good times begin!

Generally, I don't miss our home an awful lot, but this past week it was different. And how so? Christmas. Decorating for Christmas. Most of you understand that don't you? We have our routine and we stick to it. In our case, aside from the tree, my favorite part of our decorations was the mantle over our fireplace that Bruce would decorate every year. Beautifully, I might add. The stockings were hung with care. Except this year. Where do you hang stockings even if they aren't needed anymore? I won't deny that it made me a wee bit sad when the tubs came over from our storage unit.

Good grief, we've got enough wrapping paper to last ten years! On the other hand, either we sold it or gave it away, but I could not find a whole bunch of stuff, including some trays that were integral to my decorating scheme. (See above reference) So, I was even sadder. I went shopping for some stuff with very little luck because the Christmas goods have been in the stores for months and is very much picked over. Then too, I had no luck finding gold towels for the bathroom. Had I wanted some seriously bright colors, those could be found.

Those towels may look slightly gold, but believe me, they were crazy bright yellow.

We began our decorating with the chest inside the front door. I made a first pass, setting it up like this:

That is a very old dresser scarf from my Mom. Bruce, meanwhile was not so crazy about that scarf, and redid the scene like this. And before I go further, perhaps I should explain what a dresser scarf is for younger readers? Basically both a decoration and a means to keep a person from having to dust the dresser top so often. Now that we've established that, here's his version.

Neither replace my fondness for the mantle, that's for sure! And though I thought I had some Christmas placements, they must have gotten lost in the move as well. Fortunately I had some fabric to make a couple new ones for the kitchen where we eat most of our meals. The walking foot, my good friend!

I did find the Christmas napkins which made me happy. The thing about Christmas decorations is they begin to take on more meaning, perhaps because we only see them once a year? Furthermore, I often remember much more about them than I do other things. In this instance, these napkins go back maybe as far as when I was working at the hospital and went on a shopping spree at Crate and Barrel. Speaking of which, I was very sad to learn they closed the Orlando store during our absence last year.

Michelle, knowing I was slightly blue said she had an early gift for us, which turned out to be one of those light display things. I know no other way to describe it. Perhaps you've seen them? You plug it in and light blobs which are meant to mimic falling snow (if set to white), begin....well, let's just cut to the chase rather than me trying to describe it!

Wasn't that nice of her? While on the subject of light, here's another wildly colorful sunrise from the other morning.

Should you wonder how it is that I'm always noticing the sunrise, it is because it is pretty darn hard to ignore as it comes right in the big windows. Ours is the one with the chairs.

Do you notice the bunting? I made that some years ago to hang in my booth at the market so I wanted to find a place for it in our new home to remind me of that time in our lives. Plus, I think it is pretty cute.

As each month passes, we appreciate our move to Lake Pineloch all the more, having met folks to hang out with, and what with no lawn or pool care, what's not to like? Aside from the no mantle of course. It was with excitement that I watched a team of folks putting up lights in mid November and now they are live!

About ten or so of the big oak trees are wrapped in the fashion pictured below.

How fun is that?  Inspired by everyone around us, we decided to get going on our decorations, beginning with buying an artificial (gasp!) tree. Bruce had a very busy work week, however, he carved out some time to go to Costco for a very nice tree I'd seen there. Not so fast! The box was absolutely huge and would take up a huge part of our storage unit, so it was back to our custom of buying a live tree at Harris Landscaping, just down the street. We went there on Wednesday evening and they were pretty much out of trees, or at least any that we wanted. He told us they had one more truckload coming in late Thursday, so check back. We did, Not there on Thursday night, but if we came early Friday, we'd be in luck. My friends, what luck we had. Arriving around 8:30 AM, they were just unloading the trees from the truck and they were still cold.

Driving through the night from Cashiers, North Carolina, where the temperature was five degrees, they arrived in Orlando at 2:30AM. Andrew, the young man who helped us, pulled a tree out of the truck, cut the cords, and we nearly gasped with delight. An absolutely perfect Fraser Fir with nary a bad side to be found. The price of $50 is a bonus. I am in the process of decorating the tree so photos will be coming. While I was wrapping the beauty with 900 (!!!) lights, Mr. Peck was outdoors making our porch and walkway look very festive.

Years and years ago, we were hosting a very large Christmas party, so big in fact, that Carol flew in from California to join the festivities. Arriving the night before, she promptly declared that I did not have nearly enough decorations and something had to be done ASAP. I can't remember if it was Bill or Dave, but one of them drove her to Big Lots and she came home with all manner of inexpensive goodies. Times have changed and Big Lots is no longer all that inexpensive, however, Dollar Tree still is and I bought these cheerful stars there for, well, a dollar. I hung them on the kitchen window and they actually look pretty cute.

Finally, I gave in and bought a professionally decorated wreath from Costco. My attempts in years past seem a little pathetic looking at this one, however, that is one of the things I most like about Christmas. (see above reference part 3)

That tree! Note the open door as it has warm again after a few chilly days. December 1 and the doors are open. We are not in Vancouver anymore.

Finally, unrelated, but promised in my last post, the Black Crowned Heron I saw last Saturday and have not seen since. Such a striking bird.

Oh yeah, even one more thing. Should you be wondering about the backsplash, well, it seems as if I am jinxed because the shipment of tile came in and was broken. Maybe next week? Perhaps it was meant to be as Bruce will be happy, wild, and free and can supervise the installation! Perfect.

Share a decorating story, will you?

your friend,

Gail