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 Christmas tree & decorations are put away!!

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westernhorse51 Posted - Dec 30 2006 : 1:57:39 PM
OK, OK, I know its terrible of me but tomorrow (new years eve) is our anniversary and back to work on Tuesday so I wanted to get it done. I love it up & decorated but AFTER Christmas has passed, I want it down. But.... on a bright side, I've got all my garden decorations up, bought seeds today, lots of pinks, lavendars, sage greens & cream colors. Its bright, happy & I love it. I decorate garden-cottage style & it makes me happy. Now I'm going to have a cup of tea & go through some seed catalogs.

she selects wool and flax and works with eager hands Prov.31:13
24   L A T E S T    R E P L I E S    (Newest First)
happymama58 Posted - Jan 01 2007 : 09:56:04 AM
We always leave everything up until Jan 6 -- Epiphany. For us, that's the end of the Christmas season. My mil takes down everything and stores it Christmas night, so my dh was quite surprised when I wanted to leave it up "so long". After 23 years,
though, he's used to me & my ways



Some people search for happiness; others create it.

http://happymama58.typepad.com/my_weblog/

Please visit me at www.marykay.com/pmiinch
Horseyrider Posted - Jan 01 2007 : 09:25:53 AM
Oh gosh, Katie-ell! You've touched me right to the heart! Thankyou so much for that; what a sweet thing to say, and I really needed it.
katie-ell Posted - Jan 01 2007 : 04:55:25 AM
Mary Ann -- My hope for you in this New Year is that you will have strength and peace as you go through your earthly goodbye with your Dad. You are a strong and shining light here on the forum, always with good counsel and good information and I look forward to reading each and every one of your posts. So I want to send you my wishes and prayers as you go to see your Dad and as you and your family go through whatever this year may bring.
Horseyrider Posted - Jan 01 2007 : 04:14:10 AM
Thanks, Melanie; it's good to know that others understand. Taking some of your mother's traditions and keeping them alive helps to bring her to your boys. I think the Twelfth Night celebration sounds wonderful! I can imagine the big glorious bonfire in town; what a great idea for neighbors to get together, and gosh, no doubt the volunteer fire department was on hand for "mistakes." Do you still burn yours at home?

I'm one who puts it up the weekend after Thanksgiving, most generally. I like to avoid the Black Friday shopping and use that time for online shopping and decorating. I agree that it's gotten excessive with all the Christmas stuff out early, but it's hard in retail anymore. Everyone is so competitive, shoppers expect sales now before the holiday rather than after, and it gets harder and harder to compete with online shopping, too. Everybody wants a bigger market share.

I love having forced bulbs! I have a hyacinth in the refrigerator right now rooting in a little forcing vase, and plan to force some narcissus if I get around to it. They smell so sweet! Winter has been mild here, but it's been cloudy, muddy, and a bit dark. Some pretty flowers will brighten things up; I might even buy some cut flowers the next time I go to town. Sure makes me feel spoiled to see the live ones this time of year.

Michele, thankyou for your prayers for Dad. He's a strong and stubborn man, and needs them more than he realizes.
Tabigirl Posted - Dec 31 2006 : 8:09:39 PM
Good for you! I just returned from visiting my in-laws in AZ. We left on Christmas day and I am so glad to be home! I have been putting away my Christmas decorations and getting my seed and plant catalogs ready for 2007. I have a stack next to by bed to look at this week :>) I also am getting the paperwhite, hiacynth and tulip bulbs ready in containers throughout the house. I know winter has just begun and it could still be a long haul, but love turning the corner of a new year and what Spring will bring.

Blessings to you! Tabitha
westernhorse51 Posted - Dec 31 2006 : 7:53:50 PM
Mary Ann, you, your dad & family are in my prayers & I send only good thoughts your way.

she selects wool and flax and works with eager hands Prov.31:13
lamamama Posted - Dec 31 2006 : 7:11:25 PM
Whoops! Sorry, Michele - I meant to write "And thanks to Michele for starting the post."
And I do thank you!
Melanie
lamamama Posted - Dec 31 2006 : 7:06:12 PM
MaryAnn, I so enjoyed reading your posts, & everyone's responses, too. Thanks for starting this thread. And I do wish you strength & all the best with your Dad.

I, too, have trouble sometimes during the Holidays - also my Mom's favorite time of the year. She has been gone 3 years now, but it still feels weird not talking to her (she lived more than half-way across the country), or mailing gifts to her. I've incorporated so many of the Christmas things she did, making them the family traditions my boys have grown up with.
One of them is leaving the tree up until 12th night. Since we don't put the tree up until the day before Christmas, it doesn't seem like it is up a long time. In the small town in Ky. where I grew up, there would be a big bonfire on 12th night, & everyone would bring their tree. There would be singing in the dark around the HUGE bonfire, & it was all very magical to the kids. Given environmental regulations now, I'm sure it is no longer done.

Before closing, I just have to say that since all the stores, catalogs, media, etc. now jump start the Christmas Holidays even before Thanksgiving, that it is so easy to get burned out about everything by the time it's December 26th. That was definitely NOT the case when I was growing up. I still remember the unwritten rule that there was no decorations of any kind until after Thanksgiving - not even the big stores in the big cities. My kids really are amazed by that! Frankly, I wish we could bring that back.
Horseyrider Posted - Dec 31 2006 : 5:31:08 PM
Thanks for all your kind words, ladies. It really does help to be able to just say it out loud! Sandy, my dad lives about three and a half hours away. But since I have livestock and chores, it's hard to cut away for very long, so I intend to make it just an overnight. I do have a brother that lives sort of close by, and another whose home base is Tennessee and North Carolina. As far as caregiving goes, Dad has remarried a wonderful woman who is a good deal younger, and not only is she very smart and caring, she's also an RN. They're very well to do and can hire any care they need. When mother was ill they had in home health care, and she was able to pass at home with her family around her. I held my mother's hand when she crossed over.

I'm doing much better now, and no doubt I'll be myself until next year, when the first Christmas carols begin again. Since mother loved Christmas so, and loved the giving and the family and the Reason for the Season, I've tried very hard to take what she loved and pass it on. Most of the time it works fine, but just like Michele described, the odd phrase from a Christmas carol can bring me to tears in an instant.

Sometimes I think this is one of God's blessings. As we get older, and so many of the people we've loved have gone before us, we begin to not mind the idea of crossing over quite so much, so we can be reunited with our loved ones we've missed so long.

Ah well, I'll quit nattering now. Thanks so much for listening; you're the best!
ponyexpress Posted - Dec 31 2006 : 4:47:09 PM
All my stuff came down two days after Christmas -- early up/early down! I get enthusiastic about Christmas about mid-November, but then the holiday stresses and expectations kick in and by the time Dec 25 rolls around, I've had it!

Mary Ann - I'm sorry about your Dad. Do you have a long trip to make? How about any brothers/sisters to help with the caregiving?

Sounds like we're all eager to move on to the next occasion....

I don't iron anymore. If I'm not wrinkle-free, why should my clothes be?
katie-ell Posted - Dec 31 2006 : 3:56:41 PM
Will begin taking down decorations tonight during the game (Go Bears!). I will miss the sparkle and light of the tree. . . . but I may decorate for Valentine's Day sooner rather than later -- maybe even find a little tree for my kitchen that I can decorate for Vday. . . hmm . . . makes saying goodbye to my brush trees and little pinecone men a little easier.
westernhorse51 Posted - Dec 31 2006 : 3:02:57 PM
Oh how I miss my garden!!

she selects wool and flax and works with eager hands Prov.31:13
GaiasRose Posted - Dec 31 2006 : 1:22:32 PM
We keep ours up until Twelfth Night, or my birthday which is two days later, whichever one falls ont he weekend. This year it's Twelfth Night. I will leave up the snowflakes until Feb. 3 and then it's time to start decorating for Spring!!! WOOOT! Seeding and planting and all the good fun dirty stuff!


~*~Brightest Blessings~*~
Tasha-Rose
blogs: http://gaiarose.wordpress.com
http://frugalwitch.wordpress.com
sleepless reader Posted - Dec 31 2006 : 12:50:53 PM
Got it all taken down yesterday and put away today. Looks kind of sparse around here now, but in a few weeks I can decorate for Valentine's day and then SPRING!!!
Waiting on those seed catalogs :)
Happy New Year to you all dear friends!
Sharon

Life is messy. Wear your apron!
junebug Posted - Dec 31 2006 : 12:39:57 PM
Oh I wish everything was down, but I had to keep it up till tomorrow since our two youngest got in after Christmas and we had to celebrate twice and plus they enjoy seeing it all too. But I never keep it up this long and I'm ready to get it packed up and put away. Ready to think ahead to the new year and valentines day!!

Visit me at my blogs:
www.countrypleasures.blogspot.com
www.herbalfarmstead.blogspot.com
And my new food blog at: www.homesteadblogger.com/gardencafe
westernhorse51 Posted - Dec 31 2006 : 09:27:17 AM
Catherine were celebrating 19 years. Thats so great to hear about your parents celebrating 49 yrs. God Bless them. I love it, were not perfect but I wouldn't change a thing. I love him so very much. I know what everyone means about missing loved ones at holidays especially, I've lost a few including my parents. I think for me, New Years Eve for some reason is harder. I don't even know why but I can (if I let myself) get very down on this day & then that Ole Lang Zyne makes me cry even when I'm feeling just fine! Its a very happy day for us but sometimes the whole New Years Eve thing bothers me. Weird, I guess.


she selects wool and flax and works with eager hands Prov.31:13
Nancy Gartenman Posted - Dec 31 2006 : 06:11:54 AM
Mary Ann,
Sorry to hear that your Dad is not well. I know what you mean about missing family this time of year, its much harder for some people then others. But I think everyone feels a bit sad about those we are missing from our lives, I guess it just becomes more apparent this time of year. I guess we just have to try and remember the happy times and be thankful for the family and friends we have around us now. Well I will get off my soap box now, and just say that happy or not my tree always comes down a few days after Christmas.
NANCY JO

www.Nancy-Jo.blogspot.com
Horseyrider Posted - Dec 31 2006 : 04:08:25 AM
I took mine down the day after Christmas. I don't know why for sure, but I felt like I just wanted to move on. I tend to get a bit blue around the holidays as I miss my mom so much. (She passed away some years back, and Christmas was her favorite time of the year.) Then I found out my dad is very ill and in denial, so I'll be making a road trip soon. And I'll be moving my show gelding to winter digs with a heated barn and heated indoor next Friday, after the vet draws Coggins and the farrier resets him. Might as well git 'er done. *shrug*

The seed catalogs sure do help though, don't they? Sounds like our garden colors are very similar!
Aunt Jenny Posted - Dec 30 2006 : 9:18:51 PM
I usually have mine down within a couple days after Christmas..but this year it is all still up. I will take it down on New Years Day I think. Husband would keep it all up until valentines day but I usually want to move on to the next thing.It isn't spring time looking enough out to get too excited about seed catalogs yet..I got my first one today in the mail and that WAS fun though.
Happy anniversary!!

Jenny in Utah
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com
cmandle Posted - Dec 30 2006 : 8:32:14 PM
We're taking ours down on New Year's Day as always, but I've wanted to do it a few times already in the past few days. If I had some SNOW (whine, whine) then I might feel more like leaving it up. But the smell of spring makes me just want to get on with it!

Michele, how many years of marriage are you celebrating? My parents' wedding anniversary is New Year's Eve too and they're celebrating FORTY years together tomorrow. We'll be joining them at their church for a special blessing and then off to brunch.

Best wishes to you on your anniversary!!

Catherine

http://yogurtandgranola.blogspot.com
asnedecor Posted - Dec 30 2006 : 8:20:59 PM
Everything is down and put away except the outside lights - those go next. Just like everyone else I too go back to work on Tuesday so I am ready for all to be put away - also I am kinda re-arranging my livingroom some since we moved stuff for the tree, this gives me a kinda new start for the new year.

Anne in Portland

"Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them" Eyeore from Winnie the Pooh
westernhorse51 Posted - Dec 30 2006 : 2:16:09 PM
I am so glad Im not alone. Thanks

she selects wool and flax and works with eager hands Prov.31:13
Beemoosie Posted - Dec 30 2006 : 2:09:34 PM
I have the ornaments off the tree, and all will be put up in the attic tomorrow. It feels good to have it put away.
Michele, I would love to see your cottage style decor...I think I need more flowers around here to keep me going until spring!

O, Come let us adore HIM! www.beequilting.blogspot.com
Nancy Gartenman Posted - Dec 30 2006 : 2:06:16 PM
Michele,
I took everything down on Wednesday. So see you are not terrible. I always put everything up early and like you, when Christmas day has passed I'am done.Nice to know I'am not the only one.
NANCY JO

www.Nancy-Jo.blogspot.com

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