You too can aspire to have a beautifully decorated house just like moi!
(Ok. Maybe you can aspire to have a half decorated house just like me.)
I have no kiddos this year, Christmas day dinner will be an orphan's meal at the neighbors and I only decorated for myself.
Christmas trees are my favorite. With a log cabin, avoiding a real (fire hazard) tree seems like a good idea. There's a narrow fake tree that just touches the 7 foot ceiling and squeezes between the pellet stove and the stairs. This year it is decorated with nothing but icicles- glass and plastic, frosted, clear, gold and silver- plus some snowflakes and white lights. I imagine it will stay up until March just like the one I had last year. It is on a timer so I wake up to a lit tree and come home from work to a lit tree. My own personal seasonal night light. It scares away the winter dark. The tree will come down once we go on daylight saving time again.
LOVE this tree- it just fits.
Going with a UPS theme under the tree this year.
At least it is all color coordinated.
The mantel has garland. In the middle there should be silver and red ornaments. Or maybe some pine cones would finish it off. But for the past two weeks it has looked just like this....no centerpiece.
It's almost done. Just needs something in the middle.
Not gonna get it at this point.
Santa holds Carlos's and Mina's stockings. That Santa is about 55 years old. My dad's sister made it for us and my mother was kind enough to pass it on to me when the Big Guy was tiny. All three kids knew they would be dead if it ever got knocked over. Somehow it has survived.
Mina has already found her catnip mouse.
Carlos can smell his marrow filled bones.
No surprises for those pets.
My milagro tree which stays up year round gets tiny glass ball ornaments for the holidays. Except this year Mina, the kitty, knocked some of the milagros off and the chest it sits on needs to be moved to retrieve them. So instead the glass balls remain in their plastic bag, destined to return to the basement with exactly zero time on display. Maybe I should throw that bag up in the middle of the mantel garland?
Love this little tree but since it is by the kitty food,
Mina has a tendency to knock the milagros off.
And that darling Salida sign came from Buenos Aires,
courtesy of friend Diana.
Hopefully it will be hung up this weekend.
Hopefully.
There are greenery wreaths on all of the doors. Sadly, all of the doors need painting. Ignore that- enjoy the festivity! Even the shed doors have wreaths which makes me very happy as I can see them from the front windows. Amazingly the deer have left the wreaths alone.
We conned sweet neighbor Bev into taking our pics for a Christmas card.
This was not a chosen pic but look how cute that wreath is on the shed.
And doesn't Carlos look handsome?
This poor door.
The sun beats down on it every day.
The wreaths are wire forms from the dollar store with $3 fake garland as
a base and real greens from the yard to fill it out.
Maybe the fake stuff is what is deterring the deer?
My reindeer greets visitors!
The steer skull had to get in on the Christmas greenery action.
The same cannot be said of poor Kaiser's greens. I put them in his little carved paws, the deer come up on the porch and pull them off. It's a game we play every day.
Another Christmas card reject pic.
But... again Carlos looks like a boss and Kaiser actually has his greens in his paws.
My $30 leather chair.
Absolutely the best deal and the comfiest spot to sit and read.
O wait. Maybe this is the comfiest spot.
My "Naughty" stocking hangs with the hats.
Upstairs the loft room floor is covered in tissue paper and ribbon. The sewing machine is out- I whipped up some flannel bags to put packages in rather than find boxes and paper. It's a mess and has been since last weekend.
There was a flurry of wrapping and packing to get everything in the mail.
So far UPS is winning- they delivered on time.
USPS is two days late and counting.
This cactus is probably twenty years old- maybe older.
Although I suspect the original died while I was in Colorado and it was in Texas under the
care of the ex. I think he possibly replaced the original.
Either that or this cactus has had a genetic mutation because it used to have light pink flowers.
It's a wonderful time of year, full of love and generosity and cheer and surprises.
I'll miss having my kids about but am relishing the quiet of a four day weekend.
The decorations, while not perfect or designer delightful, bring me joy. And personally, I think that's the point. Bring joy.
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