One of my very favorite things to do is to pull out the Christmas decorations and meander down memory lane while setting them out on display. With other seasonal decorations, I can usually just make them fit but with Christmas decorations, there are so many of them -- and they all have memories of people or places attached to them -- that I have to put away the regular tchotchkes to make room. Since there will not be any Christmas visitors this year, I kinda cheated and didn't put out everything (especially the big, heavy tree!), but downstairs is nicely bedecked, from creche to Kringles. Stockings are hung by the chimney with care:
Christmas-themed books (Saving Mr. Bingle, The Nutcracker, The Polar Express, A Blue Dog Christmas, Christmas Long Ago, The Christmas Book given to me by my grandparents for my fourth Christmas in 1959 and accompanied by Mama's cross-stitch bookmark marking The Night Before Christmas) and my "interpretations" of them are pretty much all over the parlors:
The staircase sports Christmas finery:
Nighttime sparkles:
It's a Who Dat Christmas on the front door this year:
And yesterday I chased away the I-want-to-bake-with-my-friends blues by baking a batch of really good cranberry/coconut/oatmeal cookies:
It is a wonderful life, even if the rest of the house is in shambles while we have several repair and patch and paint jobs done, leaving a coat of fresh plaster dust and chemical fumes wafting through the rest of the house. And even though I'll have to get all that mess cleaned up before leaving for Christmas in Arkansas because eleven (yes, you read that correctly -- eleven!) houseguests will descend upon Moogie's Mansion for the Sugar Bowl upon our return. And then Carnival season begins on January 6th!
'Tis the season . . . .
Or, maybe he can just by-pass Santa altogether and bribe the UPS guy for a little extra . . . .
And, just for fun, here's a vintage pic, I'm guessing circa 1987, of Moogie's daughters performing their annual "Christmas Tree Dress-up Decorating Dance," choreographed especially for decorating day:
Your house looks great and the cookies even better! We got out the Christmas decorations today, although I'm not sure what all will get put out this year. We did find the reindeer antler headband for the dog - expect Christmas pictures of the Great Dane soon.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait!
ReplyDeleteHow elegant!
ReplyDeleteI remember the Christmas decorating ritual fondly, from the retrieval of the boxes from the attic to the setting-out in all the usual places. I miss that a lot, too, especially when I see a well-done example like yours, Moogie.
Why, thank youi, Buck!
ReplyDeleteThe retrieval and return parts -- eh, I could do without those!
Moogie, it is a wonderful life, for sure. But, it's Dec. 16, and we haven't busted out a single box of decorations from the attic yet.
ReplyDeleteI don't guess we will. Even though the chicks have come back home to roost for a while & the house is jammed full of human bodies, everybody is otherwise occupied, and nobody has even mentioned decorating.
Christmas season 2010 is kinda' like a "fog" right now around here. And, I'm sure I'll remember it well in years to come. Anyway... at present, it's a true joy to see the Mansion all decked out! Really, it is.
I wish you the joy of the Christmas Spirit and Baby Jesus' birthday, even without all the trimmings, Andy. Just like in Whoville! Christmas will come anyway! A house jammed full of loved ones is a good thing!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're getting a moment to breathe.
Thanks, Moogie. Really, I appreciate that.
ReplyDeleteIt will get here. It always does. It just seems to be taking its own sweet time this year.
I've got high hopes.
I really do appreciate that. My keyboard is getting wet now, so I had better go...