Nineteen Years Ago Today: Holiday Preps

This is a post copied from my old LiveJournal (LJ) from Monday, December 4, 2006:

Dec. 4th, 2006 12:37 pm

holiday preps

Got a lot more done this past weekend. On Thanksgiving weekend (Saturday), we bought a couple poinsettias (red), a small tabletop rosemary tree, a fresh wreath, and some of those cinnamon-scented pine cones. I also put out some of the few decorations I'd brought with me (the stuff family or friends made or gave to me), so the house looked somewhat festive when Breathless' daughter and her family came to visit that Sunday. Oh, and I made some Christmas cookies (pecan puffs) for them to eat and take with them.

Above:  The wreath we got, hung inside the front door so we could smell it!

Below:  One of the decorations I'd brought with me, that my mother made.

I was expecting to be alone this Christmas, so had originally planned not to put up a tree until I could find a fake lit tree on sale after the holidays. For so many years in the Pac NW, my son and I would go to a tree farm and cut a fresh Doug fir. I don't think you can do that here in Texas, although I know there are farms with pines and cedars - I don't like the former and I have family members who are highly allergic to the latter). Nevertheless, Breathless wanted to have a "real" tree this year, so we bought a cut 6' Doug fir this past weekend.

He'd picked up some tree lights on sale earlier in the week (many of mine had burned out, and I gave those that worked to my son), and he also got some red rope lights cheap. We put those up outside yesterday afternoon (MAN! Was it cold and windy!), and it makes the top (non-brick) half of the four columns out there look striped, like candy canes. I'm thinking next year though we might put these on the back porch (there are only two columns out there, but we can double the amount of lights on each) as I think I'd like something a little more old-fashioned for the front, maybe some lighted garlands to wrap around the posts instead. That's something I definitely need to buy on sale after the holidays, as I am picky about how realistic the fake greens look.

He also got me a real (mostly cedar) garland for the mantle (which I have intertwined with some sparkly white netting), and when we got the tree, they gave me as many trimmed branches as I wanted. I think I will make those into some sort of swag to hang on the front door, with some wide red velvet indoor/outdoor ribbon I have.

Above:  The mantle with much of the stuff talked about in the post.  More in a future post about the painting, and more below on the plaque in front of the fireplace.

Below:  The door swag I made.

Today he is supposed to put up the tree lights, so I can decorate (with all the ornaments and icicles I DID bring) tonight. No hurry.

Current Location: lunch break at work
Current Mood: jubilant
Current Music: computers

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In a reply to a comment on December 6, I added:

The tree has lights and ornaments now. Breathless picked out such a good tree (very full) that I am not sure it needs icicles. I had so many ornaments that I put some on the garland on the mantle, and will do a very small Pac-NW theme tree (ferryboats, various whales, an eagle, a salmon, etc.) for the guest room where my son will be sleeping. I also did not hang any of my bell ornaments - may add those to the garland (which has Texas ornaments) as well, or put them on doorknobs.

Above:  Eric with the main tree on Christmas Eve.

Below:  The small Pac-NW tree I put in the guest room for Eric.

I've been collecting ornaments since I put up my first tree of my own in 1979 (a 3' one in Corpus Christi, where I had my first "real" job after getting my bachelor's degree). Now I really have way too many for a 6' tall, very full tree! I plan to give my son the ornaments on his theme tree (forgot to mention it also includes Seahawks ornaments - he's a big 'Hawks fan), plus some others, but I suspect I'll be storing his until HE puts up that first tree of his own!

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Below are a couple more holiday decorations.  I will tell the story of this "Beware of the Trains" plaque in a future post.

Above:  The candy cane mice were made by my aunt, Sister Jean Marie Guokas/

Below:  I decorated the masts of Mark's ship with tiny wreaths.

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