Yes, 2020 finally broke me. . . But not the way you might be thinking. . . It’s just that after a lifetime of refusing to bring a tree in the house before December 15th at the earliest (more often we’ve waited until the 20th, and in my childhood home, it was rarely up before the 22nd — and then not taken down until the Epiphany, the 12th Day of Christmas), Paul put ours up yesterday, strung the lights, and wrapped a shiny wide ribbon around its circumference in widening spirals from top to bottom.
I’m going to stretch out the rest of the ornaments, not sure how many I’ll use from the box he brought up from storage, or how many I might find on my walks over the next week or two, browsing the windows of those neighbourhood shops I’m hoping to help stay in business . . .
I might even send some seasonal tunes through the Sonos speakers (although with my new hearing aids I have the option of keeping them a little secret, playing inside my ears just for me). . . I’ve already made up a steamed pudding, first time ever from scratch. . . and I’m going to try to send out a stack of Season’s Greetings, even though I generally prefer to spread my handwritten correspondence over a year rather than frantically dragging pen over paper for an intense week or two. . .
Have you jump-started holiday traditions this year? We’ll all have to abandon some, I expect — which hurt you the must? And, on the other hand, which are you secretly (or not so secretly) relieved to relinquish? I’m also keen to hear any recommendations for seasonal music — any must-have Christmas album I should know about?
And while you’re thinking about that (and I’d love you to leave your answers in the Comments below). . . I’ll invite you to travel back to December 2019 with me, and gaze at a Christmas window in Paris.. . where my hotel’s only a block or two away from the Bon Marché department store. . .
We haven't even bought our tree yet. But probably soon. Not sure if it will go up early or not. We usually wait until the 20th. Loved your bedtime story post on IG. What a wonderful way to make new technology help keep old traditions alive.
Love those Paris windows. Hope you'll joining us for our Paris getaway. The imaginary one. 🙂
Ah, you're in the Scott school of tree-trimming – except he wants to put it up on the 20th and take it down on the first?!? That's a lot of work for 11 days. So mine is sitting outside, in water, till I can convince him that it's time to get the show on the road!
I rarely put mine up before the 10th to 15th, and it stays up until epiphany. Last year it went up early and I made it all a big deal as part of a fund raiser for our local art museum. This year I am questioning the whole process. it seems like a lot of work for just me and I am not sure I can handle it all alone and with no one to share it with. I might just bring out the lighted crystal table top trees I bought the year I was in a tiny apartment.
I love steaming music to my hearing aids. Kind of like a secret santa for my heart. That and hearing the birdsong early in the morning alone is worth wearing them, but so many things are better.
When I was growing up Santa brought the tree and presents after we went to bed. It was wonderful to come down the stairs and see a magical transformation and presents! When we were all older we helped put up the tree on Christmas Eve evening. Now my beloved wants to put the tree up the day after Thanksgiving – so we compromise and put the tree up about the 15th. The tree still does make things magical.
Hi from Gigi down in Australia. My tradition is no decorations until Dec 1st, and then all comes down on New Years Day for a fresh start to the year. I've kept to that this year, but feel like a simpler and more minimalist theme, with just my favourite lights and decorations. I know a LOT of people who put up their trees early though and are really going for it with decorations etc. There's definitely a sense of needing that extra cheer, even though here we've haven't had such a rough time as the rest of the world (mostly), it's still been a challenge.
I am holding out on tree till my normal time but now it is Advent (which I love) I have started lighting candles in my window and next week will add a small string of lights. Following week another string goes up in sitting room. Following week we are in Christmas mode, lights and tree and baubles. Learning to wait is the bit I really relish but I might go early with multicoloured lights round the front door. Things abandoned: no making of Christmas puds for friends or for us this year as so expensive to post, no stockings for son and daughter as they will not be with us. I think that is it. My village is gearing up for spectacular light-up at the weekend and people are creating Christmas wonderlands in their gardens for all to see. This, I like. Hope it stays in a post-Covid world and I am very grateful for people who have come up with splendid community activities.
If the tree brings comfort and joy, it is time! We haven't had a treee since we moved into the condo but usually have some sentimental family decorations around. This year even those will be minimal as our small LR is filled with boxes, awaiting a January kitchen reno. This year, the city has decided to put up the street holiday lighting early, and now that it is dark by 4 p.m., everyone seems to welcome it.
Our Croatian tradition is to decorate the tree on Christmas Eve and have it to Epiphany. But,under circumstances-Bring on the Lights and Tree as Well,I agree.
I've decorated my tree yesterday (it's a little bit wobbly,but aren't so a lot of us indeed? Let it be!)and plan to start to listen Christmas music (I'm waiting for a delivery-not a Black Friday's purchases but tangerines and lemons from the seaside,so it has to be silence). There is more than a week's rain forecast,so I'll wait with outside lights (not a great time for sneezing,no?)
And to be honest,I always decorate my tree in advance,tradition or no tradition!
Dottoressa
I keep thinking of that song from the musical Mame, "we need a little Christmas, right this very minute…" Many of our neighbors started putting up their decorations last week, and we've found it just the bit of cheer we need now. Enjoy that tree!
Good for Paul. Can't say I am quite in Christmas decorating mode yet.
The Paris store windows remind me of growing up in London in the 1950s. We always went to Oxford and Regents Street during the evening during the Christmas season when all the large department stores (many back then–Selfridges, John Lewis, Dickins and Jones, Liberty's, etc.) had wonderfully decorated windows. There were also elaborately lit overhead decorations across and down the whole length of those same streets. A child's delight.
Duchesse is right, bring on the comfort and joy (a phrase from my favourite carol and a very good film as well). I usually wait until after the first week of December, but I caved yesterday and put the tree up. I have vases of berries throughout the living room/dining room and flameless candles that wink on at around 4.
Like many of you, I also needed some sparkle this year. I chose the ornaments for the tree carefully and didn't overload it, as I have sometimes done in the past. Lots of reds and golds and our collection of bird ornaments.
I will probably tear it down on Boxing Day, as I might be sick of it by then, but for now it is twinkling and merry. I even baked some cherry almond shortbread cookies yesterday, and a friend just dropped off cardamon star cookies sandwiching chocolate. Just for fun, I ordered some of sample size fragrances Zara is doing with Jo Malone. Small good things. May you all have a warm safe December (well except for Gigi, we don't want Australia to get too warm!) Brenda
Sue: Hope to make it. . . just need to hurry and pack 😉
K: Good luck! We traditionalists need a big push. . .
Mardel: Secret Santa for our hearts, yes! And so much better than my old pair, fiddling with the earbuds. Completely understand that you wouldn't bother with a tree, but some kind of sparkle and light . . . For a few years, I didn't do a tree, but instead hung a large driftwood branch with lights. . . Your crystal table-top trees would be perfect.
KPD: I agree — and whatever magic we can bring into our days now, before the sun starts lengthening the days again. . .
Gigi: No question that the need for light at Christmas is intensified in the northern hemisphere by the shorter, darker days. But we're all feeling it this years, I'm guessing — even if your numbers aren't as worrying, I'd imagine that you need all the cheer as well! 😉
Annie G: I saw some of those winter wonderland gardens in your Instagram–delightful!
Duchesse: You're wise to keep life low-key/quiet for now — beginning the new year with a kitchen reno is a bold move! I'll be watching to see if you post about it.
Dottoressa: Wobbly trees are more endearing, like the best of us, I agree 😉 And I am smitten, just imagining those lemons and tangerines arriving from the seaside, the faintest whiff of salt air accompanying their sweet citrus scent — Mmm! Sunshine!
Susan B: We really do, right this very minute!
Mary: So festive, those store windows and the overhead street decorations! Those must be happy childhood memories. . .
Brenda: Now I want vases of berries in my livingroom as well (was easier back when I could glean them from my own garden, but there are florists nearby that would sell me a stem or two! I love the choice, measured elegance of your treats. We don't need to break the bank, but carefully considered small indulgences honour the season and lift our spirits. . . (I've been thinking I might whip up zabaglione to grace a piece of pannetone that I haven't yet bought. . .
I'll stick to the tradition to put the tree up in the afternoon of Chritmas Eve, although this year it is not going to be an entire tree, just a fir branch big enough to display my favourite decorations and a few candles (no electric lights for me). Normally I do this all by myself while listening to Bach's Christmas Oratorio.
But there are other decorations I am going to put up these days, like paper stars stuck to the walls of the building's hallway (for the neighbours to enjoy). I also started the baking of Chrismas cookies which will keep me busy all through december. I fell very lucky to have my son's company this season. Part of the baking tradition is listening to Chrismas songs (from all over the world) while cutting out or icing angels, stars, birds and pigs (yes, I got a cookie cutter in pig shape and the results are going to get a pink and white sugar coating – always very well received, not only by children).
I put up white window candles Sunday. Since we heat our house with a wood stove, we have to be careful about when and where we put up the tree. But with last summer's room rearranging, the tree will be far away from the stove. We usually put up our tree between out week-apart birthdays. And we now are able to purchase a fresh-cut tree from one of my husband's former students. Multiple strands of lights, white for me and color for my husband. I am keeping my decorations simple this year pulling out favorite things, not every thing! I love listening to church services from England on Christmas Eve while in the kitchen. Carol in VT
We've always been a put-the-live-tree-up around the 15th – 20th, and leave it up to Ephphany, but starting other decorating post-Thanksgiving. This year, with the move afoot, we're not decorating or putting up a tree (sob!) because it's just too much work with everything else we have to deal with, and the decorations are all packed anyway.
But I think I'll pick up fresh wreathes and some tartan ribbon for the front door and the driveway gates, so at least we'll have a little something!
We are usually a two weeks before Christmas tree family. Or should I say however the 25th falls on which day of the week, we tend to get our tree and have it in the house 2 full weekends before Xmas. Always a live tree and then the daily ritual of topping up the bucket of water to slow the drying process as best we can. But I usually start putting decorations up around the house before the tree goes up. Much as I love the tree and decorations , I'm always happy to dismantle it all before New Years so I can wake with a clean slate and a fresh start on January 1.
We began this week with a Christmas pudding ( from scratch too ) and a fresh batch of Mincemeat. I don't think I've ever started baking and putting my decorations out this early ever! It hasn't been a want , it's been a need. But I'm not going to lie, it seems so odd without anyone coming around to share in it all, I did wonder if I'd even need to bother. But this was a year to light up early and set new traditions. Having had a 'non Christmas' last year (in the place we were renting) while we built this new house, I've been pretty curious to get out my decorations and see how they fit in the new space. 21 years of rituals in the old house, I wasn't sure if things would look out of place here. And of course in December 2019 I ( and the rest of the world ) had no inkling that December 2020 would be what it has come to be. We find ourselves not sharing the new house with family and friends to help mark the space. Alas. Our small space here makes me wonder if we even have room for a tiny tree. But I feel more than ever this is the year to set one up. Maybe we'll get one this weekend.
What won't I miss ?? hmm… Everything seems to be new this year in more ways than one, so all the comings and goings of out of town family will not happen. All the food prep and clean up won't be a part of our celebrations and those endless kitchen duties I will definitely NOT miss. . Nor will the late night games of Bananagrams happen either, which I WILL definitely miss.
But today I organized a few Christmas cards to send and I discovered a lovely shade of green ink for my Lamy pen 🙂 at a local store! It's come to this minutiae I'm afraid.
I loved the photos of Paris. Those store fronts are always so magical, and I remember great anticipation last year when you posted them.
Eleonore: What a beautiful Christmas Eve you've sketched — like a scene from a film, with a beautiful soundtrack. . .
Carol in Vt: "pulling out favourite things, not everything" — yes, this is what I'm trying to do as well. . . And truly, in my opinion, if you have a woodstove, a fresh-cut tree, and white candles in the window, you really don't need much more! 😉
Carol bound for Portugal: By next Christmas, you'll be picking up new ornaments at local Christmas markets. . . meanwhile fresh wreaths and tartan ribbon sound festive to me.
Sandy: I saw photos of your new home all Christmas-gussied up and it looks beautiful! I know what you mean, though, some of it seems odd after doing so much of it for so many others all those years. Trying to sort out what we actually still want to do even if just for ourselves. . . And like you, I'm not missing the prep and clean-up ;-). . . You absolutely have room to squeeze a tree in, if you want one. If we can in our small space (mind you, it's scrunched in a corner. . .
Pleased to hear that Lamy is still writing colourfully for you (and I must check out that shop — Lovely minutiae for the win! 😉
this will be our first Christmas without family (in fact, alone). It feels strange. We will be in our condo at Silver Star. So–no Christmas tree, but plenty of snow. I love Christmas, but often it is exhausting, especially living on an island, off an island. I am relishing the idea of no fuss, no details, no rush….
but I suspect when the day comes I will feel wistful.
My favourite Christmas album; Vince Guaraldi (Charlie Brown Christmas)
My family, both of origin and nuclear (is that the right term- sounds a little war like for family) put our tree 🌲 up closer to Christmas and kept it up till Epiphany in. Jan 6. I am rarely home for Christmas now and tend to be all bah humbug about decorations. The neighbors seem to be starting early and I must say I do find the twinkle of lights do bring some “comfort and joy”, as noted above. I did get to watch my youngest daughter, SIL and 3 year old granddaughter put up their tree on the weekend in Kelowna (yes, I broke rules and drove 2 hours non-stop to isolate with my kids for 10 days-my bubble is empty, so they are my bubble). I plan to do some baking this weekend to send care packages to my kids who live far away and I haven’t seen in what seems like a lifetime. Brenda’s baking described above has me wishing I lived at her house…oh my. My treats are much more pedestrian. The tree ugly have painted, Frances, looks much like the tree the kids decorated, so I could just steal your picture and say this is what a painting of their tree would look like, if I had your talent to paint it! Haha! I am totally intrigued by secret Christmas carols played on your hearing aids- how cool is that- very subversive and on trend. Makes me more open to said hearing aids, as I suspect my time is coming. That Christmas window in Paris was amazing and I recall you posting a whole row of amazing windows making me wish I had travelled closer to Christmas rather than on the hub seasons over the years- always budget conscious-silly me! If we ever get to travel again- I will do it differently! Jenny from the ‘Loops! 🥰
Alison: It does feel strange, doesn't it? (although there's still a chance for us, I think, better to plan on being on our own). Yes, those island Christmasses are (were, for me) wonderful, even magical, but oh, the work they take. . . Your Silver Star getaway sounds like making the best out of what's possible right now — all that bright snow to double the light, lift the spirit.
And I've just lined up that album on my Spotify — I even have the sheet music around somewhere, have to dig it out. . .
Jenn: I'm glad to hear you managed to get together with some of your family for some Christmas doings. Seems very unfair that, with such a large brood, you should be on your own now. On the other hand, with such a large brood, you know how to value solitude and will probably make the most of it. They put the Christmas windows up early in Paris (I think we caught them either end of November or just the beginning of December one year), so if you plan carefully, you can still get the shoulder season prices. Even when I went later last year, I managed to avoid the peak travel-cost days.