As I took things out of the boxes or totes that they had been in for the last year, it was so fun to remember each item and where I had gotten it. A lot of the things I hung were once my own Mom's that came from her vast collection of decorations. After she passed away, my siblings and I sat down and went through each and every piece and decided who wanted which ones and packed them into boxes to take to our respective homes. Memories came flooding back from when we as children got to help her decorate the farm house that I grew up in. The most memorable thing that I brought home with me was a tree topper. Mom and Dad used to always put it on the tree. So this year, I dug it out and have put it on my tree. It lights up and has little bells hanging on it. The white section is very fine thread. If I remember correctly, Mom or Dad used to tell us it was Angel's hair. Most of the things on my tree are snowmen. Yes, I collect them. I have so many all over my house.
My tree....which is lit up. But you can't see the lights very well because of my camera flash.
The Angel's Hair tree topper from years long past. Dad, Kevin and Cathy may remember this. I spent the better part of 7 or 8 hours (if you add them all up!) cleaning, hanging, setting or wrapping items all over the house. I even had to climb my ladder a couple of times to get to the various ledges that I have, in order to put things on them. Not to mention the wreath that I hung over my fireplace. I stopped only to eat and run an errand or two. Then I went right back to it until I had replaced the boxes back into storage. Once I finally called it good, it was almost 7 PM and my back was a little achy to say the least!
The rest of the evening I spent admiring all the sparkling lights, inside and out. (I'll have outdoor light pictures soon!) I love this season. It's so fun to see how people choose to decorate their own yards or house.
Then the inevitable happened. All day long I had to shoo my cats away from various places. I was expecting anything from my orange cat, Trouble, at any point. Never did I think it would happen in less than 10 hours from the point I finished decorating. I awoke at 4:30 in the morning to a sound that told me things were going to be ugly. I slowly got out of bed and found my glasses. I went to the living room and saw my tree laying up against my piano! The sound of glass breaking was what I had heard. One of my nicer ornaments (naturally!) had smacked into the piano and sent pieces flying all over! Thankfully it fell the direction that it did. I only had to pick up about 5 or 6 ornaments. But some of the branches had to be re-fluffed and I also had to redo the garland. From what I can detect, Trouble had tried to get on the tree from atop the piano. At least that's what the evidence tells me because of how one section of the tree had a small gap in between branches and ornaments. I was furious to say the least! As you may have guessed, he was in big trouble with me! He ran from the noise and I imagine, the shock of falling through the tree that he had expected to hold his weight!
This is going to be a long month of redoing all the things that Trouble undoes! Each day as I arrive home from work will be a new adventure. I'll have to scout my entire house just to see what is laying on the floor or hanging askew. It's worse than having a toddler, that doesn't know any better, roam around and pick everything up in sight! I've considered buying some chicken wire to secure the area around the tree just to keep the cats away from it! It's that bad!
I hope all of you are having fun preparing for the upcoming holiday while at the same time remembering why we celebrate. This is the best time of the year and one in which to be thankful for all we have. Have a great Season of Joy and Celebration in the birth of our saviour, Jesus Christ.
1 comment:
I remember that topper with the angel's hair and the bells! Mostly I remember it sitting on a flat surface as a decoration while the orange-ish metallic foil starburst served as the top to the tree.
And all the years of putting tinsel on the tree one tedious string at a time (or, in my case, throwing it on by the handful just to say that I was done) . . . and then picking it off our clothes and winter coats one string at a time (the static electricity made it cling to us like magnet as we walked past the tree to and from the school bus).
Ah, good times.
(P.S. Lose the cat; it's going to destroy your precious keepsake ornaments and decoration.)
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