Signs of snow and Christmas

I like to read decorating blogs to see how out of touch I am. Right now they're all showing their winter mantels. Here's mine.

What's different about my mantel is that I don't change it. It's my winter, spring, summer, and fall mantel. It's suitable for all Colorado seasons except summer and then I'm out in the garden anyway. If I should happen to notice it in the summer heat the sight of the snow-tipped branches makes me feel slightly cooler. Once in awhile I dust it, too.

The very summery chaise with its big pink and rose floral design gets a furry shrug for winter. Nice and cozy for TV watching and book reading. Easy to whip off when the warm breezes blow again.

If you've been reading my blog for awhile now you know I have a humongous Christmas village that lives in the basement. One of my Adorable Grandchildren has been helping me put it all away so some work can be done down there. But I couldn't celebrate the season without at least a part of a village so I grabbed a few houses and made them the centerpiece of my dining room table.

Behind that is the hutch with all my seashell stuff. It's year-round too. So I stuck some juniper and spruce branches from my trees into the mix to make it blend in. It will be very ouchy to remove.

Back in the living room, here's a tree. Undecorated by choice. I don't want to have to put all those ornaments away in January. Easy-peasy.

And another snow-tipped tree mirrored by the snowfall outdoors.

I am attracted to shiny. Shiny pillow, shiny pointy tree.

And more shiny next to a minimally decorated tree. With a little leopard thrown in for good measure.

Outside, the Bushtits heard there was snow coming and mobbed the suet feeder. They must have seen the snowbirds arriving (Juncos) as they've been here all week. A sure sign of snow.

 

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Christmas past

When Dear Son visits my house after Christmas and sees the decorations still up, he always says, "You're living in the past, woman!" So true. But gosh, it took a long time to put up, and it's no fun to take it all down. The older I get, the longer and steeper the stairs seem as I haul bins up and down one by one. I might start today, I might not. When I was little, we never took our Christmas trimmings down until after the Epiphany on January 6th. Nowadays, in Denver we get a pass that lasts until the annual National Western Stock Show is over, sometime near the end of January. Come to think of it, maybe I'll start today. Here's what I'm taking down.

The tree, of course. Why do I keep adding ornaments? I have 40 years worth.

The lighted wreath in the window. I love this cozy spot. But I've learned not to rest my head on the pillow with the chunky glass rhinestones. Ouch.

 

 

Hmm, the mantel. I'm not actually taking this down since the lights stay up all year. I just don't turn them on. I might take the snowy bough out of the canoe since it will look weird there when it's 95 degrees outside.

 

 

The Garden Santa is busy working below the trees in my bird hallway.

He carries a topiary, a hoe, and a shovel. And of course is wearing the approved Garden Santa straw hat.

 

 

 There are a few nests and eggs for him to tend to also.

 

 

Oh yes, the Christmas Village. My niece says this is Mesa Verde style. I think she's right. Some years I put a few houses under the tree but this year it's the cliff version, with a mountain stream running below.

 

 

 

 

Dining room table with reindeer and glittery cones. I love these guys with their wreath necklaces.

 

 

This is the forest tree in the kitchen. It's full of birds, acorns, pinecones, and icicles. Also a couple of bears thrown in - it is the forest, after all.

 

 

 

 

I like to decorate the whole house but this year I ran out of energy. The farthest I got from the main living areas was the end of the hallway. Sorry, bathroom and bedrooms.

I almost forgot that I hung these peacock glass balls from the chandelier. I was glad the thread didn't break and drop the balls in someone's cup of cocoa.

 

 

This wreath is all silver glittery stuff . At least it's close to the stairs. I might be able to just pitch it over the railing and into the bin below. I think I'd better get started so I don't end up living in the past.

 

 

ANGELS WE HAVE HEARD ON HIGH

I have a few angels among my Christmas things, this is one of them. I like her sweet face and the detail of her gown. I put my angels on high atop the mantle. Across the room on the table under the window are a few Santas. I wouldn't say I collect these things, as I never think of myself in the same status as a collector. I don't have the focus to concentrate on only one group of items. With perhaps the exception of my village houses which would take a much bigger house than mine to do them justice. More about that later.
I like to perch on the back of the sofa in the evening and look out the window at my reindeer in the front yard and the twinkle lights and silver snowflakes on my little Amur maple. My neighbor across the street has a display of blue lights on the ridgeline of his roof and a few lights outlining the chimney and I like to look at that too. Unlike mine, his display is tasteful and understated. I appreciate it but I can't do it myself, I've never been a minimalist!
The Christmas tree is on a low coffee table so I'd have a place to put up a few village houses underneath. I haven't gotten the people figurines out yet but maybe tomorrow.
This is one of the Santas, he has a great beard. I like that he's holding a birdcage. I have a bird Christmas tree in the kitchen, but I'll save that for another day.
This Santa is in a canoe. I don't get it, but I like it, especially his fur coat and snowshoes. Santa of the trappers? His face looks a lot like my brother-in-law. My brother-in-law is not quite as old as Santa Trapper.
And now the ubiquitous village. I never gave these lighted houses a thought for most of my life. They just weren't on my radar. And then a few years ago someone brought a lighted village library into my workplace (which also happens to be a library). Some of us ran down to Lowe's at lunchtime to buy one for ourselves and we discovered they were half-price. One thing led to another and before we knew it we each added houses here and there. The bonanza came after Christmas when they were all 75% off. Some kind of frenzy overtook us and by the time Christmas rolled around the next year we were able to set up the mother of all villages right there at work. We were relieved that the fire marshall never came around.
I began to rue the day we ever started this. Exactly where does one put all this and who has the energy to set it all up? And don't even think about taking it down and putting it away! I have a basement storage room full of every conceivable village establishment, including businesses, townhomes, churches, windmills, farmhouses, mountains, trees, and woodland streams. Oh yeah, and lighthouses with beacons. So now I put up a few and call it good. But I do have a solution for this. As soon as my daughter buys a house of her own I'm going to rent a U-Haul and take it all to Oklahoma!

I read a column in the paper the other day about decorating for the holidays. They said just because you bought it on sale after Xmas last year doesn't mean you have to display everything you own. Not a philosophy I subscribe to, obviously. Meanwhile, I enjoy the angels on high and the village down below.