I love Christmas. I\nlove the fact that in Europe, the rising Christian monarchs pragmatically looked\nat the climate, the food stocks and the people and took on the pagan celebrations\nas Christ\u2019s birthday and in most countries said that should be a bank\/public\nholiday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ours is a little beyond the shortest day in the year in the\nUK, but it means for many, while the nights are colder, we get to stay indoors\nand enjoy our labours from the last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We do presents, I know some people are moving away from that\ntradition. In a time of massive consumption,\nmaybe that would be better. I love the\nbeautifully wrapped thoughts nestling under our tree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really the tree I\u2019d like to discuss today, in fact all\nthe decorations. Over twenty-three years\nof owning my own place, I have built up some baubles, tinsel, star and lights\nthat deck our tree. We have reusable\nlights and wreaths that bedeck our home outside, and this was how I got into\nhome automation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My newest bit of tinsel is 10 years old, the oldest is 23 years\nold, bought for my first tree. That\nfirst tree is safely stowed for next year \u2013 we have a real tree every other\nyear. The real tree holder is 13 years\nold this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s all about building up and making the most of what you\nhave. I saw a set of 12 baubles I loved\nand bought early in that game. The rest\nwere as I saw something I liked. One thing\na year until the stowed tree was dripping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The tree goes up around the 15th<\/sup> December and\nalways comes down on or before the 6th<\/sup> January (twelfth night). I am very traditional, not because I have the\nglitter, tinsel and baubles, but because it should be special and different. Something to look forward to each and every\nyear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m planning on taking it all down tomorrow as I have my eye\nscreening on Wednesday and I\u2019m working on Thursday. Each bauble will be placed in its holder and the\nhanger stowed in the corner of the bauble box. \nThe decoration my son made in primary school takes up two spaces and that\nis done early. The felt stocking I made\nin primary school will be placed in that box on top before the lid is closed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every piece of tinsel will be folded up and lain in the\ntinsel box and the star laid on top. The\nlights will be packed away and placed in the corner of that box before it is\nclosed. Then they all get placed in\ntheir corner of the attic ready for next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The cards are packed away, ready to be recycled as\ndecorations or just as reminders of family and friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This year, as we\u2019ve had a real tree, it is taken outside and\nwill dry for a month in the shed. Then\nwe\u2019ll cut it down and dry it out over two years. The fronds make wonderful tinder if properly dried,\nbut the resin means it is not a quick process. \nBy contrast the branches are normally ready after 12 months or so: we\nchop them up quite small. The ashes are\nused to fertilise the garden flower beds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lastly, the outside decorations are all removed, packed away\nfor next year. They go up on the first\nweekend of December and the timers set to come on at sunset for a few hours to\ngive joy to those travelling to and from work on most days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Over the December and January months we don\u2019t produce much rubbish at all as a result. Hope you\u2019ve had a sustainable and merry yule tide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I love Christmas. I love the fact that in Europe, the rising Christian monarchs pragmatically looked at the climate, the food stocks and the people and took on the pagan celebrations as Christ\u2019s birthday and in most countries said that should be a bank\/public holiday. Ours is a little beyond the shortest day in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forty-two"],"yoast_head":"\n