Because we’ll be home all of December this year, Mr. K and I decided to put up our big tree. It’s seven feet tall, which is fine because we have a very tall ceiling in our living room. The best part is it’s narrow, which is ideal because we do not have a lot of floor space.

The first challenge this year was dealing with burnt out bulbs. I don’t remember this being an issue before, but this year, I saw one bulb that was out, then another, and another … eventually I replaced more than two dozen of them. In a move that will no doubt horrify some of you, I replaced the white bulbs that had come to the end of their lives with colored ones (they were the only spares I could find at the time, but I rather like the effect of little sparks of color among all the white).

 

By the time we got the lights replaced (not as easy as I hoped, since the bases on the ones that came on the tree had a tab on them that required a needle nosed pliers to squeeze the sides together before I could remove the bulb), it was late enough that we decided to wait until another day to put ornaments on. After we got them on, I spent the next couple days making adjustments, moving this one, adding that one. I think I’m done with that now, but I still haven’t put the tree skirt on in case I’m not.

 

A new feature this year is what Mr. K calls a “rogue ornament”, topped by one of our Tinkerbell ornaments.

 

We got rid of a lot of ornaments before we moved out here since we knew we wouldn’t have room for the larger trees we’d had when we had both a living room and a family room (each of them larger than the single room we have for those functions now), but I think we did a good job since I can’t think of any that I miss. We kept all our favorites, a few of them showcased below.

 

 

I also put up the fiber optic tree in the studio. I won’t see it as much as this one but that’s okay; it’ll make me smile when I do see it. We’ll probably set up the ceramic tree here at home as well, just haven’t gotten to that yet (I forgot to bring it up with me when I retrieved the rest of the Christmas stuff from the studio). Mr. K put some lights on our street-facing balcony, and that’s probably it for holiday decorating this year, other than maybe making a display of holiday cards as we receive them (I joined a card exchange this year, so we’ll have more than usual; I figured I had more time to write cards this year than usual).

[Edited 10-Dec to fix use of “rouge” instead of “rogue”.]

*****
On this date in 2019: Mystery Furniture
2018: It All Began with a God Named Thor
2017: Response Required by Law
2016: In the Land of the Mouse
2015: Work, Dress, Boots, Sport, Sandals, Other
2014: It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Something
2013: No entry
2012: Photo of the Week
2011: That Narrows It Down
2010: Making a List
2009: Audrey in Flying Clothes
2008: Public Service Announcement
2007: No entry
2006: I Take It Back
2005: Wild Knitting
2004: My First Quilt
2003: Weekly Report Card
2002: No entry