xmas decorations

Look for the Christmas Bling thread ethelbags [otherwise known as 'the fairy lights in my front bush ' thread.]
And yes, I do agree with you, it's about 3 weeks too early, and they should be locked up just for displaying a climbing Santa.

I'm a Christmas freak and even I think it's much too early.

The way that I look at it is that I am not paying their electricity bill.

Bah Humbug. It's my 70 th birthday a few days before Christmas, ever tried to find a restaurant that is not serving an Xmas menu that close to Xmas.

ooh, I feel for you there pompa.

I want to tell a funny story that goes one better about a relative, but dont want to post it here.
I will inbox you pompa

Some of the Italian restaurants round our way tend to carry on with their normal menu over Christmas pompa I agree that the climbing Santa is grounds for prosecution!

Way too soon for lights.

I have the same trouble Pompa I'll be 75 on the 30th Dec. All the restaurants seem to be recovering from the Christmas rush in the week before New Year. Another moan Birthday bouquets seem to be the leftovers from Christmas,this includes M&S who should know better.Last year I had to go and complain to them,it's a shame when family have spent a lot of money on flowers.

Soontobe - Oh I do like that story, I would see the funny side of it had I been in his shoes.

Granjo39 - I partly got around the problem by having a 70th unbirthday in June, his was with all our friends.
December will just be with the children and GC. Strangely the best place we found was a Hungry Horse, had a festive menu (which was quite varied) plus their normal menu.
They do have a kiddies party going on, but we won't feel bad about our two running a mini riot.

Oh, come on soontobe - don't tease . You could use a nom de plume...............

I agree that it is far too soon to be putting up Christmas decorations. My DD has rearranged her living room and is finding it hard to resist the temptation.
My birthday is 11 Dec. and as I was growing up my father put up the Christmas tree for the occasion. We were usually the first household on our street to have our decorations up.
As yet, I haven't seen any houses around here with their decorations up.

DD's village has had the trees in the main street lit with fairy lights since 12th November. Ridiculous!

I have seen a few lights here but not many. I think the people who do the whole house up often collect for charities so they like to start early and it takes them forever to get them put up. I love Christmas and its special this year as we are going to DD2 - we didn't see her at all last year and I was very sad. Christmas planning here is well under way.

Waaaay too early! I know of one person who puts their tree up at Halloween! I absolutely love Christmas but won't be putting my tree up until 8th December. Appreciate difficulties with food/flowers etc in December as we have three December birthdays! One just a week before and the other 4 days after. Very bad planning on my part!

Happy to inbox you Marmite.

Happy to send it to anyone[dont get your hopes up, it isnt super hilarious]
I am not going to post it properly though.

There is a French lady who lives not too far from us who always decorates her house for Halloween and as soon as those decorations come down the Christmas ones go up!! If you have a phobia about Father Christmas steer well clear!! There are enough to give you nightmares!!!

I grew up in the North of England, where decorating for Christmas was called 'trimming up' ! Sounds like the cue for another front bush joke.

I was working yesterday and I saw almost every house in one street had a Christmas tree or some form of lights in the window. my friend called for a coffee and said she is putting her tree up in the next few days as she doesn't expect to have any time off work until xmas. (any excuse).

Can I be unreasonable in thinking that December is the best time to decorate the house.

Please don't think Im a spoil sport, I love seeing the houses decorated and with my job in particular (most of you know what I do), its cheery to see a warm glow in the windows-just not in November.

Does anyone on Gnet have any knowledge of sociology. Can you understand the reasoning behind the early decorations. I ask this as I see a definite pattern. The social housing areas are decorated well, yet in the more up market areas there is not a decoration to be seen. Why is this?
Is it because there is little to brighten up our sad lives (those of us on a low income) that we try to cheer up our houses with a bit of Christmas cheer. I personally don't like to start early as I don't like dusting and at the minute I have more pressing problems to think about.

Maybe the more upmarket areas are just too busy at work to think about decorations. Anyone know the answer as there is definitely a pattern, this maybe not obvious in smaller communities but where I live with clusters of houses in their hundreds I see the difference.

My family were all brought up to think of it as a bit tacky to put up anything to do with xmas before mid-December, because it was thought to demean the true meaning of Christmas. I can remember being slightly shocked (but happy) to see a neighbour's giant tree in the garden fully lit every year from 1st December. All middle class friends I have still think that way.

However - there is no doubt that our country is very gloomy and dark once the clocks have changed. I think now it is just seen as a way to brighten the gloom, with many outside lights staying on until March.

I didn't bring my own family up to think of anything at all as being tacky, so they have no such inhibitions. My daughter puts hers up on 1st December because she feels that anything before then demeans Christmas (and puts up the electricity bill) , but finds it so much work that she wants to get full value out of it, as she puts it. Our tree goes up on the second Saturday in December, as DBH will have broken up by then, followed by whatever additions we feel like making as time goes by.

Ask them?

My DH has his birthday in early December and hates anything Christmassy before then. If we go to a restaurant for his birthday we usually try to avoid the Christmas menu on offer. I'm quite happy to have this definition between his birthday and Christmas. I think about 10 days or less before Christmas is early enough for decorations. Much as I love the tree I'm always tired of the decorations long before 12th night!

I realised years ago that I would like to start the New Year without decorations up, too. I am shouted down every year on this. I can't wait to get rid of them. I like my house looking bigger and fresher and lighter. The decorations make the house feel smaller and more claustrophobic, to me. I would have made a terrible cave-dweller.

It's an interesting social question ethelbags [to which I don't have the answer.]I had a poor childhood, but we only put up some paperchains and a tree a few nights before Christmas.When we had our own children I altered this to 2 weeks before Christmas because the children got a lot of pleasure out of seeing it all [not much bling though, just lights on the tree.]We also had a holly tree in the garden, so brought lots of holly inside as well. I still keep it at a fortnight before Christmas, for the grandchildren.It may well be, that some people see a too early display as tacky though.