Christmas decorations

The Bodach and I head to the sun at Christmas, and the offspring make their own arrangements. We give them all money, and I buy one gift for a friend. I loved it all when the children were wee, but then I was left with the elderly relatives to entertain.
We have the same tree as mentioned earlier, which pops out of the box complete with lights and decorations, and it pops up when the children come round.

Regards, Mrs Scrooge.

You're right sodapop about tongue in cheek but unfortunately neither my hose not my house (flat) is very valuable!
Of course that also means that young folk here can still realistically hope to get on the property ladder.
DGD and her boyfriend hope to be putting up Christmas dec's in their own flat in 2020 and are currently on track to do so.
My Christmas starts on the first Sunday of Advent and goes on until Twelfth Night!

I had a Christmas like you Witzend my father was very ill and died on January 3rd.
I was 11 and it was a very very long time ago but it still colours Christmas. My mother never enjoyed Christmas after that and she tried her hardest to make sure no-one else did.
It is 11 years now since she died but by then we had different problems within our family and my H and I now just have it on our own.
Of course his dementia means it has no significance for him.
Having said all that, I still have a tree and do put some white twinkly lights in the pyracantha outside my front door and icicles over my porch.

I try to buy a very small real tree, and I have battery- powered lights for it. I won’t have a fake tree. Otherwise, apart from cards, I don’t do decorations any more. In recent years I’ve never been at home for Christmas anyway. This year I just might be.

I'm not a fan of houses decorated with hundreds of lights, santas & reindeer. IMO small and minimalist is beautiful - and not until at least the 3rd week in December!
Normally, apart from card writing, I don't enter into the C spirit until a few days before the 25th but this year we are having 'Christmas' on 17 November as DD3 and family will be in Oz with middle DD. It's the only weekend everyone is free....So, I will put up minimalist decs for the gc's that weekend and then remove them until C proper in December. I'm embarrassed to admit I bought some sparkly things today in Dunelm to make a door garland - I'm a very slow worker, thats my excuse. ?

My decs are a garland on the fireplace and another over the big mirror. A few festive wreaths and greenery. . Minimal effort for max impact. No tree, some lights on the tall plant in the porch.

This happens about third week in Dec and comes down asap.

I like the run up to the festivities. I just wonder why everything starts so much earlier each year. I love reading christmas stories. I read winter solstice by rosamund pilcher each year. I collect holly from the hedges and make a cake but no decs mo tree till after 1st december and down on new years day

Does it really matter when people put the lights up?? It's up to them not anyone else

That sounds like a good book ethel.I must read it this year.I always read the Miss Read Christmas books.

We are only 3 houses together in our part of the road, us C of E, Muslim and Catholic, we all decorate the front of our houses with lights, I have 2 reindeer on the roof, next door have a Christmas tree with lights on theirs, the other house just lights.

I love the Rosamund Pilcher books, so will try and buy Winter Solstice, thanks ethel

If you wait until near Christmas Eve to put all the decs out then it hardly seems worth all the effort for such a short time, also it’s a very busy time of year, so I usually do this about 2 weeks before Christmas Day.

always work all over xmas but we try to put a few decs and the tree up so we can enjoy it for a little while before we leave but thats not usually until 2nd week in dec. we work for ourselves and do home sitting so first year together we were 45 miles apart last year 30 miles. he promises this year we will be at home but im not holding my breath! it doesnt mean as much these days now the kids are grown up and grandchildren live miles away. i have lost folk on xmas day too so tinged with sadness as well

I also love Winter Solstice, ethelbags1, and I have read it many times in the run up to Christmas, too. ?

I do enjoy all the things that go into making Xmas special, the tree, the decorations, the cards and so on. I just wish it didn’t start so flipping early! This year will be our first on our own in Spain. Not sure how I am feeling about being so far away from family!

The evenings are darker. Some people enjoy brightening them up.

Not the most environmentally friendly thing to do but many hobbies arent.

That made me raise an eyebrow too, quasidodo