Decorating

No its too soon for us , traditionally we spend Christmas eve decorating the house and tree.

No - much too early. 4th Sunday in Advent time enough. Advent like Lent is a penitential season.

Too soon for me bah humbug !

Well, DD will be starting. She has just rung to complain that she has a very boring evening ahead of her cleaning the living room preparatory to putting the decorations up.

We will probably go up into the loft and get all the Christmas decorations out tomorrow but will not be buying the tree for a week or two

soutra , I find your post confusing , Advent is the joyful anticipation of the birth of Christ.
Explain please !

DH IS still painting a bedroom, does that count? [Grin]

But it is also a period of preparation when we are meant to prepare for the birth of Christ but mentally giving ourselves a good scrub up and tidy so that we are in a suitable state for the event we are preparing for. However I do not see Advent is as being particularly penitential.

DH would divorce me if I get the decorations out tomorrow. I've persuaded him to go to a Christmas Market with me though so it's not all Bah Humbug!!

We have always put up the trimmings on the 15th just because it is DS1s birthday and we always made such a fuss of it with it being so close to Christmas and we have stayed with the same routine even though he has his own home now.

Why bother?

First find your decorations!!!

Found this Nonu it is written by a Christian minister

The Christian season of Christmas actually begins on Christmas Eve and lasts for twelve days, ending on January 6. (No, the twelve-day season of Christmas did not start with the song. It was the other way around.) The time before Christmas is Advent, a season of preparation for Christmas. Christians prepare for celebrating the birth of Jesus by remembering the longing of the Jews for a Messiah. In Advent, we’re reminded of how much we ourselves also need a Savior, and we look forward to our Savior’s second coming even as we prepare to celebrate his first coming at Christmas. The word “Advent” comes from the Latin word adventus, which means “coming” or “visit.” In the season with this name, we keep in mind both “advents” of Christ, the first in Bethlehem and the second yet to come.

So if one is a Christian Advent is a time for religious and spiritual reflection as well as anticipation of the second coming. I guess that is what Soutra was probably referring to.

I am not a Christian but I will decorate my home more in keeping with Yule type celebrations which have been absorbed in to Christian culture. I will decorate on 21 Dec the winter solstice & take it down on 3 Jan as DH b'day on 4th!

Advent is a season observed in many Western Christian churches as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. The term is an anglicized version of the Latin word adventus, meaning "coming".
It was a period of fasting and churches were not normally decorated, the liturgical vestments often being purple or blue . And from the 4th century the season was kept as a period of fasting as strict as in Lent .
The idea was that like Lent (culminating in the great feast of Easter) Advent was a period of prayer and preparation for the great feast of Christmas. The more low-key the build-up, the greater the contrast with gloriously decorated and lit church full of candles and celebration.
In modern terms its a bit like saving up for your holidays instead of spending the money first and catching up afterwards.

Just to add saw my first Infant nativity rehearsal last week...Little Donkey, Little Donkey on the Dusty Rd etc etc!

Been to Xmas market today. The German one in Edinburgh. Very enjoyable, haven't done that for years!

I hope you are having a good time galen

The wife of a guy I worked for many years ago, always put up their decs on her birthday..........

5th November

We have always done ours around the 15th December and taken them down 2nd January

A neighbour of ours has had her tree up and lit for 2wks and several other neighbours have commented on it , not in a good way I might add...they were trying to convince their youngsters that Christmas was weeks away still.

Far too early. I would be fed up with them by Christmas. Ours will go up on the 20th .

Not yet! But, driving round, there are already some houses with the most awful stuff outside - huge plastic Santas, the lot! I love to see a few twinkling lights, though.

The electricity bills that people must run up amaze me.

And yes, Advent is a time for anticipation and reflection, to prepare spiritually for the arrival of Christ. So I was taught.

"The bells of waiting Advent ring..."

The village Christmas tree has been up for about a week. On Tuesday there's the annual Christmas fest. By the time the big day comes, are we likely to be bored with it all?

wELL I did it , decorated the house this morning looks totally devine , even though I say it myself .
All the pretty lights , nothing naff though you understand !!
We went out a friends for lunch and I had put lights to come on timer , such a delight , when we arrived home .
I love EVERY SINGLE THING about Christmas.

happiness to you all X

I am certain I won"t be ^ BORED^ for starters I have ALL the family coming . Joy indeed !

I have a friend who covers her decorated tree with black bags and stores it away, then just uncovers it and places it in situ each year. It's an artificial one I hasten to add