1st Day of Yule: Dibs on the Moose!!

Yesterday, I moved my small year round tree temporarily to another part of the room in preparation for putting up the big tree.  Temporary, because it's near the side porch door, and we all have a tendency to sometimes snag ourselves on it while going by.  Once Christmas is done, it will go back to its safer, out of the way location.

For the little tree I wanted to keep things on the natural, primitive side - the ornaments I got from the exchange last month went a long way to creating the look I wanted!  This tree is my year-round/Wheel of the Year tree, so it reflects the more natural parts of this time of year... fruits, pinecones, acorns, berries.  My mother's peapod angel/goddess is at the top now. 

And then I sort of messed up the effect with a string of purple LED lights, but they're probably staying anyway because both daughter and granddaughter went 'ooh' when they saw them (and I confess a chronic weakness for purple myself).  So lights on...lights off... I get two different trees right there.

My SIL helped me bring up the big tree and the bins of ornaments from the basement last night when he picked up his daughter - I didn't plan to do much other than to set the tree, and then wait for a day later in the week for Deanna and I to decorate it.

But, first I might as well get the tree skirt around it... and then there were lights to be checked... and the cat was pestering the strings of lights so probably safe to put them on the tree... but once the lights are up, I really needed to lay in the strings of beads (I am not a tinsel person or a garland person - I am a bead person, with a side order of glitery snowflakes I've not put up yet).

And by then it was 1am, so I stopped.  This is the tree without any decorations yet - I'm hoping we can get those up this evening.

So.. yes, that is two trees in a smallish living room.  I am that kind of crazy.

 

I turned the mantle over to it's Winter splendor as well - replacing scarecrows and corn dollies with a woodsy Santa and a pair of angels and hanging the stockings.  (The additional two stockings there include one for Michael and one for Frankie the Cat and Sadie, Michael's beagle, to share.... and because just two stockings hanging looked wrong to me.)  Santa and the angel reflect the God and Goddess for me here, just as the scarecrow and corn dolly did throughout Autumn, and my cinnamon broom is still there, sending out house blessings and saying "Welcome".

While hanging the stockings, I realized that Deanna and I have a tradition... even though there is now just the two of us (and therefore no siblings to fight with), she yelled loudly and as soon as she saw it, "Dibs on the Moose!!!!"  The Moose headed stocking has been hers, and only hers, since she was about 5 years old, but apparently there are mysterious thieves waiting in the wings to snatch it from her and force her to have to use the knitted 'bah humbug' stocking if she isn't vigilant to claim it.  I'm cracking up picturing her all grown up, still yelling "Dibs on the Moose!" every December.



Shared with Christmas Mantle Link Up and 12 Crafts Til Christmas Family Traditions.