Merry Christmas

[TheHeadlessHorseman]

The place is decorated and the kids are excited for Santa, let's hope that Christmas will be better this year. I know that it was looking better for awhile with things going back to normal but with the new variant out there it's going to scare some people from getting together at Christmas, but we will be having the extended family come over this year as so far it isn't too bad in this area.

Anyway, I just want to wish Mike, Andy, and everyone else here a Merry Christmas.

[Andybev01]

Merry Christmas to you & yours as well.

My immediate family live in the same area so we usually just drop in all the time so there is no need to gather at the same place and time, thus no worries about a spreader occurance.

Ho ho ho...

[Pumpkin_Head]

Despite Covid and various other issues, I had a really nice time with my loved ones on Christmas Eve. I even got some photos that I posted on Facebook. I just finished taking down the Christmas decorations about 20 minutes ago. I usually take everything down on the 1st of January, but I actually hated to see it end this year.

Mike

[Andybev01]

I've been attacking decorations on three fronts, and I am slowly gaining ground.

I should be finished by Friday.

[Pumpkin_Head]

I'll say one thing. When I take down my decorations, which are not the most elaborate, the house just seems so empty and bare. I actually almost waited until the 5th of Jan this year, but I do like to get on with the year once Christmas is over and it's New Years Day. I really enjoyed Christmas Eve at my brothers house, and am looking forward to it next December. I may even put up a few more decorations and maybe some outside lights, but it's a long way off, so I'll have a better idea of what I'm going to do for Christmas when it gets to be mid November.

One thing I always do, starting on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is I pull out all my Christmas music CDs and records and start playing them.
On the 1st Sunday of Advent I put up my artificial tree and start screening some of the Christmas tv specials and movies that I have on DVD. On Christmas Day it's "The Nativity Story," and on the very last days of December after Christmas Day I screen "Krampus" and "Mother Krampus," to add a little Halloween flavor to the post Christmas season.

Mike

[Andybev01]

Not to brag or show off or anything...

This is my brother's house from this past Christmas.

The photo of the big fat Christmas tree is the living room, and the garland that looks gigantic is actually hanging in the doorway from the hallway looking into the living room. It's an illusion that it looks that big but it is 12 ft long.

The Christmas Village is on a bookcase that's only two feet wide and 14 inches deep. we did the top four shelves complete with lights and accessories. Most of it is still intact cuz nobody has the heart to bring it down yet.

The front porch is the best porch in the neighborhood by far, and to give you a sense of scale The Santa Clause to the far left is 8 ft tall.

To quote A Charlie Brown Christmas, "..Find the true meaning of Christmas,win money money money! spectacular super colossal, neighborhood Christmas lights display contest..."

This year we took first place in our neighborhood contest that was judged by the town mayor and local business people.

We were even strategic by opening the curtains so that from the street it looked like a ceramic Christmas village house lit and decorated on the inside.

There were a total of seven Christmas trees inside the house and four outside.

Ho ho ho.

[Andybev01]

And the icing on the cake, pun totally intended, we got a perfect eight and a half inches of powdered snow on Christmas day that lasted through New Year's Day, but had melted off of the streets with blue sky and sunshine.

[Andybev01]

...and...

[TheHeadlessHorseman]

Whoa! That's a stunning Christmas set up, he really decorates with a passion. The first picture reminds me of the movie Deck the Halls starring Matthew Broderick and Danny DeVito, where DeVito was trying to decorate his house with so many Christmas lights that it could seen from space. It was a funny movie, you should try to watch it if you haven't already.

[Andybev01]

I'm Devito in this equation, my brother and his wife humor me.

[TheHeadlessHorseman]

You're preaching to the choir. I think most people that are on forums like this usually decorate to the extreme. Well, at least compared to other people, and that's perfectly fine for us.

[Pumpkin_Head]

BUT one does not have to decorate elaborately in order to appreciate a good discussion forum, especially when it comes to Halloween. I noticed that it's taking longer then usual for a lot of people to get their Christmas lights down this year. That is most likely do to the cold snap we've been having here in Illinois. There have always been a few who leave them up and light them up all through January, but this year, even a lot of the town decorations are still up. Again, it's probably because of the cold.

Mike

[TheHeadlessHorseman]

I absolutely agree Mike. As for my yard, my Christmas decorations are still up because they're covered in snow, we got hit with heavy snowfall a few times already and it hasn't melted yet but I'll clean it up soon.

[Pumpkin_Head]

I don't put up any outside decorations for Christmas because of the weather situation. I'm 61, and it's not easy for me to be outside for any length of time in extreme cold. Besides that, as much as I do enjoy Christmas, I like to have it down no later then the 1st or 2nd of January. I took the indoor decorations down on the 5th this year because I had such a nice time at my brothers house on Christmas Eve. It was my first Christmas with my brothers and sisters and other family in a number of years, so I hated to see it end this year.

Mike

[Murfreesboro]

Bumping this thread just because I'm trying to catch up on what I've missed. Such fabulous Christmas photos, Andy! Wow!

I stubbornly leave all my decorations up through Epiphany, Jan 6. No one else in my neighborhood does this, so they probably just think I'm lazy.

A few years ago I remarked to my husband that Jan is very depressing to me due to the contrast with December's sparkle. Since we have an artificial tree, he suggested I leave it up as long as I liked, if it cheered me up. So we've started doing that. I remove the ornaments on Jan 7 but leave the tree with its lights up for weeks. I think this year I finally took it down around March 1rst. You can do Jan, or Groundhog Day, Valentine's, or even the spring equinox, but I find I like it to be up through the winter months.