… like many families across the UK, if not the world, every year, The Viking and I set aside a special day to decorate the house and tree… and even though i’m a good Jewish boy, or maybe in spite of the fact that i’m a good Jewish boy… I simply adore this tradition.
… the day can be any day in December… sometimes it’s as early as the first weekend, sometimes its as late as Christmas Eve… it all depends on what’s happening with work and where we’re going to be… this year we’ve come in nice and early…
… it’s a magical day and it starts with going out to our local Christmas tree farm and cutting down our very own tree!… we tend to go for a Nordmann Fir, which has a fabulous blueish tint to it and tends to keep its needles quite well… we went for 6ft, 5inches this year… which is just touching the ceiling…
… the tree comes home and is placed in its special tree stand which we fill with water to feed the tree… this has worked so well for us over the years, it needs topping up every few days but keeps the tree nice and healthy looking until the 6th Jan.
… we then pull all the old decorations down from the loft and decorate the fireplace and windows, allowing the tree to settle until we decorate him last… we have a collection of old and new decorations that have been with us for a while… but they’re all ice blue or white on the tree and ‘Victorian’ elsewhere… we both have design backgrounds and suffer from ADD so a tidy, well balanced but stylish tree is the only way!
… all this is done with a DVD of White Christmas on in the background and when it gets to Bing and co singing the final White Christmas, we’re pretty much done and ready to stand back and admire our handywork…
… I was due to make mincemeat for pies today but I seem to be slightly paralysed by what i have planned to do… so i’m just going to sit back and enjoy the tree…
lovely!!! white christmas is my fave for tree trimming too…this year we managed to sit down and enjoy most of it, since the tree was decorated before the opening credits were finished!! 🙂 leave the pies for another day!! raising a big mug of cocoa to you! cheers xx
There is something comforting about traditions. Your mantel and tree look picture perfect. Happy Holidays to you both!!!
Hurray! Lovely family room … lovely tree … and it sounds like you stopped the hectic 'must do' and are enjoying a bit of a slower holiday pace! All the best to you and Viking man, Dom! Merry Christmas!
Your room looks so warm, cosy and Christmassy (and of course tasteful, that design background came in useful!)
Make Nigella's Cranberry Mincemeat takes half the time of most other recipes – or buy some,but most importantly sit back and enjoy your beautiful tree :-}
What a lovely photo of a lovely room. Your tree is beautiful. (You have my fireplace BTW) What is ADD? Is it Aesthetic design something or other. Disorder maybe? It all looks lovely.
Wow wat a beautiful Xmas tree!!!!!!
Dom if you don't mind in my blog you can fin a prize for you and your blog!!!
Ciao!!!!
Sorry…so many mistakes… I should read the comment before send it!!!
Very inviting! Our tree will hopefully go up next weekend… I know how you feel, I should have boiled my Christmas pudding today. A few more days steeping won't do it any harm!
I love listening to the crooners at Christmas and Like to have White Christmas on while I wrap presents, it takes some of the chore out of it.
Why not add a link and submit one of your photos for this month's No Croutons Required. The topic is festive photos and your photos would be perfect. Their is a blog badge and a Christmas pressie up for grabs for the winner. If you want to enter drop me an email at nocroutonsrequired@googlemail.com 🙂
it is a beauty…yes..just sit back and enjoy….your home looks so beautiful for christmas…enjoyed reading this post…
kary
Gorgeous tree Dom – the cottage looks so lovely! White Christmas still makes me blub every time the General inspects his old troops at the end – and the costumes are a scream – one of the skirts is so stiff it looks like its made out of carpet -I guess weve watched it quite a few times too!
What a charming room, your tree and mantle look beautiful! I love to sit back and enjoy the beauty of the season – it's nice to put the brakes on from time to time. Have a great week!
Mary
Picture postcard pretty!!!! So jealous, I wished I had a lovely fireplace to decorate along with the tree … wonder if Hubby will mind uping sticks ….
Awww looks beautiful!
This makes me feel a bit teary…
I am a bit like you – I do the tree for the love of it but most of all because I love that each one of us have our fave ornaments and wander over to the tree and stare at them once in a while – and that's lovely.
So glad I popped over from Susan's blog. I love your space here 🙂
Ciao, Devaki @ weavethousandflavors