Well folks, it’s that time of the year again. Holiday time! I think it’s pretty safe to say we’re all pretty much looking forward to the close of 2020. My wish for Christmas this year is to live in a mask-free world. Seriously, nine months of this crap is enough. But, I digress from the subject at hand – the holidays!
Here at Casa Baer we sometimes decorate sparingly and sometimes not so much so. This was an intense year. I think because most of the year has been so sucky, I want as much merriment, cheer, sparkly lights and goodies as possible to even out the doldrums. Or maybe it’s all the Hallmark Christmas movies I’ve been watching that makes me want to rise to the Hallmark challenge of decorating. Who knows?
What I do know is that when one lives in an almost 9,000 square foot house, over-zealous decorating takes time. Lots of time. Hauling 20+ super large boxes and tubs up from the basement takes a toll on your back and legs. Climbing up and down the ladder to put up the lights, ribbon, and ornaments on an 11-foot tree is exhausting. Then carrying all the empty boxes back down the stairs, putting away the ladders, brooms, vacuum cleaners and other assorted items that come with the task of decorating, it makes you wonder – what was I thinking?
Oh, and I forgot to mention the batteries. Dozens and dozens of batteries in various and assorted sizes are required to make the house all Hallmark Christmas sparkly. I have an old house. Electrical outlets are few and far between and you cannot overload the circuits or bad stuff happens. Therefore, battery operated almost everything. Wow – I spent a small fortune on batteries.
But, it’s done. Mostly. I still have to put together some sort of centerpiece for the table and hand the swags on the banister (yes with more batteries) but the tree is up. Only took three days and 25 Christmas CD’s to finish. Whew! It’s grueling to assemble a Paul Bunyon sized tree.
But it’s fun to decorate. Unwrapping all the ornaments is like a walk down memory lane. My husband and I like to travel. We usually get at least one ornament for the tree from our travels around the world.
We have the memory ornaments. If you click on the Merry Christmas From Heaven ornament directly below, you should be able to read the poem that came with the ornament. It’ll bring a tear to your eye.
And I’ve collected ornaments based on our hobbies and interests over the years.
Oh, we have the usual, angels, and sparkly round balls, and Santa Clauses, wooden soldiers, nutcrackers, snowmen, and other “common” ornaments, but I like to find unique and fun stuff too based on my husband’s and my personal favorite things to enjoy in live.
Can you tell who’s is who’s?
And, I always love to find silly ornaments too. You know, those ones you find somewhere and instantly smile? I have a few of those as well.
And, of course, these special beauties.
Yeah, we have LOTS of those. And now, we start on the outside of the house! (More boxes.)
So, that’s it for this week. My walk down memory lane and my crazy Thanksgiving weekend decorating frenzy. Tell me, how did you spend your holiday? Did you get to hug your loved ones? Did you overindulge in amazing food? Did you decorate for Christmas?
Word of the Day: Natation
Fun fact about me: I didn’t celebrate Christmas until I was 23 years old. I guess I’m making up for lost time.
Original post by Jansen Schmidt, November 2020. Images by Google, Pexels, and P. Rickrode.
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jansenschmidt 
For some reason my comment couldn’t be posted. Don’t understand why.
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I’m sorry. I wish I had an answer for this problem. Thank you for your continued efforts. I appreciate it. Just knowing you tried makes me smile.
Patricia
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Looks like a lot of work but beautiful results. There something about decorated “old timey” houses that makes them even more appealing. Interesting about not celebrating Christmas until 23 years old. Would love to read a blog about that story.
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This old house does dress up nice. I always have to beg and plead with my husband to put up the lights outside but I just LOVE how the house looks when he does. I know it’s a lot of work and it’s cold outside when he’s out there working, but I just love it. He hasn’t put up the outdoor lights in 2 years. It’s time to do it again.
Thanks for visiting today. I hope you had a lovely holiday.
Patricia
PS – There will NOT be a blog post about the first 23 years of my life. They are unremarkable. I’ll just say it was a religious thing and leave it at that.
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Pretty tree! I was waiting for the Disney ornaments. 🙂 Unique and special ornaments are my favorite, too. A lot of mine were made by me or my daughter when we were kids. My husband and I will probably decorate this weekend. Somehow, it’s more fun decorating a 10′ tree in a high-ceiling house than the skinny, 6′ tree we had in our old house. Good luck with the rest and have fun!
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Oh – you knew there had to be Disney decorations. We have LOTS of those. And, not just on the tree either.
You’re going to have a lot of fun decorating a big tree. Climbing up and down the ladder kind of sucks, but the end result will be stunning. You’ll be admiring its splendor every night. (I want to see pictures.)
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoy your holiday decorating. Now – I’m off to bake something.
Patricia
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Love the decorations and the tree is lovely! When my daughter still lived at home, she’d get the tallest tree she could find, drag it back home, decorate for a few minutes before getting bored and leave the rest to me…which usually took hours to finish up and pack all the stuff away again. Needless to say, since she’s moved out, our tree is much smaller. 🙂 But I did get it up and decorated this weekend while I had an extra day off. I’m ready for some Christmas spirit!
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Your daughter sounds like my husband. He always offers to help but only sticks around for about an hour. That’s usually just enough time to put on the lights and the topper. Oh well, he does appreciate my efforts.
I am not looking forward to the reverse process, but January is typically a very slow month for us at the inn so it if takes me all month, so be it. Although, I do like to have the tree down by January 2nd. That may not happen this year. I’d like to prolong Christmas as long as possible. Hopefully 2021 will be more cheerful and encouraging than this one has turned out to be.
Happy holidays to you! Make yourself some spiked cocoa and dance around the house with your tinsel.
Patricia
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Patricia – I am always amazed how much time it takes to decorate the yard and the home for Christmas. I am surprised that you didn’t celebrate until you were in your twenties. Christmas time is a special time of the year and it must be quite magical to share that with others as you do – or least can do – as an innkeeper. I am sad I missed seeing that tree a few years back, maybe one day I’ll get to see the tree in your front window in person. Stay well, stay positive, stay healthy. Peace.
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Clay it would be my honor to show off my Christmas tree to you. You’re always welcome. Assuming 2021 is more financially beneficial, we should be around to plan that. If not, you’ll have to be satisfied with your imagination. Only time will tell.
My husband usually decorates the outside of the house, but it takes lots of encouragement (in the form of nagging) from me to accomplish that. But it always looks so darned good when he’s done.
Thanks for your continued support and encouragement. Hopefully we’ll see each other again soon. Keep on keeping on and spreading the positivity. Together we can make a difference.
Patricia
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Woooah 20+ super large boxes of christmas decorations!? Your home must be looking incredible now! I LOVE your tree!
We do something similar and always try to buy decorations from around the world when we travel…but we’ve only been married for 6 years, so we just need a small tree to fit them all!
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One year we bought an 8-foot tree and it just didn’t look right. It looked tiny in that alcove. So we went back to the 11-footer. It’s like that bay window was built just for Christmas time. (It wasn’t. The house was originally built by a Jewish family. Go figure.)
Collecting ornaments is a fun way to relive vacations at the end of every year. A nice way to feel blessed as well. Just stick with that man and your collection will soon grow.
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a wonderful holiday. I look forward to many more of your adventures.
Patricia
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