Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Down Comes the Tree and Decorations. 5th Jan 2010

12th Night My son Jason's snowman which he made in about 1975!

It's officially 12th night tomorrow (well, today but it's 1.20am on the 6th) so all the decorations have to come down. I spent some of yesterday and much of today taking them down, wrapping and packing them carefully away. I love my decorations and have built up my collection over the years. When I split with my 2nd husband it was heart wrenching to have to leave some of them behind.

I decided to photograph some of the special ones:

There are several old glass baubles like the one above - they belonged to my Mother and Father.

This peacock

and this little house. It's amazing that they've lasted so long but I do wrap them very carefully each year.


There used to be 2 of these birds and they had soft tails too. Sadly the head broke off one of them and then the body broke, as the clips have lost their grip. Luckily this one survived.

This faded gold plastic star used to hang just underneath the fairy on the tree. I think it was a free gift with something or other and it also belonged to my Mother and Father.


The rather tatty boot and Santa with his song sheet I bought when I was with my first husband, Ken. That would be about 1969 I would think. I remember thinking the Santa cost a lot of money at the time.

The Santa above used to hang on the tree and the one below either went in a flower arrangement or in the Christmas Cake!

My Grannie Georgina (on my Mum's side) had a brother called D'Arcy and he bought us some decorations - he seemed to have lots of money and had a chauffeur driven Bentley!

This was one of them

And these the remaining 2 of what I think was a set of 6. I love these.

Another of Mummy's was this strange fairy - it's lost the bauble from one arm.

And these 2 baubles, which are losing their colour.

But my favourite of my mother's is this bell. They had little money when first married and she made this one, plus several others that have long gone. The red wool on it is the original too.


This mask was bought for my by my friend Nikki. I worked with Nikki in the Nat West at Bakewell and she was a generous friend in all respects.

Kay, Jason and Ben - my children


The card above I have had since Kay was 2 - and it hangs on the tree every year - that's 40 years! It still looks good too. If you can read the inside it says 'TRINA' which is short for Katrina, K's full name.

K was (and is) always good at art and making things and she made these 2 decorations from paper. The pink one is an intricate cut out and you pull the bottom to reveal its shape - which is like a lantern. It amazed me and is also years old.

Now unlike their sister, my two boys were both pretty useless at art! Here is one of my most precious possession - Jason's snowman, made at school when he was about 5 years old. It used to have a small piece of carrot for a nose but that eventually went black and dropped off - but the currants remain!

Each year when I bring it out the husband groans!! (that's Jim and his predecessor)!! It's a fine work of art. I can't see their problem myself!

Ben was little better and he produced these 2 Christmas stockings at nursery school I think, so even they are some 20 years old:

If you can see, the one on the right had the hole and string in its toe!! As you can imagine, it didn't hang very well, so I put one in the top. lol.

Here is the snowman again, this photo taken in 2005, with 2 of Jason's other works of art. The Santa head (not too bad really) and the amazing one and a half legged reindeer! This never hung so I have to sit it on one of the branches and it invariably falls off!

So that's it for this year. I still have some baubles to wrap and put away tomorrow, plus the tree to box up and then all the boxes (5 large ones) can go away for another year.

Just to finish with, a few photos of our two lovebirds, Buster and Sandy having a love in on the mat:


Buster and Sandy head to head.
Tummy rub.

How cute are they?

I do hope everyone isn't snowed in - if you're in the UK you probably will be. Here it is just cold and icy, though we did have some snow today which has made another layer of ice on top of the rest! Bring on the global warming!

14 comments:

Jason said...

Ahh how nice to have a walk through the decorations, I was talking about my snowman to Sam the other day. All manner of disease must have passed through that snowmans fruit! lol. Brilliant.

It is white still, but roads clear, 3 hour journey without inncident yesterday. Hopefully the east will escape the most of it this time. xx

Rachel Green said...

How splendid!

I used to have one of those long-tailed birds (from my mother) but it was lost in a house move.

steven said...

i really enjoyed this tender walk through your little christmas treasures! it's one of the few areas of my life where i keep objects because they have resonant memories! i can't ait for my daughter to wake up so i can show here the pictures of the dog and cat head-to-head asleep. that's so cool! steven

soulbrush said...

i love jason't decoration, what a special thing to have.and there he is now all grown up and commenting about it, wow. yes here it is snowing in london town, and as i have a migraine i am snug and at home.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

It was fun going down memory lane with you looking at the ornaments. I do this every time I put up and take down the ornaments. I too have some my children made. They are precious to me. I have only one ornament that was from my childhood. It gets a special place on the tree. Keep warm. Just seeing Buster and his friend cuddling is warming to me.

Priti Lisa said...

Buster and Sandy ARE the cutest friends ever! They always make me smile. Where's that black anti-social kitty?
Keep warm.
xoxo

BT said...

I gave him place of honour at the top of the post! Thinking of the diseases made me go 'eeew'. It's really sunny here today so hopefully it will melt the ice that's accumulated.

Thanks Rachel, it's sad when you lose those sort of treasures.

Hello steven, I thought you'd enjoy this post. We are all softies at heart. I hope your daughter enjoyed the Buster/Sandy photos.

Hello soulbrush, I'm sorry you have a migraine. At least you can stay warm and escape the snow for the day. It's hard to think that Jason will be 40 in June. How old I am then!

Hello Lisa, I'm so glad you enjoyed the trip down memory lane with me and that you have managed to keep one from your childhood. I can't help it, when I see Buster and Sandy like that, I have to grab the camera (or in this case, Jim did). xxxxx

Heather said...

How great to have all those decorations with lovely family connections, to bring out each year. I can't understand those who have a different theme or colour scheme each year - they must just chuck everything away and buy new. I still have two very elderly baubles which must be at least 45years old - they are my Christmas treasures along with one or two lovely quilted fabric decorations made by a friend and a little polystyrene boot studded with tiny sequins, and I mustn't forget the three tiny pieces of stained glass which catch the light so beautifully. Buster and Sandy blend in so well with your rug it's a job to see what's what. How lovely that they get on so well together. Keep warm and safe.

Bea said...

It's always sad to put away the holiday decorations. You have a wonderful collection of memories there. :)Bea

Renee said...

Gina I laughed so hard at the snowman I almost choked.

xoxo

Ces Adorio said...

Ah, I love Christmas decorations. The poor Snowman is melting and OUCH! The other Santa has something up his a--! I love your new header!

BT said...

Hi priti.lisa. Glad you liked the cat photos. That naughty black cat is trying to catch birds all the time, or voles and the other day he had a huge rat! I hate it when he catches birds.

Hello Heather, how lovely to hear of your precious decorations too. I can't understand the fad for a 'theme' each year. Crazy. Buster and Sandy are on their favourite rug as we speak. They look so cute. It's given -10 for tonight! AAAAH! I hope you're warm too.

Hello Bea, I must pop over and hear all about your holiday. It is sad to put the decs away but it's also good to have a 'new start' after the holidays. Good to have you back.

Now Renee, calm down, I don't want you choking on my account!! Glad we made you laugh, me and J and his snowman!!

Mim said...

Hey Gina - happy new year! Love the review of the decorations, especially the snowman - how special. Glad you had a good christmas season, and love your new header!

Golden West said...

Your ornaments are thoroughly charming, each and every one. I have a bird in the same condition - lost spun glass tail, clip that doesn't clip - I set it into the branches every year. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful collection.