I am much happier about schemes where your tree can be shredded and mulched and made into something useful.
A friend asked me on Wednesday why trees are taken down by Twelfth Night, and I explained the traditional belief that the "Christmas Feast" was deemed to last Twelve Nights. The Church decided it begins on Christmas Eve as we celebrate the birth of Jesus [manger, angels, shepherds etc] and continues to the Feast Of Epiphany [Jan 5th/or 6th] when we remember the Visit of the Magi [Wise Men/Three Kings]
Once they have been and gone, then Feasting ceases and we get back to work!
But I am left with a few questions which seem to come up each year at this time of undressing, dismantling and packing away.
- Why is it that you put away complete sets of carefully wrapped, untangled strings of functioning lights - only to get them out a year later and find they have been knotting themselves up in the box, and may not be working properly?
- Why do you take all the decorations from the tree then dismantle it [plastic] or take it off to be shredded [real tree] only to find at the last minute, a treasured decoration still nestling in the branches?
- Why do you leave some items in the box when you start the decorating process, because you are not sure if you like them enough to hang them up - and still dislike them at the start of January, but do not have the courage to recycle them to the bin or the Charity Shop? [please note- this year I have been much more disciplined about this, and some have now left the house for good!]
- At what point is it acceptable to cut up your cards to make gift tags, new cards or other craft items for next year? [One year Steph told me off for doing it the day after Boxing Day]
- Even if you are super diligent, how come there will always be one small bauble hiding under the sofa when you vacuum in February?
I once knew an old gentleman who had a red Christmas Bauble pinned to the middle of the pelmet in his lounge. It had been there for years. He never moved it - he said it was part of his custom, to honour Christmas all year, just like the reformed Ebenezer Scrooge did!
In my town a local voluntary group collects trees for use on the beach to stabilise the sand dunes. I think they have over 150 trees this year.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, my Christmas tree lights are always tangled when I get them out each year, no matter how carefully I store them. I totally blame this conundrum on the Christmas fairies who like to play with them in the old suitcase in my loft. I have a very old fairy, presumably bought for my first Christmas in 1950, her silver frock is tarnished and her wings wobble a little, but I love her so much. She's now surrounded by bubble-wrap until next December. I hope she behaves herself in the suitcase !
ReplyDeleteWe have a curb-side recycling program here, for the Christmas trees, but my tree is an artificial one. I have a plastic form around which I wrap my strings of lights and they manage to stay untangled! I leave my decorations and cards up until Jan. 5 or 6, and once they are taken down, then, the cards maybe recycled. As for the other questions, they are mysteries! :)
ReplyDeleteI have a little crochet nativity set that stay on the bookshelf all year round. They all seem to be having such a great time I haven't the heart to stop the party and put them into a box!
ReplyDeleteI went round the house after my last visitors left on New Year's Day like in Supermarket Sweep. Before I put everything back in the attic, I went through all of the old decorations, in almost every conceivable colourway, and bagged the lot up for depositing at various charity shops (most of them will only take maximum of two bags at this time of year).I even got rid of my old artificial tree!So next year I only have one bag to open and use it's contents!That's the theory anyway!Then I went back to work on Thursday and it took an entire day to put away my boss's decs.!I usually leave the cutting up of Xmas cards until the following year!
ReplyDeleteImpressed by your diligence- but I have never heard of a CS limiting donations. Is this a Scottish thing?
ReplyDeleteWe had no tree but I do remember an embarrassing visit we had in August in our old house where we were sitting down and I suddenly noticed snowflakes pinned to the base of the mantlepiece!
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