It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Christmas comes slowly to Linderhof

We don't rush around Thanksgiving weekend putting up

all

The Christmas Decorations

We get the outside lights up

For they are turned on Thanksgiving night

(the same tradition as Kansas City's Country Club Plaza)

We cut greens and put them in the planters 

replacing spent mums with fresh greenery

And we decorate mantles with fresh greens

And then we wait

We celebrate my birthday

And after those celebrations are completed,

our thoughts turn to tree and town.

Yesterday, we bought the tree

a Frasier Fir

A bit bigger inside than it looked outside!

Today, we strung the lights and put on the beads

And decorated

With ornaments

And tinsel

Lights on, roping strung, ornaments hung and tree tinseled.

Each year we say it's the prettiest ever!

And I think we think it is!

Although our tree looks pretty much the same every year

big colored lights, a motley collection of ornaments and real tinsel

Our ornaments:

Handmade, some by me (the needlepoint ones) and others by either Mother or friends

(the crochet wreath)

As well as some old Hallmark ornaments

(the angel is from 1978 -- almost as old as Daughter Sarah!)

And souvenirs from trips

(this one was from last year's trip to Door County)

And gifts from the Grands

(Lucy's handprints from 2014)

And silver bells

Because Daughter Sarah and I are

"It's a Wonderful Life" junkies

And you know that every time you hear a bell, an angel gets its wings.

The bells mark special years in our lives

(the first one we bought on our honeymoon)

And real bubble lights!

We had them on my childhood tree!

We took time for lunch

A new recipe tomato basil soup

with grilled cheese croutons

(ala Ina Garten)

What was Husband Jim doing while I "messed" with the tree?

He was working on our lighted village

(what we call Scott City)

He's not quite done . . . but he's getting there.

And another tradition

The first of many batches of Cutout cookies

The first batch always cut with the Christmas tree cutter

and sprinkled with green sugar!

To be enjoyed with a cup of tea

by the light of the fire and tree

As we admire this, the best tree of all!