Christmas tree?

[wtg]

@Mik Does the tree incite any cat shenanigans? We had one who would try to eat tinsel (a very bad thing to do) and another who tried to climb into it. Also occasional swatting of ornaments with a paw.

Oh, and nice tree!

[Bernard]

I love everyone's trees. All so pretty!

I have always had a real tree in the living room since moving here. Due to the price (mostly), I decided that this year I'd get an artificial.

There are very nice artificial trees now, but I did not want to spend a fortune. I got a slender tree so I could position it between two wingback chairs. Pre-lit, and I really like that. Also, it's got 8 light settings, all white, all colored, or six different flashing programs. I like being able to switch between white and colored lights at the press of a button.

Nowadays I also have trees in the dining room and kitchen. Dining room is for a more Victorian feel and the kitchen tree is silver. My grandmother used to have a silver pompom tree which she decorated with shiny solid color baubles. It was beautiful.

The dining room (never mind the mess, I've been sewing a lot):

The kitchen:

The living room (these blue lights really ham it up in photographs!):

When I took the Christmas decorations out of the closet, I put the two boxes containing a village in the pile for donation to the thrift store. But part of me was wishy washy about getting rid of it. The problem with setting up a village is that it uses surface space, valuable surface space. But a few days later I had an idea that I could empty one of my book shelves and put the village there. Yay. The books from that shelf are temporarily in the cabinet below and the village is tucked away, like a shadow box. I like it. I love the theatrical aspect of it; that and setting up a utopian village.

I also put out my Santa collection:

Finally, my new album arrived the other day. I got it off eBay.

[ShiroKuro]

Everyone’s trees look great!!!

[AndyD]

Bernard, especially love your dining room tree and decorations.
Also the snowy village which is an idea for my sister who collects Lilliput Lane houses.

Meanwhile in England, a bakery has made a nativity scene out of bread buns:

Hallelujah He is Risen

[ShiroKuro]

@AndyD Love the bread buns!

@Bernard somehow I missed the Liberace album! Do you have a turntable? How is it?

[Bernard]

@AndyD Thanks.

[Bernard]

@ShiroKuro I bought a cheap turntable earlier this year so I could play some LPs I had. Now that I know I like it, I will be looking for a good one. I love listening to LPs. No matter what anyone says about it. I don't doubt that fidelity is better in CDs and streaming, but maybe that's the crux of the matter and maybe why it sounds 'colder' to my ears. My living room isn't a concert hall and it's not natural for it to sound like a concert hall. I don't know. Beat's me, but I like the sound of records.

[ShiroKuro]

@Bernard I was mostly asking re the music Liberace played, but I agree with you about the sounds...

I think CDs are too clean, and that sterile sound feels cool. It's why I never liked to play my digital piano as much as an acoustic, even when I had a very good digital and a totally clapped out, tubby Baldwin upright, I still preferred the upright.

It's been a long, long time since I've listened to vinyl.... I have fond memories of listening to my Dad's 45s, and also my own full sized LPs ... I think I started getting CDs in HS?? And of course now everything is digital, through bluetooth earbuds or a bluetooth speaker. It's fine, obviously, but I totally get the appeal that vinyl retains!

[Mik]

@wtg said in Christmas tree?:

@Mik Does the tree incite any cat shenanigans? We had one who would try to eat tinsel (a very bad thing to do) and another who tried to climb into it. Also occasional swatting of ornaments with a paw.

Oh, and nice tree!

Thanks! No, the cats are uninterested in this tree. Luna likes to climb up in the middle of the usual larger one, but neither one is much interested in the ornaments. That's lucky because they're mostly thin glass shiny ones. Every one is a memory of something we've done or somewhere we've been or a phase of our lives.

[Bernard]

@ShiroKuro Oh! I bought the Liberace album primarily because he recited 'The Night Before Christmas' on it. But he's quite a pianist! and it's an enjoyable alum.

[wtg]

Wow, you guys are getting this Scrooge into the Christmas spirit! @Bernard 's decorations especially.

Guess I should dig out my stuff and start decorating the house! But no way will it be as elaborate as what some folks have posted in their pics...

[CHAS]

The trees are all very impressive.
Bob has not put a tree up since he started bringing the cat to Tucson. The cat is
a Gung Ho Ninja guy that likes to watch things crash.
I may get the train set out and set up or we might go to the train museum instead.

[Steve Miller]

Is that the train museum in Phoenix (Scottsdale?) or is there one in Tucson?

[pique]

Since I got my 1970s Marantz tuner rebuilt and turned the living room into the concert hall, and the den into the movie theater/art studio/gymnasium, we really don't have a place to safely put a tree any more. So I am going to string lights on our gigantic hibiscus in the front hall, and we have a small metal tree with decorated egg and heart ornaments on the piano. Last year I strung it with tiny lights run on a battery, and have left it there all year. (Probably should dust the ornaments).

We are going to have a neighborhood holiday gathering in a week (mostly to get me to clean the house already, but also to stay connected with our neighbors, and friends in the neighborhood), and I'm going to need some Christmas music for the party.

Any suggestions for things I can put in my CD changer? I don't want to keep getting up to change LPs.

[wtg]

@Jack-Frost posted this link last year around Christmas time. Same playlist as the CDs he created for a bunch of WTFers a long time ago. Don't know if you can cast to your stereo.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5v7jcF00F3QE3j08iDaSrX

I have the CDs but don't think there's time to get them to you via snail mail.

My Christmas music CDs run the gamut...The Canadian Brass, The Chicago Brass Quintet, Vince Guaraldi's Charlie Brown Christmas, Tony Bennett, Leon Redbone, and a really nice collection called Carols for Christmas. It's only available used.

https://www.amazon.com/Carols-Christmas-Volumes-I-II/dp/B0000009MV

[wtg]

Step 1 - get Tree #1 in position.

I don't move as quickly as some of you do....

Will decorate the tree and put out the Christmas tchotchkes over the next week or so. Not sure if I'm going to schlep Tree #2 from the basement. Will see if my neighbor will help me; it's pretty heavy and I'm not too confident carrying it up the basement stairs these days.

[ShiroKuro]

Yay!

Also, you have one of those zigzag afghans!! We have a few two, one my Grandma made for me when I went to college.

[Steve Miller]

Heh. Sharon has been working on the Christmas tree for over a week. Too much Tik-Tok. It’s become an art project.

Back in the day we threw up a tree, hung it with all sorts of tacky family heirlooms and memories, strung it with garland, and called it a day. That’s not happening this year.

I may have to finish it on 12/24.

[ShiroKuro]

@Steve-Miller said in Christmas tree?:

Heh. Sharon has been working on the Christmas tree for over a week. Too much Tik-Tok. It’s become an art project.

I don’t know, there’s nothing wrong with art projects!

Looking forward to the photos!

[AdagioM]

@ShiroKuro @wtg I have that same afghan, I think in the same colors! I crocheted it for Mr. AM when we were dating. I told him it was for my Dad, whose birthday is a week later. I lied! He was so confused when he opened it.