Christmas Decorating Has Begun

Yesterday had lots of sunshine and a high of 1.9C. The wind blew in the morning and then it was fairly calm the rest of the day. This morning it is -2C with a NE draft. It is suppose to get to 10C, be cloudy and rain tonight. 

Lifestyle

It was a busy morning in the house. I cleaned the dining area quite well but forgot the shelves at the end of the cupboards in my excitement. I was going to decorate this area after the floor dried.

My first job was to start digging in the top tub of Christmas decorations. I found the quilted items I had made a couple of years ago plus our gift bags and the box with the Nativity figures. I brought them upstairs and dug out the back drops. I did the Nativity scene first. 

The figures except for the baby were bought in the 1950's and the baby was bought in the late 1960's when my parents spotted it while Christmas shopping. We both loved having this up at Christmas time.

I did start on the cardinal display but I need to dig deeper into the second tub. 

I have found the lantern and pinecones but need to go through the ornaments to find the rest. I did find Winnie the Pooh and Eyore which came upstairs as they've been out for Christmas for 40 years. I made them when the children were young. 

Lastly I had a good fight with the fairy lights and the 24 old Christmas balls I wanted to put into the bowl I had bought. I had the biggest mess before I got what I wanted. I needed to have the battery pack on the table not in the bowl. I couldn't turn off the lights without everything falling out of the bowl. I'm happy with this display. It may change a bit as I continue to decorate. 

I am doing some new and some old this year with lots of thoughts about the Spousal Unit. What did he like -- the old glass ornaments and the Nativity. What do I like - the cardinals and Nativity. We both loved Winnie the Pooh and Eyore. 

Elliott chose to try and see how far he could be off the couch before he fell. He got up before he over balanced. But he did sleep this way for a while.

Sewing

I decided to work on the pyjama pants. I read the instructions and started to serge the seams. I sewed seams and got the waist turned down and pinned before I called it a day. 

The fabric is heavy and they will be warm. Not having to worry about matching plaids, they went together easily. An hour and they will be finished. 

I have signed up to do the Decluttering Challenge by Karen Brown. I did it last year and was happy with what I did. This year, I want to do more so once the Christmas sewing is done, I will be cleaning the sewing room waiting for the challenge. I need to get some of this done before January as I have a lot to do. 

As I have my Christmas decorations out, I'm deciding on what I want to make for next year. I have the fabric in the stash. 

    Placemats - 2

    Youth size quilt - 1  -- reuse napkins I made that will never be used along with fabric that has small cardinals on it. I will need to get fabric for this project. 

    Wall hanging - cut down a large one I made into a smaller one.

Knitting

I did nothing last night as I was tired. I did look at the knitting bag and chose not to do it. 

Thoughts

    I decorated early this year as I'm on the last leg of downsizing what I put out for Christmas. I will use the metal Christmas tree but not the regular one. I'm going to downsize to one tub if I can get it all into the large tub I have. I'm sticking with western and cardinals for Christmas. I am going to get rid of the small outside lights and buy 1 more package of large ones. It should take less than 2 hours to decorate outside. I'll be doing a thrift shop box after Christmas and then a box for daughter so she can have the western decorations I won't keep.

    The living room will have the metal Christmas tree in it. I'm going to try and decorate it with some of the western ornaments we have. I want to have a bit of our western heritage at Christmas and feel the living room is the ideal place for it.  

    Though I was busy up and down the stairs, my knee is improving a lot. It gets tired and stiff by the end of the day. My back on that side hurts so we may have to work on that at physio. I'm doing more than I was with less pain. I'm happy with that. 

Today

I need to clean the entrance area of the house and then dig through the decorations to find what I want to keep and what I'll give to daughter if she wants them. This is the hard part as the Spousal Unit and I picked most of the decorations to fit our western way of life. I know I'm keeping a few to display upstairs. This afternoon I will finish grandson's pyjama pants and get started on the hot water bottle cover. Tonight I may crochet on the parasol. 

Until the next time................................................................