Oh Christmas Tree ….
Last week a friend of mine Cathy Huberman did a little research quiz on Facebook, it was about Christmas trees. The questions asked were as follows 1. Is your tree up? 2. Is it real or artificial? 3. Are the presents wrapped and under the tree? 4. Are your lights white or multi- coloured? 5. Angel or star on top of the tree? There was also an ‘other’ option for each question. All a bit of fun.
A question that interested me, however, was one that wasn’t on the list, ‘is your tree newly designed each year, perhaps to fit in with a particular theme, or do you get out all the cherished ornaments of years past, hanging each one with a feeling of nostalgia.
Our tree definitely fits the latter category, we still have a couple of ornaments from our first Christmas together over 40 years ago when we went to Harrods and bought some very special decorations. It was really hard to get anything other than very fragile glass balls then and Woolworths was probably the main source of decorations There weren’t garden centres with Santa’s Grottos, in fact I don’t think there were garden centres at all, or D.I.Y. shops selling Christmas decorations for that matter.
I try and buy one or two new tree decorations each year, usually from the maker. I can mostly remember where I got things and like to think about that as I put each ornament on the tree. We have also brought things back from holidays in India, Hungary and Norway among others. Then there are of course a couple of items made by my son when little, though he was never a prolific decoration maker.
So I love my tree and wouldn’t swap it for anything more glitzy or glamorous for the world. That said we do now have a second tree – more about that in a later post.
In the meantime I’d love to know if you have a tree full of treasures collected over the years or a glitzy glamorous tree that assumes a new guise every year?
Celebrating positive ageing. Having fun engaging with my creativity, seeking new adventures and following my dreams. 
My tree is normally of the personal history sort like yours. In more recent years, I don’t always put one up, and this is one of those times. Just thinking about it makes me feel tired, and it doesn’t feel worth the effort. I could still change my mind, but I doubt it.
The whole christmas decoration thing can be quite exhausting if you’re not in the mood.
Your tree is so very lovely! Cherished ornaments are the best! So sweet of you to mention me in your post. Your question would have been a good one for me to include. I call my tree a “memory tree.” It is full of treasured ornaments. I have some of our first tree ornaments, too. They’re 44 years old. They are glass balls with flocking on them bought from Sears. I do add new ones each year, although my tree is getting very full. I cross stitch a new ornament each year and sometimes purchase one.
Its lovely to hear you have a memory tree too, great to make some of your ornaments too