O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree !
How Lovely are thy Branches!.....
Possibly not true, as my Christmas tree is artificial and comes down from the attic and out of the box to be assembled each year. But, each year it ends up being a beautiful tree in my eyes, if no one else's.  Even this year when I finally gave up on getting things done "right" and decided to just put a few ornaments on the tree and "gitter done", ir ended up looking "pretty good."

Paul took a shot of the tree with the lights and garland  before ornaments were added.

All of my ornaments are special. I have things that the kids made when they were little, things the grands have given me, ornaments my students gave me when I was teaching, musical instruments my daughter got for me to decorate a music store tree, and a couple of instruments that a friend in Texas sent me when we moved to Minnesota briefly, 40 or so years ago. There are some things my dear aunt made for us as package toppers; there's a fake pomegranate, and a decorated okra pod. There are Hallmark collectible ornaments, and some cutesy ornaments dating from when Paul and I were first married. And, of course, there are a few glass balls. Some of them are very old.
The  angel on top of the tree dates from 1965 when I was a newly wed.  She didn't work on real trees as she was too heavy and fell over. She works nicely on my artificial tree though. Last year her ring of lights came all apart so now she just sits on top of the tree unlit.
Fortunately for the music store, I guess, I found the musical instruments in the first box of ornaments I opened.  Then I added a few other things to it, including some sprigs of holly berries and a pine cone or two.  I had some drape lights to put on the tree real quick, but the multi-colored ones were partly not lighting so we resorted to the red ones. I then added a string of multicolored lights and all the tinsel garland I could find in my boxes.  I regret not getting All of the ornaments out, but at least we have a pretty Christmas tree up.  Next year, we will start much earlier, and maybe life in general will be less hectic.

 Paul pulled the blow-up Santa out of the attic, and it lasted all of one day in the yard.  Poor thing had so many tiny holes and small leaks that it wouldn't stay blown up.  We'll have to replace him for next year.

I'm so glad Paul to it on himself to get a new bow and a wreath of bells for the front door.
It adds a Holiday flair we were missing.

A collage of our tree, some of the ornaments on it this year, and the wreath on the front door.

I also set up Mimi's fiber optic tree. A dear friend got it for her quite a few years ago.  She always told me about it, but in the 18 years Paul and I have been married, I never saw the tree displayed. This year, I decided we would see the famous, reclusive tree.

Some stain glass ornaments (plastic) on the music store wall among the guitars:

AND:

Santa rides our neighbors motorcycle!

A new ornament this year , a gift from a friend , is a good quote to remember.

 
 Want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!