When I first moved here and the kids were young,I went all our for Christmas. I decorated the door and window frames with elaborate garlands and wreaths I made myself,filled the window boxes with more evergreens and had spectacular trees filled with ornaments collected from all over the world. It was a lot of work ,weeks worth and my family appreciated it .
This year with Jon away and the cost of everything sky high we decided on a low key Christmas, no tree , no big gifts. It's been a relief not to have to worry on how to get it all done. I'm making small gifts for the stockings, but that's it. I couldn't (wouldn't) do this if the kids were still kids , but they are grown now, and I just don't feel the need for a tree and gifts.
We aren't forgetting Christmas, just keeping the focus on the day not the trappings.
This morning was dreary and as I returned from my walk with Bella ,my house looked so forlorn with it's empty window boxes and bare front door. I grabbed my clippers and a big paper bag and took a walk around my yard collecting evergreens to dress them up. A quick walk up the block to the county's water station netted me some cedar, pine and pine cones. They could use some more color and I'll look for more on my next hike but I'm pretty happy with them and even happier with the price tag. I did pick up a swag at Trader Joe's for the door. I didn't want to go up in the attic to find trim, so I took some ribbon from my sewing box and some gnomes,birds and mushrooms from the craft box and had fun with it .
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