Traditionally I have always put my decorations up on our anniversary, but this year I was one day ahead of the game, and my little tree was adorned with all it's usual little memory gems on the third.
Alan also had his strange tree up but it was undecorated on the third, so he finished it off on our anniversary and now it suddenly looks almost normal. It's one of those that collapses down on itself and fits in a flat square box once Christmas is over, he loves it ... me not so much. It will be interesting to see what happens next year if we are in our bungalow by then!!
I tried to get some photos of the rest of my little array of decorations, but the light was terrible ... anyway you can get the gist. Each decoration holds dear memories of various stages of our lives.
The two ceramic angels were bought for my first Christmas in my own little rented house when I was separated from my first husband, so they pre-date Alan by quite a while.
The American pick-up truck and the 'bauble plate' were bought from a charity shop when we lived in the rented flat in our current town, after selling our smallholding in Wales, and just before we bought the house we are in now.
The tiny caravan was bought when I lived in the caravan, and the 'bear in the forest' light-up dome when we moved to this house.
Memories that come out each and every Christmas.
We still stop at the services on the way home from visiting Mum each time we go, and it's now become almost traditional to get a sausage roll each ... meat for Alan, vegan for me ... but added to the Christmas mix have been a doughnut for Alan and a mince pie for me. They had no single pies for sale on Wednesday this week, so what was a girl to do ... yes, I bought a pack of six.
Which was a bit of a bargain when one costs £1 and six costs just £3.25. 😄
I brought five of them home and shared nicely with Alan.
Sue xx
That's such a lovely way of looking back through the years.
ReplyDeleteIt makes decorating the house for Christmas a little bit more special for me. :-)
DeleteI am searching for angels this year. I always give one to both my daughters each year on top of their stockings, but for some reason they seem out of fashion and displaced by dinosaurs and grinches! Two and a half pies each then?
ReplyDeleteNow you mention it, I haven't seen any angels either, but as you say lots of dinosaurs, grinches and this week moose. (I have to admit to originally typing 'mooses' there and spellcheck telling me .... NO!!)
DeleteIt was a three/two split, in my favour. Well he had already had a big doughnut. :-)
Special ornaments with memories attached! Plus mince pies. :)
ReplyDeleteYep, you can't go wrong with that can you. :-)
DeleteI’ve not given mince pies a thought so far this year. Seeing yours has me thinking tomorrow might be the day. The Tree might also come out of hiding tomorrow as well
ReplyDeleteThings must be really looking up - you sound so much happier these days, there’s a lightness in your voice that’s been missing for a while.
Funnily enough I used to hate mince pies with a vengeance, I wonder what changed. I still don't have a sweet tooth though.
DeleteI'm pushing through, the twinkly lights and Christmas vibes are helping. Thanks for noticing. xx
Your decorations are lovely and I enjoyed reading the history of some of them. I like Gregg’s mince pies but Lidl all butter are currently my favourite. Catriona
ReplyDeleteAs you know I can't have butter, although I would love to sink my teeth into buttery pastry or shortbread. But these mince pies are 'almost' there with a very short pastry. Greggs do some things very well. :-)
DeleteSweet memories!
ReplyDeleteThey really are, and as well as most of them being sweet, they seem to put my life in chronological order. I had one that smashed that absolutely broke my heart, but it seems to have implanted it into my memory even more, so it lives on.
DeleteAll so lovely, it cheers up a very 'lowering ' November day.
ReplyDeleteI made mince pies last weekend, probably don't need to say, I now need to make more!
Alison in Devon x
I have to admit to not making any mince pies for a couple of years. I do seem to prefer the over sugared, shop bought kind to my own more sensible offerings. :-)
DeleteI used to dislike mince pies (and still don't care for a full size pie), but have acquired a taste for small tarts in my old age. Unfortunately, being in the US means it has become increasingly difficult to make the small mince tarts as no grocery stores near me sell the filling. I don't like the commercial ones (if you can even find any). However, looking online for the filling was even more disheartening...$14-25 (£9-19) for a jar (plus shipping costs). So, no mince tarts for me this year. :(
ReplyDeleteOh gosh, now THAT is expensive. I did a bit of a search and realised that maybe you could make a version of Eccles Cakes (I used to live in Eccles in Lancashire). The filling of them would taste very similar to a mince pie ... especially if you add a tiny bit of alcohol. :-)
Deletehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/eccles_cakes_72475
Mary - I always used to make my own filling. Not difficult and the one I used for years wasn't even cooked - just apples from my fruit trees chopped and mixed with dried fruit etc and a little wine or brandy, and sugar to preserve it. I am sure you can find a recipe on line.
ReplyDeleteI am not at all Christmassy yet as still jet lagged and now coming down with "something" . . . hope it is just the family cold that Rosie gave to Gabby and not something nastier I picked up on the flight home.
We replied to Mary at exactly the same time. :-)
DeleteHopefully between your recipe and the one I found she might be able to cobble together some 'mince pies'.
You have done so well with this holiday, I just couldn't manage, or even imagine, that amount of time in a plane. Now you need to fight off whatever this is before Christmas. xx
Thank you, both, for recipe ideas. I had looked at some recipes online and lost my will to bake (not that I had much of one to begin with...). But perhaps, I'll try. :) xx
DeleteIt's the time of year when ready made seems so much more convenient isn't it.
DeleteLove your decorations Sue.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Thank you. ♥️ xx
DeleteYour decorations are beautiful and the memories must be so special. I haven't got around to putting my decorations out yet but it could happen this weekend. I just need to dust first and then no more until they come down on new year's eve!😄 BTW I love your header too. ❤️
ReplyDeleteAngie
Oh gosh yes, one of the perks of the decorations being out is minimal or no dusting until they come down. 😀
DeleteGreat decorations!! We've done nothing yet... Although there has been a felt wreath on the living room door that has accidentally stayed up all year!!!
ReplyDeleteHa ha, I'm glad I'm not the only one who does something like that. 😄
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