Tuesday, December 22, 2009

A Few Dozen of My Favorite Things


Our Christmas tree is leaning a little to the left but I'm not worried.
We nailed it to the wall!

I keep promising ~ at some point we'll eliminate the clutter.

Certain family members had high hopes... perhaps this year I'd be mature enough to appreciate the concept of 'tasteful' and say no to certain things.

After all, my daughter is an adult. Do we still need to adorn our tree with the baby shoes she wore as a 2-year-old?

Well, of course we do! Are we gonna get into that argument again? 


Finishing touches!

I am only a horder when it comes to Christmas. I can't part with an ornament no matter how old, how tacky, or how utterly useless. Been collecting them all of my life.

This Snowman S'more rests on faux chocolate and a graham cracker, celebrating our love of campfires.

I even kept the Sesame Street ornaments we created with L's toys... by tying nooses around their little necks!! At the time, it didn't feel nearly as cruel as it sounds today.

Plus, it worked pretty well... Bert and Ernie still swing from the branches of our tree 20 years later.
 
Some of these ornaments are actually quite pretty! And, heartwarming ~ I know you'll appreciate the garden gloves!

Squeezed together, they somehow get along ~ pixies and penquins, ice skates and gum balls.

Hula Girls and Washington State Ferries commemorate some of our travels.

As do the tiny NYC taxi cabs.

It wouldn't be my tree without a prancing pony, or two.

And, plentiful frosty blues.

Cats with their fiddles.
And, cows jumping over the moon.

Tinsel is a must have. And, happy bubble lights. (That should give Martha Stewart fits. )

I guess you might say we're into quantity vs. quality though I saved the best for last!

My beloved piano man ~ the very first ornament I ever purchased scores the strongest branch at the top of the tree.


Merry Christmas to one and all.

19 comments:

KC said...

Beautiful! I got the new niece a Baby's First Christmas ornament. I'm hoping she will have it all her life too.

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

You've started a wonderful tradition for her, KC! What a fun Christmas you'll have with a new baby girl to spoil. :D

PJ said...

What a lovely and huge Christmas tree! So many ornaments to choose from too, it would take ages to look at them all. :)

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Merry Christmas, Prue! It looked a lot smaller when we were shopping for it outdoors. :)

jan said...

Wow! More fabulous views from your windows! I have a varied and eclectic collection of ornaments, as well. I just don't get folks who do a 'theme' tree. My theme is "all the ornaments I have ever owned". And I do the souviner thing, too. I have a spoon from Switzerland that for the longest time, I didn't know what to do with. Then one year, I hung it on the tree and it has been an ornament, ever since!

Sally G. Knight said...

Good for you for keeping all your wonderful ornaments. Think of all the layers and layers of memories! Our tree has ornaments on it that I made as a child (now I'm 61). Gold balls from my father's parents 50th wedding anniversary celebration (they were married on Christmas day). And a few survivors from my parents' tree when I was a baby and, probably, even before. I've purchased/made new ornaments almost every year since. I love them all and wouldn't part with any of them or anything in the world.

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hi, Jan!
The spoons are a great idea. I'm with you ~ if I have a theme it's that 'anything goes.' Happy Holidays!

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hi, Sally! Thanks for stopping by. Your recap of your Barcelona trip made me green with envy. I love Spain.. Hope you're feeling better soon. :)

JOHN SHORTLAND, Cotswold Hills, England. said...

I had all my decorations from my childhood and it was magical each year bringing them out from their box. Then I moved and they got lost in transit - Xmas has never quite been the same since!

Incredible views through the windows - can we see more, please?

Happy Christmas.
Johnson

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Here's to a Happy Christmas in the Secret Valley, Johnson. Thanks for stopping by. :D

Shady Gardener said...

Kate! Are you sure you didn't sneak into my Christmas boxes?? ;-) I didn't use my "Memory decorations" this year due to this year's tree... but I LOVE walking down memory lane once a year. (Just wait. When your children are no longer home, they'll even be nicer!) Merry Christmas!

Noelle Johnson said...

Your tree is just so beautiful and tall - I love it! I have the Snowman S'more ornament too. I was just telling my husband that if there was ever a reason to evacuate our house and take our most treasure belongings, I would grab my large box of ornaments...so many memories they are priceless! Merry Christmas to you!

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hi, Shady!

I would never dream of stealing your box of goodies. No place to hide it! I have too many boxes of my own. Hee, hee. I do love a trip down the memory lane.

Happy Christmas!

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Merry Christmas to you, too, AZ!

The ornaments, I suppose, tell a great deal about us as people. Who we are.. Where we were.. and what we wanted to be way back when we bought them.

Unknown said...

Happy Christmas, Kate! I love your tree (am glad we're not the only ones to have to secure ours; we tie it up with lobster-trap cord (what my husband used to use to weave the mesh in the trap heads) in the corner, and the cats can't take it down. They do 'decorate' a little bit, though.
The best pic-of you? behind the tree with feet and legs sticking out. That one made me laugh out loud.

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Happy Holidays, Jodi! My cats like to 'decorate,' too. :) Thanks for stopping by.

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful tree and wonderful ornaments. I'm with you Kate, put up every little thing on your tree (or anywhere else)that makes your heart sing.

Merry Christmas!

Rose said...

I love ornaments with sentiment attached to them. I still keep putting up the ornaments my kids made for me in grade school, even though a couple of them are about to fall apart. Your tree is beautiful--and the scene from your windows is breathtaking!

Hope you are enjoying a wonderful Christmas!

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hi, Bookworm and Rose;

Happy Christmas to you, too. :))