Dec 09 2013

The Big Chill

Published by at 7:56 am under Country Life,Special Occasions,Weather

So the pipes are frozen. Again.

They were also frozen yesterday morning, despite the fact that I left the tap running in the bathroom both nights, not an easy thing for a Californian to do after so little rain for so long. Not that it helped, though. So I apparently wasted water for nothing.

Even the emergency buckets of ice outside are frozen over so hard that I need an implement to break the ice. No conversational gambit was equal to the task.

Good thing I filled the kettle for coffee and took a shower last night, just in case.

The cold does make it feel seasonal, though, and I believe there was snow inland when we got that half inch of rain the other day. Might as well put up the Christmas decorations, And after all, it was the first Saturday in December, which we all know is the correct day for putting them up (not before Thanksgiving, whatever the stores would have you believe).

This year, my theme for the white, vintage Christmas tree from long ago Gimbels:

was artificial woodland. I love having a fake tree in a house surrounded by real trees, and I decorated it with faux nests with robin’s eggs:

And little acorns on ribbons.

These are made from real acorn caps and felted white wool. Finished it off with clear snowflakes and of course white twinkle lights.

I wrapped lights around the banister:

And the glass roof of the back porch:

In case you’re wondering why I took the pictures in the daytime, it’s because my camera steadfastly refuses to focus when it thinks it’s too dark, which is almost always in the winter. And it looks (and feels) like it’s going to be a long one.

4 responses so far

4 Responses to “The Big Chill”

  1. Guyon 09 Dec 2013 at 3:44 pm

    I love Christmas and the decorations that come with it all, I had mine up on November 15th, don’t care what anybody says, it was my mom’s favorite time of the year and the Tree was magical to her as it is for me.

  2. Ericaon 11 Dec 2013 at 12:46 am

    Brrrrrrrrr. It’s absolutely colder here than Toronto, because there the houses are heated. Xoxo

  3. Suzyon 11 Dec 2013 at 1:27 pm

    They have things like insulation and central heating in Toronto. Imagine!

  4. Joyon 12 Dec 2013 at 6:22 pm

    Makes me feel cold to read about your latest weather…..love the decorations. What do the cats think of the lights on the bannister? I think ours would think they were put there for their benefit!

    joyx