I'll show you mine.....

.....if you show me yours. Christmas tree that is.

Yep all you tree purists, it's artificial. I love real trees, the smell of them, the tradition of picking them (A christmas tree farm is about 3 minutes drive away) just the sheer pleasure of bringing the outdoors into your house. However my artificial tree doesn't make my hands itch after handling it, drop needles that small kids and cats can make a mess with and it fits snugly into the same place in my lounge each year. Maybe in a few years I'll switch back to real tree but for now I'll stick with Christmas I can pack in a box. My heartfelt thanks to the person who actually managed to make artificial trees look good ;)

So all you style gurus what adorns the top of your tree? Star or Angel?

I am afraid I pick an angel every time. All the stars we've had were plagued with stability issues, they just couldn't commit to a relationship that involved clinging to the top of a spindly bit of twig for dear life. Whereas my Angel has the benefit of her skirt as ballast.....

I am afraid for us though Christmas starts on 1st December. Yes I know the period we are in is technically Advent but the pups don't really understand that. December is my all time favourite month of the year so I like to squeeze as much fun, joy and excitement out of it that I can. So up go the decorations, out come the lights and break out the Christmas music and DVD's. It's time to bask in the warmth of the love of my family (when they're not bickering of course) and enjoy the season, cold weather and all round general happiness. No that doesn't include the gods of shopping, commercialism and consumerism, but sensible, affordable spending (I can't lay claim to having always done that but I am learning) and if all else fails spend nothing but time those that matter.

Out of my decorations I have some favourites, not all bought or indeed made by me.

 Pasta wreaths made by the pups last year. They had such fun making these and they've survived storage so they are now hanging on the window handles in the kitchen :)

So whenever you start your celebrations I hope you have a happy time.
Time for me to head off and watch It's a Wonderful Life for the 100th time.