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Friday, December 24, 2021

CHRISTMAS TREE 2021

As promised yesterday, here is the tree and its decorations.  This tree was another "freebie" from downstairs.  In this case there was a note on it, "free take me, only 316 days until Christmas".  It's a 9' tall pre-lit "just cut evergreen" with 700 lights.


We put this large wire woven star on the the top...


...and our favorite tree skirt, a furry "Santa" style at the bottom for the presents.  

Here it is with some of our ornaments on it.  The neat thing about this tree is that you turn it on and it is all white lights like this...

...and when you push the button again, they all change to multicolored lights!  Some nights we leave it white, other nights we change to the colors, depending on what we're in the mood for.

We only used a couple of our ornament storage boxes. It's not all of them but it was enough on this tree.  With it being in the corner, the entire backside is empty because no one will ever see that.

If you enlarge the photos above you can see the ornaments but here are few ornaments we took up close pictures of with some backstories.


Here's one of our earliest ornaments.  It's a Y2K (remember that? ha) millennium ornament, a champagne bottle on ice with the year 2000 listed.


I have a love of dolphins and so we have several of those on the tree...


We have the Kremlin in Russia and still in storage, a great pyramid and the Taj Mahal.  They are so sparkly and very colorful.


There are astronauts...


and robots...


and aliens in flying saucers!


There is Santa in his sleigh on a rooftop...


and the Titanic sinking in 1912.


The first Christmas after 9/11 we got this "Santa fireman" and "Snowman policeman" to honor the first responders from that day.


This is an Uncle Sam Santa with a Statue of Liberty 'charm' attached.


We have cute snowmen...


And traditional Santas...


Even a teddy bear or two.  

We have a tradition to exchange ornaments every year and that's where we got most of them but some have extra special meaning...


Like this little guy!  A well dressed pig purchased for the farm by a dear friend who knew exactly what to get...


We also have the traditional pickle that gets hidden somewhere in the tree.  This was given to us by another friend who has since passed away...


Look at this one!  A red barn with a green tractor beside it!  We got this one when we first purchased the farm.  It was too cute to pass up...


These two are very special.  We keep them up near the top because they represent our kitties that have crossed the Rainbow Bridge.  One is a black and white cat to remember Sydney and the other is a striped cat to remember Brisbane.


Then at the very top is this pink poodle.  My Mom had gotten an old school silver aluminum tree and she was going to decorate it with ornaments that were a 50's retro style.  We got her this pink poodle because, well, 1950's, ha.  She didn't get to put it up but we put it at the top of the tree for her.  And yes, we still have the aluminum tree.  It will definitely make an appearance one of these Christmases.


Merry Christmas Eve!

26 comments:

  1. your tree is gorgeous and enjoyed reading the meaning behind many of your beautiful ornaments.
    Happy Christmas Eve.

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  2. That is beautiful, just like the two of you. Merry Christmas!

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  3. What a fun, memorable and meaningful Christmas tree! Thanks for sharing the great stories about your collection. We arrived back in California from Australia, after being locked down there for 19 months! Fun to be back here for a few months, but we were so pooped we just couldn't face retrieving our tree and ornaments from the garage, so no Christmas tree for us this year. Thanks for letting us share yours vicariously! Merry Christmas, Dianne

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    1. Wow, 19 months!!! We can't even imagine how worn out you must have been. Glad you enjoyed our tree. Hope 2022 is good for all of us. Hang in there!

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  4. You have some gorgeous and fun ornaments!
    Thank you for letting us have a peek!

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    1. Thanks, there are probably ten times as more on there, maybe next year we'll tour some different ornaments, ha.

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  5. The tree is my favorite find of yours. And, some of those are Christopher Radko? I have memories attached to some of my ornaments, too. But, they are not fancy ornaments like yours, so sparkly.

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    1. It really was an amazing find. Yes we have some Radko, usually those were gifts or something special/meaningful. Most of the rest just come from wherever, Michaels, Target, online, etc. We like these kind, they actually sparkle in the lights of the tree.

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  6. it is just fantastic! i love the red barn! merry xmas to you two!

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    1. Thank you so much. That red barn was so amazing when we found it. We couldn't believe it. Love it. Same back to you!!

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  7. Your tree is gorgeous and I love your special ornaments. Merry Christmas!

    Love,
    Janie

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, that means a lot. We appreciate it. Hope you had a nice Christmas too!

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  8. You guys bring happiness and joy into my life. I love the meaningful Christmas decor. I do have some myself, but didn't put up a tree this year. Enjoying yours.
    Happy Christmas to you both!

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    1. What a kind thing to say. You are very sweet and we wish you all the best too. This is our second year of putting one up after a long drought of not. Hope you had a wonderful day.

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  9. Happy/Merry everything! I love hearing about your ornamental history. Hugs to both of you.

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    1. Alison!!! Thank you, we love you and hope the world goes back to normal so we can get together. Hugs back at you!

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  10. The ornaments are so special! Thanks for sharing them with all of us!
    Merry Christmas to you both and to all of your readers! Looking forward to reading you in the New Year!

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    1. Thanks for the well wishes and to everyone else as well. If all goes well, next year should be a good one at the farm. Next Christmas could look different!

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  11. Your tree is absolutely beautiful! That was a fantastic find - wow! I love all of your ornaments - they are so colorful and sparkly. Loved the stories and special memories attached to them. Merry Christmas Eve!

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    1. It was just the spot on perfect find. It fits that corner perfectly, it's the right height, it's in perfect shape, goes together quickly and easily. Thanks, we love sharing with everyone.

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  12. Oh the little piggie and the dolphin ornaments are so cute!!! I laughed so hard at Y2K...omg, yes that was when the world was ending hee hee...MERRY CHRISTMAS to you and your family!!! ♥♥ Your tree is so festive and beautiful!!

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    1. Y2K, remember that? So many years ago, ha. The world was coming to an end, ha. Somewhere in storage I have a box of Y2K stuff I saved, heck it might be worth something I'll have to check that out. There are two or three more dolphins on there. Thank you again for the kind words!!!

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  13. Your tree is sensational! Every ornament we have has a story, also. It's such a nice way of keeping touch with the past.

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  14. I have never shopped for special ornaments and they weren't a tradition in our family, but I would if I could find some as amazing as yours! So many good ones, but I love the Kremlin especially, and as I was a programmer in 1999 the Y2K one is memorable - such drama, oh my! Thanks for your blog, I enjoy it very much. Linda

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