When it comes to putting the house back to normal after the holidays someone has to make the call on when to git ‘er done. That someone is me, prompted by the calendar catapulting us into the new year. We delayed our ritual as we had our final celebration on Jan 21st. Our daughter and her husband couldn’t come on Christmas, so I wanted them to have the full decorated experience when they got here.
Yes, dearest blogging buddies, that meant I left all the decorations up to collect dust 3 weeks into 2024. 👏🏻🥳
This past weekend, I grabbed the camera to capture the ambiance one last time. Golly, I’ve been jolly seeing the glow of the lights in the early mornings…I dared to even think, “Hmm…could they stay up? Should I wait to determine the best undecorating date by a stand-down between the height-challenged Santa in the vintage sleigh and Punxsutawney Phil in February?”
I counted how long before we’ll decorate the rooms again. Well, sh*t, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10, one month for each finger…only TEN months. Umm…I shook my head NO. As tempting as it was to leave them up, that’s not a good idea. I twirled around and got busy dismantling the decorations.
The month since Christmas and the week since the last celebration has been a blur of happy memories. Thankfully, the superglue held the tree stand together! The cats didn’t crash the tree. Our kids were here to fill our hearts. Even if it was a good season, it was time to part with it and move on to 2024.
After breakfast, Mr. and I agreed that undecorating was something to do on the last Saturday in January 2024.
Tizzie supervised my efforts.
She approved the revived back to ‘normal’ space I made for her with fresh paper tissue and the new cat toy. The pops of red will go well into February decorating don’t you agree? 💖💗
Dessy missed the undecorating party. She curiously wandered around the room, looking back at me to say, “Mrs., something is different here.”
“Where did all the stuff go that blocked me from sitting under the tree…wait…where IS the tree?”
“I can smell there are hidden holiday trinkets in here! Let me in!”
“Okay, I’ll give up the hunt for what I missed being put away. Yes, I’ll pose for a senior portrait moment to acknowledge we’re officially in 2024. Seriously, though what took you so long to get things back to normal?”
Meanwhile, Mr. planned a celebratory dinner. He gets the bug to fire up the Weber grill when the weather warms up outside. Since we’ve been having warm weather and no new snow, it feels like early Spring instead of the end of January – that makes us think it’s grilling season!
Beer-can chicken for dinner and a movie date. Do you recognize the movie? Perhaps we should’ve had shrimp? 🤔
I glanced out at the yard and across the field where eight tiny deer had appeared this week. Did they come back to rescue vintage Santa? Do they know something about the weather that we should pay attention to?
It sure looks like an early Springtime melt in the field to me – how will Phil predict the arrival of Spring when it has almost happened already?
Does it mean we’ll be cursed with a February like we had last year? Oh, dear, dang…it was mighty chilly.
And mighty snowy.
Along with the neighborhood bunny hiding out under the tea house, I’m not positive we’re out of the snow business yet. We’re making the call and betting on the odds each day and night we have left of the winter that Mr. will have something to do when he needs to clear the driveway in February. We’re not out of the winter weather woods yet!
Post Inspiration – Linda G. Hill’s prompt for #JusJoJan the 27th and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “Make the call.” Use it as an idiom or use it literally. Have fun! Terri Webster Schrandts’ Sunday Stills – Jan 28 – Something to Do and Sophia for Lens-Artists #284 Day & Night.
PS – Are you ready to leap into February? Are you a morning person or a night person and what do you do everyday that makes your day complete? What’s new in your neck of the woods? What is your favorite “something to do?”
I absolutely love how you use your pictures to also tell the story! Very creative.
Thank you so much for your feedback and for stopping by! 💗
Wow, Shelley, is it almost February? We arrive home in the nick of time January 31. I might have you beat with my Christmas/winter decorations that will greet us upon arrival. I’m sure your late celebration was worth the wait! Your cats sure look cute and a hair confused. Lol!
You still have so much snow! According to my Ring’s view of our backyard, ours is all but melted, but winter is still alive and well. Love how you wrote that last paragraph, my friend. Have a great week and stay warm!
I bet traveling during the time you did helped make winter seem less long. My daughter said to me, “Mom, having the decorations up this long will make it seem less time before Spring arrives.” I think I’ll hold her to that thought.
Thank you for your kind words of encouragement. I wasn’t quite sure how I’d combine the three prompts. 🤔😆🥰
I wish you safe travels and a warm welcome home! See you back at the blog prompts in February!!
I’ve become somewhat of a third-shift person: awake all night, sleep all day.
Glad to see you’re confusing your cat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzi3k7K0lFA
Well as long as you get 7-8 hours of solid sleep…many a creative person like yourself find that the night shift leads to great ideas, plus NOC shift does tend to make more money 🤔😆 Our cats are busy at work throughout the night.
Thanks for the Monty P episode – that’s hilarious!
I had to laugh at the bird sitting up in the pan with no head. Is he watching Forrest Gump with you guys? 😂 The cats are beautiful!
It must be great to see the snow going away but I’m sure it will return, there is lots of winter left.
It was almost 70 down here today, perfect biking weather but the 50s and rain are coming back to the valley. Blah. Have a great week you two!
LOL – yes, it does look like the bird is watching the movie too.
Thank you for the kitty kudos, our two cats appreciate the praise.
It is nice to see the snow going and it indicates the frost isn’t very deep. I drove by the lake yesterday and believe it or not there were A LOT of 4-wheelers and fishing shacks on it – I wouldn’t be on the lake with only 8-12″ of ice in a warming trend week, but apparently when in WI people ice fish!
Wow – 70s sounds wonderful, glad you got out to ride your bike.
You’re right, John, there’s lot of winter left!
We hope you have a great week too!
That’s very risky to take a truck out there! I’ve done that several times over the years. Have a great day. 🤙🏻
It is risky. Every few years someone’s vehicle sinks and has to be rescued.
I bet the owner is in trouble. Maybe had to pay a huge fine.
Oh, yes, there’s a fine indeed and a water-logged truck can’t be fun to deal with either.
Cats are funny. They are so expressive without even trying. lol. I am glad to hear you left Christmas up. I think everyone is too quick to pack it all up anyway. I kind of do it in stages. I leave anything winter out. But you reminded me of the days my husband was deployed. If he was going to be home shortly following Christmas we would wait, and in fact one year my young daughter wrote a letter to Santa asking if he would deliver the toys when her daddy got home. We picked him up after being gone for 3 months and and when we got home all Santas gifts were under the tree. So magical. Anyway….loved your twirly photos and the story you put together for something to do…. Have a great week.
Hi Donna – thank you for your visit and for your words of encouragement.
Aw, that’s a wonderful story of your daughter asking for the toys to wait until Daddy was home. Tell your hubby, “Than you for your service!”
The year my parents got married, my dad was released from service and they had a 12/23 Christmas wedding.
As a child, we always waited to decorate until Christmas eve and then the decorations stayed up until 2/1. To me, Christmas is about the togetherness of family sprinkled with the gifts. Having the decorations up longer was less stressful and rushed. I may just do it again next year (or this year in 10 months!) I love your descriptions of Christmas – they fit the magic of it indeed. Thank you for sharing.
Thank YOU.
🥰
We took our tree down on Thursday, and we didn’t have a good excuse. I think there’s still some winter out there. Love the cats.
A Thursday is as good of an excuse to take down the tree as any other excuse 😉
You’re likely right about some winter being out there ready to pounce on us.
The cats appreciate the words of encouragement. They’ve become quite the characters and cuddle-bugs. 🤗
Hi. Your essay reminds me of the time, during the 1970s or 1980s, when I wandered into a bar, in Manhattan, that was decorated for Christmas every day of the year. That was their thing. I wonder if it’s still there. Happy New Year, Shelley. Take care.
Hi Neal, Happy New Year to you and Sandy too – your wandering into a colorfully decorated bar fits well with your Colors post! Visiting that place again maybe a future field trip 🤔😉 Thanks for stopping by to share your greetings, it’s always a joy to hear from you! Take care and continue being inspired by the blue skies.
That chicken is making me hungry. As for your question: “pops of red will go well into February decorating don’t you agree?” I do agree. That’s why I kept our bright red doormat, that we put out for Christmas, outside our front door during January in anticipation of Valentine’s Day. Planning, I gots it.
Hi Ally, thanks for stopping by to share your words of wisdom. The chicken was delicious.
Ah, YAY, a red carpet entryway, I love it! That’s excellent color planning on your part! 💖💗👏🏻
Dessy is so pretty! What a great pic, and she did look a little confused about the tree. I always hate to see the tree go, but then ours is always real–so dangerous to keep up too long. There’s just nothing like that twinkly glow. Strange weather here in MD too. Far too rainy, though we did have a one snow. I wouldn’t mind one more in February. Spring can’t come already! No matter what Phil says, ha.
Hi Rebecca! Dessy sends her thanks for the kudos, she has become quite the entertainer in our family.
Oh, yes, when our tree was a real one, it had to go before I was ready to let go of the twinkle factor too.
It’s hard to find anyone that thinks this year’s weather is ‘normal’. I agree, I kind of want one or two more snows to make it feel like winter before spring!
Stay warm and cozy! 🥰🤗
Shelley, I loved your expression ” Golly, I’ve been jolly” about the Christmas lights and I liked when you whirled around to start undecorating and you blurred the lights in those two photos. Dessy posed like a little angel – a perfect pose. I have never had beer can chicken … it looked like it was sitting up. A fellow blogger in the UK renovated part of his home in the early pandemic. He made the basement into a man cave but also this was where he worked. He does something with computers, programmer maybe. He usually never leaves the office and has not returned back to work. Anyway, so he renovated and so got a new Christmas tree to put in his man cave. He liked it so much, he decided to leave it up all year and decorate it for each season/holiday and posted about it.
Thank you, Linda, I’m glad you enjoyed the post. Dessy has become quite the little angel.
Beer can chicken is a whole chicken propped on a holder that contains beer (or soda) inside it to steam the chicken from the inside out as it cooks on the grill. The meat is SO moist. It’s quite a fun way to cook the chicken.
I think at the point I’m retired and no longer need all the stuff in my home office for work I’d enjoy a tree that I could have up all year long and decorate it too. That’s kind of a fun idea. Thanks for sharing.
Love how that beautiful grilled chicken is sitting cross-legged on its throne! And the cat poses are awesome. Stay warm!
Hi Kim, thanks for stopping by to share your thoughts. I wonder if the beer can chicken would’ve tasted great with your recent post about the coffee rub? 🧐
Wow Shelley, last week of January???? Mine was gone with New Years Day! We had a very quiet Christmas with no family this year so the presence of the tree just reminded me we’d spent it by ourselves – very unusual. We’ve also had a very strange January with days in the 60s followed by the 30s – crazy! But the new year is off and running and so are we! Here’s hoping the temps remain in the higher end for you AND for us!! Thanks for sharing with us at Lens-Artists this week!
Hi Tina, thank you for stopping by to share your thoughts and for the warm welcome to Lens-Artists.
Yeah, it was odd to keep the decorations up so long. We’ve had Christmas like yours where I’ve wanted to take the tree down the next day because it was like you described. It’s nice we can be flexible as humans and do what we need to feel content with the holidays.
The weather is wacky, I’ll take the warmer weather for sure! 44 degrees and sunny yesterday was a joy to see, it provided Mr. with the opportunity to take down the Christmas lights off the house before Easter! 😆
While I took the big tree and some of the decorations down a week after New Year’s, I left the little tree and decorations up on top of the kitchen cabinets. Everything was red and white, so the plan was to leave it up until V-day. Except, I suddenly had a “wild hair” to take everything down last weekend and while it initially looked bare, I’m glad I got that done. With the nice weather, I’m thinking more about biking and gardens this week. 🙂
Yay for a staggered approach to putting decorations away. I’m a big proponent of ‘wild hair’ inspiration, way to take it to the next level, Mary (especially with your fencing that keeps Hoshi entertained)! 😂 You’re super wise to get out and enjoy this glorious February weather we’re having. They’re warning us not to get too comfy with it, so I hope you get a February fix satisfactory enough to last the rest of winter! Happy February to you and your furry friends!!
Yeah, we’re supposed to get back to 30’s by the weekend, so I will have to soak up the rest of the warmer weather until it goes away.
Yes, do it and enjoy every moment you can!