So dubbed by the husband years ago, the silly season refers to that time before Christmas where the house is an absolute disaster. That time when I haul out all the boxes, have greens shedding their stuff. That time where frankly everything is discombobulated! Such is the case right now. Let the decorating begin!

After my high dosage of Prednisone and Chiropractic care which I will continue, I am happy to say I am feeling so much better. After a scary 3 days in the hospital for the husband, the world has righted itself. Well, maybe not quite! Let the war begin.

It is a kind of war. A war, with myself. Wanting to keep things simple but, also wanting to do something different, and still create magic. This is something I go thru every year. You just can’t always out do yourself. Particularly if you’re working with the same greens, the same decorations over and over. I choose to work this way, because I don’t have storage or budget to keep buying new every year. But mainly, I love my stuff. I have curated well, and I enjoy pulling it out, handling it, and challenging myself to do something new with it.

So, I have completed bits. The Welsh cupboard is always the first thing to get dressed. This year it is very simple and I think I kind of like it. I’m sure I will continue to tweak, as the season moves along, but for now I have put a fork in it, and proclaimed it DONE!

Next on the agenda was the cubby in the kitchen. It too is very simple with the Spode Christmas Tree in attendance and is done for now. Next I moved onto “The Queens Head”. Probably one of my favorite decorations. This year I added different ribbon to the mix, along with some cascading pine cones, and my favorite Queens Head Greens. When I unrolled my new spool of old copper ribbon, I discovered it wasn’t copper at all but, black. No worries I just went with the ombre’ effect. Copper to very deep current for this ribbon. The rest is pretty black.

The chandelier got a mix of greens and twigs and I’m happy with it. The ship, a staple for Christmas decorations got its usual mix of greens with the addition of a wayward twig. So far this is my favorite introduction.

All of this jockeying requires a lot of thought. I have all these ideas in my head and sometimes they work, and sometimes they don’t. In the end none of it matters. I do it to please and challenge myself, and hopefully with luck, I bring a certain amount of fun to friends and family.

I will leave you with the strangest thing. We buttoned up the deck for winter. Usually this is done in late October or very early November. I have never had anything growing on the 17th of November. My impatience that were leggy and languishing in September still have the flop but, look how they have filled in. They have received no love for almost 2 months. Well a drink every once in awhile. The caladium is long gone. So the big blue tarp will be a part of my visual senses for the next 5 months I’m sure. I hate looking at it but, between the furniture covers and the tarp, they will protect the furniture from the snow.

Have you started decorating or are you waiting until after Thanksgiving? I will have more inspiration for you. Today was just a sneak peak.

Thanks for stopping

Shelley