November 23, 2018. Madison, Mississippi. Christmas Decorations.

In my opinion, the day after Thanksgiving is the best time to decorate the house for Christmas. Once upon a time, the task took a long time but today, I was done in one hour. When we bought our condo in Mississippi, I brought just enough decorations to make the place look like Christmas, but as our place was small, our decorations were few in number. All the rest of the Christmas goodies were divided between the Texas and Mississippi families. Even though we have space here in our home, I am still using the two small boxes of Christmas things. So it takes me all of an hour to place the precious objects in place. On the chest by the front door I put two reindeers with red noses. They are made of red velvet with white antlers. I bought them in Galveston, right after Christmas of 1964, when a nice store in downtown Galveston put their deco0rations on sale. We took no decorations from Toronto to Galveston, so that year, our first in Texas, we had no decorations at all. The red reindeer are the bit the worse for wear but I love them. On the mantle sets my Mother's little houses. I have no idea where she got them but I have them now. Mother set them on white cotton but I got rid of that and now they look charming. And they remind me of my wonderful Mother. I fill a big bowl which sets on the coffee table with pine cones that I have gathered over the years. I have cones from Yosemite and Nova Scotia. Ken has always laughed about me gather pine cones all over North America, but I enjoy them now. Natalie and Harvey, many years ago, gave me a Tiffany Christmas box, which I keep on the shelves by the front door. My decorations are sparse but they make our home look like Christmas. Every object has history which pleases me when each piece is put in place. Now we are ready for the Christmas season. My decorating is complete.