Wednesday 23 December 2020

My First Christmas Tree

At 52, it is certainly about time I grow up and have my own Christmas tree, don't you think? - Actually, no. A lot about Christmas has to do with feeling like a child again, in the best possible sense. At Christmas and in the weeks leading up to it, many of us stick to traditions learned at home when we were little - traditions often passed down at least one or two more generations back. Over the years, we have added our own new traditions to that, especially those of you who have children. 

In spite of me spending Christmas Eve with my parents and sister, and Boxing Day with O.K.'s family, last year I suddenly felt like having my own tree (one of Jennifer's posts triggered that wish). It didn't work out then, but this year it has!

My parents bought an artificial tree years ago, and set it up for several years. This year, my Mum bought a small potted tree that will live on their balcony during the year and last for a few Christmases before it will grow too big and need to be replanted somewhere. We need more space in my parents' open-plan living/dining/kitchen area this year, as we will celebrate socially distanced, with plenty of space between our seats. Also, my Dad's mobility issues mean he will have less difficulty navigating the room when there is only a small tree on a side table instead of the larger one with branches, ornaments and candles sticking out in every direction.

Their artificial tree is now mine, sitting in the corner where my yellow armchair normally is:

I set it up yesterday during my coffee break, and started putting ornaments on it after work. It is not yet final - I have another box full of Christmas things in the cellar which I will bring up today, and put some more baubles on it. As you can see, there are already a few presents under the tree; some of them are what has arrived for me from England, but the majority are the ones I shall give to the family on Christmas Eve. I have not yet finished wrapping my presents and hope to do that today, too, leaving tomorrow as a day of rest - my first day off since September - until it will be time to put all my presents in a large bag and walk over to my parents'.

 

Dear friends in blogland, this was a year like no other; I need not elaborate on that. But it also was another year of exchange with you, something that means a lot to me. I value and appreciate each of you, no matter where you live and how frequently you comment here. Thank you, and Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones!

26 comments:

  1. Merry Christmas to you and to your loved ones!
    Will you have real candles on your tree? Do tell!

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    1. Thank you, dear Kay!
      Not this year, no. It was all a bit too short notice to organise candle holders and candles, plus I won't be here at those times when I would want to light them. I'll see whether I will borrow the clip-on holders from my parents next year, and buy candles well in advance.

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  2. A very Merry Christmas to you. I'm glad you have your own tree this year.

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    1. Thank you! Me too, it makes the room look so much more festive and Christmas-like than just my usual bits and bobs.

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  3. Hooray! Meike has a Christmas tree! I'm also curious about candles on it...will you have them? I've never seen a tree with real candles. It sounds pretty.

    I love the lit star hanging in your window. The whole room looks pleasant and cozy. Merry Christmas!

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    1. Yes, hooray! :-) No candles this year, see my reply to Kay above. I grew up with only real candles, and still prefer them, but this year will be fine without them.
      The star in my window is a gift from my sister; she came visiting early on in December, and while I was in the kitchen making tea, she put it up as a surprise for me!

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  4. Looks quite realistic. You got a good deal there.
    ps - further to yesterday I read that you don't have the "Dieses kleine Schweinchen" toe rhyme there. Is that correct?

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    1. I think it looks good enough; that it is not entirely straight is my fault, not the tree's :-)

      We have rhymes for the digits of the hand, but I don't know any for the toes. Of course that doesn't mean there aren't any, I just don't know them.

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  5. A Christmas thank you for the content you have shared...wonderful sunrise and sunset photos, mountain hikes, glimpses of life in Germany. Much appreciated.

    Hoping you, your family and O.K. (and his family) have a very happy Christmas in this year like no other. And a much better New Year. Stay safe.

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    1. Dear Mary, thank you for your kind words! You, my readers and commenters, mean a lot to me - blogging would not even be remotely as good without you.

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  6. I love your yellow chair - pretty and comfy!
    Thank you for your wonderful posts - your hikes and photos, the books you share, and sweet family stories have been especially helpful to me during this year of staying home. I feel as if I am traveling the world with you!
    Merry Christmas and best wishes for a happy, healthy New Year!

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    1. Thank you, dear Ellen - what a wonderful compliment for my blog! Like I said to Mary above, blogging wouldn't be the same without my readers and their comments. I hope to take you along on many more walks and hikes in 2021!
      Apart from my bed, my yellow chair is my favourite place at home. It was a birthday gift from my parents a year or two ago.

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  7. Merry Christmas Meike. Your tree looks perfect!

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    1. Thank you, Rachel! The tree is leaning a bit to one side, and I have put a few more ornaments on it since I took the picture, but I really like it.

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  8. Merry Christmas Meike. It is a real pleasure knowing you through your blog and I hope to hike with you in the new year. Best wishes to you and your family.

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    1. Dear Jill, thank you - that is so kind of you! It is my pleasure to count you among my readers and friends in the blogosphere.

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  9. It's wonderful that you have a tree now - enjoy it! I love the last photo of you typing out the message to us. I feel as though I have been invited into your home and are sitting there visiting with you. I send wishes for a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year for you and all of your loved ones! Thank you for your friendship!

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    1. Thank YOU for your friendship, dear Bonnie!
      I am glad that this post made you feel as if you were there with me in my room - that was the intention. By the way I was sending a picture of the tree to my Mum when my sister took that photo of me :-)

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  10. A blessed and beautiful Merry Christmas to you!

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  11. Your apartment is pleasingly minimalist: I like the corner bookshelf.
    I can imagine horse-drawn trams in the streets outside.
    Emil and his girl cousin Pony Hutchen are off to Aunt Martha's for apple cake and a cup of chocolate.
    You see I'm imagining a copy of *Emile and the Detectives* in your bookshelf.
    Another city, another time, but anything can happen on Christmas Night.

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    1. Hello and happy Christmas to you, John!
      The bookshelf is, along with the two cabinets/sideboards and the coffee table, what my grandparents had in their house. The furniture ranges from the 1930s to the 60s, all good pieces made of real wood.
      No trams in my town, I'm afraid, but Emil and Erich Kästner's other characters will always hold a special place in my reader's heart.

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    2. Merry Christmas Meike: To you and O.K. and your dear parents.
      Tonight I shall drink two glasses of Pinot Gris from Alsace, toasting all you bloggers, with your fascinating life tales and photographs.

      Emil und die Detektive (1928) was translated into (gulp) 59 languages.
      I must hunt down a copy of the sequel, Emil und die Drie Zwillinge (1933) set in the Baltic.
      Erich Kastner writes with such economy, reminding me of an online essay, The Poetics of the Sentence: Examining Gordon Lish's Literary Legacy (IJAS). Anything to do with Mr. Lish fascinates me.

      Herr Kastner was haunted by Dresden and its terrible fate.
      My sister Joan had a Dresden bisque doll, and she had a lovely book called The Lonely Doll (1957) by Dale Wright.
      This makes me wish I had some corner bookshelves like your own: I would have the best children's books such as Emil and the Detectives.

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    3. Erratum.
      The author of The Lonely Doll and its sequels is Dare Wright, not Dale.
      I wonder what Dare Wright's childhood was like.
      There is an online essay about The Lonely Doll: The Creepiest Children's Book Ever Written (The New Yorker).

      Watch *Little Girl Doesn't Like Her Mum and Wants a New One* (YouTube) 2018 Daily Mail.

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  12. How delightful that you waited until you were 52 to have your own Christmas tree. I trust that you dressed up like Santa Claus when you took the big sack of presents over to your parents' house.

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    1. Actually, I was wearing a new dress, bought just before everything shut down in the spring and never worn until now, in an elegant (in my opinion) copper brown shade. Not exactly Santa‘s preferred choice of colour.

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