Forgive me for I have sinned

Fully decorated and lit, I trust.

 

Never had a tree at Xmas but I do sometimes pick up dead twigs which I paint green and gold and arrange in similarly painted little glass vases/pots to put in the main inglenook fireplace.
We are just a few yards away from the large church window which is illuminated every night so no need for any more

 

Don't be silly i wouldn't be able to see it from the living room

 

Never had a Christmas Tree since I had my own place, no tinsel, no baubles. Christmas cards tolerated if people might visit at Christmas.
I'd rather celebrate at the solstice as we used to do. Saturnalia has always struck me as more fun.

 

As I understand it @NigelJ the ancients waited a few days to be sure the sun was on the way back and that's why Xmas, a Christian tradition imposed arbitrarily on the old ways, is on December 25th and not the 21st or 22nd or whenever Solstice happens each year.

 

@Obelix-Vendée , yes that,'s my understanding too. The Christian church made it Dec 25 to help them convert the "heathen hoards" from the North.
As i've already said if it wasn't for the family all coming to us I'm prety sure we wouldn't go to all the bother.

 

Saturnalia was 17th to 23rd December, that'll do me, rather than this johnny come lately Christian stuff.

 

OH bought an artificial one from B&Q three years ago for £79. It had such good reviews that it was sold out inside 2 weeks.
Despite being of plastic, the branches are connected with metal things and it’s very sturdy.
I’m not a Christmas person, but OH enjoys it year by year.
I find this growing of millions of little pine trees extremely damaging for the environment and this for just a handful weeks.
Well done @Allotment Boy. I’m sure your one will last decades to come.

 

Real trees, grown sustainably and locally are far better for th enevironment than a fake which is made of unrecyclable plastic and probably by slave, or very poor, labour in China!

Whilst they are growing, real trees absorb carbon dioxide and, if recycled properly - compost or dead hedges - contribute to the natural environment.

Fake trees use huge amounts of energy to process their metals and plastics and then get shipped to market on hugely wasteful and polluting container ships.

 

Hi

since this is a Christmas theme thread , I will remind everyone that Christmas decorations from China that use feathers ie Robins , where or what animal are the feathers coming from

Spruce

 

I've stopped buying new decorations as all the baubles seem to be made in China and even the lights these days. Fortunately, I do have a good supply of proper German ones, some Indian and some Belgian plus home made from felt and fabric with beads and sequins.

I hope all our garlands of lights last long enough for an EU country to start up in competition cos the last time I looked they were nearly all Chinese but I did find some German made solar lights for outside - just little ones to wind round an obelisk and not flashy.

 

Well, to buck the trend, I’m afraid I really like our little artificial tree and suits us better than getting a real tree and having to dispose of it afterwards. Our little ornaments may or may not have been made in China originally, I don’t know as they are all very old, kept over many years as the children grew up. They contain many happy memories for us now and are happy reminders of those who are no longer with us. They whole ensemble gives us joy and happiness and for a short while bring light and cosiness to our home.

 

Well said, Songbird. I don't think you need to feel sorry about it. My tree is artificial, too, and has been my faithful seasonal companion for almost 40 years, so I don't think it's upset the eco system too much just yet.

 

What's Christmas?

 

@Tinkerton, thank you.
@Sheal, don’t you believe in Father Christmas now ?