O Tannenbaum

O Tannenbaum may be the only song I ever learned to play on the piano when I was younger. As a middle child I missed out on piano lessons. My oldest and youngest brother both had piano lessons. But oh how I could plunk out O Tannenbaum! O Tannenbaum is a German Christmas carol about a fir tree I think.

In the spirit of Christmas I turned on the fireplace or channel 165, had myself some eggnog and decorated the tannenbaum or plastic tree.

I realize it is December 16th which is really late to be decorating a tree but this is not the first time I have decorated the tree this year. 

In November we rented a basement suite in an apartment that had been converted from a church built in 1953. We moved in November 8th. I set up the tree as per tradition on November 11th after the Remembrance Day Ceremony. L was unable to sleep as there was no sound proofing between the units. L is both a sensitive sleeper and needs to sleep during the day on occasion when he works a 12 hr night shift. As a result his anxiety levels over his ability to function at work were through the roof. So before the month was out we were on the move once again. We have been in our new rental unit almost three weeks now. Moving is really exhausting. 

I almost didn't put up the tree again. 

This makes me recall another year when we "tried out" having a puppy. Oscar was his name. He was really adorable when he was sleeping otherwise he was a terror, biting, chewing, peeing. L was trying to study for his finals when we brought Oscar home. L in a fit of exasperation one night when I was out for the evening packed up the tree after corraling Oscar in his kennel. Oscar had discovered the tree and thought it was fun to dive bomb it and knock several ornaments off and then chase them around the room. L eventually moved out to his parents place to study in peace and quiet and I was left with caring for Oscar and trying to teach him to stop biting and generally destroying our home. We eventually admitted to ourselves that Oscar was not a great fit for us and thankfully the breeder whom we had purchased Oscar from had given us a trial period and let us know that there were other families interested in taking on Oscar. That year I did not put the tree up again.

I may revise my traditional November 11th tree decorating timeline in favor of mid December.

Decorating the tannenbaum goes like this:

 First I mention to my husband L that we should put up the tree. The tree is put up, but L gets a great idea that we should go out so we never get to the decorating. A week goes by because I think it would be fun to decorate together but there never seems to be a good time to do it together. 

Then because L is the expert at light placement I drop hints about putting lights on the tree. He does not take the hint. So I haul out the lights and start winding them around the tree. L can't help but notice that I have placed them in a haphazard way and so comes to my assistance. Plus I can never reach the top. This is last years pictures but do you see how seriously he takes lighting the tree?

When I was younger it was tradition that we all decorated the tree together. My dad would put the music on and bring out the eggnog, cookies and Christmas oranges. My mom would pop some popcorn. Granted it was usually Christmas eve before we started decorating the tree and we had an odd assortment of home made, and mismatched "Charlie Brown type" decorations. In L's family by contrast his mom was the only one to put up and decorate the tree. 

How do you build new traditions and yet retain aspects of traditions you loved when you were younger? As it goes L might join me in decorating the tree if I plead but usually he would rather not. I used to request he would saying it would be fun to do together. But for him it is not usually fun and he gets distracted. How about you? Do you decorate the tree by yourself or with someone else? Is decorating a tree more of a "girl" thing to do? (My three brothers when I was younger always joined in but was that because we were kids?) 

So today I decided to finally decorate the tannenbaum. 

Last year I found new ornaments on clearance for 75% off so I was excited to try a new colour scheme than my usual gold, silver, red and green. I still utilized the green.

I like natural elements like wood string balls and pinecones. I hope to find some more or make some so if you have seen some natural decorations or have a great diy tutorial let me know!

I like to sort all the decorations first. And then put one sorted type of decorations on at a time.

And voila!

Some pretty details...

I bought these glass humming birds the first year we were married. A few have since broken but I love the few I have left.

I love these brass decorations. They sometimes get lost in the tree as the colour is not very vibrant. I purchased these along with the glass stars below when I was living and working in Dawson Creek.

It feels so festive in here!