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Will you be having a Christmas Tree this year??

AuntyRachAuntyRach Posts: 3,881
in The potting shed
The festive season will be very different this year. I was pondering whether people would slim down their decorations and traditions this year perhaps because of restrictions in home visiting, lack of the feeling of joy, or the cost. It made me wonder if we had a situation where nobody would be visiting your home, would you still have a tree, lights, decorations, festive food etc?? 

Will you be having a Christmas Tree this year?? 79 votes

Yes, of course!
55%
ObelixxCloggiesteephillAnniDBobTheGardenermrs bee2fidgetbonesFairygirlTopbirdMarkE1984LoxleyBlue OnionBeefleyWonkyWombleNanny BeachLG_SlumEmerionNanniemoKili 44 votes
No. I don’t anyway.
17%
Loraine3NewBoy2pansyfacePerkiphilippasmith2Papi JoFirejosusa47Dirty HarryPauline 7nick615Molamolapaulwhitt47AYiTVABdelski 14 votes
No. Not this year.
3%
Busy-Lizziemadpenguintuikowhai34 3 votes
Undecided.
11%
AuntyRachDovefromaboveAllotment BoySinging GardenerherbaceousSkandidappledshadeJoy*Skylarks 9 votes
Maybe/possibly/probably.
11%
YviestevieForester_PeteseacrowsAnna33SuesynGregRJennyJedhelkaMander 9 votes
My garden and I live in South Wales. 
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Posts

  • Blue OnionBlue Onion Posts: 2,502
    Yes, of course!
    We've always had a tree since we've been married.. even before kids.. and we never had family around to celebrate with us.  In NZ it was a palm frond tied to the wall.. in Richmond it was usually a small low hanging pine branch I 'liberated' from a wilderness outside of the park that I put into a vase.. and now in Utah we buy a tree cutting permit for £10 and go up into the mountains to select and cut one as a family.  My entire adult life has been spent an untravelable distance from extended family.. but with technology we have two sets of grandparents watching their grandkids open gifts and chatting for half the morning.  

    I argue now is the time to celebrate and keep hold of traditions - even if it's only you in your home.  I still decorate our Christmas tree to ornaments I made in our early marriage from a curl of white bark tied with a ribbon, a fairy stone with a natural hole found on the beach, another from a bottle neck worn smooth by sand, etc.  You might not have the traditional Christmas tree, but trim a bit of something from your garden and create your own tree.  Even a bare branch sprayed white and glittery looks amazing all dressed up.   
    Utah, USA.
  • edhelkaedhelka GwyneddPosts: 1,485
    Maybe/possibly/probably.
    Possibly, I am thinking about it, or about some alternative. This is my first opportunity in my life to have my own Christmas (and my own Christmas tree) - not visiting my parents, grandparents or my husband's parents but my own in my own house. I actually hate all that Christmas travelling (two different countries for our families and three to four separate locations hundreds of kilometers apart) but on the other hand, I feel sad for not seeing anyone for so long. And it will be only two of us so very lonely.
  • debs64debs64 West Midlands, on the edge of the Black Country Posts: 2,940
    Yes, of course!
    I always have two trees and decorate every room in the house, apart from spare room and study. Love Christmas and I intend to enjoy this one if it’s at all possible! 
  • AuntyRachAuntyRach Posts: 3,881
    Undecided.
    Mixed answers already - thank you for sharing.

    This started yesterday as we were discussing it in work, and whether to have anything at work (hospital) in view of the sadness versus keeping familiarity debate. Infection control will prevent much in the hospitals this year, but we have decided to have a small tree and lights at each nurses station, if we can. We probably still won’t have visiting in hospitals but we can video call their family, and maybe they would like to see the trees and see that we will make a fuss of the patients whilst they cannot. Sad to think of this.

    Many of my my colleagues have young children and many of them are planning more lights and decorations than ever to make up for lack of socialising and parties. They were a bit horrified when I said I may not have a tree this year. Although I am known for being a bit of a humbug, I do actually quite enjoy the lights and greenery of a Winter festival. I am lucky enough to have been gifted many decorations and seasonal crockery  etc over the years. I also think that my late Mum would have still done Christmas decorations, as a ‘keep a sense of normality’/‘do it for the children’ idea. I am torn between feeling that this year is ‘cancelled’ and a sense of making the best of it. 
    My garden and I live in South Wales. 
  • WonkyWombleWonkyWomble Posts: 3,254
    Yes, of course!
    Oh goodness! We need the cheer of decorations now more than ever! I'm going to do more than usual and of course there should be another "show us ya baubles" thread on here!!  :D
  • herbaceousherbaceous E. BerksPosts: 2,009
    Undecided.
    Maybe not a tree but definitely holly on the front door to slow the fairies down and plenty of evergreen indoors to catch the mischievous sprites so I can throw them out in the New Year!
    "The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."  Sir Terry Pratchett
  • ObelixxObelixx Vendée, Western FrancePosts: 22,875
    Yes, of course!
    Just the 3 of us since Possum was born and before that just the 2 of us as OH's parents stayed home to be near grandkids.  Dreadful cooks in his entire family so we always used the cats as an excuse to stay at home.

    We always have a tree and I make new decorations each year - patchwork table runners, felt decs (cat proof) for the tree etc  and will try and get Possum doing some of them this year since she's here in lockdown till at least Dec 2 and have no idea if we can get her back to Belgium for essentials and then back here for Xmas.  

    It may be different this year but all the more important to celebrate what we can.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • Singing GardenerSinging Gardener EssexPosts: 1,088
    Undecided.
    I'm hoping that I'll be able to be at my daughter's for Christmas so wouldn't have a tree here. If that's not possible then we'll probably get a tree.
  • SlipperyElmSlipperyElm Posts: 98
    Yes, of course!
    I have no family, close or otherwise, but yes, I'll do everything I usually do, because there's no-one to contaminate me.  I do it for me, not for anyone else or anyone's god, but because it happens to be my birthday.  I don't understand this Christianity thing.  I can appreciate everyone's right to their beliefs, although I don't share them. But I doubt most people who throw their full weight behind Christmas have ever opened a bible, let alone read one.  It seems to be all about shopping and outdoing each other on the culinary front.  And getting into more debt.  Christ would probably be horrified.

    Diwali is coming up, as is Hannukah.......winter seems to be the time to bring back the light, as AuntyRach says.
  • B3B3 Posts: 15,527
    There's a fake one in the attic. Will probably haul it down. I thought I might hang some stuff on the fig tree this year. Not sure about lights though. I find outside lights a bit naff but perhaps not for the twelve days of Christmas - no I think I'd take them down the 27th
    In London. Keen but lazy.
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