6 – Take Down the Christmas Tree Day

[vilakins]

If you celebrate Christmas, when do you put up your tree and when do you take it down?

We don't really do Christmas, but years ago I bought an artificial tree because I wanted to make some Dutch visitors who didn't have anywhere to go feel at home for that day. At the time I just hung some wooden apples on it, but the next year, because we already had the tree, bought some nice globes for it. A couple of them resembled planets so I put spaceships in there too. This is it back in 2005: same tree, mostly the same decorations - and even the same terracotta vase beside it, weirdly enough, despite it being a different house.

Anyway, to answer the question, I heard a while back that you get a month if you put it up on 6 December, St Nicolas's day, and take it down on 6 January after the 12 days of Christmas, so that's what I try to do. Does anyone celebrate for 12 days any more?

I'm always a bit sad to take it down, as I did today, because it marks almost the end of the Christmas/New Year holiday, and besides I like the seeing the pohutukawa LED lights flickering on it.

BTW our cats totally ignore it.

Comments

[gwendraith]

I put my tree up this time on 6th December. I usually do it about 7 days before Christmas but I felt things needed cheering up a bit so did it early. Most people I know have their tree and decorations up well before Christmas, some in November - far too early in my opinion. I always used to have a live tree. I bought a small potted one years ago and kept it in the garden when I lived in Ely, bringing it in each Christmas (it got quite big!). I had to leave it when I moved so now I have a Balsam Hill realistic tree.

[vilakins]

Our one's realistic too, and totally devoid of the fake snow I so hate - it's summer here, deal with it, people! Greg says it's particularly realistic in that it leaves a few green needles on the floor.

My mother had a potted tree for a few years that she'd bring inside. It developed a lean and we named it Claudius, and eventually planted him permanently in the garden.