I’m in California this Christmas, and so this isn’t the usual holiday for me. I managed to get a tree up and as that’s all I’ve managed here, I thought I’d share what the cabin in Oregon looks like instead, along with another place I can wind up spending Christmas.
In Oregon, we have a fourteen foot high beamed ceiling, so sometimes the trees are big! These are fun to decorate (so long as you have a ten foot step ladder which we do) but can take some time. Back in the day, we used to ride our horses into the woods, select a tree, cut it town, tie a rope to it and drag it back to the house. If the terrain was too rough, we had to hike on foot to get one.
My sister sent me a picture of this year’s tree. I think she got it from a tree farm. It’s too uniform to be a wild tree, and almost goes to the highest point of the ceiling.
I remember when my brother and sisters and I were little, Dad would lift us up so we could put an ornament on the tree. When you’re a child, the tree was so HUGE. Especially when you compare the tree to us little tykes. This picture is from the late sixties is my guess. And yes, that’s my brother and me. But look how big the tree is compared to us. My mother couldn’t get all of it in the picture! By the way, that’s our Great Dane Astro waltzing by when Mom snapped the photo.
We have a buffet that has been in the family for years. Sometime we put a nativity scene on it, sometime’s its food! Yes, that’s me in the mirror taking a picture of it in the second photo below. You get to see another Christmas tree too! Some years we get a smaller tree and put it in a corner of the room.
And then there was the year I spent Christmas in New York with my daughter and oldest son when they were there. There’s nothing like New York at Christmas time. But when you’re on the fourth floor of an old Victorian building that doesn’t have an elevator, one tends to get a different kind of tree…
I think Stasha, the Doberman my daughter was pet sitting over the holiday was bigger than the tree! And by the time we got the rest of the presents around it, a third of the tree could no longer be seen! But that was a fun Christmas.
So when you have your kids spread out around the country, you get used to a variety of decorations being put up. Decorating for the Christmas holiday is fun, no matter where you are. And of course, it’s the people you’re with that make the holiday special.
This year I’m spending Christmas with my middle son and some other relatives here in California. I already share this tree in the Petticoats and Pistols readers group, but it’s fun to share again.
I hope you’ve enjoyed a little peek into the different places I wind up decorating for the holidays! Here’s wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas!
USA Today bestselling author Kit Morgan is the author of over 180 books of historical and contemporary western romance! Her stories are fun, sweet stories full of love, laughter, and just a little bit of mayhem! Kit creates her stories in her little log cabin in the woods in the Pacific Northwest. An avid reader and knitter, when not writing, she can be found with either a book or a pair of knitting needles in her hands! Oh, and the occasional smidge of chocolate!
Kit! Everything you shared is gorgeous!!!
Thanks, Rachel! It was fun to share!
Beautiful trees! Thank you for sharing.
You’re welcome, Barbara. It’s been fun following along and getting to see the other fillies decorations.
We get a real tree when we can afford it, but usually it’s a fake tree. I do have some essential oils that I spritz onto it once in a while to make the room smell piney, but mostly we just have fun decorating it and enjoying the lights and the memories that all the different ornaments bring back! This year it was a fake tree, which I didn’t mind at all. My focus is usually on the nativities that I set up all around the house! They range from a tiny one piece, to a luminary jar, to a few multi piece sets, to an advent nativity calendar!
What a good idea, Ami. I never thought to set up different nativity sets around the house.
Merry Christmas! It’s not the size of the tree, but the joy in your heart.
Merry Christmas, Denise! And you’re so right!
Beautiful Kit! Wishing you safe travels during the season! That black and white of you and your brother reminds me of pics of me and my brothers. I don’t know how many times we sent pics out for Christmas and we were in our PJs! LOL I should post those pics on FB!
Aren’t the old pics fun? You should post some. Your family would probably get a kick out of them.
Good morning Kit, wow, what Beautiful memories you have stored in your heart, and yes I agree, spending time with loved ones is Always the Best time ever, quality time is the Best! Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year to you and your family. Thank you for sharing your Beautiful photos. God Bless you and your family.
Thanks Alicia. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
Kit- Sorry I’m late. It was my 1st day back to work and I was swamped. Your Christmas decor is beautiful and festive. I hope you and everyone here had a great Christmas. Hold on tight, 2024 is around, the corner.
I love your variety of trees. The tree should fit the place and the situation. We have had a variety over the years, also depending on where we are for the holidays. This year has been so disjointed all we may have for our delayed Christmas is a 2 foot artificial tree we got one year we rented a cabin for Christmas. As your pictures show, any tree decorated with love works just fine.
I hope you had an enjoyable Christmas and have a wonderful 2024.