Taking the Christmas decorations down

 

According to tradition your Christmas decorations should come down by  twelfth night or you will suffer bad luck, although  there is some confusion as to whether twelfth night is 5th or 6th January. 

It is thought that the bad luck tradition originates from the days when people brought greenery into their homes at Christmas time. They believed that tree spirits lived in the greenery and bringing the greenery inside protected the tree spirits during the harsh winter months. The tree spirits had to be released back outside into the countryside after the Christmas period otherwise they could bring mischief into the house and crops would not be able to grow again.  Read more about it here

We have taken our decorations down now,  it usually takes us 2 days to do it, but we do have a big house.

I know many people can't wait to get their decorations down and out of the way, so much so that they usually have them down by 1st January. Not me, I cling on to them for as long as I can.

I love Christmas and all the sparkle, glitter and twinkling lights and when I finally have to remove it all I feel really sad.  For me those decorations are full of memories.  Memories of  the past few weeks--cutting greenery, making wreaths, arranging flowers, buying and decorating the Christmas tree, but most important, memories of family time together. But I also think of past Christmases, as many of our tree decorations go back not just to when our children were small but to my own childhood.  And as I pack everything away I'm  thinking of what the next year will bring.

But once everything is packed away and the house it back to normal, I'm fine, ready to start the new year, to look ahead and plan. And in the next few  weeks  my house will be filled with the fresh new  spring colour of snowdrops, daffodils and hyacinths.

The tree spirits have been released so I am hoping for some good crops in the garden.