a very Fallacy Christmas

Between shopping (I swear I will do it all online next year), wrapping, cleaning and baking (pear & cranberry pie!), we managed to decorate the mantle over the fireplace. I've been a bit sad about our lack of a Christmas tree this year. I miss that tree smell that fills the house. I didn't have a real tree until I was married and, oh, the fragrance of that first live tree was a wonder! It was so wild and green I wanted to take big bites of the air, saturate myself with the scent from the inside out.

I couldn't imagine this Christmas morning without a few twinkly lights and such, so I had to do something to make the place look festive. I bought some baubles at the craft store, had Mike bring down the boxes of decorations from the attic, and set about arranging a little holiday cheer.

I hung the stockings,

(yes, even the turtle has one, even though we suspect she's Buddhist)

put up my Celtic nativity,

(styled after Celtic high crosses of the 9th and 10th century)

and even the fireplace dragon got into the spirit of things.

(we also have a realistic sculpture of a human skull, now wearing a Santa hat. The photo was creepy, so I'm not posting it)

I'm feeling a lot less bah humbug now.


UPDATE: Mike insists I show my readers the creepy Santa skull since he had to wrangle kittens to get the photo. Also, he likes skulls. We have one (not real!) in our freezer. Long story. Anyway, click here to see my husband's contribution to the Christmas decorations.