Christmas decorations

Christmas tree at the Christmas Market in Vorosmarty Ter, Budapest.

Our apartment comes furnished, even with a Christmas tree. Many of the things we have found as we have been living in our apartment, so I thought we might find Christmas decorations. We got the tree down from its storage spot and found it already had lights on it. In looking in the various storage areas, we didn't find any Christmas tree decorations. There was a box with artificial flowers in it and there were quite a few poinsettas and also a trailing bouquet of white rose buds. There was also a box with ribbon in it and so after looking at what I had, I started out by putting the white roses on the tree and weaving them into the branches a bit. I added some gold ribbon as garland. It still needed a little more. There were plenty of poinsettas and so I cut them apart and fastened them on to the branches. It was beginning to at least look a little decorated.



The Christmas market opened here the Friday before Thanksgiving. It has many lovely handmade Christmas tree decorations, but the price on them is a little steep, at least to try to decorate a whole tree that way. A trip to Tesco helped to round out the rest of the decorations. I bought a couple of packages of glass ball ornaments and some gold ribbon bows.

This has made me reflect on the first tree that Merrill and I had after we were married. The first two years we were married, we didn't have a Christmas tree because we went to both of our parents for Christmas celebrations. After Carter was born, we decided we needed to have our own Christmas tree. Carter was eleven months old for his first Christmas and walking very well. Safety was a big concern, so I was able to find a set of wooden ornaments that needed painting. Those were the first decorations that we had for the tree. As the years went by, I would add a few new ones to the collection. I don't think I used any of the wooden ornaments last year at home. The wooden ornaments served a good purpose and they met another criteria of the day, they were not expensive. Like I have said, it is like starting over.

After our Hungarian lesson this week, we now know what Hungarians decorate their Christmas trees with. They have candy called szaloncukor which are chocolate covered candy wrapped in bright, sparkly foil. These candies are hung on the tree with a string and because they are wrapped, the children unwrap the bottom of the candy, steal the candy and leave the empty wrapper on the tree. Too bad I found this out a week late! I have added some szaloncukor to the tree and the bright wrappers are a great addition to the tree.

In Hungary, most families have a fresh Christmas tree and those trees just came out to the markets this week, December 8 to be sold. To my daughter's great surprise, I was actually ahead of the normal for having a Christmas tree up. The past few years, I would wait until the very last moment before Molly would come home for Christmas to put the tree up. Some how bringing all the boxes with decorations up from the basement wasn't my favorite job. And then, there's the putting away of said decorations. Enough said! Simple is easier.