it's 'activities' on tuesdays for december holiday challenge
in the old days, back in the old country, we did not ever dream of decorating for Christmas without a general cleaning, as if the weekly general cleaning was not enough. that involved scrubbing the walls and floors and stairs with steelwool, as well as sweeping the ceiling and the eaves so that the house was free of spider webs and spiders. everything had to be spotlessly clean before the special curtains were hung on windows.
then my mother with one of us her children in tow would scour the woody parts of the village to find the best looking dried branch for our Christmas tree. the dried branch was cleaned and painted with white paint. only after the paint had dried could we hang our little ornaments and topped with the set of Christmas lights that had been in her possession for as long as we can remember.
she also kept a carboard 'wreath' with the picture of a lit candle. the wreath was then covered with green japanese paper which she painstakingly cut to look like pine needles, using thick starch for glue. then the old skeleton of a lantern in shape of a star was 'dressed' with new paper and hung by the second floor window facing the street; a light bulb would have been inserted so that the lantern gave a soft glow yet illuminated the whole front yard at night.
when the tree, the lantern and the wreath were up, then we knew it's going to be Christmas.
Great memories! Doing this challenge is really helping me to focus on all that we do during this month, that we don't any other time of the year. Traditions and memories or holidays past as well as the present help me to really appreciate the holiday spirit. Good job!
@carolinedreams - double thank you, caroline. very generous of you.
@jannkc - hahaha! i did my cleaning last weekend even though i was still sick. but now i'm lazy to put up the decoration. thank you, jann.
@dmortega - i like this challenge because i suddenly remember a lot of things that i've forgotten. thank you, dorrena.
@henrir - thank you, henri.