Up. Down. In the Ground.

The thing about a live Christmas tree is that it can't be brought indoors until right before Christmas and it must be taken back outdoors soon after Christmas. Otherwise, it will come out of its dormancy and get confused when it is forced back into cold weather. At least, that's what I've been told....

So on Christmas Eve, we brought our little tree (with its huge burlapped ball) inside. Mary and I decorated it with lights and decided we liked it that way. We only added a favorite bird ornament and some recent ones that friend Jane sent, and called it a victory.

Today, we took off the lights, loaded the tree into the back of the Polaris, and planted it to the right of our drive entrance, alongside our trees from 2011, 2012, and 2013. My plan is to plant all our Christmas trees in one spot and then I can just count the trees to remember how long we've lived out here. Pretty clever, huh?

While Ed dug the hole, I snapped pictures of the previous years' trees.

Here's our 2011 tree. It looks ridiculous because it was attacked by a deer. 

This is 2012's. It is our biggest one.
Too big, in fact. It took three people to move it outside for planting. 

Here is 2013's. A perfectly nice little tree.

And lastly, here's our tree from this year.

While we were out planting, we also put a tiny tree in the ground, just outside our study window. It was a gift from my sister, Kathy. I love to think that someday it may become a towering evergreen.

We came back in and I took down the stockings (with care), cleared our mantle, tossed the magnolia leaves from the table centerpiece, and took a final load of empty boxes out to the recycling.

I did leave up our manger scene, our angel Gabriel, and Madonna & Child painting. Being that it is only December 28th, I figured the Magi have not yet arrived in Bethlehem, so it seemed premature to pack them away.

But other than this little vignette, Christmas 2014 is now history at Farm Dover. I'm ready for the new year. Bring it on!