It's quietly winter

and I know I haven't done a good job of keeping up with this blog. But then, I haven't done a good job of keeping up with a lot of things!
I have gotten most of Christmas packed away. I still have one tree up ... my red-and-white tree in the den. I just love that tree, I gaze at it every night before going to sleep. The pictures are still on the wall (because the bed was moved and the "regular" pictures are in a box under the bed). A few large nutcrackers and one house are still on the stairs, just waiting to be taken up.
Lots of boxes are upstairs, in neat stacks, all numbered. I have a master list saved (I should print it out, plus save to a flash drive) of what's in each box .. even non-Christmas ones.
We got lucky, had one great weekend, and all of the outside stuff got taken down and packed away.

I started out saying "quietly winter" ... but it's now March, and not exactly "quiet". We've had more snow this winter. It snowed 3 times, which is unusual for here. We've had an extraordinary run of below average cold days ... the quiet factor, I guess, is the just staying inside, mostly back in the den with a quilt and a book.

Soon, one more week maybe, it will be time for the snowmen to make way for spring.

Valentines deco

I don't go "all out" for Valentines, but I am trying to be a bit more festive. The first is the mantle. It's mostly snowmen .. they don't get put up until probably close to Easter. I added red candles as my nod to Valentines.
Next, I took the Christmas arrangement I made ('cause I just love the way it turned out) and added glittery red hearts ... still love it!
Then I have 2 small trees I've left up. The lime green with pink ornaments is one of my favorites. I added a puffy pink bow. Also is a black tree (yeah, I know, weird, but surprisingly pretty), red lights and silver ornaments. I added little red plastic hearts .. cute! Also a "romantic" table cover, red candles (and keeping a favorite Nativity music box).

Pictures of the "attic"

I forgot to take "empty" pictures upstairs. The first is an armoir (came with the house, and way to large to remove) ... I use it to house Easter, St. Pat's, and 4th of July decorations.
The second is a few of the piled up packed up boxes. Every box upstairs is numbered (including all non-holiday ones), and I have a master list of what's in each box.
I really hope this will make next year much easier, in addition to being able to find everything else that's stored up there. Last picture, the little forest of trees, covered with an old sheet; and a wall of boxes beside the trees.

Packing it all up

For being supposedly "organized", it's sure taking me a long time to get everything packed away. I do have a few semi-good excuses. First, we've spent a lot of weekends out of town. With elderly parents (and a very dear brother) in one direction, and a son with his wife and 2 kids in another direction, we've been on the go a bit. Plus, we've had some extremely abnormally cold temps. Because the cost of gas is so dear, we've kept most of the house pretty cold ... and sorry, I just can't bring myself to be packing up boxes and lugging them upstairs when I need to wear gloves in the house!
Several things happened this weekend. We passed a payday, and got a bit more gas (still have to be careful with it), so turned the heat up just a bit. The weather and other conditions finally allowed my dear little friend and I to have a "play-day" ... which means she helped me. A LOT!! :) She completely dismantled and packed away the big tree, which had seemed to be a sticking point for me.
Today the sun came out, and even though I didn't have help I got a lot done. I have 2 more large boxes to carry upstairs tonight and that will be it for today. I haven't finished clearing the clutter from the living room; but the dining room is mostly cleared now; and I do have Valentine decorations out.
We'll be going out of town again next weekend. Hopefully the one after that I'll finish getting all the Christmas upstairs. Well, possibly except one or both of the white trees that are still up. I'm really enjoying them! LOL! But if I can get everything else done, I'll be satisfied. It may still be March before I get the "regular" decorations back out, but that's ok. Last year it took me until September! LOL!
Next post, a few pictures upstairs.