Last week we put up a few decorations. We kept our holiday decorations very simple this year. We’ve always had a very small tree (except for one year), but this year we have one of our smallest “trees” yet. I think it’s really cute. Last year we got a tiny potted tree from the farmer’s market. I thought I’d keep it to use for our tree again this year, but I didn’t take very good care of it and practically forgot about it in our greenhouse. Then we brought it out in the garden to enjoy all the rain, but it looked… well, let’s just say it didn’t look very cheery. Then we went to the grocery store one day and I saw the sweetest potted rosemary plants that were pruned to look like little christmas trees. We got a small one to use for our tree this year. It has little purple flowers here and there and smells incredible. After enjoying it indoors for our tree this year, we’ll plant it out in the garden. Money well spent. The first night we brought it in and covered it in faery lights. It looked so pretty in the window. It was so simple, but had such a profound way of making our home feel cheery and cozy. Bracken loves it of course. The next day we hung a few ornaments (but not many because most of them were much too heavy for  it.) Decorating for the holidays always makes me think of my mom. She always made it feel so special for my sister and I.

I got out our stockings from last year. We keep our gifts to each other simple and typically do a few things small enough to fit in our stockings.

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On another note that has nothing to do with decorating: we had a long ride home last night. Before we left for market yesterday, Jeff saw the weather forecast saying storms were on their way. Then we heard a lot about it throughout the day. When market closed at 6, we packed up as quickly as we could. We wanted to get home as soon as we could and hopefully get home before the storms hit. We ended up driving through them, which made us really nervous in the rental car (we didn’t want any scratches!), not to mention all the events from our drive home the previous Sunday. Jeff drove really slowly as the rain poured down and the winds blew branches all over the road. Then we saw a long line of cars ahead, stopped on the highway. We could see a giant tree had fallen over the road. Someone told us that help was on the way. We didn’t like waiting for the road to be cleared underneath all those huge trees (with the storm raging), so we turned around and drove a little ways until there was a pullout in a clearing. We felt a lot safer being in an area that was more clear of trees. A bunch of other cars had the same idea. We all waited there for a long time. Finally we saw a long line of cars drive by from the direction where the road was blocked, so we knew it was open. As we drove past, we saw the tree hadn’t just fallen on the road, but had actually fallen on top of a van. I think the people who had been in the van were alright, but my heart went out to them because I can’t imagine how scary that must have been. A little ways up the highway, traffic was stopped again. There were lots of people out in the road, clearing out the debris. The guy in front of us got out with his chainsaw to help clear the way. Then traffic got moving again. By the time we got home it was almost 9:30. And then we couldn’t find our keys. It was another eventful trip home on a Sunday night. Much too eventful for our liking. We all fell asleep in complete exhaustion last night. (Later, we did  find our keys and felt silly how we overlooked them.) 

It’s been hailing on and off all day today, but the winds have calmed down. We’re really happy to be home and having our electricity has been a nice surprise too.