Easter Monday

For at least a dozen and a half years, I've decorated an Egg Tree in our front yard during the Lenten season. I wrote a couple of blog posts about it. You can read a little bit about it here (including some easy how-to instructions). 

When Easter falls midway through the April calendar, like it did this year, I rush to get my plastic eggs up early enough that the tree leaves and blossoms don't arrive simultaneously to my decorating. Because of the Lunar calendar, Easter is always on the first Sunday after the first full moon of Spring. The earliest possible date for Easter is March 22nd (plenty of time for decorating and seeing the tree) and the latest possible date is April 25th.

Virginia 2018

Virginia 2019

This year I decided to move our Egg Tree to a new location in our yard, sharing a little Easter cheer from a new vantage point.  

Virginia 2020

By Easter, the dogwood tree is flowering and the eggs are harder to see. 

My goal is to bring a little joy and a reminder to passersby. Every year as I unbox my eggs (and create a few more), the meaning and message are the same. 

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Decorating Doubts

This year, Thanksgiving — always on the fourth Thursday in November — was November 22nd.  That’s the earliest possible date the holiday can fall (for the record, November 28th is the latest).  We usually wait until the first full weekend in December to do most of our festooning (don't often get to use that word), but it seems that Christmas decorating has been in full force around town almost since we bid adieu to Halloween. That being said, I didn't waste much time getting our Nutcracker tree  up and decorated two days ago. I wrote about our tree two years ago, here and here, should you doubt my fanaticism.  This year there are some exciting new developments:

The Rat King and his cohorts have taken up residence in the Dining Room.
They've spent the last few years in the upstairs hallway and were ready for some
more attention.

This continues to be my favorite ornament on the tree.

This small Christopher Radko nutcracker ornament was a gift to my daughter
from her 6th grade Latin teacher who had attended her Nutcracker performance.
(Thanks Mrs. Culbertson!)

Oddly, I know, the mouse king is my favorite character.  Consequently, this
is the newest ornament on our tree.

Most of my nutcracker collection loves their new HQ; standing at attention on top of
our dining room china cabinet.

The tree skirt won't be ignored.

Maybe I'll be sick of all this Christmas adornment by the second week of December.  I can say with certainty, it won't be up until the Epiphany, well . . . except perhaps this little tree.

Halloween's Popping Up All Over

It's going to be a "crisp" 78 degrees outside tonight for Trick or Treating, but that doesn't mean folks here aren't in the mood for All Hallows Eve.  As promised, here are just some of the crazy inflatable decorations (most of them gigantic) making an appearance today in and around my neighborhood.

Halloween in triple

A ghostly pirate ship

Frankenstein

This jack o lantern was so big it covered 1/2 this front yard . . . 

this enormous cat covered the other half.

Sweet Snoopy

Scary grim reaper in a Grinch-pumpkin horse drawn carriage?

A giant witch.  She's smiling because it's Halloween.

Pumpkins and whimsical black cats . . . 

just seem to go together.  

Gorgeous Gourds (not what you're thinking)

When we were at the Arboretum two weeks ago for my birthday, we hurried through a  part of the botanical garden which I am certain totally merits a return trip (honestly, it was growing dark, but candidly, we were rushing to get home to watch the first Presidential debate. Because, let's face it, I'm not missing that). Anyway, 

I have NEVER seen more pumpkins in one place in my life!

Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater's House

I failed to capture a photo of  Sleeping Beauty's carriage, but borrowed this one from the Arboretum's website:

Check out those topiary horses!

A pumpkin tree!

All I can say is pumpkin shortage? What pumpkin shortage?

It's Fall, Right?

Fall has a way of sneaking up on me, especially since living in Texas.  After all, who in their right mind would describe days where the temperature brushes 90 degrees "fall"?  Where I'm from, that's not even Indian Summer.  Most annoying is that no one here seems to know what to wear; the calendar says October but the number on the thermometer screams June (at least in most parts of the country).  At church on Sunday, I observed folks in shorts and sandals and others brazenly wearing boots and sweaters.  Oh, the disparity!

Perhaps all this head-scratching is why it's taken until today for me to even think about my autumnal and Halloween decorations.  Last year, I posted about how many fun and interesting fall and All Hallows Eve decorations these Dallasites seem to possess.  I'm even tempted to post a few more this year.  Believe me, there's a lot to take in.

I noticed last week, that one of my favorites is back:

Since I'm more inclined to focus on the scarecrows, mums (though for the record, not really a fan) and pumpkins rather than the bats, skeletons and witches, this is a favorite spot in my kitchen 

Isn't that little ceramic scarecrow candle topper adorable?
And I love when my kitchen smells like pumpkin spice.

After Halloween last year, I did stumble upon this cute, yet somewhat spooky, picture  frame on sale at Target.  I couldn't resist.  

I used a few of these photos and I'm thinking this may be a new favorite. 

My friends tell me I should be perusing Pinterest, but I'm more interested in the fall decorating that I can see in person and that help define where we live. I'm keeping my eyes open for more clever and creative decorations. If I stumble on some, I'll share, even if it requires that the air conditioning be on while I do it!   

Lights

The holiday light show continues in Dallas. Every day it seems like there are more and more lights at which to gaze and be amazed. 


I have to say, this ranks right up there as one of my favorite aspects of the holidays.  As promised, here are a few photos from some of the more audacious displays.  


These 3 photos were all taken at the same home.  Trust me when I say the photos hardly do the scene justice.  There are gigantic, mechanical toys and music as well.  It is spectacular. Whoever said, "I've paid to see things not as good as this", was probably taking about this home's Christmas light show. Not surprisingly, this is the same home with the blinking eyeballs at Halloween.  They must love holidays even more than me.  

Comparatively, this home, which is just around the corner from the one above, is understated.  But isn't it lovely?

This full-sized nativity sits in the front yard of home not far away.  I have it on good authority that the Baby Jesus keeps getting kidnapped (perhaps "borrowed" is a better word, because he does eventually return).  Fortunately, he was present for our photo taking session.  

The Nativity sits in a portion (on the left) of this yard, which is also beautiful but understated.

Though you can't see it well, that's a life-size Santa in the window of
above the front door - he moves from
side to side and waves as you drive by.  Adorable.  

Even the city gets in on the action.  The 100-year-old pecan tree (it's at least 60 feet tall) which sits in the middle of a busy thoroughfare is decorated annually and it's lighting is a special ceremony.

Another reason to love crepe Myrtles, which are everywhere in Texas.  This is a random side street on our way home.  See also the cute house just down the street.  

Lest you think all the residents of Dallas have their paychecks direct deposited into the power company's bank account, rest assured, there are plenty (most, in fact) of houses with sweet, subtle light displays and even a few with Christmas inflatables (I saw my first Nativity inflatable the other day, wish I'd thought to take a picture of it). But trust me when I say, almost everyone here has some special decorations - making Christmas all the more magical.  

Christmas Decorating

It's true.  Everything is bigger in Texas.  This Christmas season, I've seen it firsthand. And because I love holiday decorations, as I wrote about here, I'm thrilled with the over-the-top decorating unfolding all around me.  


I am going to try and take some photos over the next couple of weeks - so you can see for yourself how "in the spirit of the season" these Texans really are.  I am happy to report, it's pretty contagious.  


Today, I drove by a house and knew I had to stop and get a close-up view.  Aside from the beautiful wreaths on every window and door, they had this yard ornament(for lack of a better word):

Don't you love how the beam of light shining through the trees
emits a glow off the pages (something I only noticed after I arrived home 
and took a look at the photo).  

Now, I've seen all kinds of Christmas lights. as well as Santas in motion, happy snowmen (and even whole snowman families), life-size and live nativities and even a few glowing Menorahs and Hanukkah dreidels, but I've never quite seen anything like this 10 foot by 8 foot Bible, replete with the verse that sums up the season. 


More photos to come, but I'm pretty sure none will be as divine as this.   

Christmas Arboreal

Remember, if Christmas isn't found in your heart, 
you won't find it under a tree."  
~ Charlotte Carpenter

This year's tree

A close-up of the tree topper (and, why yes, that is  Spiderman agilely 
swinging from one of the upper branches).  

Pumpkin Fun

Did you know that Irish immigrants brought their tradition of Halloween and the jack o’ lantern (that o’ should have clued me in that it was an Irish custom) to America almost two hundred years ago?

According to legend, the jack o’ lantern began with a man named Jack.  Jack died and was rejected from both heaven and hell.  He then asked the devil to at least help light his path as he was forced to wander the earth.  The devil threw him a live coal from hell and in order to keep it from blowing out in the wind, Jack put the coal inside a turnip (a root vegetable) he was eating.

Consequently, "Jack of the lantern", shortened to jack o'lantern, has become a symbol of a doomed soul and is said to frighten away evil spirits.  

Despite this cheering and inspirational story (I kid), 

I am a bit partial to the fun and whimsical side of pumpkin carving/decorating.

Here are a few fun pumpkin ideas, including ours from this year:

A stencil and a black paint pen (+ my unsteady hand) made this happen.
I love the white pumpkins, but  I'm still contemplating a face for my jack-o-lantern.

Which was inspired by my neighbor's

A little wonky, I know.  But super cute.  

I love this UGA (University of Georgia bulldog) pumpkin.
I made a Georgia "G" pumpkin one year (but didn't photograph it, boo hoo).

One time I used crescent and star shaped cookie cutters to decorate my pumpkin. That was fun. 

Mine wasn't as cute or elaborate as this, but you  get the idea.  

Another year, I painted pumpkins and used them for a ring toss game at my son's preschool Halloween party.  They're still among my favorites.    

A little pink pig, a princely frog (with limes for eyes) and a smiley faced fun guy.  

Happy carving!

Holiday Decorating, Day 3 - More Scary Stuff

For more than 10 years, we had this view from the front of our house.  Our across the street neighbors were incredibly creative types who each year, for years, added to their Halloween decor - even their interior was decorated! 

At night, it was really scary.

I haven't quite found anything this elaborate in Texas, but 
one house did have this great idea:

Yep, there are crazy blinking eyes in all the shrubbery in front of their house.  Which, you can almost certainly count on me replicating next year.  

Holiday Decorating, Fall Edition - Day 2

While I'm partial to harvest/autumn/fall type decorations, rather than the scary Halloween variety (much to my children's dismay), I can totally appreciate a spooky display.   I saw this one today, again not far from my house.

This scary guy guards his homeowner's door.
The photo is deceiving - he's about 8 feet tall.  Oh, and the eyes move and
the mouth opens.  Totally scary.

A closeup of the sign at the base of the scary skull.  I love that is  a bit whimsical.  

Spider Tree?  They're everywhere in Dallas.