Christmas Trees and Pumpkins

I could write about why I haven't written here at Dewena's Window in 28 days and what it has taught me, but that's a story for another day.... Except for this--

Know what you love to do and do it.

Without worrying if others will love it too.

I love this old green ice cream bucket that normally holds old newspapers. 

I've always dreamed of using it for a Christmas tree stand.

This year R.H. made it happen for me--the right watertight container to fit inside it, a bag of clean sand, a wood base to keep it steady, the tree sitting on screws to give space for uptake of water. 

And it was done. Thank you, my dear husband! I know it was a pain to do and you said you'll never do it again, but I am loving it so much! (It will be our secret that my first tree was a beautiful short one that became a lot shorter when you cut off 2 feet instead of 12 inches while the saw was hot but your mind was somewhere off in LaLa Land. Anyway, that second trip to the Home Depot was fun, wasn't it?)

Next, how to decorate it once it was up and magnificent?

Having indulged my taste for a touch of elegance in my dressing room with this skinny champagne colored Christmas tree....

With sparkly vintage ornaments...

And my desire for old-fashioned red and white in our living room...

My "Believe" Christmas tree.......

I wanted simple decorations for our fresh tree in the kitchen...

We can never get good nighttime pictures of our Christmas tree. 

This one is better....

This shows a little better the old orange Shiny Brites and the timeworn blue and purple ornaments from Poland, chosen from my collection of every speckled ornament that I could not pass up through 50 years of marriage. Our kids soon learned that Mama didn't want new stuff, only the tired and worn that somehow had managed to hold onto their glow.

Orange ornaments because of my love affair with orange that has grown so huge that I simply could not banish all the orange Fall pumpkins this year just because it's December and you simply cannot do that in Blogland.

But why not have pumpkins and Christmas trees? 

Why not have orange and green, colors that make me happy?

And pink thrown in for good measure?

Vintage ornaments, Christmas trees and pumpkins and old twisty candles that will never be lit.

Our choices should be all about what Home is to us personally, shouldn't they?

Even if it never gets pinned on Pinterest?

One of my favorite bloggers always says -- 

"Fly your own freak flag."

Shall we?

I've missed you wonderful friends; I've learned so much from you and treasure the friendship of those of you who blog and those of you who don't but keep in touch. And much love to those of you who are also on a bit of a blog break, especially to my dear friend Tam, and to one who has stopped--I wish you hadn't, Tessa. And I'm sending love to dear Poppy who is celebrating Christmas in Canada this year with beloved family. A special hello to a dear friend from the library of St. Vincent's College in Latrobe, PA who has stayed in touch since we met when I first began to blog. 

And my deep gratitude to those of you who wrote me encouraging emails during my hiatus, especially to Doreen, Benita and Tara.

And love to my family who sometimes read, at least when I remind them to, and to my three wonderful sisters who always read my posts but can't figure out how to comment--would someone please teach them how? Thank you!

And to all of you, from our home to yours, do what you love!