Simply knowing that there was a Christmas tree in my house, regardless of how tiny it was, was more than I could stand. I had to bring it out yesterday and decorate it and put it up -- in my kitchen, where everything holiday-ish seems to wind up. Then of course I had to put up a strand of lights. But I did indeed stop there. the rest will go up after Thanksgiving.

Here are two different shots of how tiny it is! (The punch bowl set is genuine Art Nouveau from Bavaria; about 100 years old now. Sterling silver over cobalt blue glass. The cookie jar up above it is a McCoy from around 1953 but I shattered the lid of it about 5 years ago so its value has plummeted into nothingness; the Fiesta Ware coffee pot & creamer/sugar bowl is a reproduction from 1995, but the Johnson Brothers' Friendly Village collection, inside the cabinet, is the original stuff from England. It's 21 years old.)