Finished!

The combination of enormous tree and busy schedule delayed the completion of adornment until last evening. At long last the tall ladder and ornament boxes have vanished from our upstairs sitting room! There's nothing to impede our view of this:



A side view, to show how ginormous it is:



Here are 3 royal personages all the way from London. L to R: Queen Victoria, King Charles II, Queen Mary II.



Somewhere out of frame are 2 more, Anne Boleyn and a Spanish Infanta.

Not sure what Their Majesties think about sharing space with a sock monkey. Probably beneath their dignity, but they'll just have to deal with it!



My grandmother on my father's side was a wonderful keeper of Christmas, and very gifted in handwork. When I first married she sent me many of these lovely ornaments, and when she passed away I inherited still more of them.



This one is a favourite.



Also finished, a significant chunk of holiday shopping. Like, almost all of it. I can start wrapping immediately and shipping things to my family, and certain members of the Chap's family, too.

Despite the decorated tree and the mounds of pressies, it feels nothing like Christmas. After days in the deep freeze, and the little lake covered with ice and snow, it's raining and 55 degrees today! This being NH, naturally there's another freeze headed our way.