On Thursday my helper friend was here. He cleaned this bedroom up so I’d have some place to dry the lights and tree that had been outside.
This was the tree after the big storm. Most of the snow had melted in the following rainy days. Then it turned to ice. It was VERY slippery getting out there and all around the tree. So my helper friend chopped all the ice away so we could walk around the tree to take lights off.
While he was doing that, I was chopping away at the ice around the guy stakes, so I could get the guy strings off.
I had made a lot of new bags, numbered in order, to put each of the strings on as they came off the tree. I’ve found with so many lights, it really helps to have a system. There were 21 strings of lights on this tree, the middle 5 strings old ones I wanted to replace.
So we carefully laid each string on its bag as they came off and sequestered the old middle strings. But somehow I ended up with extra bags…. The sequestered ones scooted across the ice in the storage box. The numbered ones were laid out in the sleds.
We could not get the guy stakes or the stand out, both frozen into the ground. That will have to happen in spring or if we get a January thaw.
After my helper friend had gotten all the tree stuff up in the bedroom he got the outside decorations down and hung up by the woodstove to dry off.
Then he and I took down all the candles in the downstairs windows and put them away.
While he took down all my sister’s handmade Christmas cards, I was collecting the decorations on the first floor.
I wrap each one to protect it and put them away in their boxes.
Then we got all the linens and stockings collected and sat down to lunch. After lunch I finished up the decorations and everything was carried upstairs. Christmas was done on the first floor.
On Friday while my helper friend is here, we will finish the second floor, which just has candles in the windows and 2 decorations, put everything away in the store room, set the linens washing, and start on the outside lights.