Back in UK, we would scour the house to remove all trace of Christmas before 6th January arrived… to avoid bad luck
Years ago, on visiting France, we would chuckle to see " Père Noël" climbing a wall, hanging from a gutter… or whatever… in mid-Summer…or whenever…
Nowadays, our local tradition is that all the village decorations stay in place until after the Old Folks’ Party. The crèche stays, regardless, until sometime between OFParty and end of January…
and when the crèche goes… that is the final signal for home decs to go too…
So far, I have not noted any “bad luck” descending on our village… but the place looks awfully bleak… for a while… until the first buds burst through…
Well there aren’t a lot of decorations in our little village. There is however a lovely Christmas tree that still has its lights at the moment.
I will be taking my tree down this afternoon, mum said ‘its only been there a little while’, I had to remind her that 6 weeks have already passed
Edited to say that I will be leaving the branch that I decorated with little lights outside until the batteries run out
Where I lived in Germany many of the gardens were decorated with elegant white lights carefully arranged in the trees and bushes. Most of them managed to stay in place until the spring.
I bought a cheap 5 metre string of ‘warm white’ led lights from Action. I threaded it along part of my fence . They loked so nice that I went out and bought 2 more . They have a built in timer ( works by what time you initially turn them on) and they come on at 5.30 pm and switch off at 11.30 pm.
I have decided to leave them there and as the nights lighten I shall change the timing.
Well as snow has been forecast for here during the next couple of days I have changed my plans, the Christmas tree along with its lights is still resplendent in the lounge!
I am thinking of adopting that philosphy too Jane. At least, locally, the hanging santas that hung all year round seem to have disappeared, not sure what the next trend will be !
Today I called in to thank some elderly near neighbours for an unexpected New Year card and chocolates that they’d dropped off while I was out. I was surprised to see that their impressive nativity scene was still on display as she is an avid churchgoer. I asked when it was coming down and was told that the Christmas decorations come down on February 2nd, purification (?).
I understand her thinking… but I’ve never adhered to that for the crèche in our church… and none of the parishioners have ever complained… it took me a while to get used to NOT tearing everything down for 12th night…
I normally dismantle the crèche some time after the Old Folks’ Xmas Party… towards the end of January… (basically choosing a day when the weather is dry and I have some spare time).
The Commune decorations stay in place for the Old Folk… then they disappear like magic…all thanks to our elvish cantoniers…
