To think... take your Christmas decorations down?

[topspeed]

Some of my neighbours still have wreaths on their doors. Surely their decorations should come down now?

Any of you still got yours up?

@bobbojobbo

Was out with DD last night and spotted a few, she made a comment about there being nothing more depressing than Christmas decs when it's not Christmas, and she's right

Then luckily for you, your DD has no concept of what is actually depressing. Cos its not a fucking wreath on someones door on the 12th January.

It's a turn of phrase. People don't mean that kind of thing literally. Like 'there's nothing worse than a paper cut' - of course this is not true, but it's just an expression.

Mine are still up. 2020 was shit and depressing, start of 2021 is turning out to be the same, Christmas decs lift my spirits, so up they've stayed, though I've taken the cards/tinsel and a few other things down. I'm still getting a 'lift' from the lights, as is my mum who lives with us. We both have SAD and fairy lights seem to help, to the point where I've decided to incorporate a few sets of them into the decor all year round once the tree's down.

My real (cut) tree won't come down till it's dropping a lot of needles, it was expensive and I'm still enjoying looking at it. I'd leave the whole lot up until Candlemas if it was just up to me, but I think DH and my mum might have other ideas about leaving them up quite that long.

What harm does it really do anybody, if some of us are enjoying having them still up?

My garlands, door wreath etc all came down early last week and I dint have outside lights.

My tree is still proudly up at one of the front windows. I blooming love my tree and it’s making me smile, so there it shall stay! I didn’t have any decorations up at all for Christmas 2019 as I was really unwell, so making the most of it.

I was going to leave it up until Candlemas, but I may well extend it until the clocks go forward. Any sensitive souls can just avert their eyes as they walk on by.

I wonder if this will set a trend for people leaving their decs up longer? I often take them down for 5th Jan, usually to have a good clean, but christmas is always so busy anyway that a bit longer would probably take the pressure off to get everything done. Plus January and February can be the coldest months, I hate it when the tree comes down and then we get snow!

It's a turn of phrase. People don't mean that kind of thing literally. Like 'there's nothing worse than a paper cut' - of course this is not true, but it's just an expression

Yes, buts an expression that actually means something. Thats what expressions are.

Each to their own but I have to agree op I don't really get filled with joy seeing decs up now.

It's a bit like when you have a great party and then it all gets a bit sad and desperate when there are three people left at 5am desperate to keep the fun going even though everyone else got a cab hours ago.

Because lazy

@GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER

I could only get worked up if they were those blue flashing lights, since I hate those anyway.

Good point. My NDN has had the good grace to pack her crime scene porch display away, thank goodness.

The twelfth night thing only started in Victorian times. Before that it was always Candlemas eve. Robert Herrick's poem 'Ceremony Upon Candlemas Eve' describes it well.

@BlackeyedSusan

They say it is unlucky to leave it up past the 6th of January, I did last year, and nothing untoward happened in 2020 at all.

Dark but funny Susan

We were going to take ours down at the weekend but then discovered a fox has torn a whacking great hole in the shed roof and everything was soaking, so Sunday was spent fixing that instead and we're both working all week, so things will come down in bits over the next week. Don't really care if anyone else likes it or not

I grew up in a household where my mother was adamant that if the decorations weren't down by Twelfth Night then it was unlucky. Given the shit show that has been 2020, I sure as hell wouldn't chance my luck and keep decorations up. Anything to try and ensure 2021 is better!

@BlackeyedSusan

They say it is unlucky to leave it up past the 6th of January, I did last year, and nothing untoward happened in 2020 at all.

OMG! It is all your fault!

took ours down today as felt like it was time - and it is sunny and no longer frosty.

but then xmas starts her in late December, not August so I wasn't fed up with them.

I sometimes wonder if my neighbours are offended by what I've still got up.... But then I think of the way they are concreting/ astro turfing their gardens and destroying wildlife habitats, despite seeming like lovely people. I think we've all got different priorities in life and that's fine.

It's their house if they like them they can keep them up, get over yourself OP.

Hhhm, I have x 3 children to homeschool, x 1 job to try and do whilst homeschooling x 2 family members isolating that need food dropping off on their doorstep and what's left of my sanity to try and keep. Taking my outdoor fairy lights down is very low priority right now and I reckon there are many others in my position. It will get done.... when it gets done.

I've left my outside lights up to make the front of the house cheerier. I'll leave them until the batteries run out. Bring it on, bad luck.

I've still got my tree up, the box for it was totally knackered and I chucked it in the recycling.

I had grand plans to buy some storage boxes to put it in, but tier4/lockdown/self isolation has kinda put paid to that for the time being...

Our outside lights will stay up until Imbolc on the 2nd February, which is when the light traditionally starts to return. Until then, fairy lights help to light the gloom.

Our tree is still up and I’m enjoying the cheerfulness of it. I’ll take it down when I feel like it! I kept it up most of Jan last year and that was a ‘normal’ year. This year we need cheering up, plus we had covid for the whole of the Christmas holidays so I didn’t appreciate it then!

@bobbojobbo

It's a turn of phrase. People don't mean that kind of thing literally. Like 'there's nothing worse than a paper cut' - of course this is not true, but it's just an expression

Yes, buts an expression that actually means something. Thats what expressions are.

No, expressions are not always meant to be taken literally.

People say 'There's nothing [insert superlative here] than [x]' for things that are not actually objectively [superlative]. Usually it's pretty trivial stuff. What they are actually saying is 'I think [x] is pretty [adjective]'. E.g. 'Mm, there's nothing better than a nice cup of tea' = 'I like tea'. It's hyperbole.

You don't think a wreath in January is depressing at all so you're nitpicking, but PP's daughter doesn't actually think it's literally the most depressing thing in the world. You know that really.

Managed to take mine down by 5/6th. Then finally put them all away.
BUT I ordered string of small lights which are now up in sitting room as I am staying home wfh and they are beautiful and cheering and weren’t up at Christmas so I’m calling them ‘winter lights’ or something in my mind.

No, came down on twelfth night.

lol ours are still up! We usually take them down on the 6th but then we both got furloughed for lockdown so we decided to leave them up for a bit longer and try to pretend we’re on an “extended Christmas holiday”.

I took mine down on the 27th this year but they’d been up since the last week of Nov. I was fed up of them and my cats had destroyed much of the tree anyway! The kids still have their xmas bedding on though and still sleep in their Xmas pj’s which I’m happy for them to do as long as they like!