Timber!

A month beyond which the Darlington Christmas tree is traditionally denuded and disposed of, its baubles secreted away in the cellar, Boy only this evening before cocktails broke down the set.  Yes, Dear Reader, our ornament-covered Christmas tree was up until just today.

We stayed in town the past several weekends enjoying the pleasures of City Living and the absence of Country Chores.  We were unconcerned about leaving our tree up at Darlington House, unattended, as this Christmas was the first in thirteen years that we did not set up a real tree that we sawed down in the woods.  As you may recall, this season we had an old-fashioned feather tree from Bunny Williams' wonderful shop, Treillage.  No watering required, and no worries about arriving at Darlington House after our extended absence to find a neglected, dessicated, tinder-box of a tree.

Even so, upon arriving this afternoon, we agreed that it was imperative that the tree be taken down immediately. 

Boy then made quick work of unhooking the more than two hundred ornaments hung on the tree and sorting them, by color and form, safely on a bath towel on the dining room table.  That will make the task—to be done tomorrow morning—of placing them in their correct, color-organized storage containers most efficient.

Although we were privately mortified to have had our tree up for so many weeks beyond the start of the New Year, we took pleasure in having one last luncheon this afternoon under its glittering magic.

Tell me, Dear Reader, do you have a strict timetable for making your Christmas tree vanish?

Photograph by Boy Fenwick