DEBORAH CROMBIE: By today we should have our feet firmly planted in 2025. We've had Christmas and New Year's and today is Epiphany, which for many marks the end of the Christmas season. (Note: Today is also the day when most of the publishing world goes back to work!)
Today also marks the first full spread in my 2025 planner, and that is a really visceral reminder that it's a new year!! It gives me a little jolt of that back-to-school/new start excitement. What possibilities will the new year bring?
Dear Reds, do you have some rituals for the start of a new year?
JENN McKINLAY: My January rituals are to hang the new calendar by my desk where I keep track of EVERYTHING. I used to use my phone but I like my wall calendar better. Also, the Hooligans and I go on a big hike. This year we’re looking at the Victory Stairs (340 steps built out of railroad ties) that go up a mountain on the west side and offer a terrific view. I like to start the year with a bird’s eye perspective. Oh, and I’ll probably clean the house top to bottom because I like to start the year tidy but I’m on deadline so it may be a Chinese New Year deep cleaning which will be Jan 29th. LOL.
RHYS BOWEN: I’m always reluctant to put Christmas decorations away. I’ve been doing it bit by bit. The Christmas china after New Year. The holiday table stripped. The carol singers on the mantelpiece and window sill have gone. Now it’s just the tree and the gnomes. My favorites. And since it’s Epiphany today I’ll take down the rest tomorrow.
I always start the new year by summarizing the last year in a special notebook then writing my intentions for the coming year. It’s sobering in past years to see which ones did not come to fruition Like Jen. I hang a wall calendar and writes dates into my new agenda. The carpet needs cleaning after the hordes and dogs of the holiday period. Maybe time for a new carpet???
Writing wise Clare and I are about to submit the next Molly book, on schedule and I’ve almost finished the next Spyness. Now to decide which stand alone idea to tackle!
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Calendars, I am so happy with calendars. However–I started my 2025 wall calendar a few months ago as it started to fill up…yikes. But it was truly fun to turn the page so January shows! (and tucks the 2024 pages away in my “taxes” files.)
I very much miss my little pocket-sized appointment diaries–I kept them, so happily, every year, and I have a whole stack of them, very Proustian. I used to carry them in my purse, but now–it’s all on the phone.
Rituals? Ah..We have fairy lights around the patio, but those are year w=roiund. They do look nice in the snow! I JUST TODAY finished the copy edits for the new book, yay, so that is certainly a perfect milestone!
And 44,000 words into 2026. That’s so incredible to think! Oh, rituals–I got out my snow boots!
HALLIE EPHRON: Spreadsheets! I start new pages for spreadsheets for my income and expenses and hope the latter doesn’t exceed the former. Clean the uneaten leftovers out of the fridge or pack them up and freeze them and try to remember to *label* them even though I’m sure I’ll remember what’s what.
I like a physical datebook, too - I started a new one months ago but I just hung a 2025 wall calendar in the kitchen. Belts and suspenders.
My snow boots have been out for a week – we got 5 inches the day before Christmas. And my snow shovels and ice melt have been disinterred from the basement. On the other hand, I can feel the days getting longer again, even if it is in tiny increments.
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Add me to the paper calendar club - it seems so old-fashioned but they’re so good for keeping important dates front and center AND for marking off streaks, if you do that. The, uh, days of writing or exercising streaks, not the nekkid run kind of our youths.
I’m not, however, taking down Christmas yet! Usually, everything goes back in the boxes for Epiphany, but as you may remember, this year Virginia stayed in The Hague for Christmas. She’s currently having a wonderful time in Vienna with a friend. She comes home later this month, and Spencer will be flying north from Norfolk to see her, so we decided to have a mini-Christmas for the family. I’ll let you know if it involves roasting another turkey. I’m watering the tree diligently and keeping my fingers crossed it won’t look like kindling by the time she gets here.
LUCY BURDETTE: No paper calendars or date books here–everything goes into my phone and computer. I am going to make a big new list today–the old one is buried under a stack of papers and all that has to go. Then I’ll be ready! I was also ready to take down the Xmas pillows and other things–except for the colored lights on our balcony. Those I will fight for until at least mid-January!
DEBS: How about it, Reddies? What makes you feel like you're getting a fresh start on the new year?
The Christmas decorations are tucked away and all the Advent Calendar pieces are back in their little drawers, ready for next year. A fresh start on the new year means new calendar pages in my planner and a calendar on the wall in the kitchen . . . .
ReplyDeleteLove your reusable advent calendar, Joan. We had one years ago, I think it was either from Smithsonian or the Met, with tiny wooden figures that when complete made a nativity. I don't know what happened to it.
DeleteOurs is Precious Moments, Debs; it makes a complete nativity scene, too . . . it's one of our favorites for the Christmas season --- all the mini figurines [even the sheep!] have those special Precious Moments teardrop eyes . . . .
DeleteJoan and Deb’s, I love my reusable Advent Calendar, ever since my teacher at Catholic school gave each student Advent Calendars.
DeleteA new calendar on my desk.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of calendar, Dru?
DeletePerhaps a Reading Woman calendar? I have so many Wall Calendars. We ordered daily calendar diaries from the Buckingham Palace shop - not expensive. I think ten pounds each.
DeleteThat sounds fun, Anonymous. My friend Marcia Talley gave me a National Trust Railways calendar for 2024 which I have had hanging on my fridge. I tried to find one for 2025 but apparently you can't order from the National Trust from the US. But I love the calendar so much that I just started it over. I didn't really pay attention to the dates, anyway, just the pictures.
DeleteLeave stuff up until Epiphany is not in my family tradition. I know people are shocked when I say I need all the holiday stuff put away by New Year's Eve. I want to start the year fresh and clean. The only exception are the electric candles in the windows, which this year I haven't turned off in the daytime. It's still pretty dark out there, and they cheer me.
ReplyDeleteYes to paper calendars! A smaller one in my office, the big one downstairs. But also my google calendar on phone and laptops. And today I start writing the next book under contract, yay!
Yay, you, Edith! That's a good start to the new year! My family always took down the tree and the decorations on New Year's Day, but I'm not usually quite ready to give them up.
DeleteNew wall calendars up in the kitchen and at my desk.
ReplyDeleteDo you have fun choosing them, Amanda?
DeleteI have a wall calendar, an hour-by-hour appointment book, my phone calendar, and the one of the computer. My ritual, which will happen today, is making sure every appointment, meeting, and appearance is consistent throughout. I've already put one meeting on one calendar and a lunch date at the same time on another calendar. Oops. Changing the lunch date to a LATE lunch date.
ReplyDeleteMy other ritual is removing all my paper receipts and bills from the file folders and putting them in a plastic bin, which will eventually hold all my tax documents for the year as well. Thankfully, I've needed smaller and smaller bins since I've mostly gone paperless in recent years.
Thank goodness for paperless! And with all our reminders, we should never miss anything.
DeleteBesides putting up new calendars in the kitchen and my room, the only ritual I usually had over the last few years is that after it turned midnight and the new year started, I would put in a Savatage album so that my favorite band was the first music I heard in the new year. But that went by the wayside this year because I was asleep on the couch as the clock struck 12 and didn't wake up until 12:57 am. At that point, it was kind of senseless to consider playing the album. Oh, and I have to change calendars at work whenever I actually go back.
ReplyDeleteJay, how's your recuperation going?
DeleteSlowly. Making matters worse is trying to deal with Worker's Comp who seemingly refuses to get back to my messages and phone calls. Gonna make paying bills interesting soon.
DeleteSince Steve and I are giving a joint program tomorrow night, I won't be finishing the undecorating until Wednesday. I'm still trying to wrangle my thoughts together. Topic: managing your garden for wildlife. Except the friend who asked us to give the talk put something altogether different in all the publicity material and only told me last week. Hooboy. Pro tip: if you ask someone to give a talk, ask THEM for the description.
ReplyDeleteI need both a paper calendar and the Google one that updates across all devices, and Facebook reminding me of birthdays and important events, and I still miss stuff. Like I forgot to make an appointment for my mom and me to get manicures next week before her 95th birthday party. Hope we still can. The manicurist is my cousin's lovely, talented son who adores us both.
We have had roughly 8" of snow here, so far. Hope everyone is okay. This is already more snow than we have had in our neighborhood for the entire season in more than six years.
KAREN: Gosh, that's a lot of snow for you. At least you didn't get ice like in Kansas City. They showed cars & tractor trailers sliding off the road on our Canadian news broadcast.
DeleteKaren, I would love to attend that talk! It is so important (in my opinion) to grow your garden(s) in support of all wildlife, birds and butterflies, and learn to stop and enjoy them. I would even plant hostas for the deer - actually I hate hostas, and although we have deer, they seem to have a dislike of the dog.
DeleteSorry about your snow. Apparently, we were close to the event but escaped with only about an inch. The cats made snowballs.
Karen, you should write a blog post for us! So many of us would be interested in your tips!
DeleteGrace, Kansas City is mostly flat, unlike Cincinnati, which, like Rome, has seven hills, plus more across the river in Kentucky. It's been a mess. I-71 was closed for 7 hours last night because of a bunch of semis stuck in ice and snow on an on-ramp. Other places have also been a mess. Our road has gotten plowed once, but you can't even tell, we've had so much snow since.
DeleteMargo, we would have a lot to talk about! Marrying into a family of wildlife photographers has meant all my gardening efforts had to support stuff like feeder backgrounds, and pollinator attractor flowers.
Debs, I would actually love that. It would help with my talk, too. Which has just been postponed because of the weather, thank goodness!!
Karen, I agree with Deborah! Please write a blog post for us! Hope you are warm and safe.
DeleteYes, I am just hearing about this wild snowfall elsewhere! Snow People, let us know how you are, and what kind of snowfall you have. Oh, and I also have a daily diary, calendar, a spiral notebook with a header for each day, on which I make a rolling to do list. I cannot live without it!
ReplyDeleteI am just going to check on my friend in Kansas City!
DeleteYes to the paper wall calendar because it is gorgeous, but the one I write on is next to my desk and has been in use since October, Rosh Hashanah. It's folded over so the pictures don't show and every important invitation and notice is inside the cover, so l must lift it carefully.
ReplyDeleteAs for rituals, no, they also were in October. Every Rosh Hashanah I make resolutions for self improvement. The most effective, life changing one I ever made was to take to heart the term lashone harah, meaning bitter or spicy tongue, which we all repent for on Yom Kippur. I try, mostly successfully, to only say nice things about people (not politicians.) I am keenly aware when I break it.
Happy New Year, my friends.
15-month wall calendars are a brilliant idea!
DeleteNew wall calendar in the kitchen.
ReplyDeleteOMG, autocorrect! Important invitations and notices are inside the cover.
ReplyDeleteI started taking my tree down yesterday, in hopes that I would have it at the curb for the compost/garbage pick up today. Since 6 am is less than 1/2 an hour away , I'm not going to make it. The lights are still on in the cozy darkness of this morning, so I'm enjoying it one more time. I have a wall calendar, and I write important things on it. It helps so much to just see it as I walk by, way better for me than the phone calendar (which I do use too, and sometimes remember to check). I did quite a lot of housecleaning last week in preparation for a visit from my son's new girlfriend (he helped!) so won't have much more than the after-tree vacuuming to do. She left yesterday and my son is leaving today, so I'm feeling a little sad. It was so life-affirming to be around a happy young couple for a few days--my son just can't stop smiling.
ReplyDeleteGillian, I love that image of your son! Can't stop smiling--what a great start to the year!
DeleteAw, Gillian, that is so lovely. Maybe your son has found "the one."
DeleteI have a monthly calendar, but it's mostly to see what day happens when, especially for the day job. Nothing gets written on it. If it doesn't exist in my phone calendar it doesn't exist. I need to create a new sheet for 2025 in my operating income/expenses spreadsheet.
ReplyDeleteI will take down the Christmas decorations between now and January 12, which is the end of the Christmas liturgical season (the Baptism of the Lord).
That's a very relaxed way of doing things, Liz. I suspect it will take me until the 12th to get everything put away, so I'll remind myself that I'm following the liturgical calendar.
DeleteMy favorite New Orleans Bulldog Rescue calendar is on the kitchen wall, celebrating one pinup beauty after another all year. A Cape Cod calendar holds all the household stuff. The Christmas tree comes down after Orthodox Christmas tomorrow. Today, we're dealing with eight plus inches of snow layered with ice with more falling until the afternoon. We have power, heat, and internet. No complaints.
ReplyDeleteMargaret, so glad you're okay! Keep us posted!
DeleteCalendar up on my home office door. Batteries changed in the thermostat! Decorations put away for another year! Spreadsheets started for charitable donations and medical expenses. With all that being done, it’s time to start reading a new book ❤️📚
ReplyDeleteStarting a new book is the very best way to celebrate the new year, Dorothy!
DeleteWe will be taking down our tree and other decorations today. Historically I've done it on New Year's Day, but we knew we were having friends to dinner this past Saturday and I decided to give it the extra time to Epiphany this year.
ReplyDeleteI mainly use my Google calendar because that way it is always with me on my phone. We do, however, keep a paper calendar on the side of the fridge because sometimes when we're making plans together it's nice to have that visual perspective.
I live just far enough north of Karen in Ohio to be on the very edge of the snow. We have only two inches or so, though it is still falling. I am in one of the most northern suburbs of Columbus (Powell), and it is my impression that even fifteen miles south, in the heart of Columbus, they have a few inches more snow than we do.
I need those visual cues!
DeleteEpiphany today so the decorations come down. I will sip Prosecco and play my Christmas CDs as I put away the tree ornaments and murmur out-loud who they are from. As many other decorations as possible will be put away after. I am leaving my angel collection out until the end of the month. The new paper wall calendar for 2025 is hanging in the kitchen and filling up. I’m not sure I’m ready for the rest of the year.
ReplyDeleteSuzette, I love your tradition of saying who the ornaments came from as you take them down! I think about it, but there is something special about acknowleging the giver out loud.
DeleteAnd perhap next year, Deborah, I’ll have tags for them all…😆
DeleteI make our own calendars. It used to be double paged – top & hanging part with a lovely ‘appropriate to the recipient’ photo (I gave them away as gifts), and with all significant dates to remember on the calendar page.
ReplyDeleteNow, it is just the calendar page, with family birthdays – live and dead – as in January 8, Gr & Grandad wedding 1929 – probably no one will celebrate, but should you read it, for a moment you will remember them. Birthdays are name and date – you have to do the math – Margo (1949). Significant birthdays get a birthday balloon group with a number – Jack (1950) – 75 (Yikes!). Stat holidays and moon phases are included, and the squares are large enough to write in. This is the Master for 2025 and will be given out to any who request. Then I recreate (copy) the same calendar for just us, and fill that in with appointments, book clubs, visiting people if known, etc. Each month is printed out as needed, usually with two months to follow in case something comes up, and then the pages are magnetted to the fridge. At the end of the month, the current page is taken down, usually dirty, smudged and having penciled in ‘things’, and either tabulated (put on the Income Tax excel file) or just popped in the Income Tax file to deal with later. At the end of the year, when I have the strength and stamina to face the income tax file, I will check it for important dates – and then pop it into the save for 10 years file. I probably should put it in an eternity file.
That was done in December, since dates for 2025 were coming forward and I could no longer procrastinate.
As for the decorations – only a Santa- large and now living back in his box – two poinsettias – still blooming, two stunning amaryllis – the red one in particular, and some candles in windows – down, though the lack of light in the living room at night is missed. After 5 years of no decorations for various reasons, it gets easier every year, just not to do anything. I do miss the taking out of each special one from the box – 40 years of collecting bird ornaments – and ponder to whom I should give them that could give them the love they deserve.
Margo, your calendar sounds like quite the undertaking! But so special! And I had never thought, before you mentioned it, about finding a future home for our ornaments. So many have been gifts and have stories attached. Hopefully my daughter and granddaughter will want some of them...
DeleteI'm in line with Rhys on this one. As much as I feel most of the holiday decorations have lost their lustre it's bittersweet to think yet another season is over and I, too, am hesitant to pack everything up for another year. Yesterday afternoon was spent taking down what will be returned to their storage bins today but like Rhys our Christmas tree is still up and fully decorated. It most likely will be dismantled tomorrow or Wednesday unless Father Claus (my husband) talks me into waiting until the upcoming weekend. We both love the soft glow of its twinkling lights especially on a dark winter's day. The outdoor garlands and their lights have been put away but the lights on two small blue spruces will remain lit until the end of the month. We shift out what remains on the front porch that is Christmas related and replace it with items that are winter related; i.e., a sled, birch logs and a a Rustic Marlin sign we had customized to read "Wintertide". The courtyard's string of clear globe lights remain year round as well as smaller clear lights that grace our cypress shrubs in planters. There's something so comforting and joyful about holiday lights even in the summer months. Especially around the Fourth of July. Rhys has her gnomes and I have my "Don Quixote" reindeers that I love so much. I have been collecting them for quite some time from Pottery Barn who bring them back every holiday season. My mother would always say to me in jest "you need to feed those reindeer...they are too skinny" because the sculptures have an avant-gard look to them. But I now have well over a dozen of them in varying sizes so I hesitate to return them to their "sleeping quarters" after Christmas is over. I justify keeping two of the larger ones around during the winter months because after all the real reindeer don't go into hibernation because the holiday season is finished. :-) Today is also calendar day. I am late writing on the monthly wall whiteboard this month's appointments/ reminders, etc. and I still have not done the yearly write-ins in our New Yorker Desk Diary. It's not my favorite task as it's a reminder that the dreaded tax season is upon us once again. I always look forward to the month of February because I love Valentine's Day. I have always loved that day because we are well into the winter season and the Spring Equinox is that much closer the following month.
ReplyDeleteHow do I not know about these Pottery Barn reindeer, Evelyn? I am now off to look for them (online!)
DeleteDeborah ~ I hope you take a peek on the Pottery Barn website. Search under "Bronze Sculptured Reindeer". At this time of the year they most likely are either sold out or the inventory is very slim. They also carry a line of sculptured reindeer in a brass color. The style is a bit different from the bronze but still lovely. I also have purchased some of the bronze sculptured trees to create a woodland scene with the reindeer. I love having a few trees and reindeer as winter decor for the next few months. Then out comes my slightly funky Eric and Eloise brass rabbits to replace the "Don Quixote" reindeers and to welcome Spring! Happy New Year!
DeleteFrom Celia: I'm so impressed with everyone's hard work preparing for 2025. I celebrated Twelfth Night with friends I invited to watch The Revels Midwinter show on video. I cooked chili and while we don't have the snow it's cold here.
ReplyDeleteMy decorations were minimal this year so no rush there. But I do have a lot of reorganizing to do, clearing out and of course a pile of papers to complete for probate and for taxes. I'm not a paper calendar person though I fully support all who are. A busy January is a good January.
Interesting that you don't do paper, Celia, as you so super organized. Or is because you are so organized?
DeleteFrom Celia: thank you for the lovely compliment Deb's. I don't think it's just being organized but I was never happier than to have my first computer(1982. I'm left handed and have always struggled with poor handwriting so a keyboard frees me to think. I was a big proponent of the huge planners in the '90's but Windows 95, and the birth of icons and better software freed me to have another tool to offer clients in need. My approach has always been to fit the tool to the person and it works. Plus over the past four years I've doing scheduling for two which included all appointments etc plus meds to in fact our life. It really helps at tax time.
Delete...And like Hank, I also have a rolling list of "to do" projects. I change out post it notes daily as well as weekly that are attached to the top of my laptop. It's nice to know there are others who do the same; it has been a necessary ritual for me for many years. I learned through a Matthew McConaughey interview that he is a strong believer of a daily "to do" list as well as the satisfaction one gets by crossing a line through each task achieved by the end of the day. I would have to say we are in good company. :-)
ReplyDeleteIndeed! I also keep a rolling To Do list in a spiral notebook, but also in my planner.
DeleteI have a Peanuts wall calendar in my cubical. My minimal Christmas decorations are still up and will slowly be packed up for another year. Saturday I'll help remove Christmas from the church building and lovingly pack up the antique Nativity figures for the year.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovingly celebrated Christmas, Deana. I'm sorry Blogger doesn't do pictures or we could see your church's Nativity.
DeleteI love Peanuts! If I still used wall calendars that is what I would have.
DeleteTree came down yesterday--after being up before Christmas, it was a couple of days ago that the youngest cat decided he needed to go on an adventure--up and into the tree--repeatedly. I do miss the lights. Here near the southern shore of Lake Erie, we have about 3 inches of snow--enough to close all the area schools and give the kids an extra day off--the sound of all that cheering from miles around woke me up :-) My wonderful neighbor came while I was still sleeping and plowed out the driveway, so no worries if we should need to get out. When I remember, I will get a calendar or two because I like writing everything down on paper.
ReplyDeleteElla, the fifteen-year-old cat we adopted in September when my friend Gigi passed away, has been fascinated by the tree and all the Christmas things, none of which Gigi did. Fortunately, she didn't try to climb the tree, but has been very helpful with all the putting up and taking down:-)
DeleteAdd me to the paper calendar club too! And I am not ready to take down the Christmas decorations either. Totally understand the comments about clutter! I am STILL in the process of declutterring !!
ReplyDeleteWhat makes me feel like a fresh start on the new year? This morning I slept in later than usual. I decided to do my morning exercises for staying strong into my old age. I do not care for “anti-aging” stuff though I read everything about how to navigate my menopause years and STAY HEALTHY. I like Jenn’s idea about taking a hike. Walking and hill walking are excellent ways to stay strong.
All good ideas, Diana! Although I am too wimpy to go out for a walk in today's cold. I think I'll do my steps in the house!
DeleteSince I am a winter baby, I LOVE the cold, especially the fresh air on my face. I was born in January and share a birthday with Katie Couric and the daughter of actress Jane Seymour. Perhaps other people share the same birthday?
DeleteThe tree was undecorated and put up the day after New Years. Amazing how big it got and won't fit back in the box. All the other Xmas things were stowed away except for a couple I missed. I rely on paper calendars too. One hanging on my office wall. One flat one on my desk; it gets the notes and reminders. And one small one in the living room. I bought solar fairy lights in mason jars a month or so ago. Most sit on our deck. I have three on the front porch. My husband is impressed with them and thinks I should leave them on the front porch year round. Yay me! It started snowing yesterday evening here. Today it is a pretty winter wonderland!
ReplyDeleteWe have those solar lights in jars, too, Pat! We keep them on the deck and in the back yard all year, so cheerful. I have a new box of them sitting in my butler's pantry that needs to be distributed, too. A new year's resolution!
DeleteNothing is sadder than to see my handsome tree, stripped of ornaments, lying on its side on the curb today. I agree Debs, the living room looks empty for a day or two. Calendars? Computer, phone, kitchen wall, writing room above desk... and like some Reds, I miss the planners we used to carry. But once when I had my consulting practice and had 5-6 active clients, I managed to lose it at an airport and I never want that nightmare again!
ReplyDeleteWhat a nightmare, Susan! At least now the paper planners are mostly backup for the computer and phone calendars, but I use my weekly Quo Vadis as a mini diary and I would be gutted if I lost it!!! Mine has everything from how many words I wrote to what we had for dinner (very useful in answering Lucy's "best meals" question yesterday.)
DeleteIn the greater Boston area, we have goat farms that welcome the "used" Christmas trees as the goats love to feast on them!
DeleteI, too, am a multiple calendar person. There's the shared (with hubby and with the Reds) Google calendar (if you ever wondered how we stay organized for the blog!) Then my precious Quo Vadis planner, then a big whiteboard calendar in the kitchen. I find it so helpful to see a full month spread.
ReplyDeleteThis year I didn't put any ornaments on our tree - no idea why - I just didn't. It was just white lights on the tree with an angel holding a white light on top. Clean up should be easy peasy. :)
ReplyDeleteJenn, I just had my pre-lit tree, no ornaments either because of cats. We all enjoyed the twinkly lights with none of the stress of trying to keep the cats out of the tree (until a couple of days ago!).
DeleteWe usually do our tree in stages, so I have a day or so to enjoy just with lights and I have often been tempted to just leave it like that. But I think I loved the ornaments too much to actually follow through.
DeleteMy calendar is on my phone (aka Google). We have a wall calendar that has yet to go up because we both use our phones. Christmas decorations are all down, waiting to be taken back to storage. Since I retired, the Monday after New Year’s Day doesn’t have the same feeling of importance as it used to. And, though I very much appreciated his help around the house for the past two weeks, I am looking forward to my husband returning to work today!! — Pat S
ReplyDeleteI'll bet you're ready for uninterrupted reading time, Pat!
DeleteExactly, Debs! — Pat
DeleteI've had a very lazy Christmas except for some fancy cooking, but I always knew I'd buckle down to work today on all my remaining Book #4 concerns. Growing up in Puerto Rico, I considered Three Kings Day (Epiphany) very much a part of the holiday season, and here in Switzerland, although it's a back-to-work day, a special kind of sweet bread is eaten by almost everyone. Nevertheless, I took our tree and door wreath down yesterday, and we carried the boxes of lights and ornaments down to the basement. It seemed important to have Christmas put away by today, Monday.
ReplyDeleteI still use a little-black-book calendar, but my New Year's resolution was to switch to Google. Unfortunately, I find myself entering everything that comes up in my paper calendar book. Oh dear.
You will probably end up using both, as so many of us seem to do. Google is great for convenience and long term planning, but I think our brains don't process the info the way they do with paper. That's my unscientific analysis!
DeleteHubs insists on keeping his Christmas house collection on display year round, but he only illuminates it from Thanksgiving to Epiphany. That was our only decoration this year. Next year I've resolved to put up a tree and decorate it. My paper calendar has been up since mid December, and my desk calendar made it's appearance last week. I love the clean slate! Happy New Year to all.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, Kait!
DeleteJudy KB here. I keep a wall calendar and a pocket secretary; nothing is on my phone (and yes, I know what Luddite means). My phone is usually off except when I'm driving or meeting someone. I also have a small group of friends that I give pocket secretaries to every year as back-up because phones die.
ReplyDeleteI know it is very old fashioned to use an actual wall calendar, but I like to see the whole month (or at least focus on a week) at a glance. None of this going one day at a time on my phone.
ReplyDeleteFull disclosure: I have a wall calendar, a pocket one in my purse, and an electonic one synched with my daughter on my phone.
Sounds like the perfect combination to me, LIbby!
DeleteA little late in the day, but if you can, consider giving your live tree to a farmer. Goats and sheep love to eat the branches and as the early year is usually the time when they are in pregnancy, the nutrition and vitamin C is good for them. Please make sure there is no tinsel, spray products or anything artificial on the tree, and most farmers especially organic ones will be happy to receive them. By the way, they need to have a few live branches, and not be just sticks!
ReplyDeleteOur trees are composted by the city for mulch for the city's landscaping, so nice to know they are being used. However, next year, I'll ask some of my farmer friends, especially the friend who makes goat's milk soaps!
DeleteI forgot to say earlier that my downstairs calendar is the Maslowski wildlife calendar! So every month we get a gorgeous new bird photograph courtesy of Karen's menfolk. Thanks going out to Ohio!
ReplyDeleteHey, that was from Edith not anonymous!
DeleteNo real new year rituals. It was more important when I worked - I signed so many docs that I had to adjust to the new date quickly! I don’t decorate much for the holidays, so only a small bin of wrapping stuff to return to the storage cage. The Christmas market mugs are still out; I’ll take those to my book club’s holiday party on Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteI spent so many years revolving around the school calendar that I still feel more like a new start the end of August/beginning of September rather than January first. Also, never felt invigorated in the dead of Winter. I think my spirit animal is a hibernator that busies itself getting ready for winter and then awakens in Spring.
ReplyDeleteOops! Forgot to hang the new Swedish cloth calendar with the regional flowers! Great idea with the fairy lights. My hubby loves them up and will gladly keep the batteries fresh. Our little pine tree in the pot will need for it to warm a bit before we are able to plant it! The winter greens and berry floral arrangements will remain until the Easter Bunny visits.
ReplyDeleteI was going to post a picture of the hurricanes with the fairy lights but I didn't get the mantle changed yet!
DeleteI just put up a new calendar.
ReplyDelete