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Still Going Strong

January 15th, 2015

I don’t put my Christmas tree in November like many people do, but I do leave it up until mid-January. There’s just something about sitting around with the warm glow of the lights when the nights are so long. I also feel guilty throwing outside while it’s still fresh.
Christmas tree
It is getting to be about time to take it down, I noticed a few needles falling from the upper branches. That means it’s drying out and we wouldn’t want a fire hazard, especially with Mr Chiots being on the fire department and all. I’ve got it on my list of things to do this weekend. Thankfully the days are getting longer so it’s a little less depressing to take it down mid January rather than at the end of December.

When do you put up and take down your Christmas tree?

15 Comments to “Still Going Strong”
  1. Robin on January 15, 2015 at 6:36 am

    We move the birch tree and put the Christmas tree up Thanksgiving weekend. When we take the tree out at the end of the first week in January the birch tree goes back to the corner and the lights are plugged in again. I love the soft glow of tiny white lights so we keep them on from early autumn until late spring or early summer.

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  2. Victoria on January 15, 2015 at 8:20 am

    My tree is still up! I love having just the tree lights on in the evening. Makes everything seem calm and pretty. I do have to take it down soon if i want it picked up by the city and turned into mulch.

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  3. judym on January 15, 2015 at 8:37 am

    yay! Someone else keeps a tree up! Mine’s coming down this weekend. Will miss the lights. We often just work on our laptops by the glow of the tree lights.

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  4. PennyAshevilleNC on January 15, 2015 at 9:32 am

    We had a couple of holly trees when we first moved in and then planted them outside. Since we travel to family, we use decorations and greenery but not a tree. This year we did a large wreath in the main window with lights and ornaments- it was perfect!
    Glad mr Chiots isn’t responding to a call at his own house ;)

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  5. Nebraska Dave on January 15, 2015 at 9:32 am

    Susy, my tree usually goes up some time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I like to give some time and recognition to Thanksgiving. It seems that Christmas starts right after Labor day and really gears up when Halloween is over. Thanksgiving has become over shadowed by the commercial aspect of Christmas shopping. Taking down the tree is when ever the mood hits me. There have been years when the tree was up almost to the end of January. It does give a festive glow to the room. Of course mine is an artificial tree so the drying out thing is not an issue. I know that Christmas trees are commercially grown just for the Christmas season but still I can’t see killing a tree for such a short time. One good thing about Christmas trees in my town is that a public drop off is designated every year for the trees to be ground up into wood chips for the city to use in the parks as mulch so they aren’t wasted even in death.

    Have a great taking down the Christmas decorations day.

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  6. Lorna on January 15, 2015 at 9:38 am

    As a child we would put the tree up closer to my mother’s birthday, on the 22nd of December! and leave it up until the needles started to fall. Now that I have children I have to admit there is no ‘tradition’ around our tree–it goes up when we get to it and comes down when the kids head back to school, or shortly after. My husband had once lived in an apartment building where the lobby Christmas tree became a Valentine’s tree and then a St. Patrick’s tree and an Easter tree and a 4th of July tree and so on; so he’s not too keen on long-standing trees! But someday I would love to plant a lovely pine tree in the yard that can be decorated with white lights for the winter months.

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  7. Brittany P. on January 15, 2015 at 9:51 am

    Up the weekend after Thanksgiving, down the weekend before New Years.

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  8. Laura on January 15, 2015 at 9:56 am

    The tree sadly comes down New years eve but the lights outside are still on till about mid January :)

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  9. Misti on January 15, 2015 at 10:14 am

    We put ours up the weekend after Thanksgiving, which is early for me. I prefer the weekend after that. It stayed up until the weekend after New Years only because we were all sick and not motivated to take it down. This year our tree and some others friends have given us will be put in our pond by the dock as cover for fish.

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  10. whit on January 15, 2015 at 10:34 am

    Our neighbour’s down the road have a noble for farm that closes the week before Christmas. We visited that week to cut our tree. We spend the week before Christmas decorating the tree, little by little. Around Jan 12th or so, it comes down. We sometimes try to leave it outside for the wild birds to have shelter, but with the avian flu here this year, we are going to investigate some goat farms to donate it too. The city municipality will also pick it up for recycling into wood chips.

    I must be so wonderful to walk out along your own property and pick a tree. It’s really stunning!

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  11. annie on January 15, 2015 at 12:13 pm

    I go by the OLD traditions… tree goes up on the Solstice (and any other greenery) and I leave everything up through the 12 days of Christmas. Usually take everything down on or right after Epiphany. I hate the mass-marketed Christmas and think Thanksgiving should be fully celebrated on it’s own, not just as a kick-off to buying time, and doing this helps me feel more like Christmas as a special and more meaningful holiday.

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  12. bonnie knox on January 15, 2015 at 1:16 pm

    I always say I reserve the right to leave it up till Jan. 6, but sometimes I am mentally ready to have it gone before then. I usually don’t physically get around to it until after that, though, even though the red cedar that I usually use (they are exceedingly plentiful around here) has usually dried to a crisp by then.
    Mine came down on Jan. 12 this year.
    I love the post and comments on this topic, especially the sentiments about not giving Thanksgiving short shrift.

    Reply to bonnie knox's comment

  13. Kat on January 15, 2015 at 6:42 pm

    Our tree always comes down the day after Christmas. Possibly a southern thing, but I was always told it was bad luck to keep it up past New Year’s. I do have very superstitious relatives though:). We put our tree up the weekend after Thanksgiving, so it is usually time for it to come down. Definitely do not want a fire. Susy, I just found your site through Pinterest about a month ago and have really enjoyed it. Thanks for what you do!

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  14. Jennifer Fisk on January 16, 2015 at 9:08 am

    I purchased my tree the Monday before Thanksgiving with the idea that my visiting family could decorate it while the dinner cooked. Because my Dad passed on Thanksgiving Eve, no one really wanted to do the tree. There is always next year to do it.
    I used to leave it up until my birthday in Jan but now take it down the week following New Years. Then it goes to the goat pen to become a skeleton.

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  15. Molly on January 16, 2015 at 9:58 am

    We put ours up in early to mid-December and take it down when it stops drinking water, which is usually in February, sometimes March, once April. By then, it often has sprouted new green shoots, which is kind of sad. In alternating years, we go away at Christmas, so we just get a dwarf Alberta spruce and plant it in the yard later. There are two out there now (we moved to this property 5 yrs ago).

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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