Friday I packed Christmas away – taking it all down slowly brought the same Memory Lane smiles as putting it up
There was the looking at, touching, reminding myself of where things came from smiles as well as who was with me happy (and sad) thoughts.
Deciding on using two trees this year just meant it took a little bit longer. 
The ‘small tree’ is always set up on the hall table but the ‘big tree’ hasn’t made an appearance for several years now and wasn’t going to this year either except I had a ‘fit of the sentiments’ (as my mother would say for any unusual behaviour in us girls) and brought it indoors to enjoy for possibly the last time.
But having said that, I actually felt it quite comforting seeing it dressed and ‘twinkling’ away in the corner – especially in the evening just as the light outside was slowly fading.
Plus listening to grown, now very much adult in their 20s grandchildren oohing and aahing over baubles and other decorations (oh grandma I remember this one) makes me think this might not have been its swansong after all 😊
So as I said I went slowly, taking my time, making sure nothing was left behind – not tempting fate or encouraging bad luck – because the next day
Saturday was Twelfth Night!
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Then there was this past weekend when hot humid days ( the ones referred to in the constant severe weather warnings) turned into humid wet days culminating in a torrential stormy yesterday (Monday). There was flooding and associated storm damage locally as well as many places statewide- some still reeling from their last bout of flooding. Locally we ended up with 50mm of rain but various country towns received over 100mm – nothing to smile about there! Poor Rochester still trying to rebuild after last year’s floods is being evacuated again !.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/victoria-weather-severe-storms-flash-flooding-regional-areas/a1808316-1d41-4841-970c-c10c85e0da3c
You do begin to wonder why the BOM declared El Niño had returned (meaning a long hot dry summer) since starting from the beginning of December with Cyclone Jasper in Qld, the whole east coast NSW Victoria as well as SA have been inundated with wet stormy weather.
https://the-riotact.com/what-happened-to-el-nino-does-the-bom-need-to-update-its-forecast-models/734309
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Anyway, putting all that aside (not that you can really) no cricket on tv and we’re ‘tennised out’ for the time being – (the United Cup, Brisbane & Canberra International have all finished, Adelaide and Hobart are on the go plus qualifying for the AO has just begun) . .
. . so spent yesterday safe and dry outside on the back deck. I had another idea for using up soft coloured leftovers and The Golfer had just started The Seven – Chris Hammer’s latest book.
We were both enjoying the carolling concert put on by a magpie who’d taken refuge from the pouring rain (not unusual- they often pop in and fly off) when there’s a whoosh and squark – one bedraggled cocky has arrived! .
This is going to be interesting I thought.
Each is a wild bird and I wasn’t sure whether they would tolerate each other being so close
They both sat there for a while- almost trying to outdo each other in the noise they were making. The Cockatoo kept looking at the Magpie – who just kept on carolling. The cocky looked at us as if for some sort of support
Then it went quiet – Maggie had flown off and cocky was sitting there with a ‘butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth ’ look
Of course he didn’t stay that way for long and sauntered over to entertain us as though he owned the place. Smiles all round as we sat there watching his ‘routine’ – then he tootled off over to join his mates in the big gum tree at the back. 
There was so much noise coming out of that tree I’m sure he was bragging about being ‘comfy and warm’ while they all flew around looking for a dry spot to rest up 😊
Sharing with Min’s Wednesday Words and Whimsy linkup found HERE
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Still Waters 
It sounds as if your ‘big’ tree definitely needs to make a few more appearances yet.
I do love the magpie warble – it sings of home to me. The cockatoo cacophony is not nearly so musical. We get both.
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We finally finished un-decorating our Xmas tree today. Now all the boxes have to be re-stowed high up in the store cupboard. And no grandchild around to do it.
I would like to hear your birds. That magpie carolling at least. Here they squawk.
The cockatoos look so cheeky !
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Your big tree is beautiful and more beautiful for the grandchildren to have lovely associated memories.
I’d like to have a resident singing magpie. There are a few around but they don’t perform on our deck 🙂
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Sounds like you Marigot have caught the bug and now Christmas will be full of decorations lol
I love the looks on the girls faces when they come in. And they then spend the next twenty minutes discovering everything it took me five days to get it all down I didn’t rush. Probably could of done it in three. It even that was a pleasure not a chore.
The birds here have been trying to out do each other. Sitting under our veranda. While i sit inside with the aircon on trying to keep the air dry.
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We vote for more outings for the big tree. You have to wait so late gor darkness to enjoy the lights (one small joy of winter christmases). I just love your avian friends.
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The trees look great. Ours almost did not appear this year. It did go up less than a week before Christmas. I am usually glad when it is taken down but not so much this year as it was only up for a short time.
Bird watching is such a calming thing to do and watching different species interact or tolerate each other is fascinating.
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All the trees and Christmas decorations have come down and been stowed for another year. And, it is snowing today.
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Hi Cathy, I actually too all the decorations and tree down much earlier than usual (although I’d love to keep them year round). Love the birds having a chat. The weather certainly has been wild everywhere in January. Take care of yourself. x
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OK, those are birds we don’t see in the wild in Hawaii. They sure are beautiful. We didn’t put up any holiday tree this year because of our dealing with termites. We’ve just been doing the small tree lately though.
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The Christmas trees were so pretty. Lights on a tree lend a little bit of magic to an evening. The bird antics make me smile. I have never a cockatoo in real life. The soft colored wool bits are so pretty. I wonder what you do with them.
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I LOVED that your grown up grandchildren got lots from you decorating the big tree. Our 8 grandkids helped decorate our tree last year for the first time since we left Sydney. It was very special. We have far fewer decorations to add (and we downsized our tree back in 2014 – giving it to our daughter) because we also gave each older grandchild a box of their decorations from Grandma’s and Papa’s tree that had been growing as a collection from the years of their births. We are in a street lined with trees that the local cockatoos are slowly and noisily stripping. We haven’t lived here in a full summer so we were not aware of what was or wasn’t ‘normal’. We are fortunate to be staying on as tenants here into 2025 and that’s because the owners like us and decided on a minimum rent increase. Hope your 2024 goes well. Denyse
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How lovely Cathy! I had some magpies join me on the deck the other day and they serenaded me before flying off with their mates. It’s lovely to have the constant visitors and the time to sit and watch their antics isn’t it?
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Your big tree sounds like it was a hit! What a fun and unexpected time with the birds.
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I’m glad you and your family were able to enjoy the large tree again, Cathy, even if it was bittersweet at times. Holidays are like that, aren’t they? The list of missing loved ones continues to grow. On the other hand, new little ones keeping joining our extended family celebrations. Also, I loved your description of the interaction between the birds. Thanks for that.
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Hi Cathy, I took my decorations down a couple of weeks ago I think. Not that there were as many as usual to take down. I didn’t put up the BIG tree – too much work during such a turbulant time for us all here and also I don’t know where to put it anymore since there’s a cat tree now where it used to go! I just put up our tiny little tree on the loungeroom coffee table. It’s still pretty and it works fine to put gifts around. Loved your description of the sing off/stand off with the two birds – the maggie and the cocky. So glad they didn’t fight. How fun to be sitting there watching that. My kinda thing! Thanks so much for linking up with the very first #WWWhimsy of 2024! Take care! xo
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