The Trees, Part II

Since I'm not ready to post any new knitting stories, I want to share the stories of the second Christmas tree in our house, especially since these knitbloggers are looking for traditions and decorations to share. Our second tree is the formal tree in the house. I call it my German Victorian tree, and there isn't an ornament on it that isn't loaded with sentiment. First to go on the tree each year are the German paper ornaments. These all have Christmas scenes on them, and were purchased during the Kristkindlmarkt. For those of you who have never been lucky enough to be in Germany during the Christmas season, the "Christ Child Market" is held in old town squares throughout the country. One can purchase all kinds of ornaments, candles, candies, and other gifts, as well as enjoy good things to eat and drink. Just pulling out these ornaments each year takes me back to a snow drifting evening in the town where we lived, walking along looking at the vendors and drinking hot spiced gluhwein. We would buy candles and evergreen oils, eat potato pancakes with applesauce or mushrooms cooked in a sour cream sauce, served in a bread bowl. We would buy gingerbread cookies with paper Santa figures pasted on them, one for each child, and get a gingerbread house to use as a centerpiece for the dining room. Snow would be falling, and the old half-timbered houses would look silently down on the shoppers. All sorts of ornaments could be purchased. Some of the ones I got came from the city of Rothenburg,
which had a wonderful Christmas store, Kathe Wolfahrts. (I may be mangling some of the spelling in this post, but it's been a long time since I thought about how to spell some of these things.) I bought lots of holiday linens there, as well as unique ornaments, glass snowflakes and icicles. Those ornaments are the next to go up on the tree. Putting these up reminds me of the trips we made there, and the amber necklace charm I bought there that I still wear today.

Next time, the ornaments from my Grandmother's tree.