Our Christmas Decorations in 2023, so sad

The 2023 Christmas season felt unlike any other — completely different from what we are used to. It was the year we moved from Vancouver to Calgary.

About ninety percent of our decorations were in the basement in Vancouver. We brought only the most precious things to Calgary, only two small boxes and the nutcrackers that still fit into the car could come with us. As a result, the apartment here looks a little like my staff room from my years in the hotel industry — functional, familiar, but not quite festive.

Three Ulbricht nutcrackers now stand at the top of the bookshelf in the home office. They are not displayed in their usual place of honour in the living room because, since the first of December, we are parents of a young, lively, and endlessly curious Yorkie. It would break my heart to discover tiny tooth marks in the wood.

There are dozens of Christmas books on the shelves — but they hardly count, as they live there all year round.

Also on the shelf was a glittery Eiffel Tower and large bells, objects I found in a box.

The mug with a New York motif was on the window shelf. The beautiful sculpture next to it is a souvenir that I found in a lovely shop last year in Leibzig, Germany.

This is our little dog Bruno in his office bed. We got him this cute gnome that he drags around the whole apartment.

In the living room on the sideboard is a bowl with a small mix of Christmas baubles.

For morning coffee we use two very nice cups to get you in the mood for the day.

The bedside lamp was adorned with a slightly broken glass star ornament, and a book with Christmas poetry.

That was it. There was nothing else. This made putting the decorations away a lot quicker.

We didn’t have a Christmas tree because we were house and dog sitting for friends at the Big House on the Hill over the holidays. Sometimes change is not a bad thing. We will appreciate the Christmas time even more after a skeleton season.

2023