Christmas Trees, Trains and More


Now that my back has "shut up" I made some progress, not much, but better than nothing. I cleared off the Thomas the Tank Engine table to begin working on my Christmas village. I cut cork to put on top and set up the buildings. I can't find one light cord. Amazon will be delivering two on Christmas eve. One cord was $7.99, two were $8.99.

I set up the Bachmann Christmas Trolley, it works but the track needs to be cleaned.

Now I'm done for the day.
 
Iron Horseman said:
That is pretty and classy and probably real glass. We have caved to modern American standards and many of ours are plastic. Has probably saved us though as many have hit the floor.
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As it is with many of us, much of Christmas is about nostalgia. My wife is Hungarian and growing up in Hungary glass ornaments were common. Glass ornaments were common here as well, but plastic soon replaced most glass ornaments here.
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Her tree topper is a handmade glass "thing" made in Germany. I don't know what it is called because the box is in German. I cannot read Hungarian, let alone German. I surprised her with it after she described to me the tree topper her parents had, she loves it! SInce it was made of glass I bought two, just in case. We too have had galss ornaments hit the floor.
 
When my wife and I married we blended my American Christmas with her Hungarian Christmas.

As I told Troy, in Hungary the big meal is Christmas Eve. I had always baked an Esskay Silver Label whole ham on Christmas day. I used to go shopping at Macy's Holiday Lane on Christmas Eve. My wife went with me the last time I went to Macy’s on Christmas Eve. She was surprised they would be open until 6 PM. In Hungary Everything closes at noon Christmas Eve. Even the bars and restaurants close at noon. At least that is how it was 20+ years ago.

Times change, Macy's no longer has a separate section for Holiday Lane. It’s scattered throughout the store. I'm not trekking all over the store and I missed the beautifully decorated Holiday Lane. Esskay was bought out by Smithfield, and they discontinued many Esskay products. The hotdogs, breakfast sausage and Silver Label hams are the ones I miss most. Both the ham and sausage were a part of my Christmas for most of my life.

Now I buy half a ham and save money because they are often on sale or even free this time of year with store rewards. The last two Christmases I bought spiral hams. I'm not a big fan of glazed ham, but the kids like it, especially my daughter in law. With little carving needed they do make things easier.

The first time I made a spiral ham my kids all loved it and said, "this is the best ham ever, what did you do?" My answer "I followed the directions on the label." Spiral hams bake at a lower temperature and must be covered tightly with aluminum foil during baking.

Now that we are "empty nesters" the Christmas Eve meal is just my wife and me. The kids stop by on Christmas Day, so the buffet works well. My wife still makes a 25-quart pot of her Stuffed Cabbage. That is 40-50 big stuffed cabbage leaves. It freezes well and the kids take much of that with them. She even provides the sour cream they eat with it. My wife only makes it once a year, so it is a treat for them.

Christmas morning was always a big breakfast for me and still is. Bacon, sausage links, breakfast sausage, eggs and freshly made biscuits. My youngest grandson loves hash browns, so they have been added.

Christmas is a time for traditions.

Have a Merry Christmas Everybody!
 
I found the Christmas tree for the Christmas Village. I'm good at hiding things from myself.

Here is a photo with the flash.
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Another without the flash. (Pardon my mess of wires. I need to rethink the wiring for the Family Room Christmas Layout.)
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The wiring is not perfect, neither are my photos, nothing much is perfect, but I'm enjoying it!

That is an incredibly special Christmas Tree. It was given to me by my late mother. It was given to my Mom by her late sister Ann. I suppose that makes it a family heirloom or will be when I pass it down.
 
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Bruette said:
As it is with many of us, much of Christmas is about nostalgia. My wife is Hungarian and growing up in Hungary glass ornaments were common. Glass ornaments were common here as well, but plastic soon replaced most glass ornaments here.
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Her tree topper is a handmade glass "thing" made in Germany. I don't know what it is called because the box is in German. I cannot read Hungarian, let alone German. I surprised her with it after she described to me the tree topper her parents had, she loves it! SInce it was made of glass I bought two, just in case. We too have had galss ornaments hit the floor.
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We had a glass tree topper like that when I was growing up. I always liked it. I am not sure what happened to it.
 
Bruette said:
Times change, Macy's no longer has a separate section for Holiday Lane. It’s scattered throughout the store. I'm not trekking all over the store and I missed the beautifully decorated Holiday Lane.
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That is a shame, and I guess it shows how long it's been since I've been to Macy's. Hmmmm 2008 I guess! Wow. I liked it better than the windows along 5th avenue.
 
Bruette said:
😁 How surprised I was to open the box! I did not recognize the sender's name, but I suspected it was you.

Thank you!
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Normally I would not have said anything, but I got to worrying about porch pirates, so wanted to make certain you really got them. I got three different sets in 2013, and didn't use them until this year. While looking for a set for you I discovered they had also run set in 2009, so I ordered them too (for me not you :) ). I am guessing there will be more sets to be found.
 
Iron Horseman said:
Normally I would not have said anything, but I got to worrying about porch pirates, so wanted to make certain you really got them. I got three different sets in 2013, and didn't use them until this year. While looking for a set for you I discovered they had also run set in 2009, so I ordered them too (for me not you :) ). I am guessing there will be more sets to be found.
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That was a fantastic surprise! I can't thank you enough, I love them!

I have an area in the attic separate from where the layout will be for my Lionel tree. My plan was to work on the layout first and hope I get the Lionel tree done by next Christmas. I scraped that plan; the tree is top priority now!

I already made the track plan on Anyrail, and I know what train sets I will use around the Lionel tree. My original conventional powered Polar Express and I hope to fit in the Santa's Express set. Next, I will ponder what Christmas accessories to use with it, all Lionel of course.

I'm extremely excited about it all. I doubt I will wait until next Christmas to decorate the tree. No sooner than the area is cleared, floor covering in place and track laid I will decorate the tree. After it is decorated, I will cover it with plastic until thanksgiving.

This is going to be fun, thanks again!
 
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