our tree went up Christmas Eve too, not only because that was traditional, but because that's my birthday ...
so no Christmas decorations went up, until after my birthday "dinner" midafternoon, then the tree came in, the ornament boxes were unpacked, and it was like an extra birthday present ... to decorate
also yes, we often got the tree for little or nothing (my dad was a hoarder, went hungry during the Depression and saved saved saved ever after)
I probably won't be on much today, DS and DGD are coming in a couple of hours, am tidying the best I can (not much !), then we will all watch football, and if Hailey gets bored as I suspect she will, we will go out and get a tree, and let HER decorate it ... she's "half past eleven" and smart for her age
found that SOMETHING had been digging near the entrance to the chicken's run, so I filled it in with concrete pavers and a pier block on top; temporary fix until I put a better barrier up there ... was only a four inch gap between the entrance "porch" and the big orebox planter; I rather expect it was Roxy, trying to bury a small stuffed animal, have caught her doing so out in the yard before
but could well have been a predator (the chickens were safely cooped, with the coop pop door blocked)