Ornaments & the Second Tree

As you can see below, I was told I needed photos of the second tree. It's so hard to photograph it - if I use a flash, you don't get the effect of the lights, and without a flash, things are pretty dark.

With our current room layout and all the plants we have downstairs, there's no real way to show you the tree as it appears to us, but at least I can give a bit of an idea. I wanted to show all of Phyllis' beautiful hand-painted ornaments, but only the red one was close enough to get the best photos. I tried reclining on the steps to get the full height of the tree, but that didn't work.

Cosmo approves. And so, without further ado...Phyllis' ornaments and the tall skinny tree! The red one below has our names, Gerry & Sue, on it. One of our friends got about a dozen one year, all custom painted, and we were the lucky recipients of one. This is before we even knew Phyllis - before she sold her art in our store, and helped with the CAP booth there, as well as with things in general around the store.

Here, I tried to stand back and get the full corner shot, but the chandelier obscures the top of the tree, and the plants in the foreground obscure the bottom.
This is from my attempt at lying on the stairs and shooting upwards. Well, it was worth a try.
Cosmo has his own ornament, painted by Phyllis, on the tree. I think in this photo, however, he's just waiting for Santa Cat.
See that light aqua ornament, to the lower right of the angel icicle? That's Cosmo's ornie. Phyllis painted him with his blue eye.
Here's the whole tree, but not the table it stands on. This was taken from the top of the steps, lookng down.

The chandeliers, by the way, one on each end of the room, are new to the room. When we bought this house, this area had a couple of mystery light switches. One day I looked at the high, sloped ceiling and told my Oldtimer I was certain there were metal plates in that plaster, centered in front of those tall windows, and that I was sure there were places for hanging lights. Sure enough, he uncovered the plates, and that's what one of the mystery switches was for. The other is for an outlet on the backside of the knee wall around the loft. We put a shelf under that, and it's now home to a piece of stained glass we can light with the flip of a switch. The stained glass, btw, is a beautiful green and white swirl, placed into a half-round, spoked old window frame. We had that done by one of the many artists we knew in Warrenton.

I just liked this shot of the red ornament and the fake poinsettia. Originally, this tree was done in all pink and sage green balls with the ribbon running through it. We've gradually added a few other things, but the basic theme remains.
Yes, another angle on the closest handpainted ornie.

Another angle on the tree, through the now-bare branches of the brugmansia. This poor plant bloomed up a storm when it first came in the house, and then dropped all its leaves. I think it's in shock. It's still alive, though, and just beginning to sprout a bunch of new leaves. Ah, here's one of Phyllis' kind of mauve-y toned ornaments. This one says Oldtimer & Lily and is from our first Christmas in the store.
That's it for now! I really should take pix of all the beautiful artwork we have around the house, just thanks to the Warrenton artists. We have several original paintings by Wanda Satterwhite, the fun and quirky clay art of the Smallwoods, fire bowls and other clay work by Copper Rain, beautiful watercolor landscapes by Billy Farmer, and of course the two custom pieces of otters, done by Barbara Parker. (I consider otters a "totem.")