What's on the Christmas Tree

I've got a handful of these little Christmas birds, some red and some white. I think they came from my mother's house. They're old and missing some feathers, a little squished and a tad shopworn, but they belong on the tree and appear every year. Their little wire feet grab the branches securely and I like the way they seem to have just landed.

For five years I have let myself be held hostage by our two cats, and not put a tree up in the living room. Their first year I drew a tree on a stack of big cardboard cartons--the cats and grandkids loved hiding in the boxes. For a couple years I put the tree up in our bedroom behind closed doors--it was lovely going to sleep under the lights, but no one else ever saw it. I tried hanging a small fake tree upside down from the dining room ceiling, which was kinda cute, but those things just don't smell like trees. This year I just said the heck with it and put up the tree right in the living room window where it belongs, and though we do have some exciting sessions with the spray bottle, there has been surprisingly little destruction. Note that I did not put up my most precious glass and feather birds, nor the glass balls from my childhood, but I do have a real tree and it's still standing!