Said the same thing when I saw a tree with leaves beginning to blush red.

Umm, it's still August, for goodness's sake

It's been out here for a couple weeks. It makes me happy. Means summer is finally coming to an end, although here that means a couple more months.

Yikes. I'm ready for Fall, but not Christmas!

I'm not even ready for Fall ;) I was in Walmart for a few minutes yesterday, just long enough to be seeing Halloween....

Makes me so happy because I hate summer with its unrelenting heat and drought.

Hobby Lobby had some of their Christmas trees up last week. Decorated. 😳

It’s every darn year. Some places carry Christmas items year round. Halloween/Fall decor always comes out early, too. As a kid we had a pumpkin and that was it for us and most other people. Nothing like it is now.

My mom managed a gift shop after she retired. She said Halloween decor sales were right on par with Christmas.

I saw mums for sale at the grocery store today. A fellow shopper and I commiserated with one another. Mums mean summer is *over*. Time to replace gorgeous summer blooms in your planters with autumn-themed colors, just when the summer plants are at their peak!

It’s fine with me. Every season has good points. 🙂 I’m enjoying now AND looking forward to another Fall and Winter and Spring and Summer for many years to come. 🤠

Do your Costco shopping quickly. Avoid those aisles and get outside and enjoy the summer!

Ok, so, just a reminder that just because the stores are taking an opportunity to cash in with holiday people (like myself) it does not mean you cannot enjoy the rest of your summer. Its still hot, muggy, full of bugs, etc. The stores putting the stuff out doesn't change the season. A lot of people love to see it as much as others hate to see it. I love to see it. Its like a light at the end of the long tunnel of boredom and humidity......

Also, I will add that when I first entered adulthood and started my holiday hoard, it was very nice to be able to split my purchases over a few months and have an acceptable amount by said holiday. Holiday stuff is a luxury. I used to promise myself a certain amount per paycheck to splurge on it leading up to whatever holiday it was. I imagine a lot of young people starting out with nothing, but want to decorate and have some fun over the holidays feel the same, and the stores know it.

Well, the stores everywhere else in the world seem to know it. I have been sorely disappointed every time I have been shopping recently. Everywhere around here still has all the back to school garbage out. I WANT PUMPKINS AND CHRISTMAS TREES!!!!! I also want to start hoarding trick or treat candy/snacks now so that I will be sure to have enough when it comes time to put up my display at work. Alas, there is nothing out yet. :(

The craft stores have the Christmas stuff out. I've seen it last month. It's not to early for crafters. My dollar tree is just starting to put out Halloween. On Monday I went to Walmart for a new set of orange outdoor lights and they didn't have any Halloween stuff out. It is still fall and back to school stuff.

Earlier on BBC's website there an article about the leaves in Great Britain are changing color earlier than usual because of the drought. They are doing the same thing here to some plants. My clump of Pokeberry's I noticed this afternoon have unusual for them maroon and yellow leaves. Most of the berries are already gone eaten by the birds.

It is completely normal for trees to start having a yellowish look to them in this area in mid August if not earlier. Although my cherry trees both sweet and sour start having individual yellow leaves that quickly drop in late July.

While not something I wish to do there are some who do decorating themes for Christmas each year on limited budgets. They have to decide between purchasing things individually with current money or save up for the whole year and purchase everything at the same time. The savers often find closer to the season they do not have time to plan the spacing and to them things never look right.

While transportation until the last two years has become better than it was years ago if you have family members living in other countries it takes time for them to receive things. Bulk package sized things still go by ship to some areas. Having received in March something sent in November for Christmas from overseas it is better to shop and send early. I think this year may be a really good year to do both.

Five months ... five days ...

till Christmas.

DON'T REMIND 'EM - PLEASE the usual preparation time it takes for giving birth!

ole joyful

Gah! I am looking forward to fall. I hate Christmas and if i could skip from Thanksgiving to New Years day, it would suit me fine. Call me grinch, I dont care.

https://www.today.com/health/decorating-christmas-early-makes-you-happier-science-says-t119186

I think it is too early to talk about it being too early for Christmas stuff in stores.

Maifleur, the USPS will be charging higher rates for holiday package shipping, beginning in early October. higher rates early Oct to late Jan

Dedtired, I'm with you. I could skip Christmas also. Of course I do all the work. I just go through the motions for my family. I do enjoy baking the cookies though.

I agree about the lights making you happier but do they have to be Xmas lights? I love novelty lights and have some out in my dining room for all the holidays--right now it's lights with seashells and starfish. Before that they were butterflies for spring.

I look forward to pulling out the orange lights to decorate for Oct. & Nov. Then the switch to white for Christmas and after the New Year gold/green/purple for Mardi Gras.

I LOVE Christmas! It's been just the two of us for years. No more gift giving, but I do enjoy making a few treats to share with neighbors.

I think that whatever makes one happy should be indulged in. That includes shopping for and displaying whatever holiday decorations one likes as early as one likes. Or butterfly lights!

Or skipping it altogether.

Ones love OR disdain for the holidays should never be allowed to impose upon the opposite thinking persons peace and happiness. I hear it every year, someone is whining about their neighbors "excessive" décor(no such thing IMO), someone else is whining about the one house in their neighborhood that did not decorate at all. Just do what makes the holidays happy for you, even if other people think its too much or too early or whatever, or even if it is nothing at all and people cant seem to accept that.

Annegriet, I think what makes Christmas lights particularly special is that they are associated with a wonderful, magical, happy time in childhood. For a lot of people anyway, certainly me. Its true that not everyone experienced that in childhood, but I cannot see that as a justification to not love and enjoy the holidays for myself. But I agree that any fun and happy lights do wonders to lift ones spirits!

We do this every year. Truth is many stores have 'Christmas in July' so one can make their own decorations...here it's for sure creeping in Hobby Lobby and JoAnne's are setting up. I get it--any store that doesn't do "back to school' has space in their 'seasonal' so has begun sprinkling Christmas.

Saw this today and thought of this thread 😄

I can sort of understand craft stores doing it earlier as they have to give crafters time to finish the projects for xmas...but costco???

Wanna bet some of that is overstocked inventory from last year? There were so many delays and uncertainty in sourcing merchandise over the past pandemic years that some over-ordered. I think many retailers have been trying to clear the way for new stuff in their warehouses...

Once it's received it has to get out of the back room. I deal with this as a vender

I was thinking the same thing when I was in costco the other day, but about Halloween costumes on display so early. I didn’t notice Christmas stuff. That would have put me over the edge.

A month ago I was in my Homegoods store and it was packed to the brim with Halloween. One would have thought it literally WAS a Halloween store. When I was young I had a pumpkin on the porch and Indian corn hanging on the door. Times have sure changed.

I found some cool ribbon I wanted. It's Christmas ribbon, but I use it for other things. Beyond that, I prefer to wait until closer. I don't really enjoy the hustle and bustle any more.

I'm with you, dedtired. I'd like Christmas better if it was either a purely religious holiday, or if this current kind of marketing holiday was celebrated only once every five years. A lot of people feel they have to spend themselves into debt, and not all "gift obligations" can be met with a plate of cookies.

Christmas movies and shopping ads started last week of July, as usual. Christmas is six months long, starting in late July, and lasting till mid-January. Usually by the time the actual calendar date rolls around, I've been tired of Christmas for a couple months. The movies and ads start even before the craft stores start putting out stuff. I've grown rather beyond not fond of the holiday.

Back to school starts in July, and is really kicking now- all the kids are back in school this month. I feel a bit of pity for them, used to be summer lasted till Labor day, now summer ends the first week or two of August. Halloween starts around the end of August, and is heavily sold on by mid-September, and pretty much gone except for costumes by Halloween. And candy sales the day after. Autumn gets a shelf or few in there, sometimes with some non-food Thanksgiving in later October into November. Food Thanksgiving is a big deal, and most of the stores will have food displays and sales up for most of the month. Some places that do case sales usually have them between late Sept into mid Nov to pick up the back to school dinner folks and stock up for Thanksgiving and holiday eating folks.

I got a BIG mood boost today. I left a little early for work so that I could go check Lowes again to see if they had fall plants in yet. I wanted broccoli and cabbage plants. YAY! They had them! And when I went inside the garden center to pay for them...YAY again! Halloween and Thanksgiving inflatables EVERYWHERE! I did not go inside the store because I only had a few minutes to get the plants, and if they had more stuff inside I would have been late. But still, it made me so happy! Fun is coming! Holidays are what you make them and I make them fun.