Monday, December 9, 2013

Time for a Christmas tree

This week we cut our Christmas tree.

Last week Don and I took a walk and staked out prospects. We found a nice candidate on a neighbor's land (we had his permission, of course). We made a mental note of the tree and went home.

The day we chose to cut was bitterly cold, but bright and sunny. We drove the car onto an access road that bisects the neighbor's land. The tree was about half a mile away, so we decided to use the car to bring the tree back.


We parked the car on a wide spot on the access road and walked in to inspect the tree.


Here's the candidate. Not perfectly-shaped, but the right size as well as nice and bushy.


We sent the girls back to the car to fetch the nippers and saw.


Ta da!


Don did the cutting.


Timber!


Then the girls dragged the tree back to the car.


Initially we thought we'd tie the tree to the roof rack, but instead we had the girls scramble inside and then shoved the tree in after them. Then, blasting Christmas music on the radio, they held onto the branches while we bumped off the access road and turned for home.


Once it was trimmed to size, we had the usual awkward "Is it straight NOW?" moments until we got the tree in place.



Not too bad a selection.


However when we went to unpack the lights so we could string them up, we found we had none. Oops! We vaguely remembering tossing all our old lights last year because they stopped working. We meant to pick some up later and never got around to it. So... Don made a trip into town and bought some lights.


Then the kids started the chaos of decorating.


Lydia was, of course, a huge help.


Don added the angel.


By the next day, most of the tree was decorated and most of the chaos was cleared away.


A bit lopsided, perhaps, but pretty overall.

14 comments:

  1. now that is a pretty tree and I bet it smells great too...now I am tempted to go out and find one for my home too and yep, I will have to buy some lights.

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  2. They did a terrific job. It looks very pretty!

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  3. Jealous! We used to live in Belfair, Washington, surrounded by U-Cut Christmas Tree farms. Since moving to Richland, in the middle of the desert, my wife finally convinced me to buy an artificial tree. I'm still not happy that I caved.

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  4. Lovely story especially hauling it gave me a great giggle! Tree turned out quite pretty...

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  5. pretty tree...and, being a dog lover...I have to say that is one beautiful puppy that "helped" :-).
    Lynne

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  6. Here in Hawaii, my neighbors just paid $60 for a tree. I ran my hand over it and the needles just fell right off. Being originally from Northern California, we'd never buy one, here. Ours plugs in! Do miss the wonderful aroma, though.

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  7. Nice tree and since it's fresh cut there's no worry about it drying out and dropping needles all over. The smell must permeate the house, too. Great memories for the girls.

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  8. Patrice, Don, and Girls,

    You found a beautiful tree to decorate and celebrate Christmas.
    Merry Christmas!!! Enjoy the fresh smells of the holiday.

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  9. We always had a real tree, but a few years back we bought an artificial. It sure looked real, and it was covered with lights. Very pretty! But after we set it up, the top third of the tree's lights all went out. We checked the fuse, the wires, everything. No go! So we contacted the manufacturer. They sent us another top segment for the tree. A few days later the MIDDLE part of the tree's lights went out! We stuck a few strings of lights on it and when we took it down, it went into its box and we've never used it since. (One guess where it was made... NOT in the USA!) Nothing but a REAL tree for us from now on! --Fred in AZ

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  10. Merry Christmas, Lewis family!!

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  11. Incandescent lamps in this day and age!?
    I didn't even know you could still get them, I thought all Christmas tree lights had gone to LED (lower energy, longer lasting, lower fire hazard)

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    1. Yes, they are still out there, and much preferred in our house!
      Kelly in K'ville, NC

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  12. I've never seen an ugly Christmas tree, including Ol Charlie Brown's.
    Nice tree Lewis Family, Merry Christmas!

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