… in at least 11 years. First time I’ve had room for one.
I loved getting out my old ornaments. I’d forgotten they had a theme: animals and birds. You can tell how long ago I got many of them; an embarrassing number of the animals are … ulp … unicorns.
I cut the tree this morning at a nearby farm. My first noble fir! Most places I’ve lived noble firs have been too pricey to think about. Here, they’re no more than the scruffy Doug-firs (people in the Northwest are on a nickname basis with their conifers, you know) that have been drying out over at the Boy Scouts’ lot since Thanksgiving.
Big storm moving in. Wonderful to sit here with a fire roaring, lights glowing, and a cup of creamy coffee for sipping.
Hope you’re having as good a weekend as I am.
Oh yeah, here’s a version of the tree I computer-artified for ya:
Not great art, but lots of fun playing around with The GIMP.
I love your tree Claire! I have really missed getting to put ours up this year. We are currently in a part of TN with no snow and hear they are getting over a foot this weekend back in our home town. Please enjoy a cup of coffee by the tree for me too!
Lovely, lovely tree. We have the same tree topper as you! We decorated our tree (mostly) last night. Our daughter wants to put her decorations on the tree herself when she comes home from school.
Your home looks lovely as well. Enjoy snuggling in while it’s so nasty-wet outside.
My daughter insisted, over and over again, on a WHITE ARTIFICIAL tree. I never thought I’d have such an abomination in my house (IS it “my house”?), but I gotta admit, as long as the lights are on, it doesn’t look too bad. And she’s happy.
I’ve not had a regular Christmas tree since my husband died in 1986. Just never felt the desire to do all that again. But I do have a tree topper angel that looks much like yours and always get it out to stand on the shelf beside the little tree I do manage to decorate for Christmas. It is a two foot tall living Norfolk Island pine – actually several of them together – and I have a box of very miniature ornaments that weigh it down pretty badly. 🙂
Last year some of the folks here began to celebrate by using .22 ammo tied with string or fine ribbon as decorations. I’ll put some on my little tree again this year. I love to see the expression on the faces of any visitors who actually look at it. Some are priceless, even among freedom folk.
Nice tree Claire!
I assume you’re aware of this.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/12/technology/personaltech/12basics.html
Merry Christmas Ms. Wolfe.
@MamaLiberty…My Dad used to use shell casings in my parents trees all the time. When asked about it, he replied-because we always had the scraggliest, Charlie Brown tree on the lot-that it was his “cartridge in a bare tree”. 🙂
Bigjack — Arrrgh. No, I hadn’t heard about that. Guess I’m lucky my camera is just a plain old stupid one that doesn’t have such privacy-busting “features.”
MamaLiberty and WolfSong — LOL, never would have thought of cartridge cases in a tree (and if it leads to puns like that, I don’t think I ever will).
L2, nice to “see” you again and I’ll consider it a “great minds” thing that you, ML, and I all have the same or similar tree toppers. I just hope nobody else went as heavy on the unicorns as I did.
Kent — I trust you’ll instill some good taste in your daughter eventually — and maybe when she’s a little older she’ll crave the joy of a trek into the woods for a real tree.
Marlana, bumperwack and all — Merry Christmas and may you have lots of peace and beauty this season.
Here’s something that is perhaps to be thankful for this holiday season, for being reported at all in the first place.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opinion/50827724-82/state-gun-browning-utah.html.csp
Of course, it was written by a typical reporter.
Jim B.
Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays or Seasons Greetings or whatever is more correct, LOL, to all here….
I haven’t had a tree in years either, but nothing beats the smell of pine (tree) in the house during the holidays……
P.S. I donated my unicorn ornaments to a community tree a long time ago and then went overboard on deer and bears ornaments – heh……
Merry Christmas to everyone!
(My “tree” the last few years has been a tiny potted rosemary pruned to the right shape. 3 ribbons and the decorating is done)
Ellendra, that reminds me of a “tree” we had the year I was six. It was actually a large branch of creosote bush from the desert around us. Decorated with a few small bulbs and cookies, it served very well. It smelled good too.
This is the story of My Perfect Christmas: http://www.thepriceofliberty.org/08/11/24/editor.htm
Blessings and joy to all. 🙂
Actually, I was four years old. Forgot that. Gets harder to remember every year. Guess that’s why we write things down. LOL
What a great Christmas experience, MamaLiberty…..We’re about the same age, and it did seem to be more emotionally meaningful back in those days (pre over commercialism times)……
From MamaLiberty on thepriceofliberty.com: “The children were too busy to notice, however, because we each had a wonderful felt stocking full of nuts, candy and a few small toys. Then, at the very bottom in the toe, was a huge shining orange! Those were worth their weight in gold then and had been very rare in our lives to that point. I can’t begin to tell you what it meant to us as we jealously watched our orange peeled and then savored each drop of the golden fruit.”
Boy, does that bring back good times; I used to love the stocking better than any other gift! It was always laden with the best of the mini-world: small toys like pick-up sticks, Slinky, tops, marbles, jacks, Am. Indian and other country dolls, paper dolls, travel games, and small books which stretched the stocking much too far. And of course the nuts, candy and fruit — oranges, dried dates and figs, Lifesavers, Clark bars, and… Brazil nuts, which were a Christmas-only nut at that time, and a big favorite of everybody. (Not very libertarian, but we kids [three brothers plus me] used to steal the Brazil nuts out of each others’ stockings.)
“Thanks for the memories.”