T is for Tree



We got a free tree this year! 

 

Dave has a landscaping business.  On the off season he does things like snow removal and also puts up/takes down xmas lights for people.  The million dollar homes where he has a contract with the HOA....  he does lots of lights there. 

 

When he was putting up lights at one of those houses two weeks ago, he saw a tree across the street with a sign taped to it, "Free, in good condition".  So he loaded it up on his truck and brought it home!  I asked why they would throw out such a good (and obviously expensive) tree.  He said that house does at least six trees in their house every xmas!

 

We had to buy a new tree stand this year (ours broke last year), and when he tried to put it up he said, "I think I know why they gave it away."  First off, this thing is a beast!  It's easily 15' around the bottom.  He couldn't get it to stand straight.  We had to keep maneuvering it because it kept trying to lift the tree stand feet off the ground!

 

He finally got it straight and he put on the lights and tinsel, then T and D2 and I decorated it with all our ornaments.  I love decorating the tree!  I love going through all the ornaments and telling the kids what each one means or where it came from.  I keep all the ones they made in a separate box and we always put those up last!

 

Well this year we got to decorate the tree twice!  Just as we put the last ornaments on and stepped away, the whole damn thing tipped over!  Every single one of the ornaments popped right off!  Luckily, none were broken.

 

Dave came in and was very frustrated, "Well I don't know what to do!!"  he practically shouted.  I said, "I know what you can do.... you can take a breath and realize it's fine."  And he did!

 

He righted the tree and then he figured out that if he bolstered a couple of the tree stand legs with folded-up newspaper, it was much more stable.  He put the lights back the way he had them the first time, then the boys and I put the ornaments back on!

 

The tree is so big that the star isn't actually on top, it's sort of in front of the top branches.



 



 Those big white papers on the tree?  The kids decided to hang their xmas list on the tree this year.  Funny!

Another bonus of this new place is that we got to decorate the outside.  At our old place, the only thing that faced the street was the garage door, so we never decorated it.

Dave was actually excited about decorating the outside of the house!  I had no idea he missed it so much.  He did such a good job!  Simple but beautiful!

(That last pic is blurry, but our camera is crap and that's the best I could get.)

And now for a much-requested dead fish....

Knitting like mad to be done by tomorrow evening, Ruth!