Yes, there is a farmer here in town where I special order my tree as I prefer a 5′ size, which is easier to handle and decorate. They also make and sell maple products – yum!
That sounds so much like the New England I remember! Yum – I do miss maple syrup by the jug. I agree with you, a smaller tree is much easier to manage and enjoy.
Barbara, I had to do a double-take and see if there were more pics of your family felling a tree or two at a tree farm – perhaps I need stronger glasses (as to the knickers). 🙂 Well that scene does look like it could be North Carolina, with leaves still on the trees, perhaps a touch of snow. I used to work with two sisters at the Firm and their parents had a longstanding tradition of going out to a tree farm and cutting their own tree down. The sisters continued that tradition with their family the day after Thanksgiving every year. They packed a picnic lunch, hot chocolate and coffee and spent a lovely day picking the perfect tree, chopping it down themselves, than hauling it back to the parking lot to pay for it. They took pictures in the woods and each sister used the best photo for their annual Christmas card. I used to be envious of how fun that would be – we had a real tree when I was very young, but then got an aluminum tree, then green artificial tree, never getting back to a real tree again.
I haven’t found any tree farms close to us here in central North Carolina – all the trees seem to be brought in from the mountains. I imagine the scene in the painting is somewhere in Denmark, as the painter is Danish. As usual, I’m drawn to all things Scandinavian. 😉
I do miss the fun of cutting down our own tree at any of the numerous tree farms nearby us in Connecticut! But since I don’t have Tim to share the experience with any more I decided to get an artificial tree now to use going forward, an alpine balsam fir. I see pictures of them in all my Scandinavian design books and magazines and always loved the way they look, very sparse and minimal with lots of space for ornaments. A new chapter in my life and hopefully I can manage to set it up all by myself. It’s only 4.5′ tall and should fit on the hearth if I’ve measured correctly. And I won’t have to move any furniture around! 🎄
I thought I remembered you writing about the tree farm experience in the past. I also had a fellow blogger from years ago when we belonged to an AOL blogging group called “Patch” and we had a Facebook group at the time as well to share our posts. He is still a FB friend, but rarely posts. Anyway, he/wife had never had kids, but they went to the tree farm and every year he did a step-by-step post of picking it, hauling it home and decorating it. They’d often have to cut some of it down as it was too tall. They had a stuffed monkey and would pose him around the Christmas decor. It was clever and cute. I have a tabletop artificial tree I used at work and my mom and I bought a Hallmark miniature tree with the tiny ornaments. Next year, I will put up one of them. That’s great you are putting up a tree and bringing some cheer to your home without a lot of bother and great you don’t have to move furniture around.
Why will it be next year when you put up one of the small artificial trees? Why not this year? Or are you opting for something bigger for now? I set up my new tree yesterday and am quickly getting used to the smaller size. Forgot about needing a smaller skirt (I always wrapped a white blanket around the bottom of our big trees) so I ordered one online. I might wait until I get the skirt before I decorate…
Next year, I have to put up a tree and decorate more – I am not happy about the lack of holiday ambiance here. I thought about putting out one of the small trees, but one I can’t get to as I moved things in front of that cupboard (where the Hallmark tree and ornaments are). You know about how I buy food for the entire winter (pantry-wise) and I overbought this year to ensure I was set until April because of tariffs, plus there were already shortages of items I use on a regular basis in the Summer already, before I started shopping for Winter. And I kept hearing (still do) about our horrible Winter we will have (I don’t doubt that after our past few days). So, I had to put things in the TV room – not wise, nor smart, but they are in small bankers boxes, so I’m glad no one comes to visit me as they’d be horrified. I used to be able to store things in my kitchen cupboards, but even with the new insulation job done in August 2017, the cupboards are very cold and I can’t climb down there anymore anyway, especially after falling on my knee in September.
The other tree is downstairs, the one I used to put on my desk at work for years. I am not sure where I could put it. I’m using the extra small table I have for painting/drawing and also I’m doing an Advent puzzle (something I will be writing about – 24 puzzles in 24 days starting yesterday until Christmas Eve). So, I don’t really know where I could put it. The tree downstairs I left the lights on it as it was easier that way – my mom got the ornaments for it, pretty Italian, hand-blown glass ornaments, just the right size for that tree. I have not put it up since my last Christmas I worked on site (2008).
I’ve got a cluttered mess here to be honest. I feel badly because I’ve only taken out two ornaments, including the cardinal ornament of my mom’s. I remember you saying in the past that it took you a day to decorate the tree. I hope you take a photo for a post of your tree when you have the new skirt and the ornaments on it.
I’m so sorry to hear that the clutter has gotten that bad, Linda! Sounds like you could use a professional organizer the help you tackle the project. My new little tree is still undecorated, but I’m enjoying looking at it and contemplating which decorations I might use, as there won’t be room for everything I used to put on the big trees. I think I might have ‘decorators block.’ 😉
Well, I helped create that clutter Barbara with all the groceries, which didn’t help, but with this horrible weather we’re having, I’m glad I don’t have to go out of the house for groceries or anything else I would need. I have allergy shots next week and will cancel if the weather is bad. I am allowed to go every four weeks, but I schedule for every three weeks as they are no longer walk-in appointments and they’re only there four days a week. I won’t drive in a storm or ice and snow for a shot for Springtime allergies … it’s not an appointment per se, just getting two shots from the “shot girl”. So I have until December 17th before I’m deemed late. The guy has not come for the gutters yet (this is Andrew, the landscaper, not the new handyman); it’s not his fault, but the leaves weren’t dropping and I kept putting him off … so he’s a bit backed up now. We had freezing rain again last night, plus he plows/shovels snow, so he’ll be more backed up with our impending snow.
As for the clutter control, in the Summer of 2024, when it was so hot, I intended to clear a lot of clutter in the basement to start there, but our City had contracted with a new garbage collection service beginning July 1st and we had nothing but problems – garbage and yard-waste pickup was not timely at all (not just days, but weeks), so I didn’t want to add more garbage to the problem, then this year, I wanted to clear out everything in the TV room/den to escape the dog’s whining and put my computer in there to get away from it. That didn’t work out so well as I wanted to get some storage shelves to put together in the basement … it was too hot and they are heavy to drag home from the store, down the stairs to the basement, so I didn’t get THAT done either. I have to get rid of my work clothes/shoes as I’ll not be wearing them anymore, but that is a big job and I have to tackle it next Spring/Summer.
I felt badly yesterday after you suggested putting something up for Christmas. So, I looked what would be the easiest way to instill some holiday ambiance today. I used to enjoy trimming the tree, even though it was small, but I really don’t know where to put it right now … you will overcome “decorator’s block” and do a wonderful job!
I’m glad you got your groceries in and don’t have to brave all that awful weather to get your food all winter. Hope you made it to your allergy shots. I’m so glad all I need is a daily Claritin to manage my allergies. And I hope your gutters are done now. I’m doing a major reorganizing, too, sorting through all of Tim’s things, keeping some things but selling or donating most of the rest. I hope I have the room ready for my sister and her husband by the time they get here! It will be great for you if you can get your computer set up away from the dog barking sounds. I had a bittersweet time decorating my small tree, missing the big ones Tim loved but falling in love with the simplicity of decorating this one. A new chapter…
I sure am glad I got all the groceries Barbara. I hate that it is a mess here as I overbought a lot of items, but they were definitely correct predicting a bad Winter and Winter has not even arrived yet, but you wouldn’t know that. Mother Nature messed up with the leaves not falling across the street (three huge trees), but they fell from the trees in the backyard behind me. The icicles are problematic and I contacted Andrew today. I just wrote in another comment that he has suspended gutter cleaning until the weather is better, unless I opted for them using a torch to thaw out the gutters, but he said it might cause a fire or damage the gutters. I don’t want to take that chance, so I’ll hope there is no gutter damage. Next year, I’ll have him out twice in the Fall. I just cancelled my allergist appointment today – the shots were for Wednesday morning, as we are expecting one to three inches of fresh snow overnight, but it will transition to rain. It will be a slushy day and we have more snow in the afternoon. I’m not liking any of this … I moved it to Thursday, but I’m sure I’ll be making it for next week. I take Alavert from April through June as my allergies are bad in the Spring … that’s even with the shots.
You have been very productive … that is what I need to do with my own clothes, mostly from my work days. I did that sad task for my mom’s clothes shortly after my mom passed away. I kept some tops because they fit me, but she was petite like you, 5′ 2″ compared to me at 5′ 9″. You have a good reason to clear out Tim’s things to prepare for your sister and her husband. That will be nice. I did reconsider taking out the ceramic tree (made by a family friend who took some pottery-making classes) but decided against it. I don’t have enough plugs and I didn’t have the laptop computer plugged into the living room plug back then … there was no laptop, as the computer desktop was downstairs. I need to go full speed ahead and I need some inspiration to get it done. I’ll let you be my inspiration. Your tree sounds nice and perhaps you can get ornament hangers for some of the other ornaments. I took out my mom’s cardinal bulb with its ornament hanger to use in a post on December 17th. Her favorite ornament, so that might be an option for you. We saw a few larger ornaments at the Hallmark store, but we had a miniature tree, so could only use miniature ornaments and my tree I took to work was too small for large ornaments, so we bought them and used an ornament hanger, or hung them on a nail, removing a knick-knack or picture in the house for Christmas to put it up. I’m sure it was bittersweet for you … I have not decorated since my mom has been gone and the house was not always that cluttered, so kudos to you in decorating and a new chapter.
Hang in there, my friend! You can do this! It is good incentive for me to get things done when I have company coming. (Maybe you could invite someone over for dinner?) I don’t think I need to display all my ornaments – I’m feeling quite content now with my minimalist-Scandinavian holiday decor. 🙂 However, I did splurge and order a Mark Roberts fairy online. I bought one, a large 17 inch woodland fairy, back in 2013 after my father died. I have it hanging from my mantel. Since the new tree sits on the hearth, in the middle, and a huge tree isn’t blocking the view of other end of the mantel now, I decided to get an 11 inch forest fairy to hang on that side, in memory of Tim.
Thank you Barbara – I do promise to do better in the new year. It is incentive that makes us get things done. I bought extra plastic bags to pack everything up, a different type than my regular bags, so I could segregate them to have them ready to go out the door once the weather is better. You can always rotate your ornaments from year to year also, giving them equal display time on your new tree. I like the idea of the forest fairy in memory of Tim to complement the woodland fairy in memory of your father. That was a good idea and perfect for this first Christmas/new chapter.
Good morning, Barbara. No, I am not getting a tree this year.
Years ago shortly after I moved into this house during the pandemic, I stopped in an antique shop next to a nearby restaurant where I was having lunch. There was a silver tinsel tree 18 inches tall on the cashier counter that reminded me of my very young childhood before my mother remarried when I was six. One year in all of our poverty stricken apartment, my mother managed to get a 4 foot silver tinsel tree and decorated it with large 4 inch gold glass balls. I must have been five years old. We only had it that one year. It took me back in time.
I ask the store clerk if it was for sale. She called the store owner and said that he was willing to sell it to me. Currently I have it on my antique secretary that I use as a combo secretary and small set of dishes. I decorated it with sixteen of the old fashioned glass balls from my grandmother’s and my childhood. I keep it out all year long as it gives me a whimsical smile. Next to it sits an old winter Santa with nature animals in off white and metallic gold that my great aunt made in her crafting years. It’s sweet for me.
I hope that you will feel joy with your new little tree that you are planning to decorate. 🎄
Your little silver tinsel tree sounds so pretty and, with the old winter Santa your great aunt made, gives you such a comforting connection, a little altar to a good memory from your past. That was very kind of the store owner to sell it to you. Haven’t started decorating my little tree yet, I guess we’re still getting acquainted. I’m going to have to choose which ornaments from the past to use, which might turn into a bittersweet process. 🎄
It’s very good to give yourself permission to get acquainted with your new little tree. Bittersweet the process may be. Allow your emotions to flow like the tide of the sea. I believe releasing my tears clears my heart through to my next moment to eventually feel a little joy again. There’s no time line, just flow with the sea. 💙
I finally did decorate my new tree – it took the better part of the day and was bittersweet. I cried a lot and talked to Tim about all kinds of things. It was very healing. I love the way it came out. I’ve been learning a lot about dialectical thinking these days as the numbness and shock is wearing off and the deep grieving is getting under way. Your words are very wide and true. 💙
Nice artwork. We’re getting our tree next weekend, a big effort but worth it. 🙂
So many happy memories are made getting a tree — do you have a favorite tree farm? I miss all that fun (and effort)! 🎄
Yes, there is a farmer here in town where I special order my tree as I prefer a 5′ size, which is easier to handle and decorate. They also make and sell maple products – yum!
That sounds so much like the New England I remember! Yum – I do miss maple syrup by the jug. I agree with you, a smaller tree is much easier to manage and enjoy.
Barbara, I had to do a double-take and see if there were more pics of your family felling a tree or two at a tree farm – perhaps I need stronger glasses (as to the knickers). 🙂 Well that scene does look like it could be North Carolina, with leaves still on the trees, perhaps a touch of snow. I used to work with two sisters at the Firm and their parents had a longstanding tradition of going out to a tree farm and cutting their own tree down. The sisters continued that tradition with their family the day after Thanksgiving every year. They packed a picnic lunch, hot chocolate and coffee and spent a lovely day picking the perfect tree, chopping it down themselves, than hauling it back to the parking lot to pay for it. They took pictures in the woods and each sister used the best photo for their annual Christmas card. I used to be envious of how fun that would be – we had a real tree when I was very young, but then got an aluminum tree, then green artificial tree, never getting back to a real tree again.
I haven’t found any tree farms close to us here in central North Carolina – all the trees seem to be brought in from the mountains. I imagine the scene in the painting is somewhere in Denmark, as the painter is Danish. As usual, I’m drawn to all things Scandinavian. 😉
I do miss the fun of cutting down our own tree at any of the numerous tree farms nearby us in Connecticut! But since I don’t have Tim to share the experience with any more I decided to get an artificial tree now to use going forward, an alpine balsam fir. I see pictures of them in all my Scandinavian design books and magazines and always loved the way they look, very sparse and minimal with lots of space for ornaments. A new chapter in my life and hopefully I can manage to set it up all by myself. It’s only 4.5′ tall and should fit on the hearth if I’ve measured correctly. And I won’t have to move any furniture around! 🎄
I thought I remembered you writing about the tree farm experience in the past. I also had a fellow blogger from years ago when we belonged to an AOL blogging group called “Patch” and we had a Facebook group at the time as well to share our posts. He is still a FB friend, but rarely posts. Anyway, he/wife had never had kids, but they went to the tree farm and every year he did a step-by-step post of picking it, hauling it home and decorating it. They’d often have to cut some of it down as it was too tall. They had a stuffed monkey and would pose him around the Christmas decor. It was clever and cute. I have a tabletop artificial tree I used at work and my mom and I bought a Hallmark miniature tree with the tiny ornaments. Next year, I will put up one of them. That’s great you are putting up a tree and bringing some cheer to your home without a lot of bother and great you don’t have to move furniture around.
Why will it be next year when you put up one of the small artificial trees? Why not this year? Or are you opting for something bigger for now? I set up my new tree yesterday and am quickly getting used to the smaller size. Forgot about needing a smaller skirt (I always wrapped a white blanket around the bottom of our big trees) so I ordered one online. I might wait until I get the skirt before I decorate…
Next year, I have to put up a tree and decorate more – I am not happy about the lack of holiday ambiance here. I thought about putting out one of the small trees, but one I can’t get to as I moved things in front of that cupboard (where the Hallmark tree and ornaments are). You know about how I buy food for the entire winter (pantry-wise) and I overbought this year to ensure I was set until April because of tariffs, plus there were already shortages of items I use on a regular basis in the Summer already, before I started shopping for Winter. And I kept hearing (still do) about our horrible Winter we will have (I don’t doubt that after our past few days). So, I had to put things in the TV room – not wise, nor smart, but they are in small bankers boxes, so I’m glad no one comes to visit me as they’d be horrified. I used to be able to store things in my kitchen cupboards, but even with the new insulation job done in August 2017, the cupboards are very cold and I can’t climb down there anymore anyway, especially after falling on my knee in September.
The other tree is downstairs, the one I used to put on my desk at work for years. I am not sure where I could put it. I’m using the extra small table I have for painting/drawing and also I’m doing an Advent puzzle (something I will be writing about – 24 puzzles in 24 days starting yesterday until Christmas Eve). So, I don’t really know where I could put it. The tree downstairs I left the lights on it as it was easier that way – my mom got the ornaments for it, pretty Italian, hand-blown glass ornaments, just the right size for that tree. I have not put it up since my last Christmas I worked on site (2008).
I’ve got a cluttered mess here to be honest. I feel badly because I’ve only taken out two ornaments, including the cardinal ornament of my mom’s. I remember you saying in the past that it took you a day to decorate the tree. I hope you take a photo for a post of your tree when you have the new skirt and the ornaments on it.
I’m so sorry to hear that the clutter has gotten that bad, Linda! Sounds like you could use a professional organizer the help you tackle the project. My new little tree is still undecorated, but I’m enjoying looking at it and contemplating which decorations I might use, as there won’t be room for everything I used to put on the big trees. I think I might have ‘decorators block.’ 😉
Well, I helped create that clutter Barbara with all the groceries, which didn’t help, but with this horrible weather we’re having, I’m glad I don’t have to go out of the house for groceries or anything else I would need. I have allergy shots next week and will cancel if the weather is bad. I am allowed to go every four weeks, but I schedule for every three weeks as they are no longer walk-in appointments and they’re only there four days a week. I won’t drive in a storm or ice and snow for a shot for Springtime allergies … it’s not an appointment per se, just getting two shots from the “shot girl”. So I have until December 17th before I’m deemed late. The guy has not come for the gutters yet (this is Andrew, the landscaper, not the new handyman); it’s not his fault, but the leaves weren’t dropping and I kept putting him off … so he’s a bit backed up now. We had freezing rain again last night, plus he plows/shovels snow, so he’ll be more backed up with our impending snow.
As for the clutter control, in the Summer of 2024, when it was so hot, I intended to clear a lot of clutter in the basement to start there, but our City had contracted with a new garbage collection service beginning July 1st and we had nothing but problems – garbage and yard-waste pickup was not timely at all (not just days, but weeks), so I didn’t want to add more garbage to the problem, then this year, I wanted to clear out everything in the TV room/den to escape the dog’s whining and put my computer in there to get away from it. That didn’t work out so well as I wanted to get some storage shelves to put together in the basement … it was too hot and they are heavy to drag home from the store, down the stairs to the basement, so I didn’t get THAT done either. I have to get rid of my work clothes/shoes as I’ll not be wearing them anymore, but that is a big job and I have to tackle it next Spring/Summer.
I felt badly yesterday after you suggested putting something up for Christmas. So, I looked what would be the easiest way to instill some holiday ambiance today. I used to enjoy trimming the tree, even though it was small, but I really don’t know where to put it right now … you will overcome “decorator’s block” and do a wonderful job!
I’m glad you got your groceries in and don’t have to brave all that awful weather to get your food all winter. Hope you made it to your allergy shots. I’m so glad all I need is a daily Claritin to manage my allergies. And I hope your gutters are done now. I’m doing a major reorganizing, too, sorting through all of Tim’s things, keeping some things but selling or donating most of the rest. I hope I have the room ready for my sister and her husband by the time they get here! It will be great for you if you can get your computer set up away from the dog barking sounds. I had a bittersweet time decorating my small tree, missing the big ones Tim loved but falling in love with the simplicity of decorating this one. A new chapter…
I sure am glad I got all the groceries Barbara. I hate that it is a mess here as I overbought a lot of items, but they were definitely correct predicting a bad Winter and Winter has not even arrived yet, but you wouldn’t know that. Mother Nature messed up with the leaves not falling across the street (three huge trees), but they fell from the trees in the backyard behind me. The icicles are problematic and I contacted Andrew today. I just wrote in another comment that he has suspended gutter cleaning until the weather is better, unless I opted for them using a torch to thaw out the gutters, but he said it might cause a fire or damage the gutters. I don’t want to take that chance, so I’ll hope there is no gutter damage. Next year, I’ll have him out twice in the Fall. I just cancelled my allergist appointment today – the shots were for Wednesday morning, as we are expecting one to three inches of fresh snow overnight, but it will transition to rain. It will be a slushy day and we have more snow in the afternoon. I’m not liking any of this … I moved it to Thursday, but I’m sure I’ll be making it for next week. I take Alavert from April through June as my allergies are bad in the Spring … that’s even with the shots.
You have been very productive … that is what I need to do with my own clothes, mostly from my work days. I did that sad task for my mom’s clothes shortly after my mom passed away. I kept some tops because they fit me, but she was petite like you, 5′ 2″ compared to me at 5′ 9″. You have a good reason to clear out Tim’s things to prepare for your sister and her husband. That will be nice. I did reconsider taking out the ceramic tree (made by a family friend who took some pottery-making classes) but decided against it. I don’t have enough plugs and I didn’t have the laptop computer plugged into the living room plug back then … there was no laptop, as the computer desktop was downstairs. I need to go full speed ahead and I need some inspiration to get it done. I’ll let you be my inspiration. Your tree sounds nice and perhaps you can get ornament hangers for some of the other ornaments. I took out my mom’s cardinal bulb with its ornament hanger to use in a post on December 17th. Her favorite ornament, so that might be an option for you. We saw a few larger ornaments at the Hallmark store, but we had a miniature tree, so could only use miniature ornaments and my tree I took to work was too small for large ornaments, so we bought them and used an ornament hanger, or hung them on a nail, removing a knick-knack or picture in the house for Christmas to put it up. I’m sure it was bittersweet for you … I have not decorated since my mom has been gone and the house was not always that cluttered, so kudos to you in decorating and a new chapter.
Hang in there, my friend! You can do this! It is good incentive for me to get things done when I have company coming. (Maybe you could invite someone over for dinner?) I don’t think I need to display all my ornaments – I’m feeling quite content now with my minimalist-Scandinavian holiday decor. 🙂 However, I did splurge and order a Mark Roberts fairy online. I bought one, a large 17 inch woodland fairy, back in 2013 after my father died. I have it hanging from my mantel. Since the new tree sits on the hearth, in the middle, and a huge tree isn’t blocking the view of other end of the mantel now, I decided to get an 11 inch forest fairy to hang on that side, in memory of Tim.
Thank you Barbara – I do promise to do better in the new year. It is incentive that makes us get things done. I bought extra plastic bags to pack everything up, a different type than my regular bags, so I could segregate them to have them ready to go out the door once the weather is better. You can always rotate your ornaments from year to year also, giving them equal display time on your new tree. I like the idea of the forest fairy in memory of Tim to complement the woodland fairy in memory of your father. That was a good idea and perfect for this first Christmas/new chapter.
🎄
Are you getting a tree this year, Teri? I hope you are well.
Good morning, Barbara. No, I am not getting a tree this year.
Years ago shortly after I moved into this house during the pandemic, I stopped in an antique shop next to a nearby restaurant where I was having lunch. There was a silver tinsel tree 18 inches tall on the cashier counter that reminded me of my very young childhood before my mother remarried when I was six. One year in all of our poverty stricken apartment, my mother managed to get a 4 foot silver tinsel tree and decorated it with large 4 inch gold glass balls. I must have been five years old. We only had it that one year. It took me back in time.
I ask the store clerk if it was for sale. She called the store owner and said that he was willing to sell it to me. Currently I have it on my antique secretary that I use as a combo secretary and small set of dishes. I decorated it with sixteen of the old fashioned glass balls from my grandmother’s and my childhood. I keep it out all year long as it gives me a whimsical smile. Next to it sits an old winter Santa with nature animals in off white and metallic gold that my great aunt made in her crafting years. It’s sweet for me.
I hope that you will feel joy with your new little tree that you are planning to decorate. 🎄
Your little silver tinsel tree sounds so pretty and, with the old winter Santa your great aunt made, gives you such a comforting connection, a little altar to a good memory from your past. That was very kind of the store owner to sell it to you. Haven’t started decorating my little tree yet, I guess we’re still getting acquainted. I’m going to have to choose which ornaments from the past to use, which might turn into a bittersweet process. 🎄
It’s very good to give yourself permission to get acquainted with your new little tree. Bittersweet the process may be. Allow your emotions to flow like the tide of the sea. I believe releasing my tears clears my heart through to my next moment to eventually feel a little joy again. There’s no time line, just flow with the sea. 💙
I finally did decorate my new tree – it took the better part of the day and was bittersweet. I cried a lot and talked to Tim about all kinds of things. It was very healing. I love the way it came out. I’ve been learning a lot about dialectical thinking these days as the numbness and shock is wearing off and the deep grieving is getting under way. Your words are very wide and true. 💙
I’m glad to know that you love the way your tree grew into its own.
🎄