It's the fourth year we have had a real tree, some years they have fared better than others. 2010 was particularly bad as due to spacial constraints it had to be located next to a radiator, which i know is a massive real tree no-no and by new years there was almost nothing left of it, and any pine needles that had remained insitu were dislodged when Chris wrestled it out the front door. I'm pretty sure it was so bad we photographed the evidence but i can't tell you where that would be now, filed away somewhere safe i'm sure ;)
Anyway, last year the tree was by the window and that worked out better. This year we're in a whole new house, and despite it being twice the size of the old house, we still ended up having to rearrange the furniture a little in order to find somewhere suitable for the tree to go- how does that work?!
So it is near a window again, but ummm...also kinda near a radiator too, since there's one under the window. Ho hum. Every year Chris and i battle, him wanting to get a fake tree, me wanting to get a real one, me winning (of course) and then him vowing that next year he will win. I can see his side of the argument, don't get me wrong. Certainly financially it makes more sense to get a fake one, and now we have the loft i don't have the "We have nowhere to store it!" argument either. I just really really love real christmas trees. They look fantastic, they smell delicious, i like that you get to pick a new one each year and that you just plonk it outside with your recycling come new year rather than having to pack it all up and stuff it back into a box.
So, i won again obviously and on the 3rd December the advent calendar spoke:
(Mainly because the 3rd December was our only day off together as a family until the week before christmas)
So off we went! Picking one was pretty easy this year as we had some criteria- tall (as we have high ceilings) but not TOO bushy, with good needle-retaining-qualities, and with a budget of £30, £35 tops. The one we chose was actually supposed to be £40 but the guy let us have it for £35 and helped Chris carry it home as it turned out he lives a few doors down from us.
Toby was super excited. Rudy was utterly baffled. Just when he thought he had a handle on the universe, the grown-up people, the sensible, predictable ones, start bringing GIANT TREES indoors!
Anyway we got the christmas music on, as per tradition, and they both got straight to work- Toby hanging decorations, and Rudy pulling them off and tasting them.
And now it's done Toby wants to know, every single day, is it christmas morning yet?! It's the first year he's really been old enough to even have a concept of 'Santa' and he's excited but slightly puzzled by it all. Yesterday, after a particularly spectacular unprovoked meltdown, made more dramatic by the fact he was nude (he was getting ready for bed!) he told me, between sniffs, that he was sad because "My wish Santa would come and bring me presents" so i think he's getting a little impatient now, what with having no concept of time and the fact every Tom, Dick and Harry we come across keeps asking him if he's been "good" so "father christmas" will fetch him toys (*sigh*)
It might mean the tree has to go up slightly later in years to come. But for now, i'm enjoying the view
And the smell. Which really is very magical :)
Love it!
ReplyDelete