How many of you still (assuming you ever did ) put up Christmas trees? Do you prefer fake or the real deal? I still have family at home, so we do the tree thing every year, but I know a lot of older people who are just tired of it. I love the festivities and the decorations, but I don't like all the work involved in decorating. If I'm ever left by myself, I'll probably just drop it to the bare minimum. How about you guys?
I go to my daughters house for the holidays so I do very little at home anymore, but I did until my husband died and then the few years I had an SO we always put up a tree and even decorated outside to some extent. When I get back from my daughter's after Thanksgiving I will put a tiny tree out and maybe a wreath on my door. Also a few other decorations I may have.
When we lived on a farm, we only used the lower 5 rooms. There were 4 more upstairs. Dad bought a large artificial tree and we nicely decorated it . After Christmas, dad took it upstairs to one of the unused rooms, covered it and left it until the next Christmas. Seemed to work out pretty well.
When we had our house south of Denver, CO for three years, we done good job of decorating it inside and out. Lights along the top of the 3-car garage, lights on our front porch, fake 7' tree in family dinning area and a real 5' one in living room/family room. Stairway inside decorated with lights and two upstairs windows, facing street, with lights. At that time we were in our mid 50's. Today, in our mid 60's, we now put up a 7' fake lighted tree in the living room and lights around the fireplace behind the tree. Wife loves decorating the tree and does a terrific job. We didn't do it last year, but we also have a rather large Christmas Village that covers our dining room table and we put lights up on the edge of our roof in the front of our apartment. The lights go from the one side of our "bungalow/single story" apartment all the way around the side of the apartment, to the back. We also put "net" type lights on the bushes and an animated Buck Deer in front of our living room window. We will put up the tree this year, but not sure yet about all of the outside lights. When we first moved to this apartment, 7 yrs. ago, we bought a real tree for inside, but trying to find the right tree definitely was a problem. So, two years ago, Home Depot had a great looking 7' lighted fake tree on sale and we bought it. After we finish with it, it looks terrific! Wife is a major fan of Halloween, Easter and Christmas and decorate for all three. She will dang near cry when it's time to take down all the Christmas décor. I have to admit, it all does look beautiful and many residents in our complex get stunned at how much we can decorate.
We've used fake ones a few years but we usually use a real one. The cats really enjoy having a tree in the house and sometimes it even survives until Christmas. We have thousands of perfectly good Christmas trees on our land but by the time it's time to put up a tree, I can't get to our land and, while I am willing to walk -- or even to snowshoe -- two miles there and back once in a while, I am not willing to do so carrying a tree. So we buy one here in town. I don't like chintzy little ornaments so, each year, we buy a few good quality ornaments to add to the collection. The Tractor Store has some good quality ornaments at a good price, that is if you like having Christmas ornaments with horses, cows, and barns on them.
We used to buy the real pine tree for the Christmas tree. We just love the scent that the live tree exudes. It is like being in a mountain cabin when I smell that pine scent in the morning. Unfortunately, the live pine tree is very rare now so we had to suffice ourselves with the plastic tree that is stored in our stock room. On the first week of December, we would clean that plastic tree and attach the usual decorations and lights. But I am still hoping that maybe, just maybe, we would find a live tree being sold in the Sunday market.
LOL I think that's a great idea, Ike. I had a friend who always kept her tree on a rolling stand so she could roll it into a spare closet every year after Christmas. If I had a spare closet or extra room, I'd definitely do the same.
Like alot of things as I get older I have stopped the Christmas tree, gave away my lovely ornaments & lights. Then 2 years ago I bought a 5 ft fake tree, pre-lit and some inexpensive plastic ornaments. When it came time to take it down, I had my grandsons take the whole thing to the dumpster. Not only did I hate how it looked, I have no room to store it! Last year, I picked up another fakie; a tiny table-top affair, no lights but had a few ornaments. I hated that, too. I always hang a wreath on the door, but that's about it. This year however, I am toying with the idea of a small REAL tree, packed with as many white lights as I can stuff into its branches, a topper and that's all. I have seen trees packed only with tiny lights and they seem pretty to me. This way, after Christmas, the grandsons can just drag it into our wooded area for "storage".
We no longer have her but, when we moved from Texas to Maine, we took in a feral cat that I had been feeding for years, named Bird. Her first Christmas as a house cat, she couldn't even contain her thrill about having a tree in the house. We got a large real tree, and put it up in our upstairs living room. We had barely gone downstairs after decorating it when we heard a crash. She had climbed it, and knocked it over. I put it back up, adding some weights to the stand in order to make it sturdier. The tree remained standing after that but, one by one, the ornaments hit the floor as she was slapping at them. I bought one that played a song whenever it was moved, and Bird wasn't sure whether to consider it a toy or an enemy. She would sneak up to it, slap it, then retreat. The funniest though, was after we put gifts under the tree. Our nephew was with us then, and I had bought him some CDs, and there were some other smaller gifts under the tree. Then I saw Bird coming down the stairs with a wrapped gift in her mouth. She stashed it, and went back for another. I miss that cat.
I love the smell of evergreen that comes with your Christmas tree. When I was a little girl we'd sell Christmas trees every year so I would help clean up and grab all the trimmed tree branches. I'd keep them and make something festive with it every year. Now there is only 2 of us Mom and I, so we put up a little crafted tree my Aunt made for us on Christmas long ago. My Aunt has passed, so I suppose she sees it now from heaven. Happy Holidays one and all! image from http://www.kpic.com/news/local/Umpqua-National-Forest-now-selling-tree-permits-179151181.html
Here is our fake/lighted/decorated tree in front of fireplace. And, here is our Christmas décor outside.
Kristtina, that's such a sweet story! Every Christmas, I get sentimental and think about the ones who went before me. I reflect on the wisdom of my Grandma, and her family, and my Dad. It's tough to go through the holidays with minimal family, but I, like you, am secure in knowing where they are. Merry Christmas to you, my friend!