As you can probably tell by the lack of farm pictures lately, things are pretty quiet around here. Everyone is pretty much settled in for the winter, and there’s nobody having babies this time of year. The main task is taking beef to the locker every couple of weeks. But I promise to show up tomorrow with some kind of farm picture, just to get things back on topic.
I can never bring myself to start decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving. Every year I tell myself, in the interest of time and efficiency, that I should just do a few things ahead of time. But I never actually do it. I enjoy Thanksgiving. For me, anyway, it’s a time of reflection and of course gratitude. And it’s one of the few holidays where people gather to enjoy great food and each other’s company, without gifts or copious amounts of candy.
But the day after Thanksgiving? It’s a go. I don’t do the whole shopping thing…so not worth the early hours or fighting the crowds to me. No, our tradition is to go out and get a Christmas tree that day.
Last year I remember it was really cold and snowy. Not this year. It was in the 50’s! A nice day to be walking around a tree farm, but hard to feel Christmasy about it. (In a few days we’re supposed to be at lows in the single digits and highs in the teens.)
We decided to try a different tree farm this year, and headed down to Marble Rock to Lines’ Tree Farm. It is a really nice farm run by really nice people, and the trees and wreaths are very reasonably priced. We’ll definitely be returning next year!
View from the top of the hill
After all of these years, I remain the family member most enthusiastic about this tradition. I’m subjected every year to comments like, “Just pick a tree already!” They had the type of skinny, short-needled, Charlie Brown-ish trees I love. I know it’s a fir, but can anybody tell me which variety of fir?
(And for those keeping score at home, no, we still – after 9 years of living here – have no woodwork.)
The girls helped me decorate it. The tree skirt is a tattered old red-and-white quilt Matt’s foster mom made. And I just realized we haven’t put our “star” on top! Our “star” is a sunflower basket my friend Ann gave me a long time ago. Going to have to go get that out of the basement and into its proper place!
This tree is making me so happy!
i look forward to your comments every day. your home seems like such a happy place to be. what a lovely tree. we haven’t done our tree yet. i like your idea of visiting a tree farm as a tradition on the day after thanksgiving. i’m really bad at trees, but i say douglas fir.
Your house is lovely!!!! How do you keep your tree alive till after Christmas??
Karl – well, it’s definitely not happy smiley shiney here 24/7. But I will concede that we have many blessings to count. Thank you for that kind comment. Things seem much the same down your way.Patti – the tree is definitely “shedding” by the time New Year’s rolls around, but as long as we keep it watered it’s not too bad.
Wow, what a beautiful tree. I’m envious of your cold weather. The Christmas lights and smell of pine just seems to fit better with winter. (I’m used to Aussie BBQs and South African heatwaves over Christmas!)
it’s beeeeutiful!! How do you keep it fresh until x-mas? Lovely!!
That looks like a very “happy” tree, full of family ornaments and wrapped with a lovingly-made quilt. Thanks for sharing!
Wow, nobody has guessed the tree yet. Is it a balsam fir? In MN I always had the airy balsams. When we planted a few Christmas trees here, we were told it was to far south for balsams, and the closest tree to the balsam was the Canaan Fir.
candice – I don’t know if I could ever be a “snowbird” and go south for the winter. Well, maybe once Christmas is past.stacie – as long as we never let it run completely out of water, and refill it with hot tap water each time, it stays pretty nice.HHG – I have no idea, next year I’m going to be sure and ask!
I believe what you have here is a Fraser Fir. However, it is quite difficult to distinguish a fraser from a caanan or balsam. Regardless, it is a very attractive tree.