Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Selecting the Tree
I don't know much about running a Christmas tree lot, I do know it's pretty though. Every year we go to the same place to get ours. From the looks of things, it's a single family who runs it, and their house is on the property. Everyone is so friendly, no matter how cold it is outside, and we enjoy our annual visit.
I always wonder though, how much work it actually takes to keep that place up and running! There is so much land...and so many trees. I realize a good portion of the work is done on its own (the trees growing) but I bet there's still a lot of upkeep, care, and maintenance that goes into their work, and I bet it's year-round.
I went around snapping pictures of some of the different kinds of trees they had for sale. We try to switch it up and bring home a different type of tree each year. We've never had one we didn't like, but we have had some that were more fragrant than others, or that had stronger branches than others.
Hubby selected a Conrad Fir this year, and it's hard to tell in my picture how pretty is...I'm still using the emergency (aka el-cheapo) point-and-shoot I got in Chicago this summer when my camera decided to break down. The tree is nice and sturdy, holding even the heaviest of ornaments with ease, and boy does it smell good!! We also replaced our angel with a star this year. I like the angel, but little man's asked for a star two years running so we figured, eh, why not. :)
Our tree's not a sophisticated style, it's a homey one...just the way we like it. It's a conglomeration of ornaments that date back from when my husband and I were kids, until now. Most of the ornaments hold a special value or a good memory for us, and even the youngest of our brood is now saying things like, "Hey, I remember this!" :) Just the kind of thing that does a mama's heart good. ;) I think the tree is one of the best, best, best parts of the holiday season, and I'm happy ours is up and ready to enjoy. :)
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Lovely tree, Rosey! I love the smell of pine too. Our tree is homely also, it's what children love. We have a white set of lights and a set of multi-coloured, and all sorts of baubles. We love it!
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't mind an elegant or sophisticated tree someday, but NOT to replace the one full of family faves...maybe just one in addition to it. :)
DeleteRosey
ReplyDeleteIt's so warm and wonderful to create family traditions when your family is young and they will always remember, the same as you remember the holidays at your grandmother's. I much prefer the fragrance of a real tree too, even though it's more work driving, selecting, cutting.
Yes, I agree. A tree farm must be year round work but it's the kind of work that people must chose for the satisfaction of working with nature.
How kind that you remembered my memories are from my grandmother's. You're a gem, Manzanita...
DeleteI agree the love of nature would have to be paramount. It's a nice feel there, I like it.
Your tree is so beautiful Rosey... mine is a fake one... we are putting up tonight :-)
ReplyDeleteOooh have fun!!! We always had a fake one growing up and I liked it fine. We had a BIG mishap w/a real tree a couple of years back and I was ready to move to artificial but hubby loves the real trees too much to make the switch. I'm kind of glad, the house does smell good. :)
DeleteYour tree looks great! Fresh trees always smell wonderful :)
ReplyDeleteIt really does smell so good!! :)
DeleteTo run those lots takes lots of work I'm told. Yours looks great and best way to be, ornaments that mean something to thee.
ReplyDeleteI imagine it does. The work they're doing now (when everyone's buying the trees) seems hard too. I bet they like that warm house at the end of the day. :)
DeleteLooks beautiful Rosey and will admit in all my years, I never had a real tree. Maybe once we get our own home, but for now our pre-lit tree works for us with all our special decorations on it!! :)
ReplyDeleteI bet the girls just love when it's up too!!
DeleteSounds like the best kind of tree! I don't care for the trees that look all professional and like they should be in a store.
ReplyDeleteI do, hahaha, but not in the place of our family tree...never, never, never. :)
DeleteIt's a beautiful tree too. I so prefer your homey look. Yes I do.
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous day. ☺
That's the kind my gram always had for us to put up, just a homey, happy tree...in fact, I have two ornaments that go up every year from my gram's tree (& they're two of my absolute favorites). :)
DeleteWe got our tree on Sunday, but the lot was quite different from yours. We are decorating it tonite and I will post about it next week. We had far less selection, but you'll see when I get the pictures posted.
ReplyDeleteThat's just a small portion of their land, they've got land as far as you can see in every direction. It's amazing, really. :) Looking forward to your post!
DeleteYou selected a lovely tree! I like that you use a mishmash of ornaments like we do. I do have a few uniform ones, but our tree is filled with handmade ones the girls made in school, as well as each place we visit (like Disney) we pick up an ornament to place on the tree.
ReplyDeleteWe like to get an ornament when we go someplace special too. One of our Disney ornaments is full of bells, loud bells when jingled. We put that one waaaaaaaaaay up high. ;)
DeleteI love your homey tree ... it is definitely perfect!!
ReplyDeleteLanaya | xoxo
http://raising-reagan.com
I love your tree too, and the picture of your daughter beaming ear to ear where she decorated! :)
DeleteYou know those trees there are probably the best you can get! It is lovely. And we do the same on our tree - the ornaments have memories. Very pretty, sandie
ReplyDeleteNostalgia is such a nice part of Christmas. :)
DeleteI suspect that you're right about the lot. I always wonder how those folks make their money the rest of the year???? If they get another job, do they insist they must have the end of November through December off to run the lot? It's a mystery to me.
ReplyDeleteYour tree is lovely. I love all of those homemade ornaments and the ones with a memory attached. I remember having live trees when I was a kid. And then those pre-lit trees came around and it was so much easier. Now we are rocking a little 4 foot tree. Feels a bit like The Charlie Brown Christmas here... ha!
I saw a replica of the Charlie Brown tree at Home Depot last year, and it gave me pause...I think it would have been cute. :)
DeleteWhat a marvelous tree! Huge, too!
ReplyDeleteOur tree is not a decorator's dream tree,full of the ornaments over the years. We have had artificial trees for our entire married life. Some were extremely cheap. Good memories.
My grandma had the same tree my whole childhood...the ends of the branches were color coded to fit in the right slots. I never minded a bit, quite the opposite in fact. Happy holiday memories are awesome. :)
DeleteYour tree is beautiful! I love holiday traditions like picking out a tree. Decorating is so fun too. Hurray for Christmas!
ReplyDeleteI love this time of year too. Seems most people do, and I'm glad. :)
DeleteWhat a beautiful tree you have this year! I love picking out a fresh tree. It's so much better than having a fake one. Plus it's just a nice little tradition to have every year with the family :) Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteMy husband loves the tradition part too, and he's so happy dancing around that I can't help but like it too. :)
DeleteIt looks perfect!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lisa. :)
DeleteBeautiful tree! We always had an artificial tree because of my daughters allergies and we have always bought an ornament every year for her and now we buy one for grandboy too. Its always fun to unwrap the ornaments each year and talk about the memories or meaning of the ornament.
ReplyDeleteThat's a fun tradition, Angie. We buy the kids ornaments sometimes, or let them pick one out if we're in a Christmas shop. :)
Deleteyou have a beautiful christmas tree rosey - i haven't tried fresh cut like yours...our christmas tree is part of celebrating Jesus and who we are over the years and that is so cool that you have yours and your husband's ornaments when you were kids♥
ReplyDeleteI love that we have some from when we were kids two. I have two, and hubby has a handful. I'll have to remember to put some aside for my kids at some point too. :)
DeleteI think your tree looks big and beautiful! I like real trees and they smell so good, but I have to use fake trees now because it is easier! I am going to come back and look at your awesome tree!
ReplyDeleteWe made a slow cooker meal today and they usually fill the house w/the cooking smell. The pine overpowered it (in a good way) and you can't even tell anything's cooking. :)
DeleteIt's so full and lovely! What a great choice you've made!
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty fat. :) I like putting up the tree, it makes the holidays seem real. :)
Deletewe have to get ours up... i was thinking i would do it today, but time got away from me... so, now its maybe this weekend...
ReplyDeleteDays seem to be going by so so so so so fast lately, for everything!
DeleteOh I love your tree! Now that there is a tree!! (Quote from A Christmas Story.) We are the same and have ornaments dating back to when Grant and I were kids. They bring back such great memories....it's the best way to decorate a tree!!
ReplyDeleteI love that you have some from when you were kids too. Those ornaments get more and more special every year. :)
DeleteWoah, that's a lot of trees! You got a really beautiful one. It's so full!
ReplyDeleteThey sure do have a lot of land, Tammy! It's all perfectly kept up too...and that picture was just one direction, they've got land in every direction you turn, all full of big (or small) beautiful trees!
DeleteReal trees are so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThey are, and now I'm headed over to see if you're written about your concert! :)
DeleteLiving in Florida...we don't see alot of tree lots...smile. But this did make me smile...thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteYour photo shoot that's posted today is awesome, Laurie!!
DeleteI've never been to a Christmas tree lot. Living in the south I imagine the come in from somewhere else. We had one real one that I remember going to get when I was little. We went to our Farmer's Market and got it. After that we discovered my brother was allergic so that was the last real tree. Even in my adulthood I bought a fake one. The way my husband and son are with allergies I imagine the would be the same way. So our house smells regular ;-) Your tree is beautiful. It is elaborate to me.
ReplyDeleteSo many people have allergies to them, I never knew until I started talking about the trees on my blog.
DeleteLove your advent count down idea, Kenya. Did I say that already?? I think I did, but I can say it again. :)
Beautiful, I use a plastic one, but one day I'm going to do real!
ReplyDeleteI like both... we always do real. I thought we'd do fake this year, but hubby loves the real deal. It's nice. It's nicer to see him (hubby) bouncing around so happy. :)
DeleteOne of the best times of the year
ReplyDeleteAgreed. :)
DeleteNothing like a real tree
ReplyDeleteIt sure smells good. :)
Deleteno christmas without a christmas tree :-)
ReplyDeleteThe tree does make the festive amp up to 100%. :)
DeleteI would love to know how much work goes into a tree farm. I imagine you're right, it's a lot more than you think. And I love your tree!! It's beautiful! :-D
ReplyDeleteI'm so curious about it this year too. It seems intrusive to ask, maybe I'll look it up on Google. :)
DeleteHeh, we haven't had a Christmas tree up in our home for years, and even then it was an artificial one.
ReplyDeleteI'd miss the tree if we didn't put it up, I'm sure of it. :)
DeleteWe've never had the experience of a Christmas tree, but I've received beautiful ornaments and Christmas decorations from students over the years. I fill my classroom with all of these beautiful things each year.
ReplyDeletehttp://joycelansky.blogspot.com/2013/12/wordless-wednesday-black-friday.html
Ah, I bet you do get your fill of gifts. :) We like to spoil the teachers a bit too, they deserve it whether they celebrate the holiday or don't. :)
DeleteA very nice tree! We used to have a big tree much like yours. Have had a much smaller one the last couple of years.
ReplyDeleteMy mom said she's putting up a 2-ft'er this year. :)
DeleteIt looks nice and full! I bet it's beautiful in person. It looks pretty in the photos, but everything looks better in person.
ReplyDeleteMy camera is ridiculous...but better than nothing. :) It does look very pretty in person.
DeleteYour tree looks very pretty! Our tree is a homey type tree filled with decorations we've had for years and keep adding one or two new ones each year. Some are homemade or from crafting. We usually put up an artificial tree, but I'd love to have a real one because they smell soo good!
ReplyDeleteIt is nice to walk in the house and be greeted with that fresh pine smell. It's not so strong today as it was, but it still smells good. :)
DeleteYour Christmas tree is beautiful! I have never try using a real tree, we always use the fake one because the husband doesn't like it.
ReplyDeleteMy hubby is the opposite. He likes the real one and doesn't want an artificial one. :) Thanks for your visit, Anne. :)
DeleteHi Rosey .. that's great and your tree looks wonderful. The scent of pine is special isn't it - but now you've got your decorations on .. what a beautiful glowing tree it is ..
ReplyDeleteLove the star too - and your little one will be so pleased ... enjoy seeing the fruits of your labour lit up and smelling sweet! Cheers Hilary
I'm always saying I love this or that about the holidays, but it is seeing the kids excited about the holiday that really makes it fun. :)
DeleteYour tree is beautiful Rosey mine is still in the cupboard LOL
ReplyDeleteHave a treetastic week :-)
It's begging to get out of there!! lol :)
DeleteYour tree is beautiful! We always like a homey tree as well, it's covered with a mix of ornaments styles and old paper decorations the kids have brought home over the years. I miss having a real tree, our house is soooooo dry in the winter that I can't keep a live tree fresh for long so we've had a fake tree for years, it's still my favorite part of the season as well!
ReplyDeleteThe homemade ornaments are some of my faves. :) I loved your WW post today, you got some great pics of you and your daughter!
DeleteAww, this makes me want to start the tradition of buying real Christmas trees... We have a fake one now.
ReplyDeleteI grew up with an artificial tree and I loved that too. :)
DeleteHomey is the best kind of Christmas tree and the scent must be heavenly! :)
ReplyDeleteIT's subsided now, but it sure did smell good for a bit!
DeleteIt looks gorgeous Rosey! We have a tree up…no lights or ornaments yet. My shoulder is still bothering me, so I'm waiting for hubby to get started! Have a great day!!
ReplyDeleteWishing that shoulder heals up soon for you. :)
DeleteI love a fresh tree and homemade ornaments are my favorite. Every year I make my kids help me string popcorn garlands. They like it for about ten minutes. The eating of my popcorn, they do like!
ReplyDeleteThat ten minutes is probably going to stick w/them for life. :)
DeleteWow! Your tree is so beautiful Rosey! It must be interesting visiting the farm and seeing all those trees. Some years ago we had some small ones in our yard but they all got damaged by storms and hurricanes. We should really get some more planted in the future.
ReplyDeleteIt is nice to go see the trees, IF it's not too cold outside. :)
DeleteI like a homey Christmas tree too. Your tree is beautiful! We still need to get our tree.
ReplyDeleteThank, Kimberly. Have fun decorating!
DeleteThat is the perfect tree. So beautiful Rosey! Good thing you have a great spot for it because it looks huge.
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty big this year, the first one we've gotten that was hard to carry. It's nice though, makes the room instantly festive. :)
DeleteWe've got the best tree we've ever had this year and looks like you have too! We just need someone to decorate it now before Christmas!
ReplyDeleteHave a great week
Wren #259
Congrats on getting a tree you love! Thanks for visiting. :)
DeleteWe haven't had a real tree. The cat tried to mess with ornaments last year...I can only imagine what she'd do with a real tree! LOL
ReplyDeleteI've heard tell cats can be enthralled w/the tree. I can see it. :)
DeleteYou have a beautiful tree Rosey.
ReplyDeleteI just took mine out last night. I'm waiting on the kids to come home so we can decorate it together. They asked for the tree and to help with it all.
What a great experience to get to visit a tree farm. I'd love to go sometime, I bet the smell is wonderful!
And we do have a star too. The kids love it.
You know, you can't really smell the pine at the farm, that's weird and I never thought of it!! I could smell it when we got home though, for a good few days. The scent's not so big now, you have to be right next to the tree to get it. It's sure nice those first couple of days!
DeleteHave fun decorating!! I already know you will. :)
That's so cool that you guys go to a family owned business to get your tree every year. The one year we got a real one we went to Lowe's I think. I know the importance of supporting local businesses so we will definitely look for that first the next time we get a real one. Thank you for sharing with us at Countdown in Style! Don't forget to stop by Friday to see if you are featured! xo
ReplyDeleteWe didn't have a real tree this year and although I was disappointed, I really loved what we did. I love going to the lot. I don't know if there's a lot any where I live now. Thanks for sharing and linking up with Countdown in Style!
ReplyDelete~~April~~
100lbCountdown.com
You have a beautiful tree. I prefer real trees, I just can't wrap my mind around the idea of having an artificial tree, to me it sort of defeats the purpose.
ReplyDelete