It's Beginning to Look a Little Like Christmas

There was a light dusting of snow in the Vancouver area yesterday, in the late morning. It was very pretty. I love how the hard surfaces all turn white.

I'm glad it hasn't snowed any more since then, but the sky looks heavy, and it feels like it could come at any time. I'm not looking forward to shovelling, or being stranded at home, so I hope it holds off a bit longer.

I finally got my act together, and put away all the empty pots into the shed, and hid away the hoses, and shut off the hose bib (the one which is not frost-free, the others don't get shut off). Only 1 pot couldn't be moved, since it is frozen down. And a strip of plywood which the landscapers left in the upper yard, it is also frozen down. So I'll need to wait until it rains, to put those away. But it feels nice to have everything otherwise settled for the Winter.

Today we had a chance to get our Christmas tree. We wanted to do the lumberjack thing, and cut our own, but I found a listing on Craigslist for freshly cut ones, up to 14' tall, for $25. That's a good price, and somehow we all felt a little tired, or lazy, or not looking forward to spending so much time in the cold...

Usually we buy natural Douglas Fir. These ones were Norwegian Fir, and one of the tall ones was really different than the others, a lighter colour of green, really short needles, and lots of branching. We had to get that one. So we hauled it home, set it in its stand, and I strung up the lights. Maybe tomorrow we can tackle ornaments. Here it is in the living room (at 11' or 12' tall it is looking pretty comfortable with our 18' tall ceiling).

Here's a close up of the branch. Does anyone recognize it? I found out that it is incredibly prickly - I had to use my rubberized garden gloves while winding the lights through it, and my arms were covered in red dots when I was done.

They also had some beautiful little blue spruce trees, for only $15, so we picked up a second tree for our Family Room. The kids can have that as "their" tree (as long as they help me decorate the big one, too!).

We may never be quite "ready" for Christmas, but little by little, we're getting closer.