We are blessed with a beautiful living room with 18' ceiling, so when we pick a Christmas tree (we've been cutting a fresh one for the last 6 years we've been here), it needs to be big enough to fit the proportions of the room. Every year I think we find a bigger and prettier one. Yesterday we cut down a monster of a Noble Fir - 14' tall, even after we took about 2' off the top. The kids (who insisted they keep their brooms for the photo, after sweeping up needles we left on the ground from dragging it in) give the photo an idea of scale:
I strung up the lights on it today, reaching from the loft to string up the top branches, and a from a ladder for the remainder. The two strings of lights sparsely cover, but still look lovely (click for a slightly larger view):
It was fun driving home, a lot of people were staring at us, thinking we are crazy. Of course, once we got home and had to tackle the tree off the car, up the stairs, and into the stand (wow, it just barely fit, leaving almost no room for water!), then we also knew that we were crazy. But what a beautiful tree it will make for Christmas.
By next year, hopefully we'll have furniture in the living room (we've been shopping for some time now, but haven't found the right furniture yet), and then maybe we won't be able to drag in a monster tree anymore. So in the meantime, we'll enjoy it while we can.
What a wonderful tradition! And, that tree is gorgeous. I hope you manage to find furniture that's easy to move so you can keep it going for many more years. Happy Holidays!
ReplyDeleteThat is one big tree! Bet is smells up the whole house too. :)
ReplyDeleteThat's one huge tree!! I know you and your family will enjoy it! I really like a "real" tree, because they smell wonderful.
ReplyDeleteHope you have a blessed Christmas!
What a wonderful tree and a wonderful family endeavor! I'd be tempted to haul out the sleeping bags! ha?
ReplyDeleteLove it! We have 9 foot ceilings, yet have always had smaller tree's. Mostly do to cost. This year we went to a local tree farm and got a giant (well it was until I heard how big yours is!) 9 foot tree. We had to take a foot off so it would fit, but it's definitely the biggest tree we have ever had! I love it! I don't think I'll ever go back to small. Best part? We paid less than half at the tree farm the price we paid the year before at a local nursery. Good times!
ReplyDeleteThank you all for your encouraging words.
ReplyDeleteKate - Yes, I hope we can still move furniture around when that time comes.
Jen & Dorothy - Yes, I love the smell and look of the fresh tree.
Shady - One year we decided to leave the tree for my daughter's birthday (in January), and did a camping theme around it - see my post here and here.
Laura - Yes, it's hard to go back to smaller. I also discovered lesser known farms on Craigslist. This year we bought from a nearby farm with 10+ ft Noble Firs for $35 each, and he even threw in some holly branches! I am sure this one would cost $150 or $200 at a nursery, and $75 or more at the more popular tree farms (the ones with hot chocolate and cute bunnies to hold).
Ha ha, I realized after I wrote it, that I exaggerate a bit... I don't know if we ever paid more than about $40 in a garden shop/nursery, but then I think we were buying the typical Douglas fir in the 10' range at that time, before we ventured into the U-Cut territory, and discovered the taller trees and much more varieties.
ReplyDeleteFunny, I look back in my blogs (which have better memory than I!), and a couple years back, we already had a 15' Douglas fir, and very bushy too - see it undecorated and decorated.
Last year we had that tree which was also a different variety, very prickly and pale green. It was also very pretty. This year's tree is much narrower and darker green, in comparison.
The good thing about having a fading memory, is that each year, our tree seems to be the biggest and the best! :-) I can also enjoy laughing at the same jokes many times, too.
Beautiful Cut for christmas tree.
ReplyDeleteJust like to share with you a quotes about life...
"The good life is inspired by love and guided by knowledge." -- Bertrand Russell
You can get more quotes about life at http://quotelandia.com/category/life