It’s Finally Looking a Bit Like Christmas
It’s three days before Christmas and the tree finally has more than just lights and mitten garland on it. With so much of our lives revolving around animals, most of the decorations are animal themed with a few special ornaments we have made or collected over the years to commemorate special things in our lives. In the last couple of decades together, there has only been a handful of years that we weren’t able to go cut down our tree and bring it home. Some years we have had to drive literally hours to get to a tree farm but it is always worth it. Spending time choosing the right tree and bringing it home to fill the house with good smells and good cheer makes for terrific memories.
This tree farm has activities for families in addition to getting to cut down your own tree.
Lumberjack hubby cutting down the tree.
The tree farm gift shop.
The finished Christmas tree with soft, non-fragile ornaments at the bottom to keep curious furballs safe :).
Reflections of Christmas.
This year’s tree came from Yesterland Farm in Canton, Texas.
Please Note: Our tree is not decorated with icicles – AKA tinsel. Although we love the shimmer effect that icicles give to a tree, we gave them up years ago because they are unsafe for pets. Just one long, thin strand can cause injuries like a strangulated tongue, intestinal obstruction, or even death if ingested by your pet. And just because you don’t see your pet eating things like this doesn’t mean it can’t happen. How often do you find icicles months after Christmas is over – or Easter grass when you are cleaning for Christmas?
Think safety for your pets when you do your holiday decorating.
What a fun post! Tinsel was a MUST when I was growing up. I remember watching my mother (she was the only one qualified to put tinsel on a tree–though I never figured out how she got qualified) putting the tinsel on, strand-by-strand. Our tree was always declared “just a tch better than the “Jones” tree because their tinsel wasn’t just right. I do believe that the tinsel operation and adoration thereof was therapy for my mother. There were six children in the family, and I think the fact that she could completely leave the real world and deal only with the issue of perfectly hanging, straight tinsel, was her escape at a very hectic time of year. Then whenever she needed to, she could just sit and stare at the tree and revel in her masterpiece! When we were newlyweds, we began Christmas life together with tinsel. However, as it became plastic and “safe”, it lost its charm. We also haven’t used tinsel for more than 30 years–and that’s good for our felines, though our giving it up wasn’t quite as well-though out as yours! Thanks so much for the memory. May you have the Blessing of Christmas now, and every day of the New Year, too!
LOL – I can just see your mother now hanging up those littles shimmery strands! It is funny that some people do the strand-by-strand method while other people just throw them on in clumps. We were a strand by strand method too. Those icicles do add that extra special touch to a tree. As a kid, I had cousins that floated their icicles onto their tree from the upstairs balcony because their living room was two stories tall – as was their tree. I wish we could still use them, but our little furballs are much more important to us. We dont’ do anything around here without first looking at the impact it could have on our “zoo”.
Christmas Blessings to you and yours as well!