General Chat

The Christmas tree is set to come down today, for the first time in eight years.

It takes a week to decorate and another to un-decorate.

I really am wondering if I am in any mental state to do it this year as there will only be the two of us here.

It is very lovely when it is done and I am hoping the mice have not had a go at it!

Sharron, I was watching a prog last night that showed a lady who has to photograph where she has put the baubles on her tree so she can remember where they go. She needs this as she takes them off to WASH at least 10 times over Christmas!!! She is obsessive about cleaning so imagine having to do that!!! :-S

There's only 2 of us and our tree will be coming out of the loft tomorrow, but we still love to see the house and tree all decorated. :-)

As there is just the two of us at home and we don't have family over for xmas anymore, we go to them lol, I now have a prelit 3ft tree that stands on the sideboard


Saves all the decorating and undecorating. Just take it out of its box ,fan the branches and switch on
Bought a new one too this year from Tesco online cost .£58! But has baubles on it that change colour as the inners rotate

The last one was an extra to the main tree and lasted 10 years so this one isn't too dear if it last as long

Mine is a seven footer. it's huge.
We had a six footer, still have, but were in a cheap shop in Havant one year and this one was reduced from £120 to £60. I wanted it bu couldn't justify buying it.

All over Christmas I kept thinking about this huge tree and. I might add, pestering about it. OH was so exasperated after Christmas that he went storming off to Havant, muttering a lot and describing where the tree would be going if I ever carried on like that again!

When he got to the shop, there was a bit missing off the stand for the tree so it was reduced to £30.

Tree-hee-hee!

I had an emailed video showing how to wrap the tree complete with lights and decorations in cling film before putting it away. Next time you need it you just unwrap the cling film and hey presto job done. I think it might take up a lot of storage space!

we always have a real tree so we haven't bought it yet
but I really must get the decs down and get started

Annx I watched that programme too.
The narrator also said fake Christmas trees last, on average, 6 years.
May explain why mine's a bit threadbare - it's over 20 years old :-(

However, before I even saw the programme, I bought a new one at the weekend. This one's only 4ft :-D
It was a bit odd. In Sainsbo's, they had 6' trees at £26, and 4' trees at £6. Hence the 4 footer :-D :-D :-D

We have had our artificial tree for about 30 years and it still looks good. Cost us £25 I seem to remember. I love decorating the tree even if it is just us but do find it tiring these days, although 'undecorating' it is worse. Still I do it because I love to see it. today I have set out my seven illuminated cottages and the surrounding snow scene so the decorations are started.

we always used to have a 5-6' real tree, it didn't go up until the weekend before Christmas and came down on January 6th

..................... now, we haven't had a tree for about 10 years.

but, we haven't been home for the holidays since 1999, apart from 2005, when OH had to have emergency surgery to "ream out" his prostate after having had a part of his colon removed just 10 days before .......... he was forbidden to leave the city for 3 weeks, so we had to cancel plans.

A friend brought round a tiny artificial, ready decorated tree for us to borrow ................ it was less than 12" tall, and she'd had it for years!

I went out and bought a turkey breast, and trimmings ............... so we did have a festive meal!



we don't even put up the cards now ................ even if we are only going away for 3 or 4 days, it just doesn't seem worth it!

we open them all, read them, and just pile them on the sideboard.

We have a large fake tree. In a box. In the garage. I've been trying to give it away for years.

We also have a small decorated tree, about 3' high. Plug it in and it rotates and flashes the lights. It also plays really annoying Christmas music.... that is switched OFF :-) EasyPeasyTree..... take it out of the plastic bag, turn the branches the right way up, and plug it in. It's still in the cupboard, might get it out in a week or so.

I haven't written even one card yet.......... lazy, or can't be bothered. Bah Humbug.

I HAVE A SIX FOOT SILVER SPIRAL TREE AND I THINK SOMEWHERE A SIX FOOT GREEN ONE BUT AT THE MOMENT LACK OF SPACE(TIDYNESS) WE CANNOT PUT THE TREE ANYWHERE,

OH ANOTHER POINT TO NOT GOING IN THE LOFT TO GET DECORATIONS DOWN IS OH WOULD START BRINGING BOXES,,,,, DOWN AN SORT THROUGH THEM,ON THE PRETEXT OF TIDYING THE LOFT,YOU THINK I JOKE ONE YEAR BOXING DAY STRIPPED THE LOFT,THREW A LOT OF MEMORIES AWAY THAT DAY,,,WONT FORGET ,,EVER.

When we were young we had an amazing Christmas that my father picked up at an auction.

I always remember him saying it came from Harrods. It was artificial, silver all over. It was so beautifully constructed, the branches all unfolded, they were very intricate, just like a real tree. It stood in a bright red, wooden base, like a pot.

It must have been about 7' tall.

We have always had a fresh tree at home.

Fred's mate, who has always brought the tree from the loft with no problem, was joined by our other mate who is always foreman. Suffice to say that I know I will never go to his funeral because I will be in custody at the time!

I could hear a lot of instruction and bits of tree appeared from time to time. Somehow we now have the six foot tree up.

Can't say I am feeling very enthusiastic about doing the decorating but I do have the lights on the tree, even if they don't all work.

We have 2 trees, both bought in the last 5 years and both came from John Lewis.

The one for the lounge looks like a real tree,
Not like a normal Christmas tree, but a real 6 foot tree in winter which is pre lit with white lights
My OH bought it because our daughter fell in love with it
The artist in her allows it to be decorated with clear glass baubles only. Nothing else
it's quite cold looking

The other tree for the dining room, well ..it's artificial and looks like a real Christmas tree except..... it can also be built upside down.
We had it upside down for one year only and I hated it.
Mind you, it doesn't take up much floor space in the upside down mode!

I've got my 2 grandsons this Saturday evening/Sunday morning, and really should get the decorations down so they can decorate the tree, but I'm sure I'll be babysitting them nearer Christmas!!

I have them Christmas day from 2pm to 8pm (daughter working).
They'll open most of their presents at home with mum.

So, when they get here, we'll have Christmas dinner, they'll open the presents from me - which will include a 'Minion' onesie from Pr*mark for each of them.
This will encourage them to have bath, put them on, watch a Christmas DVD, and be ready for bed when mum picks them up and she can put them to bed immediately when they get home!! :-D :-D

(that's the ideal situation) :-\

I USED TO PUT JUST THE FRONT OF THE TREE
UP AND BECAUSE IT TAKES UP LESS ROOM PUSHED
BACK AGAINST THE WALL ITS SAFER,ANYWAY IF ITS
AGAINST THE WALL WHO SEES THE BACK.

1 day to put ours up. That includes him getting into to loft for the tree (7 1/2 ft) and the decorations.

But then once Boxing Day is over, I start removing decoritions every day, just a few at a time, many come in special boxes so it makes it easier.

Then by 12th night, the tree is bare and ready to go back up in the loft 'til next year.

But I hope ours will be back down in the late summer as we are hoping to move down to Kent to be nearer his family (I have none, so I do not care where I live!).

So looking forward to moving, had a truly big clear out over the late summer, and now am having little mini ransacks around the house, being truly brutal (as if!) about what I can and cannot keep. We will be downsizing from a 3 bed terraced house to a 2 bed bungalow. It is hard to get rid of stuff. But have donated over 500 paperbacks to different charities, 3 of my 10 bookcases went and a myriad of other stuff all to charity, and I have lost count of the amount of black bags of true rubbish!!! And the house is still full........ :-D :-D

Christmas in a bowl

I still haven't had time to get our trees down from the loft and my kids think that I'm a Scrooge.
I bought some tubes of Grow Your Own Snow, which when water is added, grows to ten times the amount.
1 tube was enough to fill a wide glass bowl and to this I added a few Christmassy bits and pieces.
2 small wooden reindeer and a tiny light up christmas tree.

I told my girls that this was all we were having this year

After a few days, the snow in the bowl started to disappear because the water content was evaporating.
I was about to throw it away when I tried adding water again.

Hey Presto!... it worked and the snow "re-grew"

My Christmas is a bowl should last til Friday when I plan to set the trees up.

Tree is older than me and still in good condition i'm 30 now and parents have been married 35 years. Will get it out the loft this week probably. We also have a real tree which used to be 9' but parents as they have now apparently downsized to a 3 bed bungalow will now only be 8'

Tawny