Now it’s December, I can probably mention the Christmas word without getting lynched. Probably.
Akra Jr and Li’l Bhaji are very excited about it all and are already begging to get the decorations out. I’m trying to resist until the week before, mainly because I get bored of manoeuvring around the Christmas Tree all the time. I am probably being a killjoy. Probably.
We have committed the environmental sin of buying a fake tree a few years ago (Akra is allergic to real trees – tends to put a bit of a dampener on the Christmas spirit when you spend a week itching after putting decorations up) so I could technically put it up early. But I won’t. Probably.
Talking of dampened spirits. If you do have a real Christmas Tree this year, make sure you water it regularly, won’t you? This is not just due to the dreaded needle drop, but apparently because they have a tendency to go woosh within three seconds at the slightest spark otherwise. Even with a fire alarm you’d be hard pushed to get the entire family out the house within three seconds, so probably best to pre-emptively water. I’d like my readership to have a tragedy-free festive season, if possible.
So, what are your holiday decorating traditions? Got yours up yet, waiting for the last possible moment or do you just ignore it completely? Real or Fake?
12 responses so far ↓
1 wintermute // 7th Dec 2007 at 11:25 am
I don’t see that chopping down a live tree every year is any more environmentally friendly than using the same fake tree every year…
2 Tami // 7th Dec 2007 at 11:38 am
We have a fake tree. I would never have a real tree because I have had to care for and decorate one before and it was a pain.
We decorate the day after Thanksgiving, which this year was November 23rd. I like to enjoy the decorations for one full month anyway.
3 Lisa // 7th Dec 2007 at 12:24 pm
Apparently real ones do come out just ahead in the eco stakes – though I can’t find the link just now I’ll pop back when I do.
We put it up at the last moment (probably Sunday 23rd this year aas the girls will be out for the afternoon); it is real; I *love* it!
4 Pewari // 7th Dec 2007 at 1:21 pm
It’s something to do with the fact that it’s particularly evil plastics that go into a fake tree which is a huge no-no to environmentalists.
A real tree, if it’s locally grown and no harmful pesticides, provides habitat and has far less impact on the environment, especially if then disposed of to make mulch or replanted after the season.
I do love the smell of a real tree, but they are a lot of hassle. That combined with Akra’s allergy just make it a non-starter in the Naan household.
Tami: I saw your tree on your talky blog thing… it’s beautiful :) Much better than my usual lopsided creations…
5 famous amy // 7th Dec 2007 at 1:34 pm
I’m used to putting it up on the same day Tami mentioned above – day after Thanksgiving. I love the decorations and the lights and so I like being able to enjoy it all month long. Ross is a bit more hesitant because he’s used to putting a tree up just before Christmas, but he usually gives in soon enough. ;-)
Our tree is fake and I prefer it that way especially now that we have Isabella. I don’t have to remember to water it and frankly it’s thinner than live tree’s tend to be and so I don’t have to worry about manuvering around it. And it looks nice enough. The only thing I miss is the smell – which I get at my dad’s house because he has a live tree.
6 Ys // 7th Dec 2007 at 1:53 pm
we always had a plastic one until last year my mother bought one to grow herself so we had this really small Christmas tree, which was weird but really cute. It’s spent the last year growing in our front garden… it’s still tiny ;)
The decorations would be going up for me about now but my parents don’t tend to do it until the week before Crimbo. In my own place the decorations would be going up this weekend.
7 TigerFeet // 7th Dec 2007 at 2:05 pm
Fake tree – I bought it 10 years ago and it still looks good, I paid extra for a decent one. When it finally drops to bits I will probably start getting real ones every year. Can they be kept in a pot and kept alive in the garden for the rest of the year, does anyone know?
It isn’t up yet – I am hoping to hang on until the weekend after next but L is pressing for this weekend :oD. She came home from a Nursery day trip to see Santa at a local garden centre a couple of days ago with a 12″ high real tree which has been decorated with ickle baubles and stood by the fire – our only effort so far.
8 sylvia // 7th Dec 2007 at 4:16 pm
Real tree although we might give it a miss this year. We have huge pine trees in the garden and I’m kind of toying with the idea of letting Connor up on a ladder to put tinsel on them. Maybe.
Usually I’d have done the decorations this week but Connor isn’t home until the 14th so we’ll do it together when he gets here. Mainly stuff scattered around the lounge (the day after Christmas, Cliff starts asking whether we can get rid of all the “junk” yet) to make it look a bit festive.
The real tradition for us is the baking. We make cookies (then Connor invites friends to come over and decorate) and a yule log and meringues and stuff. What’s nice is that he’s finally old enough to take part, he’s actually helping rather than me keeping him busy while I do the “real” cooking.
9 Angela Klocke // 7th Dec 2007 at 10:45 pm
We put up our fake tree on Thanksgiving. We might next year try for a real tree, because apparently there is some sort of get your tree cheap cutting down deal around here that is big.
10 Miss L // 8th Dec 2007 at 9:42 am
A real tree, grown and bought locally. I have only just this week sawn up the trunk from last year’s tree to burn on the fire. Should have kept it for Christmas day really!! The branches either go to the local council ‘tip’ and are recycled there, or I put them through my own machine and use the mulch on the garden paths. I used to put the tree up on the first day of the school holidays, this year I think I will start a bit earlier – about the 19th, but everything has to be down before the 6th Jan.
11 Paula // 8th Dec 2007 at 8:42 pm
Holds up a guilty hand to owning a *fake.* My excuse is that with cats you never can stop them climbing the damn things (did I hear mention of orange peel :)?)
We used to go up to the local forest and cut ourselves a fresh one each year when I was a child. Once Christmas was over my dad would chop it up and use it so no real wastage.
I doubt very much whether that would be allowed now (we were friends with the farmer who owned the land) and plus we don’t have a real fireplace.
12 Lisa // 11th Dec 2007 at 11:18 am
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,,2222953,00.html
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