Who has their Christmas Tree up yet?

[Hibernias Daughter]

And is it real or fake?

Oh and btw Rudolf is on Friday! :bounce: .........LOL! I try to watch it every year :-)

[trof]

1. Be no Christmas in the trof household this year.

We'll be with our daughter's family in Boston again this year.

[Hibernias Daughter]

5. Bummer

But Boston is good. I bet it's beautiful at Christmastime. Lot's of history, if you can put up with the hahbah (harbor) wind. In some ways, it's colder there (more damp and raw) then where I live in inland Maine. Family time is the best part of Christmas though. Have a good one! :hi:

[malta blue]

2. No tree for me until the last minute this year

Trying to sell my house and the realtor said best not to put it up until the last minute.:shrug:

I am waiting on Rudolph too:bounce:

[Hibernias Daughter]

13. Really?

I recently saw something on Oprah about how it's a buyers market so a seller needs to be creative. One of the things "the experts" said was to leave some homey touches about as long as it's not clutter. For example one seller took down all the pictures on her wall including framed family pics. Nate, the decorator Oprah usually uses for these projects, had the family pics done in black and white and had them enlarged, nicely framed and put back up.

Perhaps you're realitor didn't want you (as the homeowner) to appear tacky with a tree up too early. Or worse (and this is just speculation) she doesn't know you well enough to know that your tree decor wouldn't be too garish. Or, maybe she's just a BB (bad broker) ;-)... Whatever the reason, I think you should put it up when you want!

Good Luck with it all! :hug:

[malta blue]

26. I think she is part of the war on christmas

:rofl:

Actually, the house is small (900 sq ft) and I have really big furniture since I used to live in 4000 sq ft, so the rooms all look small. Adding a tree right now would just make the room look smaller.

I cleared all the clutter and the realtor is a friend of mine (I actually had a license but let it expire) and she is certainly busting ber chops for me since I want to buy the house across the street.

Tree is forthcoming though...Dec 22, fake (again, house too small).

[graywarrior]

3. Certainly not I.

[Broken_Hero]

4. Mines up, the wife had it up

Thanksgiving night...and its a fake 6ft tree.

[Hibernias Daughter]

10. Oh my, Thanksgiving?

But I guess it's ok if it's fake. Needles won't be everywhere and less chance of burning the house down. :bounce:

But umm, do you like the fake tree? Oh never mind ... unless you think answering is safe... :evilgrin:

[Broken_Hero]

37. I prefer the fake tree

my father and I got a real tree, a long time back and it was a lot more work than it was worth...

[Hibernias Daughter]

49. A real tree is alot of work?

Now granted, shooting down the top of a 30 foot tree for Christmas- isn't easy (hubby was young and silly then) but cutting down a normal one and bringing it home isn't a big deal. Even I can do that, and I'm not the most ambitious person in the world.

And oh, it smells so good!

But if you'd rather invest your time with family then fooling aroung with a real tree then I can totally understand. To each his/her own I guess :hi:

[Broken_Hero]

52. When I was 11

or so, my mother wanted a real tree...so my father and I hop in a skiff, and go hunting for a tree...we pull up across the channel, and start our trek into the woods. The woods are dense as can be, we are hopping over fallen dead tree's, jumping over muskeg, and for about an hour or so, we realize that there are no small tree's, just gigantic monsters...mind you, we are carrying a chainsaw, saw, and an axe...so my father gets the brilliant idea to hump up a tree, and cut the top portion down...

So, he humps up the tree, and then lowers his rope, and I tied the chainsaw to it, and he hauls it up...he messes around with the damn thing for about 15-20 minutes, and before I know it the top of the tree is falling, towards me...I do a Barry Sanders and get out of the way...

Now, we have a huge tree to drag back through the brush...my dad is pissed, cussing around...we get it back to the skiff, and then home...a week later, the tree is damn near dead...my mother had us put it in a five gallon bucket with dirt and we would water it, but it couldnt' be saved....by the time xmas came around, the tree was pitiful looking...

Since then, my father spent the $ and got a fake tree....

[Hibernias Daughter]

64. OMG

:rofl:

I suppose it wasn't funny at the time though. That must have been quite an experiance. Christmas tree PTSD...what a bummer.You must have been in an old growth woodland. Now I get why it wasn't worth it! Our property has only about 30 yr's growth on it therefore Balsam Fir and other such smaller trees grow in abundence and are not very big. In fact, many a downright "Charlie Brown" trees but we love em anyway.

That tree that hubby shot down, now that was a big one. We were in our early twenties walking around on his father's land. It was after hunting season but he had his 30-30 on him, I don't know why. I told him that I thought the top of the tree to his right would make someone a great Christmas tree someday. The next thing I knew he had picked a spot on that tree and started shooting at it. He's a good shot and came close or hit it with every shot until he ran out of ammo. I thought that was the end of it and was annoyed with the whole thing. He walked me back to his parent's house, grabbed a pile of ammo and headed back. I could hear shots in the distance :eyes: and then his father joined him. Finally, I had had enough of this foolishness and went to tell him I was leaving. When I got there, he was shaking the tree and the top part fell.....My Christmas tree

I must say that as annoyed as I was with him, it was our best tree.

[Broken_Hero]

71. My, what a story....:)

I bet they wasted a lot of ammo...:) I'm from SE Alaska, and our forests are immense, and very damn thick...the whole process of going through the woods was a PITA. At the time it wasn't funny, but looking back, it is...I just remember my dad being uber pissed off, and cussing around like a sailor...:D

[SammyWinstonJack]

44. I splurged this year and bought a real tree, well a mini tree, it actually is a tree top.

I put my artificial tree up also. I usually don't put up a tree this early, but it was cold on Sunday when I was running my errands and that put me in the holiday mood. :silly:

[Hibernias Daughter]

68. IF I buy a tree I pay 15 bucks

There are tree farms all around here so prices stay low. And they a NICE full Balsam Fir trees. We pick them and cut them and it doesn't matter what size they are-all the same price. Alot of times however we just get em free off our land but they're never as full as the tree farms.

I guess it's one of the few benifits of living in the boonies :shrug:

OK so the mood hasn't hit you yet, but it will! :hi:

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

6. Not putting mine up this year. We're spending Christmas in Ireland

with my in-laws. We leave next Friday. :woohoo: I can't wait....

[Hibernias Daughter]

15. Do you have room for a stowaway?

Just Kidding! :-) My daughter is making a rare appearance this year so I can't miss it.

But have loads of fun for me will ya? :hi:

[YellowRubberDuckie]

7. Mine is fake...

But it's cute!!
And while you can't see them, it has blue lights!!

Can you tell I like Snowmen?!
Duckie

[Hibernias Daughter]

22. Well, the blue lights I could go for

For the past 15 to 20 years (since the little lights came out) I've had the plain ones with gold and red decor so blue wouldn't really go with my stuff. BUT if I were to have colored lights, and buy stuff for them, they'd be blue. I grew up with blue lights (the big old ones) and am a bit nostalgic for them.

But unless I'm too old to go out back and cut down a tree, I'll never have a fake one. Just my personal preferance, nothing against your tree (which IS cute btw) :-)

Happy Holidays! :hi:

[siouxsiecreamcheese]

8. yup 2 days before thanksgiving

it's a fake 6 footer, but I just love the lights

[Hibernias Daughter]

23. Didn't it look kind of silly all decorated

while you had friends and/or family over for Thanksgiving?

But hey, if it makes you happy, it makes me happy! :hi:

[cobalt1999]

9. Not yet...BUT

Since one of my wife's presents is a Magnolia tree to replace one that didn't make it through Hurricane Ivan a few years ago, I was thinking that I'd just buy that and decorate her present. Not sure how the kids would feel about it though.

[Hibernias Daughter]

28. Can you get them in on it ahead of time?

Are they old enough to understand that this is a special Christmas for Mommy and the Magnolia is part of that? In fact all of you would be part of it, and it's one of the sweetist things I've ever heard! If your kids are young, involve them in the decorations and planning. If they're older (like teens) they probably won't show it but WILL be impressed.

I don't know how you're gonna work out the logistics but let us know how it goes. And good luck. It's a wonderful thing you are doing! :-)

[Fuzz]

11. Kind of, it keeps wanting to lie down for some reason

I think it's tired or something. I might just let it stay that way, poor thing, poor fake tree. First year with a fake tree.

[Hibernias Daughter]

29. Gosh

I wish I knew what to say... is it ill? Have you tried hurtling it through the window and coming up to Maine for a real one? :evilgrin:

Really, I'm Kidding! If you want fake, that's ok with me. I hope it revives itself for you! :hi:

[Fuzz]

50. We've had a real one for 12 years, but my wife found this fake

one at a garage sale this year and wanted to give it a try.

I don't care either way.

[hedgehog]

12. We probably won't cut ours until the 22nd or 23rd

I'm worried about the timing this year because my husband is liable to be stuck with a lot of overtime just before Christmas. Usually we get the tree up the Sunday before Christmas but I'm not sure if we'll make it that early this year.

[Hibernias Daughter]

32. Could you put it up a little before usual?

Perhaps even the weekend before that usual Sunday? That way you could get the decorating done while hubby is away.

Just an observation...I live in Maine but am not a native of the area...Growing up in the Mid-Atlantic region, my family was not unusual among our neighbors in putting up our tree around the 18th-23rd or so. And we'd take it down usually about a week after New Year. Maine, however, let's just say I don't 'get it' even though I've lived here longer then there. In Maine I see trees and decorations go up around Thanksgiving but they are down at many houses on Christmas DAY! I kid you not, I'll be driving home from our festivities at my mother's and see the forlorn tinsel tousled trees on the curb.

So I don't know if we (my former State) were 'wrong' and Maine 'right' or vice versa
Or, Maybe the TIMES have changed????.....................Sorry, just thinking out loud.

Anyway, I hope you guys can work something out. Good Luck :hi:

[hedgehog]

72. It's called rushing the season.,and I think it's epidemic all over the country.

I'm just getting started with Christmas some years and the dairy stops carrying Holiday Nog! THis year we ordered some of our holiday fruit packages to arrive after Christmas so the fruit will still be good for New Year's Day!

[Deja Q]

14. My Christmas Tree is fake. Fortunately, I am made of real wood.

:D












:spray:





:yoiks:

[Hibernias Daughter]

38. Why?

:shrug:

[SacredCow]

16. Real and up since Sunday....

A Leyland Cypress

[bigwillq]

17. We have our fake tree up.

We did it the weekend of Thanksgiving.

[Deja Q]

18. I did mine at the beginning of November...

It forced me to clean up some garbage too.

[bigwillq]

21. Well at least you cleaned.

:)

Beginning of Nov. is a bit early for my tastes, but whatever floats your boat.

Welcome back, btw.

I knew you would come back.

:hi:

[Deja Q]

25. I smell nice too. Care for a whiff?

:D :hi:

Actually, it was the advice from people on another forum (who said not to let a couple of jerks' boorish behavior compel my actions for me) combined with the unexpected outpouring of support that compelled me to return. (also mentioned to me by someone elsewhere, so I ultimately did peek in...)

And they're right. It's impossible to keep everybody happy... and I started reading old PMs and other topics and, yeah, I'm not the only one with issues and some who antagonized me can't see they live in glass houses... Oh well.

[Dukkha]

19. Staurday after Thanksgiving

and it's fake an I love it. complete with a train underneath.

I even took a picture of it. Yes, that cat loves to swat at the train! :mad:

[hedgehog]

73. Cats can't figure out the trains beneath the tree.

One of ours kept lying across the tracks and getting butted by the train.

[Hibernias Daughter]

77. LOL! I know just what you mean....

I've seen my cat do that and he get's that pissed off look but refuses to move. At least not for a "respectable" amount of time! :hi:

[ncrainbowgrrl]

20. Not yet- but it's going to be a cardboard cutout of a tree.

It's going to be a very cheap xmas here in the rainbow household.

[CottonBear]

24. I bought a little Fraser Fir today. It's still outside, I've not set it up inside.

I've got it in a bucket of water outside in the cold right now. I'll bring it in and decorate it in a few days.
:) :woohoo:

[Hibernias Daughter]

57. Awww!

Poor thing is just waiting for your loving touch. :cry:

I bet it'll perk right up when it finds it's home. :hi:

[CottonBear]

61. It's going to get white lights and silver pine cones!

It will be a happy tree! ;)

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

[flamingyouth]

27. We have

Fake as usual. :)

[NMDemDist2]

30. ours is up and due to hubby's pine allergy it's fake and 14 years old

[u4ic]

31. Not until

I clear some of the boxes away. I'm hoping to have it up this weekend. It's a little Charlie Brown tree I bought about 10 years ago. I just wrap it in lots of garland, and no one can tell how sparse it really is.

I think I'll look for another one after the holidays - on sale, of course. :hi:

[lizziegrace]

33. Hey stranger

:hi:







:hug:

[u4ic]

40. Hi Lizziegrace!

How are you? How's the new job working out? Are you missing lelapin a lot? :hug:


And please give Bandit the treat of his choice for me (my horse used to love Cheetos and bran muffins, and hated apples), and a pat.:D

[lizziegrace]

43. Lelapin's home for break

until after New Year's. :bounce:

Job's not going great. Much of what was negotiated before I accepted hasn't materialized. I have an interview on Friday with a bigger company with benefits, something I desperately need!

Gracie came through her surgery okay (bad middle ear infection) and is on the mend. Bandit loves to roll in the grass and mud and he whinnies every time we come out the door. Lelapin's taken over giving him apples and spoiling him while she's home.

:)


:hug:

[u4ic]

47. I bet you two

are having a great time together!

I didn't know about Gracie...I hope she continues to improve. I'll be sending her lots of healing vibes... :grouphug:


I'm sorry about the job. Perhaps it's just a stepping stone to a better one...I wish you the best of luck with your interview on Friday. Go get'em!! :bounce: :yourock: :bounce:

[lizziegrace]

51. Thanks!

Gracie has been fighting an ear infection since August. The vet put her under, flushed her ear and punctured her ear drum to get rid of the middle ear infection. It's not been fun, or cheap.

:hug:

[Hibernias Daughter]

45. Well if you do get another one

I hope you don't throw away your 10 yr Charlie Brown tree. Think of the memories! I'm such a sucker for sentiment :-) But really, maybe you could use it to decorate a another room or hallway or something. :hi:

[u4ic]

63. That tree

sure has seen a lot of changes over the years. And a lot of different addresses...:hi:

[lizziegrace]

34. They're all decorated

The large one in the living room, a smaller one in the dining room, a table-top primitive one in the entry hall and a smaller primitive on the baker's rack in the kitchen. All are artificial because I'm allergic to literally everything except maple trees and feathers... x(

Do you think we like Christmas around here??

;)

[tonekat]

35. Some friends used to have a Punk Xmas Tree years ago

They spray painted it with lightning bolts, etc, and put safety pins on it. After Xmas, they threw it out their 3rd story window.

Can't get much more heart warming that that.

[Writer]

36. I have a seven foot tall Noble Fir in my living room.

100% real and 100% there since last Sunday.

[Hibernias Daughter]

55. I bet it's gorgeous!

:hi:

[TommyO]

39. Fake, and it's on it's way from Costco right now

It's shipping today, and the UPS estimated delivery date is on Thursday. It's going up on Friday!

[Hibernias Daughter]

53. Is Costco like a Wal Mart?

I keep hearing about it but am not sure if it's a Home Improvement or Discount or Wal Mart type thing. And while I'm off subject what about Kohls and Target-same Q. Sorry but the subject never comes up and I'd feel silly starting a whole thread about it even though I always wonder. :dunce:

But anyway, I'm happy that you're happy about the tree. I've heard they make them very nice with lights and everything nowadays. :hi:

[TommyO]

58. Costco is the anti-Walmart!

They are the largest warehouse club in the United States, have very good labor practices, and their political contributions are almost 100% to Democratic candidates. I go out of my way to shop there as opposed to the Sam's Club which is just seven miles from my house.

[Left Is Write]

41. We do. We always have artificial trees.

[Generic Brad]

42. Fake

And welcome to DU!

[Hibernias Daughter]

54. Thanks!!!

It's so nice to be welcomed! :hi:

What's that, a Pineapple on the top?

[Generic Brad]

56. Yes, it is!

And at the base there is a fishing net and some sea shells.

[Hibernias Daughter]

66. LOL

Well, I know one thing about you Generic Brad... You are not a slave to fashion... But then again "themes" are all the rage these days... Yours must be a South Pacific :bounce:

[Ava]

46. ours is up.. and it's real

[ScreamingMeemie]

60. ooooo pretty!

:hi:

[Ava]

67. thanks

:hi:

[Hibernias Daughter]

69. I agree!

It's gorgeous! :hi:

[Ava]

70. why thank you

i decorate our house for my mom and the lil ones every year. they always help me with the tree though. ;)

[Mutley]

48. It's up at my house.

It's fake, but it looks pretty cool.

[ScreamingMeemie]

59. No, but here's last year's!

and,equal time for MrG...sort of:



The ratio is 1 Lions ornament to 10 Packer ornaments and a Packer Santa. :hi:

[scarlet_owl]

62. I've had mine up since November 10th.

It's fake.

[samplegirl]

65. Just got mine up

and its fake. Next year live tree.

[reyd reid reed]

74. Mine's up.

And it's artificial. I've had it almost as long as I've had #2 son.

But I string real popcorn for it.

[tigereye]

75. that would be a no

we don't usually get one and put it up until the week before....

and only real trees. I don't like the fake ones- no pine smell. Half the fun is picking it out from the nursery or the Boy Scout fundraiser.

[Blue Diadem]

76. We have 1 big one and 2 four footers all decorated since Thanksgiving weekend.

Fake of course. I can only imagine real ones with Mr. I might heist my leg and Mr. I've gotta be at the top of the tree now.

It's been crazy watching kitty get the dog to chase him under the big tree. The tree branches go to the floor so kitty has no problem hiding under it..it's just the tree skirt ends up being carried around the room by the dog.