If Bigger is Better, This is the Best

Last year, we did not get a Christmas tree up. We were in full preparation for the January wedding. We decorated and we celebrated, we just didn't get a tree up. Our six foot artificial tree of say a dozen years, had given up the ghost and so it went to Goodwill. I spent time looking before and after Christmas for a replacement, but have yet to find it, partly because the ones I have liked are in a price range I can not rationalize.

So this week, B and I picked a day before the rains arrived to go to a local Christmas tree farm to make our selection. We had been to this place a couple of years ago with the sons and had a good time. The process this time was much more low key--- but successful, none the less. This guy is trying to sell his sand pines that are not as popular as some of the other varieties and so he prices them twenty bucks, no matter the size.  Some have gotten too large for him to keep pruned, like the one we selected. It almost had a Charlie Brown Christmas tree look in places, but we thought it had potential.

B made quick work using the bow saw the guy provided to cut it.

The guy has a shaker he put  the tree on that shakes off any loose needles. Then we loaded it up. Here you start to get a clue of its size.

B put it up while I was at school the next day.

It scraped the ceiling so we topped it down about a foot and then pruned a number of branches to improve its shape.

The ladder was required to decorate the top third of the tree.

None of the garland we had was close to what was needed for this big tree, so this year, there is none.

But the simplicity is just fine with us. The finished tree measured 10'3". Maybe bigger is better this year.