Since November 23, we decided it was time to give it a try. We did it, after 29 years of artificial commitment, we broke up for this holiday season. Yep, we’re done (at least, for this year we are).
We’re not going to put up with stiffness, years of dust, or ho-hum feelings of the same old thing this holiday season. We set out for a bit of freshness in our empty nest.
Mr: “Are you ready to go yet? Nice, aw, you have your new hiking boots on, too.”
Me: “Yes! I’m super excited to go pick out a budget tree!”
Mr: “Do you think we need the trailer to haul it…how big are we going? Do you think we should check the tree stand before we go? It has a hole in the bottom of it for the artificial tree.”
Me: “Nah…we’re not going that big. And I’m sure the stand doesn’t have a hole, I think it just has a worn spot in the paint at the bottom from the metal trunk on the artificial tree.”
Mr: “I think you’re wrong…but…okay, let’s get the tree and figure that stuff out later.”
Me: “Are you sure you don’t want to check for the stand first? Nah, let’s just go. I’m sure I’m right…it doesn’t have a hole.”
We jumped in the car and headed out to find a budget tree.
I smiled as we entered the tree farm. Mr. stopped so I could get signage and field pictures. He knows how to keep me happy. Yessiree – our artificial Christmas tree is staying in the storage boxes this year. We were there to discover the wild side – the real deal.
As we drove into the tree farm we saw other families grabbing saws and heading out to the field to pick and cut their own tree. Aw, how fun…and cold…and sappy. We didn’t want to go that wild. We’re not sure this wild sappy stuff will stick in our lives or not.
We had heard from a reliable source that pre-cut budget trees exist – aka, our mission for our first artificial breakup. We didn’t want to spend a fortune on a tree that we’ll be putting on our bonfire pile later this month.
We jumped out of the car and headed to the cutting spot to talk to the tree elves.
The tree elf (aka, TTE): “Hi – welcome, what can I (we) help you with?”
Mr: “We’re here to buy a pre-cut tree, we’re told you have budget trees, where are they located?”
TTE: “Um…yes, we actually do have a couple over here.” He walked us over to one and then stood it up for us to check out.
Mr. to Me: “What do you think about the first one?”
Me: “Um, it’s kinda sparse, can we see the second one to compare?”
TTE: “Sure.” <Plop sound on the ground as he stands it up and needles fall>…as he held it up for us to admire. We notice the top of the tree had one lonely branch that went straight up past the rest of the tree by about 13″. He rotated it for us, and we smiled at the price tag.
$25.00
Me: “The tag says, ‘wild budget tree’ – what’s the difference between this one and the first ‘budget tree’?”
TTE: “The wild ones just grow next to the planted ones – like stragglers – we just cut down to keep the area clear for the planted trees to grow. This one looks like it maybe was trimmed off the top of a different one?”
Me: “The color does look a bit off, but it’s perfect.” (I looked for reassurance from Mr. He nodded the look of ‘it’s up to you Babe’).
We nodded to the guy and said, “We’ll take it. We’re venturing on the wild side here trying to go all budget and real at the same time. A wild tree fits the plan.”
TTE: “Do you want anything trimmed off and how long do you want it to be? And do you want a bag on it? – It helps to get it into the house.”
Mr: “Yes, trim some of the tops off to about here. My truck allows only 7′ so if you could make it that length that would be great. And, YES, to the bag.”
TTE: “Okay, will do – you can go pay over there. We’ll get it ready for you. Come back here and we’ll load it in your car for you.”
We went inside to pay and grab a cup of free hot apple cider. We headed back out to load the tree and walked by a glorious tree ready for some church to pick up. Perfect in color and shape. No sparse branches like our oddly shaped bagged up tree. Hmm…
I couldn’t contain my excitement – there it was, laying on the ground all bundled up. We had officially bought a budget tree. Maybe the other one was a better shape?
TTE helped us load it into our truck. Good thing we hadn’t brought the trailer…we had plenty of room.
We headed back home with a warm cup of apple cider in hand. I was so excited.
After stopping at Wal-mart to buy shatterproof ornaments (just in case the cats crash the tree) and a disposal bag, which they didn’t have – they were all sold out. We weren’t too worried about that, we’d figure something out.
We got home and Mr. brought it inside to warm up while he looked for the tree stand.
The cats inspected it – rejoicing in the gift of scents from the wild side.
Mr: “I found it. See…I told you so, the stand has a hole in the bottom, it’s not going to hold any water.”
Me: “I’m sorry…I must’ve been remembering the one we had when I was growing up.”
Mr: “I’ll go to the store (again) and get one and a disposal bag. You can decorate other things and get the space ready for the tree.”
Me: “Okay…this is taking way longer than either one of us planned, I’m sorry.”
Mr: “It’s okay, we’ve come this far, we’re going the whole way baby. I’ll pick up some stuff for dinner while I’m out.”
An hour 1/2 later…we were back in budget tree action…
Me: “That’s a really nice stand honey.”
Mr: “It’s time to cut tree bag cords and see what it really looks like. Hmm…there’s plenty of open space. I’ll rotate it – you tell me when to stop.”
Me: “There really isn’t a great side – it has interesting curves and plenty of open spaces…um…yeah, stop there that’ll work…”
Another 1 1/2 hours later – we assembled a satisfactory looking real tree with an angel on the top; covered up disposal bag plastic with our traditional tree skirt; hung (fought without swearing) four strings of lights; one died just as we rounded the last branch – so removed it and re-strung the 3rd string of lights to spread it out ‘cuz we weren’t going shopping again; put hooks on the new ornaments; hung the ornaments; added the finishing touch with some tinsel (supposedly 1000 strands).
We sighed and sat down to admire our creation.
Wild perfection and one stubborn green light – “It’s got a character, doesn’t it?”
Me: “I’ll wrap the rest of the presents and put them under the tree to keep the cats away.”
There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning. – Louis L’Amour
Mr: “Cheers, dear – we did it! Here’s a Tom & Jerry to sip while you finish your elf work.”
Me: “Aw, thanks! Look, it’s even snowing. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas here. PS – thanks for being a good sport today.”
Mr: “You’re welcome, so far it’s a successful break-up.”
I’m not sure who’s happier about our budget tree – the Hoomans or the Cats.
Post Inspiration: Lens-Artist #22 – Happiness is…
So much fun, and the tree in the window with the snow outside how perfect
Thank you, Alice!
Make sure your vacuum cleaner is in good working order. It’s going to shed, and when you drag it out there’ll be lots of needles who don’t want to leave. (I always got the job of vacuuming up the needles.) Seriously, nice looking tree! It looks like the trees I remember growing up.
LOL – yes, the vacuum is ready (already ran it twice…!) Thanks. Yes, it reminds me of my childhood trees too – fun memories recreated with this tree 😉
Very festive. Looks amazing. Best wishes Sebby
Thank you, Sebby!
This wild tree looks great! 👌🏻🙏🏻👍🏻😎
Thank you, John! 🙂
Great tree! We should be getting ours next week. Love the way it makes the house smell. The bag will make taking it out so much easier.
Thank you, Janet. Yes, I love the smell – I didn’t realize how fragrant a real tree was having had an artificial one for so long. We’re hoping the bag works for us, it’s under the tree ready for the removal day. Good luck picking out your tree!
It looks so inviting and cosy! I’m glad it was an amicable break-up!!
Thank you, Marie!
We have gone the total opposite direction. We made picking out and cutting down a real tree a family affair every year in my childhood and then continued the tradition with our own kids. It got more stressful in the later years because I have over 400 ornaments that are all special, and they require a very large tree. That equates to a very large price! Our first year as empty nesters, we got a fake tree, and while I miss the pine smell in the house, I don’t miss the stress or expense of those massive trees. I think your budget tree is awesome!
Thank you for sharing – I love the idea of downsizing, that may just be our next year’s break-up – thanks for the idea!
Oooh so pretty! Loved reading about your adventure to get a wild tree. Looks like the kitties approve, too. 🙂
Thank you. Yes, it was fun and yes, the cats are enjoying it. So far, so good, they haven’t attacked it yet either!
Happiness is a project done and a lovely Christmas tree! A beauty of a tree as well – here the trees we can buy aren’t always that pretty. Luckily we have our own forest and bring home our own trees..but that is by no means a guarantee the tree will be beautiful – it is wild! Thank you for the fun as well!
Thank you, Leya. I’m sure with your creativity, the tree turns out lovely each and every year! Thank you for the fun prompt!
Haha – well, it takes creativity from us all every year!
Haha well, it takes a lot of creativity each year!
Absolutely beautiful. I bet it smells great as well. I gave up on the live trees when I was having to anchor them with fishing line to the windows to keep it from falling over because I could never get it straight in the tree stand. Great job.
Thank you, Anita! LOL – now that fishing line sounds like a tale of ingenuity at its finest!
It was interesting at best and a memory maker.
That was a fun story Shelley – glad it all worked out – the last picture was perfection, even a kitty guarding the presents (and the tree) and that green light is a big draw I bet.
Thank you, Linda. Yes, both cats were there – one on each side of the tree. They pair up often to divide and conquer, seize and destroy…or just to look innocent together. So far the tree is still standing.
That’s good Shelley and if they stray to the top – the ornaments are unbreakable. My neighbor Marge, that I wrote the tribute about, had a cat for years and Missy was strictly “Marge’s cat” and after her husband died, she started traveling with her brother who lived in Florida and I would pop in every night to take care of Missy who would hiss and arch her back at me. I tried to play with her and she scratched me – but she was like that with everyone. Missy got dementia and had to be euthanized – she began hissing at Marge and not using her litterbox and other issues, so Marge was lonely and wanted another pet. She got “Sassy” who was aptly named because Marge had a Victorian Christmas tree – she got the tree up and Sassy did not make a move to jump on it or climb it. The tree was beautiful and she bought it at a Christmas tree store the end of the year with all its decorations and ribbons and bows intact. She put the tree up and went to work – she came home to find the tree down, bows snagged and torn by claws and broken bulbs everywhere and the living room curtain (sheers) were torn and hanging by a thread. Evidently Sassy had climbed up the tree, perched on the drapery rod, traveled back down the sheers and knocked the tree over … that was her last day living there. 🙂
Yes, shatter-proof ornaments – I’m calling them ‘ounce of prevention’ – if they were breakable, I think there would’ve been a crash by now. Cats seem to know what they should stay away from. Aw, so sad that Missy ended up so unhealthy. Yikes – that’s quite the story about Sassy!
Missy was well behaved and never got into trouble, so when she had erratic behavior, especially the hissing at Marge, she took her to the vet. I believe they did a CAT scan of her brain and determined Missy had dementia and she had her euthanized at that vet visit. Sassy was a piece of work to be honest and I was coming home from work and walked past her house and noticed the torn sheers and saw the Christmas tree knocked down from the City sidewalk. Oops! I came in the house and told my mom that likely Sassy would be finding a new home in short order! Marge was horrified when she got home from work that night.
Aw, poor Missy…and poor Sassy – she should’ve known better!
Yes Sassy used to have a few tricks she did that had annoyed Marge before the tree incident – she used to take a flying leap and land on the top of the various doors to a bedroom or bathroom. She’d get on the top of the door, then was scared and didn’t know how to come down and Marge was short so she had to get out a stepstool to rescue her. That was a beautiful tree – one of the Victorian-inspired trees with the ribbons, lace and frou frou all done in white and pink.
I often wonder what happened in their previous life that would cause a cat to act in such a manner? Poor Marge and Tree and Sassy, too!
Yes, you wonder if prior owners abused them or yelled at them. Sassy was a shelter pet, so maybe that was why she was a shelter pet. I have a friend who has to red tickhounds and they were both shelter pets. The first one they got was a female and her owner, a farmer, was tired of having her around and dropped her off at the shelter with a note “tired of my dog, find her a good home”. I don’t know the situation with the other red tickhound.
Aw…they definitely have rough lives. Our two were abandoned by the side of the road as kittens. They’re spoiled and have their moments. My daughters both adopted cats, one from a shelter that was a year old and the other was a farm kitten they adopted and cared for along with the mama until the kitten was old enough to take from the mom (7-8 weeks). Both cats are moody and protective of their Hoomans. You never know what you’re gonna get with a cat!
I have a good friend, the woman who nursed that feral kitten that I wrote about, she just lost one of her cats at 12 years old and the other two are around 14 and 15 I believe. But she has sheltered countless litters of feral kittens and their moms. She has a big backyard deck and had put up wooden shelters which she fills with straw and heated pads. She even has heated dishes for their food and water. She really spoils those feral families. She does this all year around, but no shelters out there in the warmer months, just the food/water. Her own cats have definite personalities, that’s for sure.
That’s cats for sure!
I await the tale of What The Cat Did To Our Christmas Tree. 😀 😀 😀
LOL – Once the presents disappear from under the tree…I’m guessing that story will no doubt unfold! 😉