Welcome to the Christmas Tree

My husband went to the Christmas tree field on Highway 3 this morning, and came home with a ten-foot Frazier Fir. Gorgeous tree, perfectly shaped, nice and tight, pretty shade of deep green, and up to the lower slanted part of the ceiling next to the fireplace. Thankfully, he didn't get a taller tree, being that he had at least five more feet of ceiling space to play with. As it is, we'll be using the ladder to decorate the top of this one.

Our next door neighbor helped my husband get the tree into the house---- the tree seller (for the second year in a row) gave his own truck to my husband to cart the tree home in. They didn't even bag it, since it's too wide and too tall to fit into those net bags they have at the tree farms. Our neighbor B has helped my husband before with our big trees, so they got this one into the house and set into the stand in record time. Our tree stand weighs a ton--- made of heavy steel and iron, and it has chains and metal rods that reach high up into and around the trunk of the tree to hold it in place. With the size of our trees, we have to make sure the stand is "industrial-strength" so it won't tip over.

After my husband drove the truck back to the tree lot and we cleaned up the needles on the carpet, I let the cats and Gracie back into the house--- they had all been on the screen porch while the tree was being set up and were watching through the windows. Well, Gracie and the older cats said their hellos to the tree, but Mickey Kitty, bless his kitty-soul, walked up to the tree and started to climb it. He went underneath the tree and got himself close to the trunk and began to walk from branch to branch, as if he were climbing a spiral staircase. Before we knew it, he was nearly at eye-level with my husband, and he's about 6 feet tall.

I surely hope it stays warm for the month of December, because Mickey Kitty is going to be spending most of his time out on the porch till this tree is taken down after New Year's Day. We can't have him climbing on the branches of the tree once the lights and the ornaments are up. All the lights are antique figurals and bubble-lights, and the ornaments are vintage and new blown-glass. Can you just imagine Mickey Kitty getting tangled up in light-cords and toppling glass ornaments to the floor below?

Jingle Bells......... how many more days till Christmas?