Mel has posted (on 11th December) her thoughts on her Christmas Tree which has inspired me to think about our tree.
It is one of the things I love most about Christmas. My tree has to be real, a broad needled Nordman fir. I love the gracefulness of this tree and the perfume is wonderful. It takes a long time and much hilarity for me to choose the pefect tree, tall, slim and graceful, (everything that I am not) I buy mine in the week before Christmas and bring it into the house on 22nd. The needles stay firmly attached as I treat it like a house plant and keep it watered. I like to decorate it on 23rd. It is an evenings labour of love for us all. Ben used to hang the decorations on the lower branches and over the years he hung higher up the tree until now he puts the fairy on the top with out the need for a ladder! I love to watch each decoration as it is unwrapped from it’s tissue, so carefully wrapped and stored away for the last 12 months. Each one is placed in exactly the right place, after a few glasses of mulled wine the boys will begin to have fun with me by telling me things aren’t right and must be moved! For many years now we have decorated our tree with red or gold decorations and tiny white lights. Each decoration has been bought or made and a new one added each year. We started with just lovely red baubles and some parcels I made from match boxes covered with wadding and red christmas fabric tied up with narrow red or green ribbon. As the years have gone by we add to the tree choosing something special each time.
Over the years I have used great long strings of red beads draped across the branches, some times I join them together at the top of the tree and let them fall vertically down to the floor, they look very elegant.
When Ben was young we had an artificial tree in the dining room which he and my minded children decorated themselves. He loved his very own set of lights, bright colourful baubles and decorations that we had when we were first married, and special things that the children had made that we had for years. One year he wanted the tree on the front door step complete with lights that he & his dad made work from inside the house, I loved it there!
Today Ben & I were talking about buying and decorating the Christmas tree, I asked him for some Christmas memories.
He said ‘tinsel’
“We don’t have tinsel’ his dad chipped in.
“Exactly!” said Ben “in fact, that’s the memory! we were the only family in my school that didn’t have tinsel in the house!”
Actually he said that his Christmas “was completely different from everyone else because “we don’t decorate until it’s almost here and take it down as soon as it’s over and don’t have any tinsel in the house”
“You should see your face” said Paul! “You wicked mother!”

So about tinsel, do you love it? or not love it?