Meanwhile...back on the homestead...
Remember our beautiful Christmas tree that we scavenged through the wild to find?
Well, we had some issues getting it to stand in all it's tree glory. It could have been the $4.99 discount plastic tree stand. It also could have been the fact that it was eight inches too tall for our living room.
It took us two hours to get it up.
And I'm not exaggerating. Which is a first.
We had a debate about whether to cut the eight inches off the top or off the bottom. My vote was the bottom, as we would then still have a pretty pointed tree top. Stuart voted to cut off the top, because then he wouldn't have to saw through the thick trunk. Guess who won?
Stuart.
He chopped 'er off. Right at the top. Goodbye, pretty pointed Christmas tree.
Now, the only reason that our tree is staying up is that fact that it is wedged so tightly between the ceiling and the floor.
Oh, it is also held up by a piece of twine that is strung and tied to a NAIL IN THE WALL. There is also multiple strands of twine that are holding the tree into the tree stand.
If you come visit, please do not touch the Christmas tree as it is likely to tumble right over and crush your small children. Just warnin' ya.
Once the tree was jimmy-rigged into place, we added the ornaments and lights (which then shifted the weight of the tree to the front, so we had to re-jimmy-rig the nail in the wall...) We get trashier by the minute.
This is one of my favorite ornaments. It is a cow that is wearing cowboy boots. I love bovines. I love cowboy boots. I love the combination because they both belong on a homestead. I need a cow.
This ornament says "Someday I'll marry a cowboy, but first I wanna be one" - this is back from the days when I was not married to a Southern Scot. I don't want to marry a cowboy anymore. I love that Stuart man to the moon and back. But I do love on this ornament how the women have guns. I dig that. Homesteaders have to be able to shoot things like wild game...or trespassers stealing beets from your garden.
This is Stuart's favorite ornament because it is a thistle. Remember in Braveheart how the little girl gives William Wallace the thistle at his father's funeral? Remember how much Stuart loves Braveheart? Connect the dots.
The End.
So, being a Latin nerd I had to follow up on your "creepy" ornament, and come to find out, it is the motto & symbol of the Isle of Man..."whithersoever you throw it, it will stand." You can read all about it on Wikipedia, of course--so it must be true: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Man#Symbols
ReplyDeleteNatali - thank you for following up on that. I am obviously not a latin nerd, as I did not realize that was latin. Is that bad? I am glad I have you as a friend so you can tell me useful information such as this :)
ReplyDeleteOh Shaye, your delightful tree blog is making us all laugh on the way home from my Dad's funeral service...thank you! You really write well. And thank you for your sweet txt this week too- that was encouraging.
ReplyDeleteDo you suppose that "whithersoever you throw it" bit is a good omen about your tree? That it will stand?
ReplyDeleteWhere did you come up with twine? Are you talking the orange plastic bailing twine that held together all our tree forts when we were kids? Your tree looks great, by the way.
That is such a pretty picture of the lights with little Georgia in the background! I love it!
ReplyDeleteJenn - luckely, the twine was just rope-looking-twine that I use to tie up my tomatoes in the summer. So it's not quite as trashy as having to use the plastic bailing twine. Although I'm not above it :) Let's have an Eck and Elliott get together!
ReplyDeleteTotally excited to get together! Perhaps after the holidays... :)
ReplyDeleteI came across your blog from a link on New Life on a homestead. I hope it's okay that I am commenting (and it doesn't seem strange since I have no idea who you are!). I laughed my way through this post because it reminded me of the trees we had when I was growing up. We always had to use fishing line to anchor our tree to the wall so it wouldn't crush people! The nails would stay in the wall year 'round. Classy, I know! Glad to know of someone else who has to tie their tree to the wall to avoid a possible lawsuit!
ReplyDeleteThis is what I love about blogs - thanks for commenting! :) I am glad to know we are not alone as well :)
ReplyDelete