A Three Tree Christmas

Some years ago I was feeling grumpy at Christmas time. Bah! Humbug! I just wasn't in the mood. My boys were older and not particularly interested in decorating the house. I felt nobody appreciated my efforts, so why bother? Traditionally we always had a large, fresh Christmas tree loaded with sentimental ornaments. This particular year I decided to buy a small two foot version and put it on a table. I hung a few ornaments on it. That was it. Bah! Humbug!

No one said anything, but I began to feel guilty. Every time I passed that two foot tree, I felt the taunting calls of Christmases past. I finally realized I wanted a big tree, even if no one else cared about it. So I went out and bought a beautiful eight foot tree. Other family members weren't home, so it would be a surprise.

Later that day my husband and sons returned.

"See what we have!" they announced. I laughed when I looked out the front window. For they, too, had brought home a wonderful, tall tree. 

We put the small tree in the kitchen and one of the larger trees outside, where it's white lights warmly welcomed guests driving up our road. We placed the third tree in the customary place of honor in the living room and covered it with lights and ornaments, garlands and icicles, just as we had always done. I loved the way it all looked.

That is the way our three tree tradition started, for ever since we have had a large tree outside, a large tree inside the living room, and a small one in the kitchen. Here are my plans for this year:

A Colorado blue spruce is perishing in our climate, so we will cut this tree from our property and use it for our outdoor tree. Originally it was a living Christmas tree I planted after the holidays, so this will be its second time as a Christmas tree.

For the kitchen I will buy a rosemary tree. I can't wait for the smell!

And this past weekend I bought our tall indoor tree, a fraser fir. Over the years we have had many different types of Christmas trees, and fraser fir is my favorite. Fraser firs are noted for their fabulous smell and long needle retention. A view of fraser fir's long lasting needles.My tree was grown in Plumtree, North Carolina by a family owned business, Trinity Tree Company. The family sells some of their trees in Pelham, Alabama at A Very Merry Christmas Tree Farm, not far from where I live. A Very Merry Christmas Tree Farm sets up this tree lot in Pelham every year.The tree I purchased was cut just the day before. (Talk about fresh: One year, after the holidays Lou tossed one of their trees out into the woods behind our house. The following April he noticed the tree was still green. Upon investigation he discovered the tree stump, covered by leaf mold through the winter, had sprouted roots!)

Amongst all the great trees, this is the one I selected:As this special season begins, may you be safe and warm, and may your heart be filled with true peace and joy.   Deborah

Grab a Rake and Have Some Fun

I love the leaves upon the trees

and as they're falling in the breeze;

and when they pile upon the ground,

I love their crinkly, crunchy sound

beneath my feet!

When I was a child, I liked to visit my grandmother's house in autumn. Her house was perched up on a hill, and there was a large rock retaining wall at the bottom. The grown-ups would rake mountains of leaves in front of the wall, and we children would take flying leaps off the top of the wall into them. I'm sure we undid most of the adults' hard work; but there was lots of laughter, and I don't remember anyone complaining. I was nearly an adult myself before I discovered that many people consider raking a chore and not a game.

I maintain a positive attitude about fallen leaves. They make excellent mulch, and I generally let them lie in the woodlands. We do rake them off the lawn and the paths. My neighbor gave us the lightweight Trooper rake seen in the photo above. It is 30 inches wide and does a terrific job.

I was out raking just a few days ago. It was a perfect day, and the fall foliage of my Japanese maples was at its peak. Here are some photos which illustrate why these are among my favorite trees:

After admiring the Japanese maples, I headed for the woodland garden:I like to keep the leaves off the moss paths, so the moss will grow better. While I was raking I noticed the woodland pot I nestled in an old rotting stump. The pretty leaves sprinkled all around reminded me of rose petals:

The leaves are falling from euonymus alata shrubs, aptly called burning bush:

Guess what's inside the pot:

A warning about burning bush:  Although I have never seen any seedlings in my own garden and in fact one of the original five I planted died and had to be replaced, this is considered an invasive species and is even banned in some areas.

After raking the moss paths I studied the results:One could argue whether this is a before or after photo!

I was glowing with satisfaction when a shower of leaves fluttered down in front of me. I laughed. One can't get too serious about raking my yard, but I will keep at it. If I waited till all the leaves were off the trees, I would be wading through over a foot of foliage. Now that would take real work to clear!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all, and remember this: Raking leaves can burn nearly 300 calories per hour, so if you are feeling guilty about that extra serving of turkey dressing, grab a rake and have some fun!