Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Oh, Christmas Tree . . . what a challenge!

Once again, we find ourselves in a state where we cannot cut down a Christmas tree, so we ended up at Home Depot to pick out our tree. 

Picking a tree at Home Depot

 

The selection process was pretty easy this year, though – they had a new shipment of Douglas Firs and we found a nice tall one (relatively speaking, that is).

 

 

We got it out to the car, and the Home Depot guy met us out there to secure it on top.  We asked for twine, but he assured us that shrink wrap would work much better.

 

He assures us that shrink wrap is stronger than twine!

Our first mistake was listening to him . . . but it LOOKED secure!

Secured on top of the car

As we drove out of the parking lot, we could hear the plastic flapping in the wind, but thought it would be OK.  Before we got too far though, we suddenly saw shrink wrap flapping in the breeze on both sides of the car.  That wasn’t a good sign, and Tom pulled off the side of the road as the tree rolled down the back window!

Well, that didn't work!

OK, so now what . . . we didn’t have any twine on us!  We ended up using the plastic as rope, and tied the tree to the roof of the car . . . and hoped for the best!!

Finally - we made it home!

 

Luckily, we made it the rest of the way, and the tree stayed securely on the roof!  What a relief that was!

How many Italians does it take to assemble a tree stand?

The guys got the stand put together while I got the lights and ornaments out, and then the tree was up and ready for decorating!

It's standing!

The boys took care of that job!

Decorating the tree

 

 

Decorating the tree

All finished . . .

Decorated for Christmas!

too bad it didn’t stay like that!!

On Monday, the wind picked up and started whipping through our carport like a tornado!  We kept checking on the tree, but it was hanging in there . . . for a while!  After dinner, I was standing at the kitchen sink and saw the tree fly past the window and heard it land on the steps! 

We all ran outside and tried standing it back up, but ultimately decided to leave it laying down until the wind stopped . . . it was safer that way! 

Late this afternoon we were finally able to stand it back up . . . we straightened out the bent legs of the tree stand, added extra rocks for weight, and tied the middle of the trunk to the picnic table.  Hopefully that will hold it!!

Amazingly, none of the lights went out, and we only had one broken ornament!

Lighted Tree

Outdoor Lights

Table Centerpiece

The rest of the decorating went much easier, and Nicolas even had time to make some chocolate-covered pretzels, too!

Chocolate-covered pretzels

Re-decorated for Christmas

Now I just need to get some shopping done!

6 comments:

  1. What fun watching you get all decked out for Christmas!! Quite the challenge getting your tree home, decorated and still standing;o))) Things are looking mighty festive around your RV!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Glad to see where-ever you go it's nice to decorate your home. Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Everything looks so festive!

    ReplyDelete
  4. It all looks quite Christmas-y! Hope the winds don't return.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Looks great Marci. I don't have a tree up yet. Hope to this weekend with Lars help. Finished my 2nd chemo today. Cross your fingers I don't feel as bad ss last time. Love tina

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sometimes those guys at Home Depot (and others) seem like they have not had many real life experiences. Ill equipped and unprepared to function in the capacity of a store clerk. Or maybe some do 'it' just for the fun of it.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for reading! We'd love to hear your comments!