We put up my first Christmas tree in my new home last week. Because we were doing the decorating on a work night, I spread the work over several evenings — it takes a while to get the tree into the stand, get it into the house and get the lights on it. I picked up the tree and got it into the stand after work on Tuesday. It was easier than it used to be in the old place; I used to have to bring it onto the porch, mount it, then carry it through the dining room to the living room. Here, I have a deck right off the living room, so I mounted it outside, then brought it inside and put it in the corner, not far from the sliders.
I think I wound up with a bigger tree than I’m used to. The tree was certainly a lot more expensive. But the ceilings here are taller than the old place. I used to have them make a fresh cut on the tree, then take more off both the top and bottom once I got it onto the porch. This time, they took six inches off the bottom, and I didn’t take anything more off. I did have to trim a little off the top, but I would have wanted to do this anyway, as the top spike extended about ten inches from the bulk of the tree. Tuesday night was damp, so I left it to dry overnight before getting the lights on it.
Wednesday, I added the lights. It took all the lights I had to cover it. I’ve been using LED lights for several years now, but they’re second generation lights that are a little bit less blue than the original LED lights. I also put up the window lights in the dining/living area. These windows look out to the back and aren’t visible from the street, though the side lights might be visible from the neighbor to the back. Really, the lights are more for me, to cast a glow in the room.
Thursday, my sisters and brother came over and we decorated the tree. I brought over most of the decorations from the old place– the tree decorations, the Christmas stable Dad made when I was a toddler, and a lot of the miscellaneous Mum had picked up over the years. We got the tree decorated, and I’ve noticed the girls put up some of the other decorations around the place.
It’s really pleasant to just sit with the room lights out and the tree lights on and listen to Christmas music.
