Noble firs were really expensive and not very good looking last year, so I was thinking of giving Costco trees a try. Are they really sold out at most Costcos already? If you find a tree there, will they put it on your car and tie it down for you?
We recut the bottom of our tree and it soaks up water for over a week where we need to add water every day and then slows down. Ours are pretty dry but not horrible by the weekend after New Years…so I always figure no more than 4 weeks. The trees we get are fresh cut. Trees on a lot could easily be a week old since cutting by now.
@zipyourlips in the past our Costco would have trees till maybe the weekend after Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was early this year so I don’t know how that will affect the supply.
S got his yesterday there and he send a pic of him and his wife tying it to the roof of their car - so I’m guessing that they may give you the twine to tie it to your car but you have to actually do it yourself. - at least at ours!
I see a Balsam Hill ad… biggest sale of the season.
Uh-oh.
Ok, just did a quick look and the sales aren’t as deep as I’d like, yet. I need to fluff mine out and add some ribbon. Did get some fake poinsettia at HD today.
Two neighbors have put up Diwali lights in past years- one kept them lit every night for two? years until finally the homeowners association made him stop. I agree with the HOA because they just became tacky white lights without any significance. Part of the fun of a holiday is the change. Nice to celebrate the shortest days with cheerful lights. Hurray! One neighbor used multicolored lights! I find the white ones boring. We don’t do Christmas, sorry neighbors- we enjoy yours but won’t have any for you to see.
This is Florida- the HOA is replacing the fall mums along the entries to subdivision with poinsettias this week. Still not used to planting them outdoors. Lived up north until recently and see why needled evergreens and such are nice to have- but here so many broadleaf evergreens all year long. Snowflake designs…weird here.
^^Probably just as weird as saguaro cacti in Phoenix wrapped in Christmas lights. 
Thanks for the info about Costco trees, abasket!
Every year I tell myself “this is the year we’re going to buy our tree from the local nursery or YMCA”. And ever year I leave there treeless because I just can’t get myself to pay 2-3x as much as the tree offered at Home Depot, which I’m only going to keep up for maybe 2 weeks (one year it was 6 days). HD has 7" Frasier Furs that last forever.
I ordered my tree from Balsam Hill. Also ordered a wreath for D. Mr. Sabaray never wanted an artificial tree because they don’t look realistic - I’m hoping this is real enough for him!
First Sunday in Advent. It doesn’t matter when Thanksgiving is. Thanksgiving isn’t related to Christmas, but Advent is.
It has always gone up the day after Thanksgiving. This year with D18 leaving that next morning, I asked the family and they asked for a reprieve. Can anyone say SCROOGE? ha! I will wait until this coming weekend and decorate and sing “Oh, Christmas Tree” and sip hot cocoa with little tiny marshmallows all by myself if I have to.
We ditched the awkward/annoying tree and went out to find a new one. I looked at Balsam Hill, but they were a bit much for a second tree, maybe if it were the only tree…anyway, looked at Costco and the last 7.5 ft tree was loaded onto someone’s cart as we turned the corner. Ah, well, off to Home Depot across the parking lot. We ended up with a very nice tree at a decent price.
Both are decorated and the remaining Christmas things are out. Not enough flat surfaces in the house, says #2D, so there’s still some work to to be done.
Prelit trees now come with remote controls. I’m in heaven.
I love the scent of freshly cut trees but they just don’t last. If you put up a fresh tree right after Thanksgiving, it will drop lots of its needles and lose all of its scent by Christmas. My family are fresh tree fans but I would love to be able to decorate a high-quality fake tree the weekend after Thanksgiving and leave it up until Epiphany (Jan. 6). Trying to decorate a tree a week or so before Christmas is a time management problem for me.
We thrive on excitement, so our tradition is to wait until nearly everyone has sold out of nice-sized trees and then go looking frantically a few days before Xmas. There’s no evidence that we have learned anything from past experience. We are also not helped by our children’s insistence on being home for the proceedings.
We had a prelit artificial tree for many years. Everyone was happy with it. Then we got 2 kittens one September. When we set up the tree they insisted on eating the artificial needles and would not be dissuaded. So we took down the tree. And you know what? Five years later I’m pretty sure the cats would not eat the tree but I don’t miss it and apparently no one else does either. I’ve got a couple of small porch trees which will grace the shed out back but no tree in the house.
I’m putting the lights on my tree now and cussing like a sailor. I’ve decided I’d rather buy and wrap 10 gifts than do this.
Travelnut - I ordered this long funnel from Amazon last year to water my tree. It’s a game changer! I just hide it in back within the branches between waterings. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000LNVWD0/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
We’re hosting a cocktail party next Tuesday, so all the Christmas crap is coming down from the attic today to make the house festive in time. Several martinis will help me get through this.
Time for an “aawwww” moment. My 25 year old stopped over tonight for dinner and helped me decorate the tree. The first time in perhaps 7 years if not more, I can’t recall the last time. I’ve been doing it myself for awhile now. He actually was enjoying himself and we were laughing at the “kids” decorations. Ones they made, ones they got as gifts. I actually haven’t hung those in years as I transitioned to a more adult tree. I pulled out that box and he said these are the best ones! He put his “baby’s first Christmas” ornament with his picture front and center. I’m still laughing.
How my heart sang doing this with him to Mariah Carey’s “All I want for Christmas”. Of course I was dancing and decorating!