Oh Christmas Tree......

The days have been so full of Christ-mas Tree fun! I wish I could write all the happenings down to share. Alas....not enough hours in the day. The children are the most adorable and awed at cutting their own tree or even selecting a "pre-cut" tree. Then when DH puts the tree in the "Shakee"(see top photo) to rid it of the falling old growth that gathers on the limbs, then their eyes really "pop" as well as the grownups that have not had the pleasure of seeing the machine work! This is all winding down this week as December 25th draws near. I have been so lucky to hold cuddly infants of 3 and 4 weeks old and some 4 and 5 months old!!! Our GKids are teens now and live in Oregon so holding a little one again is so sweet! We have had several young "expecting" Mom's here also. One told me she was due in 10 days....eek, I immediately offered her to sit on the porch bench if need be. She laugh!!! I informed her our DIL lived just down the road and is a nighttime LABOR/DELIVERY nurse at the nearby hospital 4 miles away!!! We LOL together! One visitor was so special to us....our former Doctor of 40 years. He is 85 now and has dementia. His wife who is 81 (and looks 40 w/beautiful gray hair) generally comes without him; this year she brought him to get their fresh cut tree. When he asked who we were and we told him, he then remembered details about us!!! I wished I had taken their photo. We feel so honored that our current Doctor and Dentist come and bring their grown kids every year for their Christmas trees!!! They are in their late 50's. I wish I could say we will see them when they are 85......that would really be a miracle for us! We see hundreds of folk during this time and some have been coming w/their kids and now grandkids!! I have gotten the Christmas cards addressed and in the mail and the package for the Oregon family sent. That is a huge accomplishment!! As my energy level is not what is used to be. So everyday I try to do a little of the preparations to celebrate the birth of Christ. Here is our Christmas Tree (looks just like everyother year) and a view of the tree yard....... 3 1/2 weeks later!( It was too cold and rainy today to take a photo of the "Choose and Cut" 5 acres of trees.) You will notice that there is no packages on the floor at the front of the tree. That is because we have to have a open spot to reach the tree stand to give it fresh water every day. (That means getting down on the knees!!!)Trees need to be treated just like fresh flowers as they drink water everyday. Some days a quart some days 2 cups!!!!

More Fun Views!

I just had to take these photos ( w/my PhD camera) ! The colors of the sycamore's are just as vivid yellows as they can be! I am "thinking" quilt here. Calling it "View through my window"!

This nice lady and her 35 mpg "commuter car" w/a 9 ft Noble Fir tree just cried out for a photo opp! My DH "lashed" the tree w/his clever tying to through the windows, etc....she was a peach and turned out we know folks incommon and she lives about 25 miles away!!!

Getting Ready for Christmas !

Meet "Rosie Reindeer"!!! She is 18 years old! Our creative DD Penny made her for us. I hang her every year in the same spot on the porch! Last year a "critter",bird,mouse, (I don't know who) ate one of her lovely eyelashes!!! So, she needed help, a gal just cannot be in public w/one eyelash. So...off to the cosmetic department at the local drugstore to find just the right look!!! Well, she is so "glitzy" now! I even touched up her nose "makeup" as well as her lips! Please click on the photo to get a real neat view of her! The little toddlers that come to our tree farm always want to "kiss" Rosie! I love making her look pretty w/a fresh wreath. She hangs up above the "sales" table. We grow 5 acres of "Choose and Cut" trees and also bring in some fresh cuts of Noble Fir that we cannot grow at our elevation! We keep them in water and they stay fresh. Take a look we just filled the "lot". It is a lot of work getting things ready as we open the day after Thanksgiving. I still have more decorating to do! The weather is cooperating w/sunshine. We had frost this morning,brrrr! Whew! Where are those darn kids when you could really use them!!!!

Home Again

We returned a few days ago from a very restfull 10 days! The weather was typical fall and we even had a wonderful thunder and lightening storm on the last day! Here is what I did accomplish while away. I so enjoyed this trip. Here is what we came home to!The double rainbow is on our property lines and so I couldn't for looking for the "pot of gold"! Dang! But look what else was waiting for us, actually it was waiting for DH. Our wood supply to be cut and split
(I can never get these photos in the right sequence even when I "tell" them where to stay!)

From "Fishland"

I am starting this post from "Fishland"! DH has been having reallllly good luck w/his attempts to lure those trout to his "little teeny flys". So, he is a happy man! He asked if I could find some fabrics to make a "fabric tube rod holder" to protect his $$$ rods in the PVC tubes he attaches to his pickup camper boat carrier. I of course said I was certain....(trying to keep a straight face).... the LFS would produce just the right choices!! ;))) Well, I have only been to the LFS twice already for the cosy baby flannels in the photo. We are in the heart of one of the best trout fishing and deer hunting areas in northern California and I tell you this little "burg" of a town has a "Ben Franklin Store" fabric department that keeps this in mind when they stock their fabrics! I was lucky enough to buy the last yard of the navy blue fabric on the bolt! The green rod fabric was a little more available. The gold/brown is for the actual rod pocket holder. DH loved my find and he has asked for a accessory cover for his fly tying box as well as a scrap bag. (That is a HSY.) Oddly enough the store carries some great quality fabrics as well as "craft" fabrics. Their prices are competitive also. So, I may make one more vist before we leave here! I developed a "muscle spasm" in my left "wing". So it is slowing me down. I brought my mini fan project and have done the fan's, the hard part is when I go to the next class to learn the rest!

Here are some of the "loot" I found!

Fishland!

Well we made it to the remote northern part of California.....I call it Fishland. DH's favorite places to "wet" his handtied flies! We are "holed"up in a cosy "cheap" motel. It is so nice and clean and has a small kitchen .....if a "person" wants to use it! I brought my "Featherweight" and UFO's! The kitchen table seats four and is just right for setting up my "stuff'! This is my private sewing retreat! Maids at my disposal! Eat in or out,my call! Did some sewing on a mini fan project I showed you sometime back. The fall colors are in their "elegant peak"up here. The temperature is in the freezing at night.....long undies is the dress code! I am anxious to get to the LFS,it is just about 3 blocks away! No photos yet. I just figured out how to work my laptop! Hope they do not cut off my wireless connection, I don't know where it is coming from! LOL!

Where Do the Years Go!

Here we are celebrating DH's 70th birthday and our 42 years of wedded bliss, with sons and mates! Now we are off to "fishland".