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Friday, December 5, 2014

Well, we went and did it.

See that?


Yep, it's a Christmas tree. And not even a fake one. I wasn't sure when we ditched the old fake one in Casper if there was a reason to be packing up some of the decorations, but I guess there was. It's not leaning, but it has a funky shape to it and has a definite bow to the trunk and the branches we discovered when we got it home are longer on one side.


I chased the guy off to read the paper while I decorated after a snide comment about my lights before I even started getting them on. It takes some tinkering, it does. This picture looks like I did some filter tinkering but I didn't. I think it was just a combination of the tree lights and the light coming in from the kitchen that did something.


We don't have a lot of decorations but that's okay. What survived the thinning and the move about filled out this tree perfectly. We'll look for a real star topper this year and not just leave the Ol'Tigger up there.I can't wait to come home in the evenings to smell it and have the light bring a little shine to the evenings for the next three weeks or so. With a definite lack of snow I am feeling the dark this december and counting down to the solstice that is just a couple weeks away. With the long work days, I am walking the boys in the dark, going to work as the sun is just getting settled into the sky and coming home in the dark. I want light! Ah well... That's winter, right?


This is a Scott Pine, and it confirmed that I have a little pine allergy. Being winter it shouldn't be dropping any pollen so I'll be fine, but where just the needles prick me you can see what my skin does. I handled it gently but even after a couple washings and lotion by hands are burning a bit tonight. Just in case there's pine oil left somewhere on my hands I think I will skip flossing. That could be ugly. What's the holidays without a bit of contact dermatitis? I was careful to wear long sleeves as you see. I'm not completely foolish after this summers lines of blisters where I was scratched by those pine boughs in the yard. Makes so much more sense as an adult looking back on things that irritated my skin as a kid. Like the summer we thought I was having a mysterious allergy to grass and we had really cut down a pine in the yard and there was probably oil and sap still on the un-mowed grass I was laying in... Ahhh, that darn hind-site.

I hope everyone else's holidays are starting to light up. If your stressing, stop it. This is supposed to be a time of joy and love shared with those you surround yourself with. Not gifts and stress. Take a step back and rediscover the joy.

6 comments:

  1. excited to get my tree up as well....made a dent in the business of Christmas...so nice to get the errands done and just sit and enjoy the tree and lights!! so pretty! sorry about the allergy, that looks a bit miserable.

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    1. Nah, now that I know what it is, it's fairly easy to deal with as long as I get to it in time. At least I don't have blisters like my arm did this last fall. I did however opt out of flossing that night because I imagined that would be iserable if I managed to get some oil or sap in my gum line.

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  2. I've got the same problem with Scotch Pine......switched to a Fraser Fir and it doesn't affect me nearly as bad...just a little if I don't get it off right away. Tree looks great! Only a couple more weeks until the days start to get longer again. You need a day off so we can drink our lunch at Reds!

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    1. I think it's just pine in general. I'm thinking in January I'm going to host a knitting and Bloody Mary's day and mix up a batch of homemade Mary's. What do you think? Remember, bring a designated driver and easy knitting...

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    2. Sign me up! I really think you find that a Frasier fir would not do that to your hands. Once I made the switch, the problem decreased dramatically.

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  3. Lovely tree! We put up our Hanukkah decorations last weekend and I made sure to do lots of blue and white lights. I just love the magical glow at night with all the other lights turned off. Decembers in Wyoming are nothing compared to Alaska's but there is still something really comforting about Christmas lights when it's so dark. Might just do the Alaskan thing and leave 'em up until Valentine's day.

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