Love those and Maybe I will get the kids to use popsicle sticks

MISSINGROSIE said:I think you all have convinced me. I will have a last fresh cut this year and after Christmas buy the reduced cost tree. A thousand dollars tag I have seen on some (but they look real enough to get within an inch! and search the boughs for a stowaway snake!) Forgive my snide remark but for a thousand bucks..the damn thing should leap up day after Thanksgiving...decorate itself while fixing me hot cocoa, humming 🎶Joy to the Workd🎶 and rubbing my feet! Cookies would not hurt either....

Lyn, your Christmas sounds wonderful.....looks like the perfect way to finish up that bear (one final gulp) once and for all.

Rosie, you're such a hoot!

We just use artificial tree too, it is about 6 ft tall. Tried a real one before and I did not like the mess of pine needles and then the hauling to garbage. This Christmas 2016, I will terribly miss my mom and mom-in-law who both love and enjoy Christmas and the fun of decorating..so it will be like remembering their love for this wonderful occasion, my tribute to them.

In the Filipino household, aside from the Christmas tree, decorations will not be complete without a Christmas lantern. Either hanging near the tree or out the window. I hang mine by the tree, by the bay window inside, it is made of capiz shells, and it rains in December here, so got to protect it very well.

Wonderful tradition. How beautiful

We went out to eat last night and as we drove up the street to our house, we noticed bright lights in front of a house ( new neighbors). DH thought they were left over from Halloween. I knew better. Those lights were red! It has already begun.

Quite a few people hire a business to decorate the outside of their houses and trees with lights, and then come back to take it all down. No fun in that! But these lights are like my mom used to put up.... She'd throw them up into the trees and spread them wherever they landed. It was perfect according to her. Same with the Azaelea hedge.

We have house painters coming before Thanksgiving. As soon as they finish, the outdoor lights will come out of the attic!

Photo..i have sets of those old outdoor lights too. ..all different colors.

Now they have to be LED strings.

Came upon this thread and love to read the posts. I don't know if all Christmas Tree Growers feel as I do, but I think there is nothing more beautiful in watching our babies planted as tiny ugly little green stems to a beautiful tree and when trimmed and ready for the big day...nothing like it.
I will not bore you with all that goes into growing one of these beauties but I will say, here on Roblyn Christmas Tree Farm, we try and provide our customers with all they need to enjoy the start of a truly old fashion Christmas. We cater to Military families since we are very near the Joint Base McGuire, Dix and Lakehurst, NJ. and we are only open weekends from Thanksgiving to the week before Christmas. We try not to have a commercial look, our farm is truly a farm and people even come at this time of year to take pictures with their kids and pets for their Christmas Cards. We also keep Christ in Christmas for those who have not forgotten the true meaning of Christmas.
If you would like to know more about our farm and see some of our beauties please check this link The thread "Christmas Tree Farming" in Farming forum or you can see Roblyn Farm on Facebook.
Here is what our customers see as they drive into the farm.



We also appreciate people who just come to visit us and do not buy a tree because of allergy problems or religious beliefs. We are here for everyone to enjoy. It is amazing how many people just want to walk around the fields and let the kids run around the trees and just smell that great smell of those beauties.

Our trees are all trimmed late summer one at a time so they are ready for early taggers in the Fall. Here is a picture of my SIL trimming. Lots of work but oh so worth it when you see the faces of the children.


I hope I have not bored you. I thought you may enjoy comments from the "other side".

Oh no! Not bored. Love it.

Here in NC..the mountains are covered with those growing babies in various stages but I am sorry to say..I have admired from afar but not visited. And so love your descriptions.

It sounds lovely JB.
This is a reminder that buying 'live' supports agriculture and small business in this country. Maybe that was mentioned before. I hope that doesn't sound preachy, but could be an element of the decision for some. I think I've decided to go live at least once more. Recyclable right in my yard as well.

I was tempted by some table top size live ones at the grocery store..

We were not open yesterday but we were here working and one family came to buy a tree and a photographer had seven different families come in to take pictures for Christmas Cards. The family got their tree and it was so windy it blew off the cart and then they had trouble getting it on Mr. Shaky because it was so big. They had such fun. I took pictures from the house window. If you look between the old jeep with the tree on it and the barn, way in the back you can see how big the tree is. It is on Mr. Shaky getting all the crappy stuff and old needles out of it before they bag it.

This one shows them getting the tree back on the cart. Sorry truck is in way.


The tree is as tall as the barn....it was a beauty and they had such fun. $45 is all we charge for any tree in the field. People love it and can afford it. Plus everyone gets refreshments and gifts for the kids.

MISSINGROSIE said:Photo..i have sets of those old outdoor lights too. ..all different colors.

Buying a old, decades old, set of outdoor lights a decade or so back got me into buying vintage Christmas light strings, indoor and outdoor and also just certain bulbs..
I wanted the old violet and true yellow bulbs that were around when I was youth plus I got a thing about getting some old C6 lights.
Back then I thought fifty cents a bulb was silly high so I was very picky and cheap.

Now, because of sleaze bags who buy old lights simply to resell, many are well over a dollar per bulb for some of the uncommon C7 bulbs.
Some vintage ones made in any country but China get a premium because they are getting hard to find.
There are even web sites dedicated to old Christmas strings and bulbs.
If I had known ten years ago what I know now, I would have purchased dozens I did not because I thought they were to expensive and I was cheap.

I did buy several strings of the indoor type where they have a red ball to tighten the socket on the branch as they are the ones that worked best but the old string of Mazda outdoors bulbs that got me going on this has burnt out the last of the original bulbs, although the first year I put it out it went through one half of them already.

Personally I am liking the new led lights for the holidays because they cost less to operate and they do not get hot to the touch which seems safer to us. We purchased a number of sets of led's that remind me of the old fashioned multi color ones we have used in the past.

daylilydreams said:Personally I am liking the new led lights for the holidays because they cost less to operate and they do not get hot to the touch which seems safer to us. We purchased a number of sets of led's that remind me of the old fashioned multi color ones we have used in the past.

If the electrical bill is high, YES, the LEDs are the way to go.
The heat helps warm a room though and the TV show Myth Busters proved that the heat from a Christmas light cannot set a tree on fire, ever.
Another reason I like old fashioned lights is even bulbs of the same color, depending on which brand and age, have a slightly different color and I truly love the varied color of lights.
LEDs are boringly the same .
My brother hates them but now by myself I add individual blinking lights some times, plus a few of the good old bubble lights some years.

I love the old lights as well.

I tossed so many if those old bulbs.... I am sorry had no idea of value except to make craft reindeer. I think I gave a bunch to my son too with the electrical sockets to match. These are the outdoor types not the tree types

Of course I am the one that talked mom into getting rid of that nasty old depression era plates in favor of the new and wonderful corelle! .

I don't have a tree any more. The cats would have a hey-day in it. We don't "do" Christmas here; we go to DS#2's place as he has the kids. When we still were milking cows, I said it didn't pay to have a tree because we were never in the house.

One year I bought one of those small Norfolk Island pines for a tree from HD (when the boys were still home) and it is now a 6 foot tall or better monster. No, I am NOT bringing it in the house; it is ensconced in the g'house with all the other greenery.

Psst.....it's Thanksgiving. Don't forget to turn your scale back ten pounds!

If anyone is looking for an artificial tree today is the day to get one. They're all on sale and will go fast in some places.

We decided to get an artificial one this year and took a look at the stores around town. Decided on one and it is now on sale, but husband doesn't want to do the free home delivery "in case he isn't there when the truck comes by" so he says he is going to get up on Friday and go to the store and see if they still have one in stock.. we'll see how that goes.