Real at the old home, even though now it is just me there most of the time but I both love and feel sad when I sleep on the sofa by the tree with the lights left on, till the timer shuts them off. (The last night I leave it up I leave them on all night.)
I put about a half a dozen Christmas records on the turn-table and fall asleep to Christmas music.
At the her place, for the first time in three decades I put up and decorated myself a real tree.
Now she has never fully recovered from her UTI, and is just slowing down anyway, but over the years she had bought well over a half a dozen fake trees.
Some are out in the shed and are used outdoors now, some are down in the old cistern and other are just where ever I can keep them out of my way.
Some were better than others but no matter how careful you are they get beaten up and look more beaten up as the years go by.
Did they save money, not no but HELL NO.
Although around the middle of Mn, trees were a lot cheaper for a few years but it seems now they are trying to get back that money they lost, although now that Menard's sells trees, they are a much cheaper option.
A few years, for what ever reason, I wait till shortly before Christmas before I get/got the tree up at home.
Three years ago I did not get home till two days before Christmas (I used to go home to get my Aunt and bring her up to Sharon's place) and stopped at the tree farm I bought trees at, after dark.
I knocked on the door no answer, went to the selling shed knocked no answer.
Well they had few pre-cut trees laying by the clearance trailer, and I needed a tree. There was a yard light so I could get a bit of a look at them.
I had no cash and there was nowhere to put money so I just grabbed one and left.
I did near the same thing the next year but this time the woman answered the door and said just put your money in the box by the trailer, which was small and you had to hunt to find it, which I did. I wrote a check and the check was never cashed.
Last year I went to Menard's. I put one up in my Aunt's house also but now the county took her, I challenged it in court and lost, and is selling her house so I am glad she had one last tree before the nazis grabbed her.
The odd thing is she had not had a tree for over a decade, and did not want one but last year she asked for one.
Size?
Well I like big but even I am considering, going smaller. Six feet is far easier to deal with.
One year dad and I brought one home and found it was taller and darn near wider than the bay window we put them in.
He complained, why did you get such a damned big one.
I said dad, you picked it.
