It's a lovely, crisp, sunny winter's day at the farmette. Yesterday, howling winds kept people and felines well indoors. Neighbouring towns lost power. Luckily Durham held fast, and we didn't have to pull out the emergency candles.
Last week, we toddled off to the local Co-op to pick up this year's Christmas tree. A bit more expensive, but nothing like the prices we saw down in St. Thomas.
We wound up with not the most uniform spruce tree. We had to trim quite a bit off the bottom, and a few stray branches that made it look particularly lopsided.
It's still not terribly balanced, and kind of looks like a shoal or squad of squid (there's a huge controversy about the collective term, apparently).
But 'it'll be fine' - which has been Rob and my mantra through the entire pandemic.
We did have the advantage of some 'pre-decorations', in the form of wee tiny cones. See?
We liked our lovely finds so much that we hung our our venerated 'fat angels'on either side, so that they would be framed by the tubby girls.
I love decorating the tree, because we have so many bits and bobs that we've collected through our 30+ years together.
Like the upside down Opus I got as a gift from my boss years ago - that gets pride of place at the top of the tree.
Or the musical orb I bought as a donation to a palliative care centre in Guelph. It was just after our friend Terry died of cancer - he's always in our memories, but they're especially sharp when we hang that tree bob.
There are also the REALLY old ones that either Rob or I inherited from the family that are probably 50 or more years old.
This year's tree is a bit taller than what we traditionally get, so we had to haul out the step stool to get to the higher branches. Here's Rob, standing tall and getting one of the baubles 'just right'.
All in all, it was a fun day. While the felines were a bit flummoxed at first, they really enjoyed it too. They're being good, and not climbing it or anything. I put that down to the prickly trunk of the spruce more than them resisting temptation.
Anyhow. Can't wait for the festive season to begin. Here's hoping everyone stays safe and we can get together with loved ones (in small numbers) this year. Until next week.
