The Great Chrsitmas Tree Hunt

Well, I had it all planned out rather nicely in my head. We’d go to a local farm and buy a medium sized, real tree, then whilst the kids and Nick decorated it, I’d be in the kitchen baking delicious cookies and cinnamon shortbread and mulling wine…..ahhhhh, what’s it they say about best laid plans and all?! The farm was all shut up and didn’t look like it was even selling trees this year, so we decided to go further out into the little villages in search of another farm selling trees. Well, we drove and we drove and we….drove. But alas, the only Chrsitmas tress we saw, other than those glowing beautifully through people’s windows, were a few bedraggled looking specimens on sale outside of the local Co-op. It was getting so late that we decided to at least check them out – they looked even worse close up so we left forming a plan B. Plan B: go to Tesco - well they do sell practically anything you can think of, except for ..Christmas trees. Plan B bit the dust rather quickly. Plan C: try B&Q. We had bought a rather nice real tree from there before so it seemed like a good bet. They too were clean out of real trees, but as it was so close to Christmas (Only 7 days to go) all of the fake trees were reduced. Now one thing you must know, before meeting Nick I had only ever had a fake tree, but Nick’s tree snobbishness had obviously rubbed off on me as it felt wrong to be buying a plastic thing in a box. Well I soon changed my mind, it only cost £4 odd and it really only was for the kids’ benefit as me and Nick were going to be working all the rest of that week. So we got the tree, and when we got home there was no mulled wine or cookies or shortbread, just a hastily eaten meal and decorating time! I must admit, it did look rather pretty once the kids and I had put all the glitz on it (and the kids had been eager to assemble it!).
Ben put the star on and they both loved it, they don’t know the difference! All that said, next year I’ll be more prepared, cookies will be ready as will the mulled wine and cinnamon shortbread. And our real, pine scented tree will be waiting for it’s adornment from the first week in December.