ONE OF MY VERY FAVOURITE THINGS during the holidays [and there are many] is wandering about Christmas tree yards in search of the perfect tree. Last year, we chose a very full and rather bushy Douglas Fir that was decorated in chartreuse glittery baubles and yards & yards of tartan ribbon. And this year, it is a very tall, thin and elegantly sparse Nordmann Fir, with gold leopard print ornaments and wide lengths of fuchsia satin ribbons . . .
But it was last year when our first Christmas tree disaster occurred. The Douglas Fir came on a charming wooden stand that was a slice of tree trunk. It held the tree beautifully, but caused the tree to dry out rather quickly, needles falling everywhere. And then there was the carpet — had not thought to lay down plastic sheeting between the carpet and the charming tree holder, which, over the holidays, was slowly seeping large amounts of sticky tree sap into the cream-coloured carpets — disaster! Alcohol to break up the sap and much work and a steam cleaner later, the enormous stain finally came out.
This year, thought we had thought of everything — we would put the entire charming wood slice stand into a large plastic container with water, so that the tree would not dry out, and the stand could not seep sap into the carpet . . . but when the tree stand got wet, it began to expand, causing the entire tree and container to fall over, spilling gallons of water all over the carpets, and the tree, well it fell in the direction of the library table, knocking over piles of books and a large, completely molten three-wick candle that had been burning for a few hours, causing hot wax to splash all over the antique hand-knotted rug . . .
[Above, a quick guide to evergreens — click here for the full guide.]
But our new tradition of Christmas tree disasters has not dampened the holiday spirits in the least, and the living room now has the permanent scent of Truffle White Cocoa. And while the antique rug may never quite be the same again, the Nordmann Fir is now safely in a supersonic foolproof self watering stand, and the charming wood slice has since been banished, and we are looking forward to next year’s adventures . . .
{p.s.} If you’re wondering how to get wax from an antique rug, it involves brown paper, a warm iron, many hours, a few bad words and much patience. x
[IMAGES : tiger in a jar // bad hills // the wild acres // from the article Heart of the Celebration by Sian Williams, with photography by Polly Eltes as seen in House Beautiful Christmas Ideas 2013 // & other stories]
