That tree needs more love than Charlie Brown can give it.I did post one earlier in the thread but here is another from 8 years ago. From the photos it should be obvious that I know my trees.
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Breaking news!!! DECISION!!!Gambit Christmas Tree tradition hangs in the balance.
- Thread starter fairgambit
- Start date
How can you leave a real tree up until February? They dry out and become a fire hazard.
That is good question. Most trees that you buy on lots about town were cut in early November. If you leave that tree up till New Years it will have lasted 7 to 8 weeks. We typically cut our tree the week before Christmas. 8 weeks later takes you to February 12th. Beyond that, we select trees with good needle retention, like the Fraser Fir and, among the Spruces, the Colorado Blue. We make a fresh cut just before we put it in the stand. Our tree stand has a large reservoir and we never let that get below a depth of 2 inches. We close all furnace vents near the tree and close off all vents to that room at night. In 50 years we have rarely had a problem with a tree drying out.
most people on this board might not be able to afford a nice tree like this. especially with the unique wooden baseOK. OK. Here you go. Our tree from 3 years ago. Cut it down myself and dragged it to the car. Mrs. G did all the decorating.
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So far I'm 0-1,000 on these types of disagreements but the way I see it is I'm due to win one.God Bless your wife. She's a keeper.
only 1,000 i thought you were married longer than 2 weeks.
Stay with the "live" tree! My wife made the same suggestion this year. I said we have a fake tree in the living room, a 10 foot fake tree in the grand hallway/foyer. We have to have the real tree in the family room. My youngest son told her the him and I would just pick one out ourselves without her and she would have to live with it. Out of fear of what we might bring back, she came along to help pick it out.
Don't do it Fair, it aint Christmas without a real tree.
Don't do it Fair, it aint Christmas without a real tree.
Heck with the tree, just print out your advent calendar favs and tape them to the frig.
Fair it’s a violation to post your own popcorn that’s for us to do or not do
I will offer this. We were still at a standoff this morning. Then, my wife spent the day at a friend's house helping her bake for a party later this week. She is due home soon. I used the opportunity to engage in a bit of deception. If it works I will have a real tree. If it doesn't, I may have a divorce. Stay tuned....
A Tale of Deception and Resolution....
Today my wife and I were still at a standoff over a real, vs artificial, Christmas tree. It was time for a bit of deception. I knew my wife would be gone all day as some friends of ours are having a party later this week and she agreed to help with the baking. After she left his morning, I went to a local hardware store where I know the manger well. I told him I wanted a fake Christmas tree. He asked why as he knows I only buy real ones. I didn't say much other than this was a bit of a prank and I needed the worst smelling fake tree he had. He went over to a box and opened it. The smell was unmistakably that of a fake "plastic" tree. He told me all of his artificial trees have very little smell but this one, for some reason, was apparently defective and a customer returned it. He was going to send it back to the distributor but was given a credit and told to just throw it out. I said "I'll take it. How much?" Since he was going to toss it, he said it was free. I handed him a bit of cash anyway and raced home.
Our tree always goes in our family room which has high ceilings, and I opened the box and put it there. I closed the door and went to work in my office. An hour later I went down and opened the door. The smell almost knocked me over. Perfect!
My wife arrived home just before 7:30 tonight. I asked her how it went and she said "Great. We got a lot done. I brought you some cookies". I thanked her and we headed to the family room.
As she opened the door she gasped and said "What is that awful smell"? "What smell?" said I.
She said "It smells like burnt plastic".
"Oh, that smell. That's our new Christmas tree. I decided you were right and went out and bought us a new one as a surprise". "Well get rid of it. It's horrible. Take it outside right now. Its making me sick." "Aw honey, I think we can get used to it". "No. Take it out. We'll go for a real one first chance we get". "Well, if you insist" said I, trying to hide my joy.
A few minutes ago we were both sitting quietly, reading books. She said "You didn't have to go through all that trouble". "What trouble", said I. "You didn't have to go looking for the worst smelling tree in Pennsylvania just to get me to agree to a real one". (Busted!!!) "I'm not sure I know what you mean honey". "You know exactly what I mean. And it wasn't necessary. While over at Linda's house I commented on how great the cookies smelled while baking. She agreed, and said it was one of the great smells of Christmas, like the real tree we get every year. That moment brought back all of the memories of walking the fields looking for the perfect tree, the great smells, and the decorating, back in a rush and I knew we would never go artificial. I was going to tell you but that awful smell beat me to it." "God Bless you honey. You're the best". "Yes I am, she said, and don't you ever forget it". And I won't.
So. The Gambit live tree tradition lives on! Merry Christmas to all, and may God Bless us, every one.
Today my wife and I were still at a standoff over a real, vs artificial, Christmas tree. It was time for a bit of deception. I knew my wife would be gone all day as some friends of ours are having a party later this week and she agreed to help with the baking. After she left his morning, I went to a local hardware store where I know the manger well. I told him I wanted a fake Christmas tree. He asked why as he knows I only buy real ones. I didn't say much other than this was a bit of a prank and I needed the worst smelling fake tree he had. He went over to a box and opened it. The smell was unmistakably that of a fake "plastic" tree. He told me all of his artificial trees have very little smell but this one, for some reason, was apparently defective and a customer returned it. He was going to send it back to the distributor but was given a credit and told to just throw it out. I said "I'll take it. How much?" Since he was going to toss it, he said it was free. I handed him a bit of cash anyway and raced home.
Our tree always goes in our family room which has high ceilings, and I opened the box and put it there. I closed the door and went to work in my office. An hour later I went down and opened the door. The smell almost knocked me over. Perfect!
My wife arrived home just before 7:30 tonight. I asked her how it went and she said "Great. We got a lot done. I brought you some cookies". I thanked her and we headed to the family room.
As she opened the door she gasped and said "What is that awful smell"? "What smell?" said I.
She said "It smells like burnt plastic".
"Oh, that smell. That's our new Christmas tree. I decided you were right and went out and bought us a new one as a surprise". "Well get rid of it. It's horrible. Take it outside right now. Its making me sick." "Aw honey, I think we can get used to it". "No. Take it out. We'll go for a real one first chance we get". "Well, if you insist" said I, trying to hide my joy.
A few minutes ago we were both sitting quietly, reading books. She said "You didn't have to go through all that trouble". "What trouble", said I. "You didn't have to go looking for the worst smelling tree in Pennsylvania just to get me to agree to a real one". (Busted!!!) "I'm not sure I know what you mean honey". "You know exactly what I mean. And it wasn't necessary. While over at Linda's house I commented on how great the cookies smelled while baking. She agreed, and said it was one of the great smells of Christmas, like the real tree we get every year. That moment brought back all of the memories of walking the fields looking for the perfect tree, the great smells, and the decorating, back in a rush and I knew we would never go artificial. I was going to tell you but that awful smell beat me to it." "God Bless you honey. You're the best". "Yes I am, she said, and don't you ever forget it". And I won't.
So. The Gambit live tree tradition lives on! Merry Christmas to all, and may God Bless us, every one.
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Congrats on your ruse, but isn’t your story only half complete?
We now need to hear about the how, when and who will go real Christmas tree shopping.
Photos or it didn’t happen
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I couldn't decide whether to give it a laugh reaction or a love reaction. I went with the love reaction. Nicely done, @fairgambit. Of course, you're now obligated to give us your annual report on the entire process of acquiring the fresh tree -- a story that I look forward to reading. You married a good one, and a smart one; all respect to Mrs. Fair!
Thanks Tom. I will give a report but, unless Babs shows up, it may be anticlimactic. I will pass your kind words on to Mrs. G.
Both my wife and I have always believed in only having live trees that we choose and cut ourselves. My wife is so crazy about celebrating Christmas that we typically get the tree on Black Friday. She’d get it before if I would go along with it. This year we had a river cruise booked for mid December to see chriskindl markets in Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary. Being away for over a week would mean that the tree would go unwatered and we didn’t want to hire a “tree sitter”. We decided to wait until we got home to cut down a tree. Unfortunately, we both got sick towards the end of our vacation and neither of us is up for cutting down a tree at this point. My wife suggested that we buy a small potted tree and decorate with the ornaments she recently purchased and them plant the tree on our property. I thought it was a perfect solution.
Sorry to hear of your illnesses, but the potted tree is a terrific idea. Get well soon!
That story was on Hallmark last night, except the woman baked cookies and ended up with a stud she went to high school with years ago!
In all seriousness, I’m glad Mrs. Fair went with the wood, er tree.
Merry Christmas and to all a good night!
Does Mrs. Fair have a sister?
Asking for a friend.
Asking for a friend.
We always have one of each - a massive, 14' fake tree for the family room, and we get a real tree for our sitting room. Easy peasy. We collect ornaments from places we visit, and those go on the fake tree. The real tree gets a very elegant silver and gold aesthetic with few ornaments.
It’s like Martha’s living up in there.
I'm a fan for many reasons, not the least of which is she drives a 20 year old Aston Martin DB9 with a manual transmission.
This is awesome! We’re blessed with TWO stories this year… this one AND the forthcoming actual tree selection story Don’t worry about it being anticlimactic, it will be a pleasant dessert after this very filling, delicious tale. Thank you as always for sharing, and so glad it worked out this way!
When my son was young and I was still married, we really enjoyed going to the Christmas tree farm every year. It was a pretty large farm, so they’d take you out on a tractor-pulled hayride wagon to the various sections divided by type of tree. From the various drop-off points, it was never a very far walk to find a great tree, which you then cut down with one of their saws. Then they’d be back around again a bit later to take you and your fresh tree back to “base” on the wagon. All in all it was not strenuous and was very enjoyable. Back near the parking lot, they’d do a clean, smooth cut of a small slice off the bottom of the trunk for you, drill a hole in the bottom to accommodate a tree stand spike if you wished, and put the tree on their shaker to get rid of loose needles and any possible stowaway critters.
All while you availed yourself of their refreshment stand selling homemade hot cocoa and cookies. The whole experience was great!
The year after I got divorced, I was briefly engaged, and she talked me into switching to an artificial tree. It soon ended up that the fiancée had to go, but I stuck with the artificial tree. I regret neither of those things. My back thanks me every time I DON’T get on the ground to saw a tree trunk these days, and my son and I still have plenty of great memories of those tree farm outings.
Now, not to jinx anything, but the way things are going it feels very possible that by this time next year I’ll be fully Christmassing with a new lady love. Should it play out that way, I will leave it as her call whether to use the artificial tree or hit the farm. Though she’s younger, so if she says “farm” I may let her do the honors with the saw, again with no regrets
Merry Christmas everyone!
Don’t worry about it being anticlimactic, it will be a pleasant dessert after this very filling, delicious tale. Thank you as always for sharing, and so glad it worked out this way!When my son was young and I was still married, we really enjoyed going to the Christmas tree farm every year. It was a pretty large farm, so they’d take you out on a tractor-pulled hayride wagon to the various sections divided by type of tree. From the various drop-off points, it was never a very far walk to find a great tree, which you then cut down with one of their saws. Then they’d be back around again a bit later to take you and your fresh tree back to “base” on the wagon. All in all it was not strenuous and was very enjoyable. Back near the parking lot, they’d do a clean, smooth cut of a small slice off the bottom of the trunk for you, drill a hole in the bottom to accommodate a tree stand spike if you wished, and put the tree on their shaker to get rid of loose needles and any possible stowaway critters.
All while you availed yourself of their refreshment stand selling homemade hot cocoa and cookies. The whole experience was great!The year after I got divorced, I was briefly engaged, and she talked me into switching to an artificial tree. It soon ended up that the fiancée had to go, but I stuck with the artificial tree. I regret neither of those things.
My back thanks me every time I DON’T get on the ground to saw a tree trunk these days, and my son and I still have plenty of great memories of those tree farm outings.Now, not to jinx anything, but the way things are going it feels very possible that by this time next year I’ll be fully Christmassing with a new lady love. Should it play out that way, I will leave it as her call whether to use the artificial tree or hit the farm. Though she’s younger, so if she says “farm” I may let her do the honors with the saw, again with no regrets
Merry Christmas everyone!
Wonderful post.This is awesome! We’re blessed with TWO stories this year… this one AND the forthcoming actual tree selection story
When my son was young and I was still married, we really enjoyed going to the Christmas tree farm every year. It was a pretty large farm, so they’d take you out on a tractor-pulled hayride wagon to the various sections divided by type of tree. From the various drop-off points, it was never a very far walk to find a great tree, which you then cut down with one of their saws. Then they’d be back around again a bit later to take you and your fresh tree back to “base” on the wagon. All in all it was not strenuous and was very enjoyable. Back near the parking lot, they’d do a clean, smooth cut of a small slice off the bottom of the trunk for you, drill a hole in the bottom to accommodate a tree stand spike if you wished, and put the tree on their shaker to get rid of loose needles and any possible stowaway critters.
The year after I got divorced, I was briefly engaged, and she talked me into switching to an artificial tree. It soon ended up that the fiancée had to go, but I stuck with the artificial tree. I regret neither of those things.
Now, not to jinx anything, but the way things are going it feels very possible that by this time next year I’ll be fully Christmassing with a new lady love. Should it play out that way, I will leave it as her call whether to use the artificial tree or hit the farm. Though she’s younger, so if she says “farm” I may let her do the honors with the saw, again with no regrets
Merry Christmas everyone!
This is awesome! We’re blessed with TWO stories this year… this one AND the forthcoming actual tree selection story
When my son was young and I was still married, we really enjoyed going to the Christmas tree farm every year. It was a pretty large farm, so they’d take you out on a tractor-pulled hayride wagon to the various sections divided by type of tree. From the various drop-off points, it was never a very far walk to find a great tree, which you then cut down with one of their saws. Then they’d be back around again a bit later to take you and your fresh tree back to “base” on the wagon. All in all it was not strenuous and was very enjoyable. Back near the parking lot, they’d do a clean, smooth cut of a small slice off the bottom of the trunk for you, drill a hole in the bottom to accommodate a tree stand spike if you wished, and put the tree on their shaker to get rid of loose needles and any possible stowaway critters.
The year after I got divorced, I was briefly engaged, and she talked me into switching to an artificial tree. It soon ended up that the fiancée had to go, but I stuck with the artificial tree. I regret neither of those things.
Now, not to jinx anything, but the way things are going it feels very possible that by this time next year I’ll be fully Christmassing with a new lady love. Should it play out that way, I will leave it as her call whether to use the artificial tree or hit the farm. Though she’s younger, so if she says “farm” I may let her do the honors with the saw, again with no regrets
Merry Christmas everyone!
Great story (stories), @CVLion. And here's hoping that things progress as you projected they might with the new, younger, lady love.
I love the annual story from @fairgambit about how he obtained his tree from the farm. But there is the in-between option (between Christmas tree farm and artificial). While I've gone the farm route a few times, I still prefer going to a place that sells pre-cut trees. A very long time ago, while I was in Boy Scouts, I helped sell such trees each year (a fundraiser for our Scout troop). I learned a good bit about the different trees, how to avoid trees that were too old, how to find trees that weren't trimmed too much and actually had room to hang balls/decorations, how to negotiate on price, etc. It became a tradition for our family that I would take my kids with me, to help me pick out a pre-cut tree. This year, my youngest (long time out of college) came home on 12/18, and I held off getting a tree until today, so that we could do it together. It was fun for both of us, and I was happy to see that many of the things I had tried to teach my kids were absorbed by my youngest. We didn't get a perfect tree, but we got the best one that was left on the lot that also worked with the height/width dimensions of my living room with which I had to work.
never! I respect Mrs. Fair's opinion on this subject, and it's good that you honor it. Perhaps she'll change her mind, but that would surprise me.
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For me nothing compares to a real tree. The trip the the tree farm, having the LR or Den smell like pine 
and having an adult beverage while you both admire those beautiful lights. Some things are worth fighting for Fairgambit, don’t give up.
and having an adult beverage while you both admire those beautiful lights. Some things are worth fighting for Fairgambit, don’t give up.
We’ve been artificial forever, but the latest round of young cats (now in their prime) started climbing the thing a few years back. The tree is pretty beaten up, and we haven’t placed toys ornaments on it since. The problem is we can’t find one we like more. I think they’ve stopped climbing it this year so I guess our tree selection story will come Dec 26-27 if we find a discounted new one we can tolerate.
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