Last year's Christmas tree hunt was eye opening. I'm fairly certain I had some sort of blood pressure event because it took forever to cut down the tree and once I I was done I nearly passed out. I was diagnosed with high blood pressure shortly after. So this year, I was not looking forward to the tree cutting event even though I've got my blood pressure back in line. Luckily we went there early on the first day and the family was very willing to make it a quick trip. We found the perfect tree in the section of already cut trees. It wasn't too tall and the only dead spot was towards the back so we were set.
For some reason the farm was open the third week of November and since it was raining out we decided we would wait a few days before brining the tree inside. It was cool and I stuck it in a pail of water until we were ready. One trick I've learned for having your tree last is a 'Fresh Cut' on the base. I take my reciprocating saw and cut the bottom inch off and as an extra step I take my grandfather's hand plain and shave off the bottom. This makes sure that all the pores of the wood are open, similar to what you would do with cut flowers. I always know if I've been successful once I get the tree in side and water it for the first time. If it takes up at least 1/2 to a full litre on the first day it means it's thirsty and still alive enough to take in water. This ensures the tree stays green and doesn't dry out. I'm always amazed at some of the houses that show the step of taking their tree out after Christmas and all the needles fall off. I'm assuming they don't even know you're supposed to water your tree let alone the "Fresh Cut" trick.
The Fondue this year was on the Monday before Christmas. The usual gang of the Dukes, Kildens, Elder Kildens and Ronnie attended. If we ever got a bigger house I would want to have a slightly bigger dining room. Although we don't use it often, it's nice to have access to one with seating for 12 to 16 would be good for family events. I may have to start a separate budget for his event. With food prices where they are I feel we spent as much as $75 per person and I think it will only get worse. The event itself was great. No one put the hot forks in their mouth and the smell dissipated in about 3 days.
In past years we've gone to Vancouver to the annual Christmas Market. This year we heard about something similar in North Van with the big difference being that this one was free. It had similar booths and similar atmosphere and if I were to recommend one I would probably go with the North Van one, simply because it's free. There was even a covered ice rink. There were more booths and we got lots of local merchandise for Christmas presents. The only issue was that it took us a bit of time to find a parking spot but I think that was because we got greedy and tried to park close. If we knew better we would have started looking farther out.
We started putting Christmas away a couple of days early. Most things stayed up but the most irritating things to put away are the inflatables, especially if they are wet. It was drier on the 29th so I brought those guys in and started to dry them out. Now I can put them away in their boxes right away. 2025 was okay in that nothing bad happened and our trip to Japan was great but it was much too busy with things like work. This year I'm hoping for a bit more balance especially once my big work project starts to wrap up. Happy New Year!
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