Monday Morning


That time of year again. How quickly it seems to come around these days.

I love decorating trees. Love the smell of them (the fresh ones). It looked like I might not get my tree this year. For the longest time only one place in Angel Fire had trees for sale and they looked dyed and plastic, definitely were not freshly cut, and had no place to place decorations the branches were so jammed together. I considered a fake tree. Even went internet shopping for one.

Disenchanted with that possibility I thought of any variety of ways to make a tree substitute. I had done one in college which was stacked tumbleweeds sprayed white and adorned with Christmas lights which my room mate and I swore blinked to Tchaikowsky's 5th symphony. I have used potted Norfolk pines also. And for several years when space was limited due to mask making for Mardi Gras just hung ornaments from the ceiling. I was dreaming up a mobile tree to hang from the studio rafters when I returned to my search for the real thing.

And I got it. A fresh cut New Mexico pine that just smells like the great outdoors. Nice when you are closed off against the weather in a heated house. No doubt why the Norse began the tradition. Course they had their livestock also in the house and I just have the fur kids.

I do make some of my own decorations and every year I have tried to buy a new one or two or three. As a result I have a wide range of options for adornment and can rather pick and choose. I do like the flowers and bows I did last year. They add a Victorian Flair. As do some of the tin ones I have picked up.



One of my hand painted ornaments in behind this reindeer I got last year. And one of my collection of moose. Stay tuned to this blog for more featured ornaments in the weeks before retirement to the boxes again.

Comments

  1. Ien in the KootenaysDecember 15, 2011 at 9:08 PM

    It looks beautiful. Artists seem to have this ability to place things just so, to create a harmonious whole.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I write for me but I care what my readers think. Please be polite and no scamming.

Popular posts from this blog

Swimming

Image
For much of my college career my fitness workout was swimming on the B squad of the swim team. I remember it as the days before heated pools and women coaches. I also remember being so exhausted and cold I could only lean against the shower wall and throw up. Not exactly warm fuzzy images but I was in awesome shape. Needless to say it did not leave me with a overpowering desire to swim laps. Point of fact for years my swimming became really informal: Swimming to shore after the canoe tipped over, challenging my sister once a summer to across the lake and back, seeing how long I could back float without moving a muscle, and a scuba course. I also played around with other ways of staying fit: aerobics, bicycling, jogging, skiing and dance classes. All of which seem to be bad for the knees, back or feet. After my ski accident my physical therapist steered me back to the pool. Damn if I was going to swim laps! However, aqua fit was just getting rather seriously taken so I took it. It r
Read more

The Pruning the Crown of Thorns

Image
Crown of Thorns Before I am a lover of Euphorbias . They are from the deserts of Southern Africa and Madagascar. They have evolved physical characteristics and forms similar to cacti of North and South America and are often incorrectly referred to as cacti. My big Crown of Thorns was one of my first of a growing collection of these succulents from the spurge family of Euphorbiaceae. I picked it up as a 6 inch plant in a New Iberia nursery when my sister and I were touring the northern gulf coast. I believe that was 15 years ago. I made an attempt at limiting its height a few years back to allow it to devote more energy to the new branches and make it a denser plant. That failed. And the height of the plant continued to challenge the window space and soon the long branches were leaning over and leaning against the window. I googled and found the proper way to prune this treasured plant. Still it was very difficult to cut off the four longer branches. Even with a plan. The f
Read more

Eagle Nest Dam

Image
Tour of Eagle Nest Dam Eagle Nest Dam is the largest privately built dam in the United States. It was begun by the Springer family in 1917 and completed in 1920. It and the reservoir beyond it one was privately owned by the CS Ranch which recently sold it to the state of New Mexico. Eagle Nest Lake is now a state park, but the dam and the waters in the lake are another matter all together. Water is well regulated in New Mexico especially during a drought. The lake is now at 25% of its normal capacity, and the water in the lake are water right lease holds of Raton, Cimarron, and historic ranches in the area like the UU Bar and the CS Ranch. Game and Fish department also get involved because the Cimarron River is an active fishery of the state. Our guide was a state engineer and the Gateway Museum secured permission of the land owners below the dam for us to gain access to the area. Some 100 locals and tourists attended this rare event. I have lived here almost twenty years and th
Read more