With December came the weather
and a tree so fresh and green.
Memories old and new we added
to its branches freshly cleaned.
Then we bid good-bye to mother;
my guys turned to tasks outside.
Since forecast rain was not yet pouring,
my cooped-up horse I hoped to ride.
For just a sec I checked computer
to give my back and feet a break.
I had no clue that the next moment
would any hope of horse time take.
Our 12' tree – to my horror –
chose to lay rather than stand.
And with its landing there was crashing....
Pretty shards spread round like sand.
It's silly for such things to matter
but I'll admit I shed some tears
while I mopped and swept the mess up –
"mess" collected through the years.
Okay, that's all the verse I can manage; my body is aching and my emotions are spent. The tree is once again standing and looks fully decorated in spite of all we lost; just goes to show you (and us) that we have an embarrassment of riches. Still, this is not how I would choose to 'downsize'!
Now, before I crash like a Christmas tree (ha!), I have a Jacquie Lawson Advent Calendar to give away. Seventeen different people commented, and www.random.org chose...
Congratulations, Ruth; that's YOU! Your Advent calendar should be waiting in your inbox; I hope you enjoy it!
That's it for now from . . .
20 comments:
So sorry about the lost ornaments! Yes, they are "just things", but at least for me they hold lots of memories. After having a tree come crashing down (slumber party got out of hand), I took to tying the tree to the bookcase until the kids grew up. I only lost a couple of ornaments then, and luckily not any of the really old ones (I have some that were both of my grandmothers, and some from my late mother-in-law).
ouch! Yes, Michelle, that's not how I would choose to downsize either.
Oh, Michelle, I'm so sorry, I have ornaments I treasure, too. The tree was/is beautiful, though! Loved the verse, too!
Well, first, it's a beautiful tree, and I love that space you put it up in! So sorry for the loss of all those collected treasures and the extra effort of having to do the decorating all over again! But now you have room to add new collected treasures... and we all know that sometimes it's good to let some things go... just not the best way to let them go *sigh*!
Hugs my sweet blogging sister,
Beth
Beautiful tree, the good news is hardwood floor makes clean up easier. Love the Dozer ornament. Project fot the coming year???? needle felt some sheep for next years tree. Enjoy the season.
Oh dear....so sorry!
We aren't sure how our tree will fare this year with three 5 month old kittens in the house who climb everything already...we'll find out this weekend. Hugs to you.
Years from now, this particular Christmas memory will resurface. "Remember that time the tree just crashed over..." You should save the verse you wrote for the occasion, I think its very cute. Glad nobody was hurt, but sorry to hear about the lost ornaments.
Sue, none of the ornaments were as old as that, but the fragile glass balls were gifts from my mom when we were poor newlyweds without two pennies to rub together. And some of Brian's "first Christmas" ornaments were ruined. Amazingly, only one of my collectible bulldog ornaments my friend gives me was broken (it happened to be this year's, pictured before the crash), and I was able to glue it back together.
It was pretty traumatic at the time, Sandra. :-/
I need to take a proper "after" photo, Mary Ann. Yes, it is still beautiful.
It's in front of our deck doors in our great room, Beth; the 15' vault allows us room for a grand tree! (And thanks to the generosity of our neighbor, that grand tree was FREE.)
That's true, Audrey. And I would love a tree full of felted sheep, but don't know when I would find the time!
Eek, Spinner; don't know that I would even attend a tree with THREE kittens!
I thought of that at the time, Shelly. Maybe I'll include the verse in our Christmas letter!
Oh, no! I am sure that every ornament has sentimental value and that is always hard when they're lost. I had to give up trees once I got cats. It's a bad mix. It is a beautiful tree, though.
I have mine in the tub (in a bucket of water) so that I can put it up when I'm back to 1 puppy... Your tree is beautiful - before and after!!
We also have high, open ceilings with an open floor plan and usually cut down or buy from our local tree farmer a 12'+ tree each year. A few years ago one came crashing down and almost crushed our toy Maltese whose bed was nearby. I was so glad she was alive, then emotions turned to the broken ornaments and tears flowed as the cleanup, righting the tree began. Of course all this happened late at night. We found out that the stand was too small and purchased a different stand especially made for the really tall/big trees PLUS my husband tied each and every tree since then for double good measure. Glad all was okay and your Christmas cheer has been restored! Your intro 'poem' was cute!
Crud :-( Many years ago one of my trees fell over - I feel your pain. Still, it's lovely in the photos, and so tall!!
You have a lovely space to put a tree and I hope you enjoy it despite the loss of the decorations. It's sad to lose treasured things in such a way.
Last year we put a small tree up on a table.so that the then semi-small Mastiff and Mastiff/Hound puppies wouldn't attack it. Lyndsey has talked me into a full-sized one this year since we just have 1 super-sized dog in the house (along with large and middle sized). Hopefully it will be in one piece at the end... Tho Mason might try to lift his leg on it (Cool, they brought the bathroom inside). I'm so sorry for the tree-what a mess, huh? And I'm thrilled to have won the calendar. Played with it some tonight. It's so relaxing, exactly what I needed right now.
Oh NO! {{{hug}}}
Oh, and the tree looked so pretty... Glad it's standing again...and with lots of love draped on its branches.
Oh no! I would have burst into tears, grabbed my jacket and flung myself onto a horse for a soothing ride, then tackled the clean-up afterwards. My rationale would be that the damage was already done and the mess wouldn't go anywhere while the window of riding opportunity was closing.
Loved reading your poem story, but so sad to have lost treasured ornaments! And what a pain having to decorate all over again. As another commented, this will go down in your memory books.
After seeing the picture of Dozer below, I remembered this, and wondered if you had seen it:
VIDEO: http://www.wimp.com/dogelephant/
What a fantastic tree! Gorgeous. And congratulations to Ruth for winning the calendar.
And I can't resist inviting you to come check out my blog as to why I'm so excited! Perhaps I can entice you to enter my book giveaway. :)
What a beautiful tree - sorry about the crash - T.
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