Thursday, December 4 - The Tree!
I don't know about anyone else, but we picked up our tree last weekend (Saturday afternoon), and brought it home. It stood out on the front porch until Wednesday night, when we brought it into the house and set it into its stand. Prior to bringing the tree in, we had to soak it in the "special solution", which is supposed to keep the tree fresh through the holidays.
What? You never heard of the "special solution"? Well, I'll pass it on to you here, and you will, hopefully, have a tree which will maintain its needles and color past Christmas. Here it is:
In a container large enough to be able to set the tree into, mix the following ingredients:
1/2 cup chlorine bleach
1/2 tsp. "20 Mule Team" borax
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup woolite
To this mixture, pour in 1 gallon WARM water, then 1 16-oz. bottle of clear Karo Syrup. Cut about 1/2 inch from the bottom of the tree, and place the trunk into the solution and let stand outside for 12 to 24 hours, no more, no less.
It is important that you make a FRESH cut off the trunk before placing the tree into the solution so that it will be able to "suck up" this mixture. If you have the trunk cut at the place where you purchase the tree, the sap may solidify at the bottom before you can get it into the solution, then the tree will not be able to take any of the mixture in.
When you are ready to remove the tree from the mixture, rinse off the trunk, or place it into some clear water and swirl it around to rinse it before you put it into your stand.
OK! So we brought the tree into the house on Wednesday evening and set it into its stand. We let it stand for 24 hours before beginning to decorate it. This allows the branches to "spread". This year, we had the special pleasure of watching Aaron while all this was going on. This is the first year he has expressed any interest in helping to decorate the tree (according to his mom). The look of sheer anticipation on his face since the tree went up, waiting to start decorating it, was priceless! His biggest thrill was to be the first one to put an ornament on the tree.
By Thursday afternoon, his anticipation was growing and he was hardly able to contain himself waiting for Thursday evening, when we would begin decorating. However, as soon as "mimi" got home from her luncheon date, Aaron prevailed upon her, and so the decorating began early. I went into the basement to retrieve the lights and ornaments, then Mimi, mom (Jen) and I began to string the lights around the tree as Aaron watched. We used the tiny, clear lights on the tree. After the lights were strung and checked, Aaron was ready to place the first ornament on the tree, which was a "Teddy Bear" ornament, I believe. From there, with mimi and mom helping, the rest of the ornaments were hung in no time. When all the decorating was finished, Aaron sat on the floor, in front of the tree, staring at it in wonder (see the web album, last photo).
Here's the link to the web album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cbenoitiii/ChristmasPrep?authkey=IZW7GYXv5BE#
2 comments:
So, is the "20 Mule Team Borax" a product you picked up during your travels through California? You know that the area of Boron, CA is where the majority of the worlds Borax is mined? Actually it is one of the richest deposits of borax on the planet. There's actually a museum in Boron (www.20muleteammuseum.org)that preserves the history of the borax mining. Drove past the town of Boron once or twice...blinked and the town was past us as fast as that! Not a tree in sight, but interesting in it's own special way.
Happy Holidays!
Sandy
Actually, I believe we did see something about that museum while we were in CA.
No, I already had the Borax. Problem is that you have to buy a huge box of the stuff 'cause it doesn't come in small containers. It will last a lifetime, since the "secret recipe" only calls for 1/2 tsp. per batch.
Thanks for the comments! Keep reading, as I will continue to blog about a wide variety of things. Today, for example, I will probably do another blog about the "wildlife" foraging here in Beverly. Stay tuned.
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