The Tree.
Some of you might recall that I have a particular tradition in my white house on a hill - I cut down my very own Christmas tree each year.
Well, I do get help with the actual cutting - nevertheless - it is a winter Saturday that I look forward to with almost a childish enchantment and anticipation.
In Denmark, tree plantations that grow spruce trees for this purpose, where people are allowed to select and cut the tree of their choice, are very common. The experience to walk among the trees and finding the one, which is just right - is one of a kind. It carries so much symbolism and represents an almost nostalgic Holiday sentiment.
This year the white snow added a great deal of magic to this December tradition, as the tree, its branches still heavy with the wintry precipitation, entered my home. The air grew gently saturated with the scent of fresh pine and the spices of hot wine, while I trimmed sparsely its evergreen attire - keeping it simple, the way I prefer. As the day slowly closed towards its end and the afternoon twilight brought on the illumination of my beautiful guest, the atmosphere of happiness in the company of my very good friends created a perfect Holiday moment, completing a winter fantasy...
42 comments:
lovely~how funny also as we brought our tree into our little home yesterday too :)
Your tree is so cute & I love all the ornaments!
Dear Zuzana, I love your tree and those gorgeous decorations - just looking at all the rich red and burnished colours is so warming! Batcat looks especially handsome next to the red bow;-) Beautiful mosaic.
I love the tradition in Denmark of being able to choose your own tree! I'm looking forward to going to the Rougham Estate this Saturday to get ours. There is a gorgeous Barn too where a Christmas craft fair is held in the weeks leading up to Christmas. An absolute must in the festive calendar!!
Enjoy the company of your most welcome guest Zuzana!!
Keep warm. Jeanne
xox
It is a guest of honor! I love the before and after photos... for some reason, I think the little tree that you grew is very happy indeed to be this guest!
Please come and see my new header! I am just tickled pink by it!
Blessings!
Ann
Such a pretty tree, but then I find most Christmas trees very pretty. I like even more your telling of getting the tree and what you like and appreciate about it.Your photo collage is very eye-catching, and festive.
A beautiful tree for a beautiful woman.
Have fun today.
e.
It's been many a year since we have had a live Christmas tree in our home. I remember so well from my childhood the wonderful smells of a fresh tree. I remember so well going with my Dad to get our trees (we didn't cut it down ourselves) at the town tree lot. Since we spend Christmas away from our home we have had to go with the artificial trees. I love the photos of your live tree in the wild and decorated in your home. It looks beautiful both places.
Can't beat a fresh tree, ours is coming from our own garden this year, with the bottom 30 feet removed :O
Lovely photos, I love Batcat with his festive bow!
I love this post Zuzana! I'm glad you get such pleasure from your tree. The smell of a fresh tree in the house is beautiful.
Dan
-x-
It's just lovely! And I bet it smells good, too! Does Batcat behave with it? Our cats used to try to climb up inside the tree each year! ha.
ah this brought back some great memories of going to the tree farm with my dad, tagging trees to be cut and hauled back tot he lot to be sold...but we always picked out a perfect one just for us..
What a Great tradition!! I've only done it once, a few years ago. We made a Fun day adventure of it!!
I dreaded the holidays the last couple of years... being single was a big part of that. But this year my blogging friends are helping tremedously and YOU are so getting me in the Christmas spirit this year, Zuzana!! Thank you!
HUGS,
Coreen
What a beautiful tree! and how lucky to have such Christmas tree farms! Not one around Guatemala. I do know, though, that they created a fair for people to buy "legal" trees (I assume they started a farm this year?!) In years past, people went into the woods, cut trees wildly and illegally, and sold the branches. Not good for anyone, including our suffered environment and nature. That's why artificial trees became so popular. Mine at home is artificial! Thank goodness for the people who make them so "naturally looking" :o)
Lovely tree! Beautiful, really. And I love the red box where you keep the ornaments. I love boxes! you know that :o)
have a wonderful day!
Your tree is just lovely! I love the red ornaments...especially the heart shaped one. Batcat is looking very festive, too : )
When I was a kid we always cut down our own tree. I used to start scouting "the one" early! Thanks for sharing another lovely tradition with us.
Thank you Zuzana for letting us visit your home. How lovely.
I Love The Idea Of Picking Your Own Tree! And The Smell of Pine Is One Of The Sweetest Scents In The World.Enjoy! xoxo
There's nothing as cozy as a home that's all decorated for Christmas. It makes you feel as if all is right with your soul.
PERFECT Zuzana!
I just ADORE your ornaments and the end product is PERFECT!
Beautiful! The trees do bring such a wonderful scent to the home don't they? :)
Good tree and you decorated it rather nicely.
I like how you edited into those photo montage.
Excellent
My family never cut our own tree but we used to go buy a real one. It was always so fun to pick one out and was just so magical once we got it up and decorated.
In the last several years, my parents have used a fake one and it's just not the same.
Your ornaments are beautiful. But then I wouldn't expect anything less! :)
Beautiful. I love Christmas tree and the way they are decorated.
We have to enter your cozy house as one of your many special guests!!:):)
The magical Christmas tree...love your red decorations dearest Zuzana...it would be great to see you...my friends just moved to Denmark this year and I'm planning to take a trip over there next year...:-)
Happy December and much love to you: Evi
Wow the tree is looking so beautiful, and so are the before and the after pix. Hmm..I could smell it.
How are you my dear friend?
Magical tree indeed!
What a lovely tradition! And in the snow - how magical.
Zuzana, I love your new look!
Your description of bringing your "very good friend" into the house was so real that I could truly imagine the piney scent and the spiced wine! It made me happy just to read about it!
Your tree is so beautiful!
Take care x
Short Poems
Mines been up a week but oh baby sparse is not the adjective I'd use. I put 1300 lights on that baby. Why, it's lit up like a Christmas tree!!! Heheehehehe!!!
Who know how many ornaments I pile on the thing.
God bless ya and enjoy your holiday season sweetie!!!
And now for an opposing view from a distasteful old curmudgeon.
Peggy and I have used the same artificial tree for 21 years, and it still looks good. The reason we have an artificial tree is that I never could get it out of my head that real trees were standing in my living room screaming in pain and horror as they ever so slowly died of malnutrition. Peggy assured me that real trees were honored to be sacrificed for so noble an occasion, but I didn't believe this for so much as a milli-moment, so my insistence that we NOT use living trees finally prevailed.
sounds like you had a fun weekend and the tree looks great! I am working on mine this weekend. Merry Christmas!
I love the tree you brought home. It is lovely, and your decorations are heartwarming. God bless!
Only once was I able to pick a tree and cut it. I seem to be the only one who enjoys that in my family and as such, I must settle for a pre-cut tree. I do get it from a farm, though.
We should live closer.
I can't remember ever cutting my own tree but I've always thought it would be so fun. Yours is just beautiful.
Cheers, jj
The feel of Christmas is beginning to wrap me but I have so many unfinished tasks. But inspite of all that, my spirit is joyous at your joy!
Big hugs,
Susan
great shot of the tree "before" and "after" - I'm so glad you included it! I also just love Batcat in your holiday collage! Soooo cute!
Like you I used to cut down my Christmas tree - we grew up doing that... then over time my Dad would just take us around to different tree lots - not quite the same, but at least the tree was real! I always SWORE to myself that I would NEVER buy a fake tree... going out and getting the tree is part of what the holidays are all about!
So after I moved out on my own I remember going with friends would would help me cut down my tree (just like your friends did with you! :) It was always an adventure!
Then over time I gradually just went to the tree lot up the street from where I lived... and now... NOW... I did the one thing I said I would never do - my husband and I got a FAKE tree... yes... we did the unthinkable... it was a few years back... we light candles that smell like a Christmas tree, but it's not quite the same...
However, I just adore the sparkling white lights and the calming atmosphere it creates... my tree is decorated a lot like yours - lots of red and little white lights... It's always hard to take the tree down when the holidays are over - I miss the twinkling lights... so I've started to think about what I can do in order to keep that "sparkle" alive during the dark, cold winter months! :)
((Hugs))
Christine
Zuzana: I loved this post! It takes me back to being a kid with so much wonder! The fresh Christmas Tree lends a wonderful authenticity to Christmas. Wish I could stop by for some spiked cider and chat! xoxo! :)
You found a beauty and it found the perfect home in which to live out its beautifully decorated and festive life. I love Batcat with the bow!
Beautiful! Beautiful!
We went out to cut down our tree, for years and years. But that turned into, buying a recently cut tree. Which became a [lights attached] artificial one. Which this year, became an even smaller, [lights attached] artificial tree. Things change, through and after 52 years of marriage/family. :-)
Everyone, enjoy your now! The young. The mid-life. And the older. Things change, but if we are lucky, we make beautiful memories, along the way.
As this year's Christmas tree is, for you.
Gentle Winter hugs...
Laoi, JMay , Jeanne, Ann, Kathy, Elizabeth, Sandy, Kath, Dan, Betsy, Brian, Coreen, Claudia, LadyCat, Betty, Myrna, tony, Stevie, Jill, adrielle, artswebshow, sprinkles, Rajesh, Phillip, Evi, budh.aaah, Ash, ladyfi, Cheryl, Marinela, Nezzy, Snowbrush, Doreen, Sandy, Myriam, Joanna, Susan, Christine, Michael, Hilary and Amelia – thank you for a plethora of wonderful comments that made me smile and warmed my heart.
So many of you recognize this Holiday tradition, if not from your present celebration, then from your past. The tree brings so much magic into our homes and beauty into our minds.
To comfort those who feel sad for the tree itself; I can reassure you that in my home it gets recycled and will return to nature in my Christmas Eve fire next year.;))
Thank you all for your always kind visits and endlessly kind words.
Xoxo
Zuzana
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