General Chat

No tree up yet but it will have the same usual mix of decorations as in other years. They have been collected over the years and are a walk down memory lane. There are handmade small clowns from children's primary school days,little wooden figures brought back from Germany, small ceramic tree from an Ireland holiday and crystal glass hanging ones from Prague. I don't know what this says about us, - but we like it this way.

Okay dokey Joan - i wont tell anyone your orange slices aren't real- it will be our secret.... Jess

My house is like an explosion in a glitter factory. The theme is 'devoid of taste'. I also have many inflatable Santas and reindeer. Gwynne

I like real ones but o.h. has an artificial one that has seen better days, so he says if I want a real one I will have to get it and set it up. Will have to see what I can find. A few years ago when I was at my home and my son still lived there, I bought a real tree from a roadside trader outside a local pub. He is there every year. He swore it was a rooted one and would grow on for the next year. Well of course it wasn't as I found when I put it outside - it just died off and when I took it out of its pot it had been cut off, had no roots at all. I stuck it back in its pot and left it in the garden and the following year, I went back to the trader with the tree and told him off. He said he wasn't the boss and called his mate from the pub. They just stood there taking the proverbial , and wouldn't give me any money off another one or anything. The boss just walked back into the pub and the other bloke stood there with his mouth open as I picked up a new tree, thrust it into my car, and threw the old one on the ground. I bombed off luckily not hitting anyone else, as it was dark and I had not put my lights on, and roared up the road to a turning which would take me back home. As I drove off the first lad shouted and the boss came running back and tried to open the car door, but i just drove away. I hoped because I had no lights on they wouldn't have been able to read my number plate. Even so, I quaked when I got home - my son was horrified, and I was in fear of the door bell ringing and the police standing there. Luckily nothing further happened and I often laugh to myself at the bloke's face as this middle aged woman nicks a tree and disappears. That'll teach 'em to fleece people.

My tree is 7ft tall and is decorated in red and white. I have had many colour schemes over the years but personally i prefer red and white. Merry Christmas all. Alyson

The main one in the front room I got my sons to decorate to take their minds off running around shouting. It worked! It's mainly red and gold, with some silver. Some of the decorations I bought individually over the years, lots are presents given to me by children at the school where I work. We also have a fibre-optic tree which changes colour - I haven't switched it on yet, but I think the colour sequence is purple, white, red, turquoise. That's in the dining room. I've also got a small gold tree that sits on the table. nell

LOL Strump Joan if I get time to buy the ingredients and make it between buying presents, wrapping presents, writing cards, sending cards seeing friends and family etc etc I will lol Juliexx PS must add that with my cooking it'll probably take me a few goes before I get it right and don't burn it cos I put it in oven and forget about it (did that with son's tea the other night lol)

Has to be balanced, makes up for my unbalanced mind lol

LOL Strump!! Don't we all crave a balanced tree?! lol :0) Joan xxxx

Joan, im so awful with a tree, has to be balanced or i fret....how sad is that! (hence i dont have a real one, its not balanced)!!

The tree is still in the loft but when I decide to decorate it I have no actual colour scheme I have lots of different baubles Some are from the 1930's 50's 60's 70's 80's and 90's and some of them have lots of memories attached to them Bren

Very tasteful Strump, what I expected from you!! lol Julie, if you haven't bought one, you still have time to make one, just pop it in the freezer & defrost a day before marzipanning. It matures the cake as if you made it a few weeks before. :0) Joan xxx

Mines a fibre optic, its in lilacs and i decorate it in the same, one problem.....its in the loft!

I never got to make that cake from the receipe you gave me Joan. I saved it on to floppy disc then my puter crashed and it spent most of November at the menders so I will have to try it next year.

Jess, Don't tell no-one but I think mine are faux orange pieces!! lol I do know that you have to slice an orange then put the pieces on a baking tray (on parchment preferably) & bake on a very low oven until they are dried out. The cinnamon sticks I bought ready bundled a couple of years ago, yet they still smell! Try a health food shop or herbal shop. Break or cut them smaller then tie with tartan ribbon for example onto the tree. :0) Joan (who everyone now knows didn't make them herself lol!) xxxxxx

The one dangled with Cinnamon sticks and oranges sounds lovely! is it too late to dry orange slices to dangle? if not, how do i do it, anyone? where can i buy cinnamon sticks from? Jess x

LOL CB!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can just picture what people look like/act like according to their decor!! It's called psych-tree-analysis!!!! PMSL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :0) Joan xxxxxx

Joan, We've only got four trees because our son used to insist on having one in his bedroom every year. Now his CD collection has taken over, he's got no room for it any more, so it stands in the hall. The fibre optic one was one of my husband's impulse buys, and the little gold one in the loo used to belong to a relative I didn't like. That's why it's in there! LOL So, what tales does the tree tell about people's personality? Probably that mine is split several ways! ;>))) >*|*< X

No Joan but you know what it's like looking at trees outdoors then you get them home and realise it's bigger than you thought lol

Hi BC This one nearly killed me off lol. It's a twenty minute walk to B&Q from where I live. Took me an hour o get home lol. Still it was worth it even if I have lost my living room pmsl. Juliexx