In search of our Christmas tree

Helena and I planned to drive to the farm shop this morning and the weather turned out to be perfect under a deep blue sky with only flecks of clouds that allowed the sun to shine brightly. There had been a hard frost last night and in the shadowy areas the white frosty crystals sparkled in the sun and any puddles crackled underfoot when trampled on.

Helena had wanted to join me in selecting our Christmas tree, which I had done on my own last year. Ashley the farmer lets me go into the fields to cut down any tree we want so I was glad Helena could come with me. We donned our wellies because the clay churned up by the tractor wheels was very muddy in places and we had to walk down through it to get to the field where the strip of land is used for growing Christmas trees.

As we approached lots of birds flew up and out of the various sizes of trees. Some are now too big to be used domestically while others are tiny young plants. We walked along the track by the hedge and saw a couple of possibly suitable sizes and shapes. When we reached the end of the track we got out our cameras and both took some pictures to mark this day.

Helena is just out of shot here and our tree is hidden behind the tallest of the ones in this picture. I had to take off my scarf and sweater as I was already very warm before I started sawing the tree down. Once we got it back to the farmyard, Ashley measured it up and told us it was one of the few spruces in their crop and has very sharp needles which I'd already discovered.

We then paid for all the vegetables as well as the tree, loaded it all in the back of the car and headed home. We have put the tree in a large bucket of water outside to keep it fresh until we are ready to erect it in the house, probably next weekend. It seems to early to do that now, but we were glad we went up to get it today as the trees are being sold off very quickly. I seem to remember putting up the tree just before Christmas Eve when I was a child, but I like having a tree in the house because of that wonderful smell of pine needles that is so distinctive of Christmas time.