Mishap of the Christmas tree

This week-end I finally decorated the Christmas tree. We decided not to get a real tree because it dies too quickly in this Texas heat and we didn't feel like vacuuming pine needles out of the carpet every day. Actually I was relieved. I love the smell of pine but this year my allergies are acting up. Ok, they act up every winter, with the smell of Christmas potpourri in every store you go into and the dampness in the air.

We still had a perfectly good artificial tree--well except for the slightly broken base from the year Katie (our oldest cat) was a kitten. She couldn't resist climbing up the tree and it fell over a few times...I'll hunt down a picture my husband took. However, the tree will stay standing if we take a strong nylon fishing line and tie the tree to the wall. This was Wednesday when dh brought the tree out of the shed. I came home from work and looked at all the branches waiting to be put on the base and ignored it. I was tired and didn't feel like dealing with it. Thursday, I came home from work and the tree was put together. My husband smiles at me and says, now all it needs is some ornaments. They were sitting inside the back sun room in the boxes. I ignored the hint and started supper. After supper, dh says, "well you can decorate the tree tomorrow after work." lol

Finally on Saturday, my day off I started decorating the tree. When we first got together, my husband would put the lights and garlands on the tree and I'd put on the bulbs and my crochet decorations. Then one year my husband worked late so I did everything. He was impressed and realized that I was better at stringing the lights and garlands and left the tree trimming to me every year.

This year the tree turned out nice. As I was putting on the garland, then the strings of beads, Katie sat behind the tree watching me. Her eyes were glowing and I knew the minute my back was turned, she would be playing with the garland and boxing the Christmas balls. Dh said that after the tree was decorated, he'd fix the tree so it didn't fall. Well the tree wouldn't wait for him to get around to it, it started falling so I grabbed it and wondered how I was going to be able to keep it from toppling over. I found my answer, two crocheted bells joined with a long crochet chain. I quickly tied one end to a branch and the other to the nail on the wall. Problem solved until it could be fixed better. It almost did stay too, however my husband liked my solution and never bothered getting the fishing line out. We were watching tv this evening and my husband was admiring the tree saying how nice it looked when the base cracked some more and the tree went toppling down. lol This may be an interesting Christmas. Dh leaned the tree in the corner until he could fix the poor tree. I can't help but wonder if it will take him 3 days to fix it now? I'll let you know.

Meanwhile, I am crocheting an angel without a pattern using thread, buttons and beads. I want it to be a lapel pin. I'll post a picture when I get done.