Saturday, December 13, 2008

The Tree is Up Now ...

After spending all week in a bucket of water, we finally brought the tree inside last night (complete with the icy disk that had frozen at its base!) and got it set up in the stand. Soon after, Fernymoss started working his magic by stringing the 350 new LED lights we have switched over to this year for the tree. We're really liking them: they're bright, take very little electricity and don't heat up at all. And by all accounts, they last much longer than traditional bulbs and rarely burn out ... they're winners on all those accounts. Though they're currently more expensive than traditional ones, we got these back in October when they had a pre-Christmas sale at Big Lots for not a bad price at all compared to other retailers (sorry, Target).

Tonight we finally located the glass bead garland and set out to get it strung in preparation for the great ornament hanging over the next few days, but here's how it looked about an hour or so ago. This was a flash shot (obviously) so it doesn't quite capture the lights, but it does give a clearer, detailed view of the overall tree so far....

This one was taken in ambient light, so for capturing the overall glow effect, this shot works really well, but the focus leaves much to be desired ... still, for pure appreciation of the warm glow the lights give the tree, it's one we ended up liking.

Amazing Color Morphing Tree
Here's a fun little video I took of one of our color morphing trees ... we tried still shots of it last year, but were disappointed in the results, so I got the idea of trying a quick video using the S700. I think it turned out pretty well for a single take ... definitely better than our previous stills. We got two of these fun little knick knacks from Fernymoss' Great Aunt a couple of years ago (she always gives us two of something each Christmas, lol), and we've really enjoyed having them out to brighten up the table in the dining room. By the way, that's Ella Fitzgerald in the background on the XM holiday channel we have playing while we decorate. A happy coincidence I happened to take this while she was on!

We're still unpacking a lot of the ornaments, but we've located almost all of the really nice ones so far, so we're on the way to getting them placed just so.... Ornament blogging will happen as I'm able to post for the next couple of weeks ... I'm completely swamped at work, and with the sad event of this week, so my time and motivation have taken a big hit. I'll do my best though to share our Holiday décor through the rest of season, so keeping stopping by, friends and occasional readers.


On another note, we're going to pick up Pepa's ashes sometime on Sunday, so she'll be coming home to stay one last time....

11 comments:

boran2 said...

The tree looks great, IVG. I really like all the different colored lights. We took out our menorah about a week ago, the total extent of our holiday decorating.

Gail said...

Hi IVG,

Your tree looks lovely! I intended to get the LED lights but they were all gone when I went looking (finally) for them!

I will check in from time to time to see when you post the ornaments. Have a peaceful week...I know this is going to be a tough one.

Gail

Roses and Lilacs said...

I looked at the LED lights but put it off. Yours look great, very bright. Your tree is lovely.
Marnie

Anonymous said...

Our runt kitty, Moonya, is having her second go at a christmas tree...

Last night we caughther LAYING at the third branch from the TOP!

We haven't put the ornaments on yet because we want to pick our battles and Christmas isnt really about hollering and squirting a playful kitty. ;) Hoping she calms down a bit and learns. Otherwise we might have not put the ornaments on.

No tinsel kitty caregivers. Tinsel, bad.

((((IVG)))))

Larry Kollar said...

I'll have to go have a hunt for LED strings in the after-Christmas specials. I might find one or two, you never know.

Janet, BTDT with the tinsel back when I was in high school. Didn't hurt the kitty, fortunately, but guess who got to hold the tinsel while she walked away?

Iowa Victory Gardener said...

Hi B2,
Thanks, and we hadn't even started to put the ornaments on yet when we took those photos! Those lights really do shine and give it a nice glow even if we put nothing more on it, but that's not how trees are done at the IVG household, lol.

Iowa Victory Gardener said...

Hi Gail,
LEDs seem to be a hot item again this year ... last year we thought we'd get some after holiday markdowns, but they had all been snapped up. So this year, thanks to Big Lots we got them early.

I hope to get some ornaments up very soon (maybe Wed) if work will let me have a few hours to myself!

Iowa Victory Gardener said...

Hi Marnie,
The LEDs are really bright and pretty ... definitely the way to go in the future! We got an LED flashlight as a gift a couple of years ago and still haven't had to replace the batteries... they're that miserly on energy consumption!

Wait till it's fully decorated, then you may change your mind, lol. We pack em flashy here in this house!

Iowa Victory Gardener said...

Hi Janet, my dear,
I've always heard that cats love to climb the tree, but since I'm allergic to them, I have never experienced that myself (but Fernymoss agrees).

Yeah, I can see what you mean about picking battles ... I too would much rather have relaxation and peace than constantly fretting about the cat demolishing the tree. Pepa and Rolly were always so good about leaving it alone, save for the occasional wag that knocked off something at the base of the tree. That's why the unbreakable ones always went there. We didn't mind at all though, were they both here this year, we wouldn't even care... *sigh*

Iowa Victory Gardener said...

Hi FAR,
Good luck on finding any after Christmas, but you might get lucky. If you have a Big Lots nearby give them a shot now ... we got ours for $8.00 for 60 (which is actually a good price) when we got ours.

BTW, what is BTDT? Been scratching my head over that one....

Anonymous said...

been there done that.