View Full Version : Real or Fake?
Over the years I have had every type of Christmas tree.
Scotch pine,silver tip,plastic and even aluminum.
Both real and artificial.
Since our Son Conner was born we have done a real tree for the last 3 years.
This year I managed the most beautiful tree I have owned in years,the real pine smell is awesome.
It is also by far the best decorated too as I used the 3 dozen German ornaments from my Grandmother there over 100 years old, 4 boxes 1950s Shiny Brites from my Mom 84 years old and some I bought made in the Czech Republic and some from Waterford all those very thin glass hand painted santas,choo choo clocks,mushrooms,angles,turkeys ect....
We even have a very old German pickle.
Most of these ornaments take me back to my early Christmases as a kid and with most of my family passed on brings a little sadness over a glass of Crown Royal.
Do you prefure a real tree or a artificial tree?
And is there any special ornaments that mean something to you?
The Grand Wazoo
14-12-2012, 08:07
Real - always a real one.
(Growin' em keeps us foresters off the streets!)
I used to sell thousands every year - a good Noble Fir is beautiful, but hard to grow.
We're not having a tree this year, though.
Real, every time - I DETEST cheap-looking artificial trees, because, well, they look so artificial (and seriously tacky)!! Especially those 'day-glow' white or blue fuckers... Puke! :spew::spew:
We buy 6ft 'non-drop' Highland Nordmann Firs, from our local (privately owned - don't like multiples) specialist garden centre. The Nordmann Firs smell gorgeous, have well-spaced out, firm branches, which hold the decorations nicely without flopping all over the place, like happens with some trees, and look fantastic.
We also use (mostly) vintage decorations, from the 1970s, and hand-blown and painted glass baubles (the latter which we bought in Germany and Luxembourg, where they sell some fab and unusual Christmas stuff), much nicer than the tat made these days in the UK, and coloured lights, which give a nice cosy warm glow in the dark. I hate white ones, as they look too cold and clinical.
Yesterday, we spent the day decorating the tree, along with the rest of the house, and as I'm typing this in the room, lit only by candles and the glow of the Christmas tree, the house is looking really nice and Christmassy.
Can't wait to light the log fire later and sip a few Drambuies! I'll see if I can manage to post a few pics of the tree later :)
Marco.
We're not having a tree this year, though.
Why's that, mate? Christmas ain't Christmas without a tree!
Marco.
The Grand Wazoo
14-12-2012, 08:34
It's complicated!
The whole system is in the living room because the little room where the sources, RCM & pre, records and CDs are normally housed is suffering from serious damp. Until it's sorted, we've sadly no room for a tree.
Can I offer a word of advice to folks putting up real trees though?
Please, please, make absolutely sure your lights are safe. I've seen a Christmas tree or two catch fire and the ferocity of the burn and the speed with which the blaze develops is truly frightening if you imagine what would happen in a house.
If you don't believe me, then consider that they extract turpentine from coniferous trees.
Understood, amigo. Good words of advice - our tree lights are only switched on when the room is occupied.
Fact: Christmas tree lights cause more house fires than hard-wired hi-fi equipment!! ;)
Marco.
Rare Bird
14-12-2012, 16:30
I don't bother because we work every Christmas holiday but when i do it's Marco fav kinda tree Authentic 1960's white tree :D
Seriously? Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooo...... :nono: :nono:
They had real trees in the 60s too, you know!! :eyebrows:
Marco.
Rare Bird
14-12-2012, 17:00
Don't worry about it Father Christmas aint real either :D Been looking for one of those colour (Color ;) ) light projection things that Americans have under their trees.
Much prefer a real tree, but we've had a fake one since the kids, as the needles are not great for babies - but our 7 foot artificial one is reasonably life-like and will do until we can go back to real ones. :)
Real, every time - I DETEST cheap-looking artificial trees, because, well, they look so artificial (and seriously tacky)!! Especially those 'day-glow' white or blue fuckers... Puke! :spew::spew:
We buy 6ft 'non-drop' Highland Nordmann Firs, from our local (privately owned - don't like multiples) specialist garden centre. The Nordmann Firs smell gorgeous, have well-spaced out, firm branches, which hold the decorations nicely without flopping all over the place, like happens with some trees, and look fantastic.
We also use (mostly) vintage decorations, from the 1970s, and hand-blown and painted glass baubles (the latter which we bought in Germany and Luxembourg, where they sell some fab and unusual Christmas stuff), much nicer than the tat made these days in the UK, and coloured lights, which give a nice cosy warm glow in the dark. I hate white ones, as they look too cold and clinical.
Yesterday, we spent the day decorating the tree, along with the rest of the house, and as I'm typing this in the room, lit only by candles and the glow of the Christmas tree, the house is looking really nice and Christmassy.
Can't wait to light the log fire later and sip a few Drambuies! I'll see if I can manage to post a few pics of the tree later :)
Marco.
Just been reading through the wine & ale thread, and after seeing this, it is clear that you adopt a connoisseur attitude to anything you do! Respect.
Much prefer a real tree, but we've had a fake one since the kids, as the needles are not great for babies...
Get away - it's all good roughage!! :eyebrows:
Anyway, as long as the artificial one isn't fooking white! :eek:
Marco.
Just been reading through the wine & ale thread, and after seeing this, it is clear that you adopt a connoisseur attitude to anything you do! Respect.
Lol - cheers, Neil. You have read my profile, haven't you? ;)
Marco.
The Grand Wazoo
14-12-2012, 17:31
Anyway, as long as the artificial one isn't fooking white!
I used to be involved in the management of one of the Scottish estates of a certain member of the aristocracy. The wife of the eldest son used to have an 18' tall tree in the entrance hallway of their rather large home. Not only was the tree expected to be perfect in shape and proportions, but we had to take it to an estate workshop and have it spray-painted white.
Jeezuz.... That just proves that having money doesn't automatically bring good taste!! :doh:
Marco.
:o . . . see, there's me when I saw the thread title thinking, "Oooo, gonna have some nice pics here and we have to choose real or fake ;)"
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w63/greatgig/fake.jpg
:bum:
Don't worry about it Father Christmas aint real either :D Been looking for one of those colour (Color ;) ) light projection things that Americans have under their trees.
OMG! I used to have one of those color wheel lights when I had a flocked aluminum tree ,they kinda went out by 1970.
:o . . . see, there's me when I saw the thread title thinking, "Oooo, gonna have some nice pics here and we have to choose real or fake ;)"
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w63/greatgig/fake.jpg
:bum:
Is this part of the 'pubic hair' thread? :D
:o . . . see, there's me when I saw the thread title thinking, "Oooo, gonna have some nice pics here and we have to choose real or fake ;)"
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w63/greatgig/fake.jpg
:bum:
High Jacking this thread with pictures like that one is totally appropriate and encouraged by me the original poster but you must still tell us what kind of tree you like.
BTW both the fur and her boob job are as fake as Andre's Christmas tree. (is that Beaver?) personally I think she has to much fur below.
But it doesn't mean she's not totally hot!
:worthless: :exactly:
I will try to post a picture tonight the Nikon is to pixel heavy to upload.
So I have to find the cheapo 3.1 Kodak, last time I saw it my 3 year old had it.:doh:
High Jacking this thread with pictures like that one is totally appropriate and encouraged by me
:rfl:
I feel impelled to answer now Jeff . . . I don't celebrate Christmas at my home anymore, but when I did it was always a real tree ;)
Rare Bird
14-12-2012, 19:45
OMG! I used to have one of those color wheel lights when I had a flocked aluminum tree ,they kinda went out by 1970.
I know :eyebrows:
I've decided to go for a real invisible Christmas tree this year instead of my usual fake invisible one...
Here you go!
The mushroom turkey,little houses,tea pots, clocks and mandolins are well over 100 years old.
A few more.
Some 100+ year old stuff,new Waterford Santa head and 2 dozen hand painted wooden globes and bells from India.
I have 6 Waterford in all on the tree,all these will go to my son when he moves out years from now.
Last pics.
The little house is over 100 years old made in Germany, next to it is pre war Shinny Brite.
When I look at all the old ornaments from when I was 3 years old and even younger it reminds me of how magic Christmas was to me then and when my parents where young and Dad was above ground.
I miss family that has passed on,and one day my 3 year old Conner will look at these on his tree and remember a time when his Dad was with him.
And now I see the excitement building in his little brown eyes as Christmas draws closer each day,and suddenly I am propelled back some how to my early Christmas'es in the old house on Sterling st. with my whole family still around and all us grand kids sitting at the kids table while the adults got good and over stuffed and buzzed on egg nogg and brandy the old tube stereo playing something from Elvis or Spike Jones. I need a damned drink so I'm off for a bottle of Crown.(Soon to be impaired)
I just love EBAY descriptions like this one, Came from a smoke/pet free home?
You don't think some one has smoked or had a pet in the same house that this Christmas ornament has been in over the last 100+ years since these Mercury glass go back to 1900-1920's.
I want to ask them if they are they are the original owner and do they still have the receipt? To prove it has not been in a smoke/pet free home.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-TEA-COFFEE-POT-Gold-German-Mercury-Glass-Christmas-Ornament-/221168797802?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item337eb0086a
Nice one, Jeff. You can't beat having a real tree and some vintage decorations! :)
Here are some of our tree, with a few cats in the way...
Mitzi:
http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/5067/img1964n.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/502/img1964n.jpg/)
Abella:
http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/4889/img1975y.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/209/img1975y.jpg/)
Wee Emrys:
http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/8476/img1968c.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/255/img1968c.jpg/)
http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/3057/img1970zu.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/835/img1970zu.jpg/)
http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/3534/img1971kb.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/62/img1971kb.jpg/)
:christmas:
Marco.
I love the red bells, do the catz climb the tree?
Lol... Fortunately not. They tend to just flick the baubles about, which is why we've put less of our (rather fragile) glass ones on the tree this year. We'll carry on doing that until Emrys has grown up a bit, as he's a wee bugger! :eyebrows:
Marco.
Here are some pics of the daftee tree itself....
http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/9748/img1976tv.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/11/img1976tv.jpg/)
http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/7540/img1977g.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/841/img1977g.jpg/)
http://img542.imageshack.us/img542/8240/img1978n.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/542/img1978n.jpg/)
:) :cool:
Marco.
This Christmas we did the British poppers for the 1st time.
I had never seen them before, is it common to place them on the tree?
They look good there.
Hi Jeff,
Not really. Each person does their own thing :)
What I like about fir trees, which this is, as opposed to spruces, is that the branches are much stronger and more spaced out, not to mention the needles much thicker, which makes hanging decorations on them much easier, and there's also less mess, as the needles tend not to drop off as easily!
Marco.
Rare Bird
26-12-2012, 21:31
Don't mess with those mafiosa cats :lol:
Psycho cats, dude - psycho cats! :eyebrows:
Marco.
Some nice tree's, ornaments and pussies:D
We didn't risk putting a tree up this year, it wouldn't last two minutes here with our latest addition kitty, the little s**t :mental:
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