Oh Christmas Tree

For inquiring minds - who all thought our new tree was real, and asked if we cut it down out back - here are some specifics about the tree.

Our "old" tree was the FitzGerald (Carp branch) family tree for as long as I can remember, and it was the typical PVC plastic that got crushed into a box a half-size too small for it to really fit in. Once the tree was decorated, it always looked great - but was undeniably "artificial". We wanted something new, and it had better be amazing!

We looked locally last year (over the Boxing Day sales period), and never found anything that we liked. This year, we went online, whittled through a few companies before finding Balsam Hill, out of California. They are fantastic, with rave reviews and extensive placement (i.e. tv shows, movies, etc).

In short, we went with the Norway Spruce, 7.5 feet tall, with Candlelight (white) LEDs. With a free shipping in the United States option, we had it sent to a broker in Ogdensburg, and brought it home ourselves. It arrived in two large heavy cardboard boxes, extremely well packed, with instructions, spare parts, and even a pair of white gloves to ease the fluffing up of the tree.

The pre-lit tree is in 5 sections, plus the tree stand. The bottom 4 rows have branches that are hinged, so they fold up to put the tree away. The tree top has wired branches which easily fold and compress enough to pack. Each section is wired independently, so you just plug one into the next and it all works. There is plenty of length to the end of the cable, which includes a foot switch (we use it on a timer), and there's an outlet at the top if you're inclined to use some special type of top ornament.

It took about 2.5 hours to setup the tree - 90% of that just fluffing it up, bending all the twigs and branches to fill in the depth and breadth of the tree. Next year should be a bit quicker.

It's a beautiful tree, very convincing, and absolutely "fooled" 100% of people who saw it - everything but the smell.

If you're looking - suffer 1 more Christams without it, and wait until Boxing Day to order for the best savings. Order promptly - the various combinations of style, size and lighting sell out quickly!!

Here are some photos of the "nude" tree; you can see the decorated tree in the background of prior posts.