Dec 13 2021 - Christmas Trees

 

We're planning for next year's Fantasy of Trees and will need to buy some artificial trees.  We typically are able to get them from the big box stores at a reduced sale price if we buy all the leftover stock.  I wondered what happens to leftover stock and put my question into the google search engine with this answer: "Many are chopped up, ground down and fed to plants and animals, according to Rocco Malanga, the owner of Cedar Grove Chrismas Trees in Cedar Grove, New Jersey. "On a commercial level, they become wood chips that are made into mulch," Malanga said. "That's very common. Aside from that, they go to farms for livestock." As for artificial trees, there weren't any answers for what big box stores do with leftover stock. There are lots of questions about Christmas trees on goggle that made me think might be asked for immigrants experiencing Christmas in North America for the first time. Q What plant looks like a Christmas tree? A Norfolk Island pine trees (Araucaria heterophylla) are commonly used as those cute little houseplant Christmas trees that you can buy around the holidays, but then the holidays end and you are left with a seasonally dated, living plant. Q What are the trees called that look like Christmas trees? A Fir trees are a genus of the evergreen coniferous trees and are also a popular choice for the holiday season. The most popular fir trees used for Christmas include the noble fir, fraser fir and balsam fir. Today we have an abstract image.

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Two-Faced Day

Big news yesterday:  Trump expressed unhappiness because of unkind things said about him by other world leaders.  His response:  Justin Trudeau was two-faced.   Let's shine some light on "two-faced" expressions and quotes. First, in the definition of two-faced comes this quote/expression: "It's not surprising that politicians are so two-faced, but that people buy their phony facades." This version has been spoken many times between the democrats and republicans throughout history: "If you stop lying about me, I'll stop telling the truth about you" ~ Various Finally, the last word should be given to this quote: "Sweetie, if you're going to be two faced, at least make one of them pretty" ~ Marilyn Monroe Big news follows today from the Globe and Mail:  "Of course, Trudeau is two-faced on Trump. It’s part of the job for him and all other foreign leaders   Of course Justin Trudeau is two-faced in dealing with Donald Trump. Canadians know that. Don’t Americans know it? How can the U.S. President not know it, too? Canadians have seen Mr. Trudeau smile and nod while sitting beside Mr. Trump as he threatened to damage the Canadian economy. Even Canadians with no love for Mr. Trudeau expect him to do his best to lather up the U.S. President with flattery when he is surprised or even appalled by what he says and does. When dealing with Mr. Trump, being two-faced is professionalism."   And the article concludes that 'two-faced will continue to be part of the job.' Here are two of our Fantasy of Trees Christmas trees.  The first is a lovely black and white tree decorated by Kerry Vandermolen, and the second the Bee Tree, decorated by Ruth Moffatt.

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Tradition Dictates

I could easily put up my Christmas tree today.  Living in Canada, Thanksgiving is long gone - more than a month ago.  Remembrance Day has passed.  This means we're right on track for Christmas with poinsettias, frosty ferns, amaryllis, and Christmas cactus plants in the stores.  What about December 1st - it sounds like a nice start to the Christmas season. If I were in the U.S., it would be too early, wouldn't it?  Thanksgiving is about to be celebrated, and a Christmas tree would conflict with the celebrations.  The autumn colours of Thanksgiving would clash with the colours of Christmas red and green.  The American market has an orange poinsettias, specifically hybridized to complement the colours of the Thanksgiving dinner. The U.K. tradition allow people to unpack their Christmas decorations immediately after Halloween.  That would be November 1st.   Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, is recognized as the man who made the Victorian Christmas tree tradition happen in the 1840s.  He put up his tree on Christmas Eve. If we were Italian, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, held on December 8th, is the appropriate date for the Christmas traditions to start. At the opposite end, Russia has made the Christmas tree a secular icon.  The crowning star was determined to be the Red star, and not the star of Bethlehem.  The celebrations are about the New Year and not Christmas. In Germany, the tradition is to put it up on Christmas eve, and take it down on Epiphany - January 7th.  It can even be kept up until Clandlemas, February 2nd. What about countries experiencing summer during December?  Take Australia, their summer holidays start the middle of December and go until February.  They might be camping over the Christmas holidays.  They seem quite relaxed about the timeline of tree setup - it can go up around December 1st. They seem to go with the flow of the social tradition of December 1st, rather than a religious designated date. The Fantasy of Trees is underway at the Grimsby Museum.  It goes until December 8th.  Perhaps it will inspire visitors with ideas for their own Christmas trees and decorations ideas.  I decided 3 years ago, that every Fantasy of Trees needed a chocolate tree.  You can see the little packages from our local chocolatier shop.  It is a beloved tree each year.

Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Shopping for humans, designed by robots

My Redbubble site has 20% off everything with the BLKFRIDAY code. There are many products available now, including scarves, pillow cases, and even clocks, so take a look. If something isn't available in the product you want, send me an email and I'll update the image.  Redbubble has been developing new products at an incredible rate. Something I notice is that Black Friday has 'taken over the world'.  One of the British gardening blogs had a review of Black Friday deals for gardeners.  So of course I did a search on Black Friday Shopping around the world and found the Shopbot Black Friday site.  The banner at the top says - Shopping for humans.  Designed by Robots - and explains:  "It seems countries all over the world are getting ready for this year’s Black Friday shopping season, which means it could possibly be the largest event in the history of shopping."  Covered on the site are: France, Brazil, Canada, Asia, Pakistan, etc Our pictures today are on a simpler topic from earlier times.  It is Grimsby's Fantasy of Trees decorations day.  This is a festival celebrating Christmas trees sponsored and decorated by Grimsby businesses and individuals.  The trees are raffled, with the proceeds going to local charities.  I'm on the organizing committee and it has been an easy sell to get the 40 trees sponsored, and to get silent auction and raffle items.  Trees are decorated in themes - one of the highlights is the Historical Society theme of Grimsby restaurants from years gone by.

What About Our Christmas Traditions!

Our Christmas Traditions
Today we celebrate Christmas traditions - not our own, but those we might not know about.

In Japan, the vast majority is not Christian, yet there is a celebrated Christmas tradition - a trip to KFC and the greeting "Kentucky for Christmas".

In the Ukraine, they will sometimes decorate their trees with spider webs. This is based on a Ukrainian folk tale of a widow's family so poor they had no money to decorate their tree.  A spider took pity on them and spun a web in gold and silver around the tree.

In Iceland it is "Beware the Yule Cat" - a Christmas fiend that terrorizes the countryside targeting those who didn't receive new clothes for Christmas.

In the Czech Republic, carp is the celebrated Christmas dinner. This is followed by the saving of a dried (cleaned) scale from the Christmas fish which is kept in one's wallets for luck over the coming year.

Have a great Christmas Day today.

Countdown to Christmas

We had Black Friday for two days, and now we're into Cyber Monday.  These two pictures are motion blur images of scenery along the route to Longwood a few years ago.  For me they match the hyper-reality of the retail bombardment that launches Christmas for us now.

Once at Longwood, there's a splendour of Christmas that is magical and makes us want to savour its spirit for as long as we can.

Here are two of the weird and whacky, splendid and entertaining creations.  This first one is made of parsley!

This second one is made of Spanish moss and tropical succulent hens and chicks draping its long branches.  

Longwood knows how to create Christmas - and there sill be more to see this month.