A Christmas Tree Hunting

We went for the first time ever to the woods and cut down our tree. In all the years past we went to the tree farm but this year we changed it up. It helps that we now live 5 minutes from the woods and access is so much easier. The hardest part was figuring out where to go to buy the permit, and then where to go for chop-chop after that.

This year I decided that we would wait until after sometime in December to go get the tree because I am really going to try to leave it up until 3 Kings Day, or Epiphany. Normally we go out the Saturday after Thanksgiving and get the tree, but by the time New Years Day rolls around, either the tree is so dry and crispy or I am dying to clean up my house from Christmas. We have never made it to January first and always seem to clean it up to ring in the new year. Waiting a few weeks this year was hard as I really wanted to be in the Christmas mood but that is so much easier to do with the ambiance of the lights and scents of the fresh tree. I had gotten the rest of our decorations out the day after Thanksgiving but it made me sad this year as they didn't really work well in our rental. In our rental there is no mantle and the sills don't work for our candles.

Then like magic 3 days before we took our fabled drive into the woods previously unexplored by our family, it started to snow like crazy. The snow was awesome but it made the drive a little more difficult then my husband liked because we had to go up this snowy road on a hill without a guard rail. He handled it like a champ though. We even took our dog, who loved it and now thinks that every time we go out without her we are walking through the Forrest and have left her home.

The trees were all super skinny and when got the one we picked out put up inside I trimmed it  and my husband laughed at me because it was so narrow. It actually really worked out well though as we didn't have a lot of room in our living area for a giant tree. Its pretty charming if you ask me.

Late Summer Walks

It took a few weeks for me to get the kids out on daily walks but then I got the courage up to go out and explore our new neighborhood. At first glace it seems there is nowhere to go but the streets are strange here, winding, stopping and starting and it turns out we can walk a lot of places. Our normal walk is about 7 blocks down the street to the community garden. We hope to get some beds there next spring but for now we have been going and helping with the last few harvests for the food bank. 

The kids are so full of energy and I love how they want to take their costumes with them. It must feel more magical and like they have somewhere to go all dressed up. I have been enjoying learning the new plants that grow around us here. I have been finding the oak, and nut trees. The kids loved the black walnut down the street. They picked them and I would smell them. Most people don't know how to harvest their black walnuts and we used to try at our old house as we knew where two large trees were. It never worked out well for us and for me if it isn't relatively easy I am not going to bother. 

We can walk down to the garden, or we can turn and go under the overpass and go into a completely different neighborhood just a few blocks away. There are a few places to pick berries and there is a huge stand of Comfrey in our front yard. I had the opportunity to take some boxes down to the garden and harvest as many Roma tomatoes as I wanted but I am trying to lighten my plate. I am going to miss home canned tomato sauce this year but I just need some time to rest and focus on what is most important after selling our last house that almost worked me to death. 

So all in all this has been good. For the most part our neighborhood is nice and it is so much calmer than our last. I am missing all the old picturesque houses and trees but to feel safer and not stressed about getting hit by cars is a really good thing. 

Settling In

We are all liking our new place. It is larger than our little old house on Normandie. The kids have been able to spread out a little and I can't say how amazing it feels to have real closets to store our stuff in. We have a huge pile of furniture in our garage that we don't need anymore. Its strange that we had that much furniture in our old house but then I think about how we didn't have any other storage space. Here there is a giant closet under the stairs and giant closets in every room. At first glance the kitchen seemed so small but it is a true galley kitchen and so it is very efficient. I did make a few boxes of dishes that I feel I can finally part with while we live here. I wanted more room in the cupboards for food. I figure I can always get new stuff. I could enjoy a reason to go to vintage stores in my future. 

For the first time ever I have a kitchen that works to photograph food. I also just took over my husbands old phone which helps also. I think I am going to save up for a new camera and perhaps a photography class. I have been cooking a lot here and it feels good to start to establish a normal routine. We are still finding all the stores and places to shop for food but I think we are going to have it all figured out in no time. 

I tried to take a bath the other night. I have been having a slew of migraines. The bathtub is old and such a funny shape. It was so uncomfortable. I am going to have to try to find a bath pillow or something. We think this house was built in the 50s. It has had a lot of updates so in a lot of places it feels more modern but it still has plenty of older touches to give it some character. I have been laughing at it a lot and am glad it is not mine as it is the crookedest house I have ever been in. The walls lean and the floors slope and even my closet door doesn't shut all the way. I don't know if it was built crooked or if it has settled so. I suspect it was a bit of both. At any rate we seem to be doing good and are so much more relaxed here. Life is good.