Neal’s Christmas Tree Mess

Well the tree is down and what a mess it made.  I know this is not big news if you have a real tree but this is the first year in a long time that we had a real tree. 

I struggled with the tree when we first put it up, it fell a couple of times, once I took care of that it was beautiful.  I have to admit I love the look and smell of a real tree, but the mess that the needles made I could do without!  Like a lot of people we keep the tree up until New Year's Day, and we may have waited a little too long!  I should have listened to my wife's advice and wrapped the tree in a sheet or something to minimize the mess, I didn't so what a mess I ended up with.  I should have known when I climbed under the tree and started to remove the base and came out with a face full of needles.

I then took the tree from the living room through the dining room into the kitchen and out the back door, across the deck and into the compost pile.  Once I put the tree down I looked back at the trail of needles I left behind, what a mess!  It took me an hour of sweeping and running the vacuum to just clean the trail inside the house, the deck is still a mess and with the snow still on it, it looks like the needles will be there for quite a while, which is great because every time the dog goes out that means more needles get tracked into the house.

I will get a real tree again next year, but when I remove it after the holiday I will do it a little differently!