THE CHRISTMAS TREE

A conversational thread that wove its way throughout November was the topic of my Christmas decorations and Christmas tree. I had assumed - if I had thought of it at all which I don't think I had - that I would not have any Christmas decorations this year except perhaps a few Christmas cards. But that is not the Scottish way.

A few days after I arrived Jeanette told me I was not to worry about, or rush out and buy, any Christmas decorations. She had plenty in her attic to share with me. She also had a Christmas tree from last year, still thriving in its pot, which Gordon would bring into the cottage for me at the beginning of December.

So that was settled. Or was it?

A week or so later, Jeanette decided that whilst last year's tree was doing very nicely, it might be a wee bit too big and it might be better to get a new one. She looked into the best place to find the nicest trees in Perthshire and we set a date to go to Peel's Farm where we would buy trees for both our cottages.

Two days before our planned Christmas tree shopping spree, Jean said we were no to bother with Peel's Farm as the fellow whose property she looked after had lots of trees that needed lopping and he would be happy to give these away. A nice offer, and so we decided to collect our trees in early December.

Then Jeanette had second thoughts. She thought this fellow could be notoriously unreliable and it was entirely possible we would not get our trees until the last minute. A horror too horrible to contemplate. As the village shop had just sent out flyers advising they were getting a truckload of trees instore, we felt this would a better and more socially responsible outlet to buy from. After all we are being constantly urged, where the village shop is concerned, to "Use it or Lose it" - local shops can only survive if patronised or they will sink without trace, like the Loch Ness monster.

We went to the shop to order our trees only to be told delivery would be December 15th. Thoughts of supporting our local enterprise flew away on the next snowcloud. Gordon and Jeanette were visiting Perth at the weekend for a business meeting, they would take their van and return with two trees.

The business meeting was cancelled. But Gordon made good use of the time by going into the attic and retrieving Jeanette's boxes of Christmas decorations - all eighteen of them! No wonder she felt she could spare me a few baubles!

Meanwhile Jeanette and I met up at the local garden centre in Blairgowrie which had taken possession of its Christmas trees that very day. It had numerous varieties - pine scented, non-scented, non-shedding, traditional fir, wonky ones, skinny ones, bushy ones. After nearly an hour of dragging trees into the light - it was five o'clock by now - and checking them for perfectly balanced branches, we finally selected a tree for me. There wasn't time to select a second one for Jeanette, that treat was saved for another day.

Back at the cottage, the tree was woman-handled into my cottage and left in the hallway (which is about the size of an average-sized Christmas tree) until Gordon could come the next day to lift it onto a base. Which he duly did, arriving in the morning armed with a log to sit it on and wood chips to balance the pot and ensure the tree stood straight, not lop-sided. Patiently he knelt on the floor while Jeanette and I barked orders at him: "To the left!" "A bit more to the right!" "Further back!" "Nearer the sofa!" "Straighten up on the left!".

I then spent a happy afternoon burrowing through the six boxes of decorations allocated to me. I now having waving Santas in my upstairs and downstairs windows, mistletoe and berries decorating the fireplace and mirrors, and a proper Christmas tree:



Unfortunately, there is a large gap in the Christmas lights at the front - a minor technical glitch, as after first draping two sets of lights on the tree and then hanging all the decorations, pop! one lot of lights fused .... I am still seeking the offending bulb but I am sure that if I ask Jeanette she will have plenty more sets in reserve.