Saturday, December 10, 2005
Christmas Arrives
Christmas has arrived in the Galbraith household. After dinner, Laura and I went on our annual trip down to the tree sellers off Leith Links and picked out our Christmas Tree for this year. It didn't take us our normal three quarters of an hour to do so, instead the first one we chose was the best looking tree we've ever had. It was sheer luck. It was even more lucky when out of the load of six-footers in the corner it turned out to be seven foot tall but they gave us it for the price of a six-footer seeing as we're regulars.
It's the same couple every year. They're really nice people and we only ever see them when they are selling the trees, but they remember us and we always have a good chat and a laugh. They stand in the yard every December, day and night, in the freezing wind waiting for customers to come and buy trees off them. I remember the first year someone stole there tree wrapper and at the time we were in everyone was letting the lady lug their trees round the yard to put them through the machine. I think I was the only one that actually helped out and they seemed very grateful. Funny how the wee things you do in life can sometimes lead to friendships further down the line.
So Laura and I carried the tree back up the road; Laura at the front, me holding the heavy rear, and before long the lights were on and the tinsel was hanging from the branches. The newly tidied living room was a like a bomb site when we finished but with the tree in our new bay window - a new feature we've never had until we moved into this house - the tree looks like it really belongs.
I always feel connected to nature when it arrives in the house. Whether it be my fish or a plant or a Christmas tree, I always like it to feel part of the family for as long as its stay. Which reminds me, I've still to get Smashie his Christmas present this year.
The day preceeding all this fun was pretty gruesome. I had to endure three hours in a freezing sports hall watching Laura's Annual Dance Show. It was great to see her involved in her tap and disco dances, it's just the other two hour and fifty minutes that is boring as hell. The Churchill Theatre that the dance school normally use is being renovated, which is the reason for it being in a sports venue, so it was the best they could muster under the circumstances. But it was very awkward on the plastic seats wrapped up like we were sitting in a field.
I didn't get to writing until half past eleven at night. But I made up for it by typing away like mad until after 3am. I could see the moon in the sky about the houses over the road, peering in my window, watching me like a writer's best pal urging me on. I have deadlines this week that I simply cannot miss, so the next three or four days is going to have to be professional and hard. Got to, got to, GOT TO get it all done!!
ORDER a copy of my latest book, FRINGE FANTASTIC! Click here to order securely using your credit/debit card.
For more information about Fringe Fantastic, please see the website at: http://fringefantastic.colingalbraith.co.uk
It's the same couple every year. They're really nice people and we only ever see them when they are selling the trees, but they remember us and we always have a good chat and a laugh. They stand in the yard every December, day and night, in the freezing wind waiting for customers to come and buy trees off them. I remember the first year someone stole there tree wrapper and at the time we were in everyone was letting the lady lug their trees round the yard to put them through the machine. I think I was the only one that actually helped out and they seemed very grateful. Funny how the wee things you do in life can sometimes lead to friendships further down the line.
So Laura and I carried the tree back up the road; Laura at the front, me holding the heavy rear, and before long the lights were on and the tinsel was hanging from the branches. The newly tidied living room was a like a bomb site when we finished but with the tree in our new bay window - a new feature we've never had until we moved into this house - the tree looks like it really belongs.
I always feel connected to nature when it arrives in the house. Whether it be my fish or a plant or a Christmas tree, I always like it to feel part of the family for as long as its stay. Which reminds me, I've still to get Smashie his Christmas present this year.
The day preceeding all this fun was pretty gruesome. I had to endure three hours in a freezing sports hall watching Laura's Annual Dance Show. It was great to see her involved in her tap and disco dances, it's just the other two hour and fifty minutes that is boring as hell. The Churchill Theatre that the dance school normally use is being renovated, which is the reason for it being in a sports venue, so it was the best they could muster under the circumstances. But it was very awkward on the plastic seats wrapped up like we were sitting in a field.
I didn't get to writing until half past eleven at night. But I made up for it by typing away like mad until after 3am. I could see the moon in the sky about the houses over the road, peering in my window, watching me like a writer's best pal urging me on. I have deadlines this week that I simply cannot miss, so the next three or four days is going to have to be professional and hard. Got to, got to, GOT TO get it all done!!
ORDER a copy of my latest book, FRINGE FANTASTIC! Click here to order securely using your credit/debit card.
For more information about Fringe Fantastic, please see the website at: http://fringefantastic.colingalbraith.co.uk
Colin 2:37 pm