Mission: Christmas Tree / Mission : Sapin de Noël
‘Maman, when are we getting our Christmas tree?’
Since 1st December, the acorns had asked this very question nearly every day. So on the 9th day of the Advent calendar, the daily prompt finally read –
Christmas Tree
After writing an entire blog post about where to choose and cut your own Christmas tree, I had a fairly good idea of the options available. We eventually picked the Christmas tree farm closest to us, which is also the first one we visited two years ago.
Enniskerry Christmas Tree Farm hasn’t changed one bit – it still has no online presence, no advertising, no signposts. Yet the farmyard and shed were busy with carloads of families on a quest for their ideal Christmas tree. In the distance, the Wicklow Mountains were sprinkled with snow.
This was the end of “tummy bug week” in our house and it felt great to be outside again together.
Remembering the place, the acorns immediately spilled out in the field of Nordmann firs for a game of hide-and-seek. Their Santa hats made them easy to spot among the greenery, so Squirrel planted his on the ground as a decoy!
Pebbles spent several minutes studying a small patch of snow, as if it were his first time seeing the elusive, nearly magical white stuff.
“Maman, quand va-t-on acheter notre sapin ?”
Depuis le 1er décembre, les graines de chêne posaient la même question au moins une fois par jour. Alors, au neuvième jour du calendier de l’Avent, le message quotidien contenait enfin les mots :
Sapin de Noël
Après avoir écrit un article entier répertoriant les exploitations proposant de choisir et couper soi-même son sapin, j’avais une bonne idée des options disponibles. En fin de compte, nous avons opté pour la pépinière la plus proche de chez nous, qui se trouve être la première que nous ayons visitée, en décembre 2015.
La pépinière d’Enniskerry n’a pas changé d’un iota en deux ans : elle n’a toujours ni présence en ligne, ni publicité, ni même panneaux indicateurs. Pourtant, la cour et le hangar étaient pleins de familles venues à la recherche de l’arbre de Noël idéal. Au loin, les monts de Wicklow étaient recouverts d’une fine couche de neige.
Pour nous, c’était la fin (ou presque !) de la “semaine de la gastro” et il faisait bon se retrouver tous ensemble en plein air.
Se souvenant des lieux, les graines de chêne se dispersèrent immédiatement parmi les sapins pour une partie de cache-cache. Avec leurs bonnets de lutin, ils étaient aisément repérables entre les branches vert sombre, aussi Ecureuil déposa-t-il le sien par terre en guise de leurre !
Caillou passa de longues minutes à étudier une poignée de neige, comme s’il voyait pour la première fois l’insaisissable blancheur.
We eventually settled on a 6ft tree with a nice regular shape. While waiting for a member of staff to arrive, the acorns broke out into song, cheerfully singing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer among the Christmas trees.
Soon our tree was felled by two men with a chainsaw under six pairs of watchful eyes. Once the job was done, Jedi and Squirrel got to lift the enormous chainsaw.
Our Christmas tree was promptly netted and handed over to the acorns. All four of them proudly carried it to the car, exactly like two years ago.
Nous avons finalement choisi un arbre de 1,90 mètre de haut à la jolie forme bien régulière. En attendant qu’un membre du personnel arrive, les graines de chêne poussèrent la chansonnette, entonnant à pleine voix Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, au beau milieu des sapins de Noël.
Bientôt, notre arbre fut tombé par deux hommes et une tronçonneuse, sous le regard vigilant de six paires d’yeux. Une fois la tache accomplie, Jedi et Ecureuil purent tenir la lourde machine orange pendant quelques secondes.
Notre sapin fut rapidement emballé et donné aux graines de chêne, qui l’emportèrent fièrement à la voiture, exactement comme il y a deux ans.
Once home, they took it upon themselves to decorate it without any help, and they did a truly fantastic job.
De retour à la maison, ils se chargèrent de le décorer sans aide aucune, et le résultat fut étonnant.
Have you put up your Christmas tree yet?
Avez-vous mis votre sapin de Noël ?
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It looks great fun! We got our first ever real tree this year from a local Christmas Fair and there seems to be something more magical about it than our artificial tree. #mainyloveschristmas
Awww what a beautiful family and a beautiful tree. Sounds like a magical experience.
#mainyloveschristmas
I love a real tree and its not just the tree, it is finding it with your children, enjoying the day and the experience and decorating it together. I love all your pictures, holding the saw looks a big responsibility but I must say it looks like you found a beautiful tree. This is the first year we’ve had an artificial one as none of my children were bothered, I must say its not the same!
Thank you for sharing with me on #CountryKids
Oh wow – I would love this! My parents have some forest on their lands and we have once went to go get a Christmas tree from there. Of course they aren’t as nice and bushy as these commercial ones, but it was still great fun. We, as we live in the city, we had to get ours from the local supermarket parking area 😀 #countrykids
These photos are amazing and your tree is beautiful! #mainyloveschristmas
I’m allergic to Christmas trees but I miss not being able to go out shopping for a tree. Looks great fun. Lovely photos too
What a wonderful experience. I love real trees they just smell so amazing, I can’t wait until my daughter gets a little bit older so that we can get a real tree again. #CountryKids
What a magical day you all had! Looks like a brilliant time and the tree looks fabulous! très bel arbre de noël.
We went out as a family and carried out conservation work on a RSPB site and in return we got to take home our own pine tree which was also a lovely way to combine both things in one.
thank you for your contribution to #mainyloveschristmas
Mainy xx
We normally go and cut our tree down, although this year we didn’t quite make it and I really missed it. Love the photos and they did a great job decorating it #CountryKids
We have had a real tree for the past few years now but after seeing this post I think we need to take the next step and cut down our own like you guys! #countrykids
We’ve never done this, but I think it must be such a wonderful experience for the kids to choose and watch their own tree felled for them. And, what a great excuse to go for a walk in the forest! Your tree is beautiful. #countrykids
Awww how cute are your children, glad your mission was sorted. Merry Christmas to you X #mainlyloveschristmas