What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow. ~ Martin Luther

Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Trudging through the woods for a Christmas Tree


Since buying Hopestead, we have made many, many future plans for the place~ one of which is planting Christmas trees each year so that we can have a yearly supply of our own homegrown CHristmas trees.

But it takes a few years for Christmas trees to get large enough to cut down, so that plan was one that we couldn't enjoy for a while. Or so we thought.

Then Matt came home from the woods one day and declared he had found us a wonderful tree in the woods. What a happy surprise! We all went down to look at it and cut it down.


the "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" moment:


It isn't a perfect tree, or the most beautiful. But it was free. And it is OURS. And using our own tree from our own woods had one more advantage:

I got to see this guy

...use his brawny muscles to haul it out of the woods.


And that trek wasn't exactly short.



It's a fine one. The tree....


and the man.

12 comments:

Bonnie said...

wait wait wait. Matt has no beard yet?!?!? Is he feeling alright?

And how fun to get your very own tree from your very own woods!

Rebecca said...

you just HAD to say something, huh?

He stayed clean shaven so I could get a family picture-except, none turned out so it was actually pointless.

Don't feel bad for him though. He tricked me into growing a beard in JULY and had it for two months~ so I don't feel bad. AT ALL.

Unknown said...

My hubby planted trees on our other land also in the very same quest! :) Can't wait to see your tree in all it's splendor! :)

Anonymous said...

hubbys are the best.... mine is currently making our baby girl giggle my favorite time of night!

nice tree!!! and i love the idea of planting your own. Now you can have dreams for property and follow through!!! can we say orchard!!! : )

-Bobbi : )

Matt said...

I would have to disagree the tiniest bit about the tree being 'free'.

Leah said...

It's always fun to watch your man doing a "man's job," isn't it?

Full of Grace said...

All I can say is...Very Cool.

Nanci said...

Oh, Bonnie, you and I think along the same lines. . . I was all confused by Matt's beardless winter look and thinking "why doesn't Matt have his beard?"

I can imagine that gettig the tree was a real hoot for a few little kiddos!

So Rebecca, hooray for you on two points -- a fresh tree from your own property and Matt's beardlessness.

Have a blessed Christmastide!

Abigail said...

Love this! I have the greatest memories of tree-hunting with my family until I married, and although John and I have gone to tree farms in the past, it's just not the same as cutting down your Very Own Tree. We'd usually go right after it snowed and then sled down Tillman Hill while my dad followed behind with the tree on a sled. I always thought he got the raw end of the deal, and it appears that Matt would agree.

It's funny, because I actually searched for a tree on our puny 20 acres without luck, but I didn't even think of planting some; I'm all about the fruit trees but had completely forgotten conifers! The appetite sensor in my brain must take precedence over the pomp and circumstance portion...

Lastly, (Really? I'm going to stop writing?), I think this whole wait-until-the-Christmas-photo-is-taken is a ruse to hide the disconcerting fact that Matt no longer has the ability to grow a beard. Prove us wrong, NewMANs! :)

jonathan said...

what a stud

Heather @ Marine Corps Nomads said...

What a blessing! I can imagine the excitement of cutting down a tree on your own land.

Mary said...

What an exciting long trek though. Have a Blessed & enjoyable time making it beautiful!!!!