It's Hard Fun to Grow a Christmas Tree

It's hard fun to grow a Christmas tree.  Start with a stand and a trunk. Sort out the branches.  Put on a layer. Wrap the lights in and out, from the trunk to the end, in serpentine fashion.

 Add more layers, wrap more lights, continue up and up...

 Until it's all done.

Top off with angel which was a gift from DD1 the first year she lived away from home.

Now add glass ornaments, some very sentimental old ornaments,

Some new ornaments,

Many gifts from former students:

Some hand-made ornaments,

And some memoirs:  trip to Hawaii in 1980, and our Pork Producing days:

Add  many, many more ornaments, string gold beads, and "It's Light-up Time!!!

Our tree has 2500 tips on the tree, and about 1200 mini-lights.   I love
Christmas trees!!

I guess I should have put tree-growing in The Garden Blog, so, since I have done some cooking there, why don't you pop over there to see some of the Christmas goodies that I've baked so far (but am far from finished).