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CHRISTMAS TREE TIPS... FROM THE NORTH POLE!

We had no idea that anyone at "Northpole.com" was watching us, but I guess Santa has to do a few home repairs himself from time to time!! That is, ever since the elves union filed a grievance concerning non-toy making related work!! Anyway, Santa is now a subscriber, and he has sent us a few tips about handling live Christmas trees.

***** Always cut off at least an inch from the bottom of your tree before putting it in the stand. This reopens the pores in the trunk and allows the water you put in the base to absorb into the tree, slowing down the inevitable drying process.

***** Keep the tree away from the wood stove... it causes quicker drying and makes for a really dangerous fire hazard. If you run the wood stove for heat, put the tree on the other end of the room... and keep water in the base.

***** Mix floral preservative in the water you add to the base.  This can extend the useful life of your tree by inhibiting drying. (If your tree is already dropping lots of needles, though, it might be too late for any treatment!)

***** Though this is not widely known, Santa and Mrs. Claus are cat lovers! And their cat Toybox loves to climb the Christmas tree. So Santa uses fishing line and eye hooks to secure the tree to the wall. Since he puts the tree in the same corner of the living room... away from the wood stove... every year, he painted the eye hooks to match the wall so that they hardly show when the tree is down.

***** When that sad day comes to take the tree down, we know what a mess it can be to get it out of the house. Santa said that he first uses a sponge to remove the water from the base. Then, he goes into the Toy Shop and gets a heavy tarp... 4 mil or thicker plastic or a canvas painter's tarp... and lays the tree into it. He wraps it up and slides it across the floor and out the front door, base first.

Thanks Santa.

NH

Dear NH,

After struggling for a half hour with a lush 12' pine, he just couldn't get the tree standing perfectly straight... close, but no cigar! Then, out of the blue, the homeowner chimed in," I have a trick that I've used in the past... be back in a sec."

She disappeared upstairs, and reappeared carrying a small three ring binder... her trusty Weight Watchers Cookbook!. NH carefully tipped the tree back, lifting one edge of the base slightly off the floor, and she slid the binder under the base. Voila! Straight tree. As a finishing touch, they decided to secure the tree to a window moulding behind the tree, using strong cord (fishing line is ideal for this) and thumb tacks (through the edge of the moulding, not the face)... just in case. NH wanted you to know that this might not work with all tree bases, and that you may need more than one cookbook. Time to trim that tree!!

And diet later!

NH

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