With no luxury, log cabin retreat to look forward to and get me in the festive spirit this December I’ve been doing certain things so I can keep the “C” word well and truly alive at home this year. Now we are (just about) settled in to our new home I’ve been super excited to “deck the halls” for our first Christmas here. I was kindly invited down to Methley Estate at the beginning of this month to pick out a real Christmas tree for our new home, which seemed like the perfect thing to do to get me in the Christmas mood! I’ve been on a mission creating a cosy Christmas with Methley Estate and I have no intention of stopping anytime soon.
Methley Estate is Christmas Tree farm just off the M62. It was about a twenty-minute drive from our home, and it’s between Leeds & Wakefield. As we came off the motorway it lead us to the outskirts of Pontefract. Driving through a couple of cute, festive villages and then finally up a bumpy, country road with signposts directing us where to go. You can find the address and directions here.
The Christmas Tree farm and shop have been open since the 24th November this year and they are open daily from 9am to 5pm meaning you still have plenty of time to pick or cut down your very own Nordic tree from Yorkshire before Santa arrives.
We had a good ol’ wander around Methley Estate and it’s rows and rows of tree’s. We were so close to cutting down our own tree (which you can do – you are given a saw to choose the fate of one of the tree’s!) but the drizzle came and literally rained us off. We’d spied a lot of pre-cut tree’s in the barn that were perfect, bushy tree’s that we were told didn’t shed many needles which sounded exactly like what we needed – especially with a dog in the house. We chose our very own 7ft beauty that is now sitting very proudly in our dining room and I could not be happier. When you get a pre-cut tree, the staff will saw off about an inch off the trunk so it will absorb water better in its stand. We were kindly gifted both the tree and a stand to take home and now the fresh scent of a Nordic spruce is wafting up our nostrils on a daily basis – the true scent of Christmas!
I know for some this can be a difficult time of year. About 5 years ago when my Grandad was ill I could have quite easily fled the country – I had never felt less Christmassy in my life. Since then I’ve become determined to be thankful and grateful for the festivities and want to spend as much time with friends and family that I can.
A big reason I wanted a real tree was because of the fuzzy moments I remember as a child. The earliest memories I recall of having a real Nordic Christmas tree were those winters that I lived with my Mum, Nana & Grandad till I was about 5 years old. Every year they’d get a real tree and we would decorate it in brightly coloured lights, different shaped and coloured baubles and lots and lots of tinsel (maybe this is why I have an aversion to it all now because we there was so much colour!) but nonetheless it is those fond memories I have as a child and there’s nothing I like more than to feel like I’m reliving my childhood once again.
This year we have two tree’s, our real one in the dining room and a huge one my Grandparents have given us for our slightly bigger home!
I’ve collected baubles from all over the world and just from our local supermarkets over the years to make sure that our tree’s don’t look bare. I am a stickler for making sure the decks are in their rightful place and suit the theme so it’s normally best if you just leave me too it and coo over the tree once it’s done! James of course has to unwind the lights for me and then I make sure they are in the right place too.
Christmas songs (particularly the Buble) are mandatory during peak decorating season and a cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows must be on stand by. It’s the only way to do it right!
Whilst I was at Methley Estate I bought a garland for only £10 from the little decoration shop and it proudly sits over the top of our new long burner, on the limestone mantelpiece. It’s made a house, a home!
This year I’ve made more conscious decisions about the amount of plastic we use and recycle as much as we can. So, when I learned that lots of wrapping paper isn’t recyclable I wanted to make sure I wasn’t damaging the planet whilst gifting my loved ones this year. I’ve wrapped my prezzies in brown, postage paper and using string to tie round them. It creates a real home-made feel and I love the fact it’s not harming the planet. I still have a lot to wrap and I’m hoping I can get it all finished this weekend. Check out some more tips from other amazing bloggers over on the Body Shop gifting hub.
Our Christmas traditions are few and far between but those that we do have, they all coincide with Christmas Eve. We always watch Elf – my all time, favourite Christmas movie (What’s yours?) and then we head out, early doors, for a beverage to get us in the Christmas mood! Then we come home and put on our PJ’s and watch more rubbish TV before getting up in the morning.
We let Skye unwrap all our presents now because she seems to love tearing up the wrapping paper! I’m sure there’ll be a video or two over on my Instagram on Christmas morning!
I can’t believe that we are half way through December already – I’m not ready to say goodbye to the festivities so I’ll cling on to it for as long as I can. Do you feel the same?
Bee
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