The Thanksgiving is over. We had a nice, quiet one, with the kids and their significant others. It was lovely, except that I was pretty tired after cooking for two days, and so I had one plate, and Kid 1’s incredible mac and cheese put me right to sleep. Kid 2 was given her green bean casserole and her own pecan pie, and there was much rejoicing.
The trees are up. They are bare, but they have been assembled. The big tree has parts A through F, and it’s damn heavy even split into bags. We did not want to carry them up the hill from the storage shed, so we moved them via car to the front door and then to the living room and dining room respectively. It took three trips.
The big tree is in the living room, the small one is in the dining room.
The big tree is also a hit.
Will post other pics when the big tree is decorated.
We have some admin fires to put out this morning and grocery delivery to settle, so I will see you tomorrow with a bit more fun. Thank you so much for coming to see us on Saturday. We will be working on getting the recording to you this week.
Special thanks to Mod R, who was an amazing mod. We had so much fun. The tin foil hat was epic.
Tubby has it right. Snuggle in under the tree before anything gets put up. 🙂
Glad your Thanksgiving was a good one. Cooking for two days will put anyone to sleep.
Mod R with a tinfoil hat…pictures or it didn’t happen. I’m channeling Grandma Frida right now. 😀
I am the keeper of the BDH Tin Foil Hat of Many Theories. It seemed appropriate 😀
Eating to much, or a typo? 😉
Both 😀
I loved the tin foil hat! You used it at just the right moments! ????
I am despondent that I missed the Tin Foil Hat.
Looking forward to seeing or reading more about it.
She did put the tin foil hat on I saw it. It almost looked like she used a funnel to create the tin foil one but was funny to see.
????
It’s real, and Mod R rules when wearing it.
+1
Whether live or faux, cats love trees.
Yep, the trees are already a hit! I’m glad you had a pleasant Thanksgiving and that the kids got their foods of choice. We had meatloaf and scalloped potatoes as my brother really isn’t fond of turkey or ham and that dinner is so easy! It was just the two of us and I still had some leftovers when he left on Sunday. Not that I’m complaining.
I’m looking forward to the recording. I didn’t sign up as I expected my brother and I would be working in the yard (it’s his thing), but fortunately it rained the whole day and I got to sit and read to my heart’s content.
Thanks and have a good week!
Seems to me the trees have some major decorating already going on? You’ve earned the rest. Hope your holidays are blissful!
Your first couple of pictures are why I don’t have a tree any more. Afraid my two seniors might get hurt. They may be old and arthritic but the lure of the tree would be irresistible.
The Tubby shots alone made the trips worth it.
A nap after dinner is **** (4 stars!). My son was here this weekend. Their tree is up and decorated. When his family got home from visiting on Sunday all 12 feet of ribbon had been pulled off the tree and pulled around the house. The ribbon now resides in the closet. I’m sure the cats had a great time!
glad for a delightful holiday. love the pictures. sorry to have missed Saturday; i tried to get in but was unsuccessful. hope everyone is recovering well from food comas and following Tubby’s fantabulous example!
Yes, sorry I had to miss it, too. When it was scheduled, it totally slipped my mind that the Michigan-Ohio State game would be the same day and as it turned out, the same time. I figured if we did bad then I could switch over to the chat and mute the TV, but we ended up kicking their asses.
(Any Ohio St. fans in the BDH? I’m surrounded by MD and PSU fans but my lone OSU fan left the company so now I have no one from OSU to trash talk with about the game. I have 8 [9?] years of trash talk built up.)
Trash talk???!!!??? You can’t be a fan if you don’t even know the last time Michigan beat Ohio State! It was back 10 years ago and we beat U of M 15 times out of the last 17 games!!!! Don’t let 1 year go to your head!!!! LOL
Ohio State rocks!!!!!! Go Buckeyes!!! Can’t wait to be in the horseshoe next year. My mom taught math at OSU, my dad, niece, nephew, and cousin graduated from there, and the next generation has applied.
We’re still ahead on overall wins. We were just letting you catch up a bit.
We had a nice little pyramid of generations (1 grandparent, 2 parents, 3 kids) going but the nephews ruined it. One went to Purdue, so he at least kept it in the Big Ten.
Thank you, Ilona Andrews for the post. Glad you had a great thanksgiving and book “party”.
Thanks for the Tubby pictures.
Pictures to bring smiles! Love it. Love a nice, quiet Thanksgiving too. Thank you for those little snapshots of quiet joy.
Thank you for the chance to hear you *and* get lovely spoilers for what’s coming up later.
I can never think of good questions, so I had not watched previous Q & A sessions. When the blog offered the chance for a place on Saturday, I almost didn’t sign up. However, I don’t get the chance to see you two in person any more… (ModR was a lovely bonus. So happy to have a face to go with the name!)
I will not make that mistake again.
As always, your decorating is a beautiful inspiration. I wish I had one tenth of the energy and drive that it takes to decorate on that scale.
Alas, my ceilings top out at 12 feet and my 15 pound Maine Coon would have a tree over in 30 seconds. (Think Tuna in a tortoise shell coat if you need a reference.)
My table top tree will just have to do. It is solid aluminum and bounces when up-ended. Some year I will find the ornaments I made for the live tree we used to have. They are felt and embroidery – very light because the tree was small – and will be stolen from the tree immediately…
My library has expected publish dates for the e-book and audio versions of Ruby Fever as August 23, 2022. Did we already know this? How did I not know this? *channeling Leon*
Yay!
Yes, I believe Avon selected that date before Ruby Fever’s draft was complete. I’ve heard several authors mention how difficult it is to publish during Covid. 1-1.5 years out, there’s no sweezing in a book currently. It may change, no one knows. Hope take helps
Thank you so much for having us. I had so much fun – and it was so great to be able to join an event, even if living in Europe, without having to get up in the middle of the night.
You blew away my Covid-blues for the day, and it felt so good.
Mod R and her tinfoil hat are the stuff of legend.
I’m glad your Thanksgiving was so nice and your furry friends are already loving the trees.
I was tempted to sign up for the Q&A but I have such difficulty understanding the spoken word that I decided against taking a spot someone else could enjoy. I look forward to the recording, as I can play it over and over until I get the gist.
Hey Lee,
I’m working on a transcript which will hopefully make it more accessible for everyone ????
That will be wonderful! Thanks for everything you do. It’s greatly appreciated.
You are a such considerate person. Thank you.
I loved the tin foil had, but I didn’t get it during the stream. I had to look the expression up afterwards, as it doesn’t translate to my language. So, obviously it was a lot funnier afterwards ????
The trees look nice! Is this type of conifer a typical christmas tree in your region/climate zone? What is it (the first one)? Here, we only use firs or sometimes spruces.
They are both artificial trees ????
Dining room tree is new? Looks like a ling needle pine… very pretty!
I gave up on trees quite a while ago … I do an artificial garland across my mantle and decorate with lights and my favorite ornaments. Sometimes I get a small rosemary tree and put it on the kitchen pass-thru, just for the scent.
Who is the kitty in the tree? Tuna, Camille M, someone else?
This will be first winter holiday with my new kits that I adopted last January. Not sure what to expect from this lot.
Charlie Tub-tubs looks happy.
It’s Oliver ???? https://ilona-andrews.com/2021/oliver/
Part of the problem is that we live in TX and Christmas trees are not really grown here, unlike my native NC. They have to shipped in a no small expense. We have gotten live ones until about 3 years ago. Then we got a big ole fake one and while it is a pain in the tuchus to put up, it stays nice and doesn’t dry out. Kid 1 and I share a not completely irrational fear of a live tree going up like a struck match. This is better for us.
And no dropped needles to sweep up every day. Unless your cats are feeling really vindictive and dig in.
I have a much smaller fake tree that actually has lights already strung around each section. I just assemble it and connect each string of lights to each other so that all that’s left is tinsel and bulbs. No more untangling lights.
Just as well that you have the fake tree. There is a Christmas tree shortage this year .. at least up here in and around Toronto. Whodathunk!?
We had a live tree every year ( we have the piece from each trunk when we sawed off to allow it to drink w date for each one), we have tree farms in Northwest NJ where you can cut your own. My son loved it growing up, we would go, I would use my own saw that wasn’t too sharp, would twist my ankle dragging tree to where they would take the tree back, with a lot of colorful language,along w my wife and I arguing, she like w our animals feeling sorry for short or weird looking trees no one wanted….wouldn’t miss it for the world.
We got a live tree last year, which was kind of nice that covid didn’t ruin that, but for some reason the tree died pretty quickly. We ended up getting a balsam hill fake tree that is really nice, but I am sad to be missing the cutting, first time in 26 years here…..
Our cat, the ripper of souls, is indifferent to the tree, he is too important to care about it, too busy plotting mass murder on his nightly battles.
Glad your Thanksgiving was quiet. Our son was home for the first time since 2012, and even though it was only for a day basically ( came down Thursday afternoon , went back sat morning). Only hard thing was I drove him back to Boston that morning, was fine, but the trip home was a nightmare, took 7 hours instead of 4.5,I think ppl drove early afraid of bad weather.
Not a fan of turkey either, we made it bc our S likes tradition ( what a surprise, he is a classical musician), we would likely have done something different for ourselves.
I miss live trees, but Christmas is about holidays. Our live tree four years ago resulted in Gordon and Kid 1 making midnight trips to make sure it wasn’t on fire. It’s not worth their stress. 🙂 But I put pine branches around the house and we still get the scent.
Plus after either 5 or 7 yrs (I forgot which) they are better for the environment, as the resources in making one verses the water, Herbicides pesticides, transport costs etc used to grow and cut a real one, even out at that point. And from that point on, it’s a win re Sustainability.
Those are beautiful artificial trees. Way nicer than ours.
My dogs are loving hanging out underneath too. Now all the lowest branches are bare because they keep knocking things off.
I have many memories as a child of our dog called Scooter very impatiently waiting for the tree to go up. He had figured out that these artificial indoor pine trees make damn good back scratchers if you go on a circle underneath them. Of course that meant we played this game of don’t let the dog in the room unless the tree is unplugged from the wall. Pesky little things like electrical wires do not have an infinite amount of length. Keep in mind we routinely had to tie our tree to a couple of window cranks to prevent the 20+ pound cats of the house from tipping the tree over during a major climbing event. Of course the dog thought this was even better because it improved the scratching capabilities of the tree if it didn’t move when he did his little circuit underneath!!!!!
Hence the reason why I put up no Christmas trees at all ????
Love the trees! Ours has been up and fully decorated since before Thanksgiving. We usually wait until December but my husband works over seas and wanted to be able to decorate the tree with the kids and I so my house has looked like a Christmas wonderland for a while! I can’t wait to see yalls fully decorated it’s always so pretty!
I loved Saturday you two are relationship goals!!! I laughed so much and Mod R with the tin foil hat topped it off!!! I hope yall have another one after Ruby Fever!
Thank you, I needed Doggy pictures so badly. I lost my Sophie in May and am dealing with some absurd level family drama.
Wonderful job, Mod R! Best interview yet!!! I didn’t understand the tin foil hat joke though& I thought I knew all in HA universe too????. What’s the reference?
And could you find out if Adira Kline will have her own book or at least show up again in Innkeeper? I’m obsessed with the character;)
Hey Alex,
It’s not an IA reference, it’s apparently a very English speaking world cultural reference hehe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_foil_hat
Here it symbolised the BDH propensity for conspiracy theories 🙂
It does work to block Microwaves! One of the best ‘wow’ demo’s in the physics curriculum for the Electromagnetic Spectrum is to wrap a students cell/mobile phone in tin foil and then get another student to ring it! Make sure it’s on loud & vibrate though otherwise they don’t believe you!
Could you share the manufacturer & model of your trees? My daughter and her partner are coming to stay for Christmas and he is allergic to the live trees. Last year I tried Amazon’s promoted artificial tree and it was sadly gappy & disappointing, even decorated. Yours look nice and full.
Hi Barbara,
So I will preface this by saying that a decent size live tree for us in Texas can easily run upward of $500. This happens because they import trees from Washington and Oregon and unfortunately, a lot of them arrive in subpar condition. So for us the artificial tree was a substantial investment, and we are hoping to get at least 5 years out of it. We are on a year 3 and it still looks great.
The two trees are from Hammacher Schlemmer: https://www.hammacher.com/category/holiday-christmas-trees?promo=HP_SL1_christmastree
This is the noble fur, our big tree: https://www.hammacher.com/product/worlds-best-prelit-noble-fir-12-full-led-2?promo=&catid=0
This is the small tree Oliver jumped out of: https://www.hammacher.com/product/northern-lights-christmas-tree-4-1-2?promo=search&cmp=cel&trigger=ac&query=northe
I hope this helps.
My cat considers it is duty to climb the Christmas tree. We tie it to the wall. ????
I am reading Emerald Blaze for the 4th or 5th time and have a question and didn’t know how else to send to Moderator R. On page 171 is Marat’s office where Nevada and Rogan met Bug? Please let me know where I should send these questions. Thanks!
Hey Bill, what you just did is perfect. I read all the comments so any questions asked reach me :). If you don’t want to ask in public, you can email me at modr@ilona-andrews.com
I hope this helps 🙂
So on page 171 is Marat’s office where Nevada and Rogan met Bug?
Ilona said it is indeed Bug’s old hideout ????
I love that photo of your precious little dog snoozing under the tree. Thank you for sharing!
Tubby’s version of camping out. Watch out that he doesn’t build a camp fire.
Can’t wait to see the trees all decorated! We are waiting on putting up our tree ….. we are going to be putting a new floor on the entire main floor (can’t wait!) in the next few weeks so have to wait.
I’m so curious about the amazing Mac and cheese…..I’ve been looking for a good yummy recipe. ????
I’m in the same situation, having wood floors installed. It’s funny watching the persian cat running full out, only to slide around the corner into the living room. ???? I’m hoping to get the tree up the second week of December
That’s huge just like Dina’s tree!
Can’t wait to see it all Blinged up!
I loved the live interview on Saturday – so much fun to put a face to Mod R and to see Gordon and Ilona riffing off each other. Wasn’t aware of the significance of the tinfoil hat reference before – just goes to show that you always learn something from interacting with HA and the BDH. Loved the flora and fauna photos today, and am quite pleased to see that HA puts Christmas trees up following a “correct” holiday sequence (snicker snicker).
Love the live(d in) tree and wish you a lovely holiday season. My childhood cats used to do both, climbing the tree and sleeping under the tree ????
The Zoom session was sensational and I especially loved the tin foil hat and all the lovely details and the secare dance revelation.
So sad I missed the recording! I had signed up for it and it just slipped my mind. But I haven’t read the book as I ordered the print version which I will be getting a few months later (I used to own a Kindle but no idea where it is nor do I know where the charger is but I may download Kindle app on my phone and just read it there).
We got our Christmas tree, it is up and installed but not yet decorated. Goodbye fall/Halloween decorations. Glad to hear you had a nice Thanksgiving. 🙂
Charlie is so sweet and happy looking under the tree. Love the trees. We need to get ours soon. You pictures inspired me.
Perfect napping place – the right combination of shade and sun!!
Charlie is such a handsome guy!! Love the photo series!
My first cat, Casey, sat in my tree so after several tree falls, I attached it to the wall. Since then, my recent cats are like Tubby, enjoyed lying under the tree. Glad you guys are resting and enjoying life; downtime is important. You earned it
Oh dear, very busy few days for you. You deserve a rest!
I also have a kitty that likes to climb into the tree. In 50+ years of cat companions, never, until this kitty. Thankfully he’s only 9+lbs as the tree is only 6 feet tall. Likes to curl up in the branches and go to sleep… while it revolves!
Hail to Mod R who just rolls with it when the BDH stubbornly refuses to use the Q&A section and spams the chat instead.
I love that the pets are enjoying the tree already. Looking forward to the decorated tree.
Where did you get your trees? I really need to look into purchasing one (or two).
Thank you!
Hey Felicia,
Please see Ilona’s comment above 🙂 https://ilona-andrews.com/2021/the-trees/#comment-549432
I am glad that you enjoyed your Thanksgiving!
And thank you for keeping us in mind regarding the recording of the Q&A! I didn’t attend, but I can’t wait to watch it! 🙂
I missed the Saturday chat. Looking forward to the recording. Glad y’all had a good Thanksgiving!
What is a green bean casserolle? And the pie? Can we see pictures?
You can Google the recipe. It’s canned or fresh green beans,canned Cream Of Mushroom soup and canned fried onion rings. It’s yummy!!!
Oh no, cat in the tree! I have visions of that craziness for us. We have a 6 month old kitten-should be fun! The two older cats do what Tubby does, curl up under the tree on the tree skirt. They push the presents out of the way and settle right down for naps. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!
Am looking forward to the recording, since watching y’all was the last thing I did before the flu rose up and ate me. Pretty sure I missed some of it. I’ve just emerged from the fever.
Tubby is so very-very cute. He also has the right idea of finding a secluded spot in the sunlight to take a nap. What a clever boy!
Tubby under the tree – this must be a pet thing. I don’t know if putting the tree up mimics the wild enough to trigger instinct or what, but the moment it is up & that tree skirt is in place that is where the pets congregate. The tree skirt is obviously the very best place to snooze:)
I’m so very glad you had a nice Thanksgiving with the family. The memories from those kind of days are precious.
And the animals all seem to be enjoying having the trees out as well. I think the suggestions re anchoring the trees are brilliant for cat owners. My dog only thinks he’s a cat but he doesn’t climb so we’re safe here. ????
If you are really interested in buying an artificial tree but have a limited budget I suggest buying one from Lowe’s after Christmas. Company policy is against storing anything that is out of season so everything goes on crazy clearance when they feel it’s past the time it would sell well. We got our lighted tree last year for $12 and it was retailing at $80 originally. That also goes for anything else they think is going out of season so if you need a new patio set or a standalone artificial fireplace, shop after its season ends.
Whoa! Big tree, looks a bit of a people eater! Very cool that you figured out the transport section. Please have a very Happy Christmas & an optimistic New Year!
My husband solved the yearly Christmas tree problem. He decided to leave the tree up all year. Yes, I have to feather dust it every year but it is worth it. This tree has been in my living room for seven years.