"Oh Christmas Tree.... how you stressed me out this year!"

 Every year the family puts on many layers of clothes and piles into the truck (dog included ) in hopes of finding the perfect tree.  This year, because of the crazy amount of snow , freezing temperatures , and all of our work schedules not falling into place, Mark was on his own.  And he did his best.....

 The tree was perfectly straight, but was missing several branches due to the cold and heavy snow causing them to snap off when he was getting the tree into the house.  It took me 4 days to decide how to decorate it because I had to come up with a solution to it's missing limbs.

 The solution came to me in the form of a peacock feathers!  I had a whole vase full in the studio left over from Michaelas grade 8 grad  (3 years ago!)  I decided to fashion some limbs with the feathers which I thought would fill the spaces and add an exotic, colourful flare to the tree.

 It worked!!  Oh Christmas was saved once again, due to my imagination and fact that I save the strangest things!   Now I just hope the cats stay away from those feathers......

 These feathers were actually retreived from peacocks at Egli's Sheep Farm here in Dryden.  Aren't they beautiful?  They really do fill in the tree nicely and the rich colours reflect when the lights are on.  I think this tree is perfect for our family this year because it teaches us to make the best with what we have and be thankful for all we've been given.  Good job Mark Schmidt, you did do your best and we love it.  xoxox