It is NOT an antique!

I am elated that my daughter raided the Christmas decoration closet and took one of my artificial Christmas trees home with her! Because of this, I found a long-lost treasure hiding in the back of the closet. In the dark depths of no-man's land, there sat a large box that had not been opened for the past several years..more like about five years actually! I tugged at the box.."My goodness! This box was heavy!" Pulling off the lid, I found strings of lights. Not the present day, twinkly, mini lights..the big heavy glass lights of days past. I shoved the box aside..bah humbug! I thought some elusive goody was in that box..lights!..hmmph!..I have tons of lights. To tell the truth, I have huge boxes of Christmas lights of all sorts..too many to ever use..but I have them!..just in case! Then a thought.."What else is in that box?" I hauled it back out and felt under the lights. It was almost scary as I was not sure what was hidden there..maybe a monster or alien! (Or an active imagination!) There! There in the bottom of that box..far beneath the heavy lights..was a treasure! I dumped the box over! Aha! A true treasure! A lost treasure! My parents' Christmas tree! I remember when they first bought this tree! It was way back when..ok..we won't go that far! I knew I had it somewhere but when my husband came home with the latest pre-lit gorgeous tree, this one was relegated to the back of the closet. Now out it came! It was to be my beautiful red, green and gold tree for the dining room! I proudly hauled the box downstairs! I was busily putting together the tree stand when a thought went through my head.."Wow, this tree has been around for a while!" I am now waiting for one of my kids or some visitor remark on my "antique" tree. Folks...it is not antique! Nope..no way..can't be! I remember buying this tree..there is no possible way it can be antique! Retro..that's it! It is retro! After much twisting, turning, pulling, shoving, bending and poking..the tree is up! And oh my goodness! It used to look a lot taller! Do artificial trees like humans, shrink as they age? And I think it is going bald! In its heyday this tree was perhaps the best there was, now it is a sad, little squirt of a tree that is shedding its needles all over my floor. Tomorrow..the tree will have its lights and ornaments and become the treasure it was in my mind..never mind the remarks about it being antique!

I had good intentions of having that tree decorated by today but marmalade got in the way. Yesterday, my son and I seeded and chopped our way through seven pounds of kumquats. These were placed in the large enamel jelly pot, covered with water and a little lemon juice, boiled until tender and then let sit overnight in the refrigerator. This step is just to let it "steep" a bit which helps to make a good "set" when bottled. Today, the pot was lugged out and the marmalade was cooked to its golden goodness! Tomorrow..another seven or eight pounds will be seeded and chopped and the process will start again. Then out to the trees to pick some more! If all goes well, we should have enough to make about a hundred jars before all is said and done. Bring on the biscuits!