Trees

It has been very wet and very cold and as a consequence we have only really seen our garden from the window. We haven't been idle with our time though. We finally, after much procrastination, decided on our apple tree varieties. We will soon be the owners of a Red Falstaff apple tree and a Worcester Pairmain apple tree. The Red Falstaff is self pollinating but is also good for pollinating other apple trees, so will be the ideal companion to the Worcester Pairmain. Both trees also come in the M27 rootstock, which is very dwarfing and will therefore be OK grown in a pot. We chose an early and a late variety to try and provide an apple supply for as long as possible. Garden Boy will be delighted when they arrive. He calls every type of fruit apple and apart from 'aeroplane' and 'get down', 'apple' is his most commonly used word.

We have also been using our time indoors to get ready for Christmas. This weekend we will be putting up our Christmas tree so we have been sorting out toys, cleaning and tidying ready for our festive fun. Garden Girl is hugely excited. She met Father Christmas last weekend and has been talking about it ever since and we cannot pass a Christmas tree in a shop without a sudden exclamation of 'Wow. What a beautiful Christmas tree.' Each and every time it sounds like it is the first Christmas tree she has ever seen. There was some disappointment when I told her our tree would not be a real one. Not because she didn't want a fake tree, but because she thought I meant we would have a pretend one, with pretend baubles and pretend tinsel. But, having explained that ours would be a plastic tree rather than a tree grown outdoors, the excitement returned and she has been happily helping me clean all day in readiness for the arrival of the tree.

Her excitement is rubbing off. I can't wait. Christmas is arriving.