Sheridan Nurseries

I can't say anything bad about these guys really. I am so grateful this store exists in Toronto. They have the best selection of everything. This incident is quite funny (more than anything else) and can happen just about anywhere.

Just about what do you think happens when you cut the foot of an xmass tree on an angle/diagonally? Well … let me tell you what happens when you cut the tree like that instead of straight flat:

1. First, you buy your regular xmass tree stand. Because you need to put your beautiful, new, $100, really heavy and prickly tree into something. You are so happy with joy and the whole apartment smells so wonderful.

2. Then, you go on a shopping binge. Because this really beautiful $100 tree deserves the most beautiful tree decorations, so you spend another $500 in Pier One on balls, glass figures, xmass lights (I have a nightmare story about that too), this and that and whatever ... you just have to have it.

3. Then, you spend about 3-4 hours decorating this thing. Because it takes time to put the lights up, test them, spread them evenly, hang the balls so the tree has balance, fight with the tree top because you don’t have a saw only a kitchen knife that doesn’t really do it, but you need to put the star on top so you fight it until you rip the tip off and jam the damn star in.

At this point, you are so overjoyed with the smell of the pines, even though those pines pricked your hands to blood. But once it is all done, its probably 2 am now. You turn all the lights off, plug the tree and tears come to your eyes ... YOU DID IT!! You have now your first xmass tree together with your boyfie, and its so beautiful words can’t describe and he will so love it when he wakes up.

And he did.
Lying flat down stretched across our low coffee table, is my beautiful tree, with most of the balls broken, shimmer all over the place and star on the other side of the room.

F&^%#@#*&^%UUUUUUUU&^%&*()($%^&^%^K!!!!

Was I ever angry that beautiful snowy morning. I couldn’t' believe what I saw. The stand broke under the weight of the heavy tree and bent on one side. Only when we were trying to put the tree back into its vertical position, we discovered, the bottom of the tree was cut on an angle!! There was no way to support its weight only with some really heavy-duty xmass tree stand.

Off I go running around, trying to find this kind of stand (which you can imagine isn’t easiest of the tasks in those undersupplied stores before the holidays). But we did find one, heavy, metal, with 4 humongous bolts to hold it in place. I wasn't going to take a chance the second time around.

Story ends well ... we were really happy with the tree ... but it all could have been avoided only if I paid attention when they were making the cut. But who knew, this cut would be the most expensive tree cut in history.

PS: I still love Sheridan Nurseries, nobody is perfect ;-)