Thread: Let's see your Christmas tree

It's that time of year. The wife and I picked up our first real tree together. I haven't had a real one since I was a kid. I think we may go this route from now on.

I wont get any Christmas tree, the cats would love it way to much!

Funny thing is that the cats don't seem to bother with a real tree. The artificial one last year was their playground. This one doesn't get as much of their attention. In fact, they seem to be bored to sleep.

Small tree, big tree
Metal tree, fig tree?

Got tree? I put up Mrs. Moos selection yesterday; pretty painless, all told. Maybe after the branches are all down and the ornaments are all up I'll try harder to show some tree. You?




The Mister Moo Easy Water siphon system:

Budget - a few bucks for a lifetime of no-bend-over tree reservoir filling. No reaching into branches, no spilling water on gifts, no guessing.

Required:

1/ea rubber sink drain plug
1/ea milk jug
1/ea clothespin or large paperclip or lead sinker
8-10/feet aquarium tubing

Measure how deeply the reservoir should be filled; mark that depth on a milk jug with magic Marker or tape.

If you don't have a two-holed black rubber stopper left over from chemistry class in the junk drawer then get a soft rubber sink basin stopper and punch or burn two holes in it. Whatever you use for a stopper, make sure it'll seal the milk jug airtight long enough to create the initial siphon. Pass a one-foot long tube few inches into one hole and pass the other long section through the second hole far enough that it reaches the bottom of your jug. With tree already in the stand, secure (clothespin) or weight the other end of the long tube to the bottom of the tree reservoir. LOCATE THE JUG IN AN EASY TO REACH SPOT ON THE FLOOR, SAME HEIGHT AS THE TREESTAND.

Add water to the jug a few inches above the safety line; after the first reservoir fill, only refill your water jug to the safety line. Mash the plug down airtight, blow into the short tube and listen for bubbling at the reservoir. Assuming the reservoir end of the tube is now underwater, you can stop puffing. If no air bubbles appear in the tube you have created a siphon. Check the fill line on the jug every day or two; add water to the jug as needed. I refill the jug by moving the cap an inch to the side and inserting a funnel - this avoids breaking the siphon and having to re-puff. Add water to the safety line and resecure the cap. At seasons end the jug, tubes, cap and clothespin are packed up with the lights and ornaments.

If your think crawling around under your tree on your knees sucks or if you are tired of pouring water down a four foot long funnel-topped tube until it overflows on the floor, this is the way to go. Simple, cheap, foolproof. Happy holidays, MMoo.


and listen for bubbling

As we are on holiday from mid December to early Jan, I have been spared the Christmas tree ordeal.
I do like the siphon idea Mr moo very simple and effective, the piccie really helped to make sense of it.