OH CHRISTMAS TREE......OH CHRISTMAS TREE......HOW LOVELY ARE YOUR BRANCHES!!

WE OPENED THE DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING WITH  ANTICIPATION,  WERE READY TO SELL CHRISTMAS TREES FOR HOLIDAY HILLS, OUR FIRST WORKAMPING JOB. THE OWNER, DARYL PREDICTED WE WOULD SELL 60 TREES ON FRIDAY, WE SOLD HALF OF THAT.  WE WERE KIND OF BUSY, NEVER A RUSH OF FOLKS LIKE WE THOUGHT.

ALL WEEKEND THAT WAS THE WAY IT WAS, WE DID HALF OF WHAT DARYL THOUGHT WE WOULD DO, WHICH WAS DISAPPOINTING. WE DECIDED WE NEEDED MORE SIGNS, SO WE GOT SOME EXTRAS AND PUT THEM UP, IT HELPED A LITTLE,  BUT, OUR SALES WERE DISAPPOINTING. DARYL TOLD US THAT BECAUSE THIS WAS A NEW LOCATION, IT WAS PROBABLY TO BE EXPECTED.  THE LONG HOURS AND HARD WORK KICKED OUR BUTTS EVERY DAY. WHEN WE SAID WE COULD DO ANYTHING FOR A MONTH, OBVIOUSLY, WE HAD NEVER DONE THIS. WE DIDN'T THINK ABOUT THE TREES BEING HEAVY AND DIRTY. DARRELL LOST WEIGHT AND I NIKNAMED HIM "PIGPEN", BECAUSE HE WAS ALWAYS DIRTY. WE LAY IN BED EXHAUSTED, LAUGHING ABOUT WHAT WE HAD GOTTEN OURSELVES INTO. WE HAD BARELY ENOUGH TIME TO WASH OUR CLOTHES, SHOP FOR GROCERIES, AND GET CHANGE FOR THE BUSINESS.

WE HIRED THREE YOUNG MEN TO HELP US, SAL, JASON, AND DAVID. THEY WERE VERY GOOD HELP, ALWAYS CAME TO WORK, AND ALWAYS WILLING TO HELP. THE PICTURE BELOW IS OF SAL.  

AND THIS IS JASON.

AND DAVID, WHO TURNED OUT TO BE SO TALENTED!

HE CAME UP WITH THE IDEA FOR THE "LITTLE TREES" FOR THE KIDS, AND THEY LOVED THEM!

MADE OUT OF SCRAPS, THEY KIDS TOOK THEM HOME TO DECORATE FOR THEIR ROOMS, WE CREATED ALOT OF GOOD WILL WITH THOSE LITTLE TREES!

THIS YOUNG LADY HAD NEVER HAD A REAL TREE AND SHE WAS SO EXCITED!!

WE TOOK ORDERS FOR A DOZEN TREES TO FLOCK, AND THEN IT STARTED RAINING, JUST BY LUCK AND BY GOLLY, THEY ALL DRIED, AND WE DIDN'T HAVE TO DISAPPOINT OUR CUSTOMERS. DARRELL WAS BUSY FOR 5 DAYS FLOCKING TREES, AND THEY WERE BEAUTIFUL!! 

WE SOLD THIS TREE FOR $149.99. WE LAUGHED, HOLIDAY HILLS CALLED IT A "NATURAL", IT LOOKED LIKE WHAT WE'VE BEEN CUTTING IN THE BLACK HILLS, ALL OUR LIVES. THE COUPLE WERE TICKLED FOR IT, AS THEY HAD LARGE ORNAMENTS, AND NEEDED  A SPARSE TREE TO ACCOMODATE THEIR ORNAMENTS.

THIS IS WHERE I SPENT ALL MY TIME, I WAS THE CASHIER.

ONCE IN A WHILE, I WAS ABLE TO COME OUT OF "THE BOX" AND DO SOME FUN THINGS, LIKE, NETTING A TREE.

MAGGIE AND MARLEE SPENT MANY AN EVENING WITH US OUT IN THE CASHIER'S BOX.

DARRELL SPENT ALOT OF TIME WATERING THE TREES, THEY HAD TO BE WATERED TWICE A DAY AND MISTED AT NIGHT.

 ALL THE GUYS MADE TREES, IT WAS SUCH A TREAT TO SEE HOW EXCITED THE KIDS GOT OVER THEM.HERE THEY ARE ALL LINED UP WAITING FOR THE LITTLE KIDS TO CLAIM THEM AS THEIR OWN.

SAL MADE A CUTE  REINDEER, DAVID COULD NOT LET HIM GET ONE  OVER ON HIM, SO 

HE HAD TO MAKE A FULL BODY REINDEER.....THE COMPETITION WAS ON!!

AND THEN DAVID CAME UP WITH SOMETHING QUITE SPECTACULAR! THIS IS AS CUTE AS IT CAN BE......MADE OUT OF SCRAPS!!

DAVID MADE ONE FOR ME, IT'S THE ONLY CHRISTMAS DECORATION WE HAVE IN THE RV.