16/11/2024
To our lovely customers โค๏ธ
this year we will not be opening to sell Christmas trees.
I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has supported us over the last seven years, it has been a very special , unforgettable journey. We have met a lot of people that came every year, we saw children grow up, we had people getting engaged between our trees, it has been a pleasure seeing everyone's life go by every Winter season. We had many entertaining situations, some people came in the night with torches (God bless them) and some people came with their own saws or axes to save us a job, we made many friends over the Christmas seasons and even our pug Aggie made some doggy friends every year ๐ We are going to miss that ๐ญThank you, everyone, from the bottom of my heart, for the last seven years โค๏ธ When I first took the offer to buy Dove Syke Nursery I never thought we would be selling Christmas trees; I wanted to open a Forest School, something that didn't exist in our area at the time for our children-but immediately in September we were getting phone calls - "Hello, I'm Mr... Can I have a tree, same as last year?" We didn't even know what a Nordmann tree looked like ๐, Michael and I had to learn everything so quickly. We had an order for 300 wreaths! (Thank you so much to the amazing J. who made them for me, in the first year, and taught me how to make them - I know you must think I'm crazy and youโve never answered my phone calls after that year but I'm so grateful for your help. God bless you and best wishes โค๏ธ) I visited all of the biggest UK tree growers that I could in one month, we had a good laugh but I learned so much from them. And I need to say, those Winter months were the hardest work I have ever done ๐ But, the other hardest part is watching them be cut down! You can call me crazy but itโs so difficult to watch the trees grow from saplings just to be cut!
But even though it was difficult, I'm thankful for those seven years, and I'm thankful for the people that supported me throughout them, I learned so many lessons.
* kindness doesnโt cost you anything and always will come back to you.
* One smile can make someone's day, so it is worth wearing a Christmas tree outfit, even in Tesco, to have smiles back from people.
* There are some things which are simply impossible to put a price tag on (some trees too!)
* "Supporting small, local businesses" is such a huge lie, the bigger names, always expect you to move the moon for them.
* Only local people can keep local businesses alive.
* Peoples stories are fascinating and beautiful, even the heartbreaking ones. So many of our customers gave me strength by sharing their stories. Thank you !
โขYou can't please everyone! This is a tough one, but whatever you do, someone will always be there to expect more, who gives you a bad review and tells you how disappointed they are in in you, who doesnโt see the person behind the work and how much you actually put into it, it took me time to realise eventually it is not about me, it is about them. We all need to remember this to keep our mental health strong.
* Be aware there are always people who come by in expensive cars and expensive clothes, they eat your free mince pies, drink your free mulled wine, and then leave to go a different seller, from which they still buy trees that we have grown ๐
โข There is always at least one person who buys a 15ft tree that doesn't fit in their house, so they cut it in half and then they ask for a refund because it looks stupid ๐ I love that one !!
* There's no feeling better than making a child smile. It was such hard work delivering letters from Santa to all the children that put letters in our Santa's Postbox, but it was so worth it, even at 3 in the morning. ๐
I also want to make a MASSIVE thank you to our friend Peter - I can't imagine all this madness without you, Peter.
Thank you everyone, for these many years of Christmas and Christmas Trees, from the bottom of our hearts.
-"Christmas Tree Lady" Monika.
A small addendum from Michael, Jacob and Aleksander: Growing Christmas Trees isnโt just planting seedlings in the ground and waiting a few years. It is just us here, twice a year, the fields have to be cut of grass (and carefully to not scrape the trees or roots), then fertilized. Old roots have to be removed, trees have to be pruned year round and they were never meant to grow as tall as they have. During Christmas, rain or sun, snow or hail, we are outside cutting and preparing trees, looking through our marked maps and finding the singular tree that had been chosen out of the thousands we have growing here, cutting them down, netting them, then repeating the process for every single person. Itโs a labour of love, but effectively a second job in addition to Michaelโs first one, Jacobโs school and Aleksanderโs university. We would like to thank everyone who came to us, it has been hard, but weโre happy to have fulfilled this role in the community.
From Michael, Jacob and Aleksander โค๏ธ
