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Hello, Ros!
Thank you for that.
Unfortunately, I doubt it would be heavy enough to "defeat the cat"!
Our now non -functioning one had to be nailed down on a board!
The one we have bought from Homebase today is very strong and would be ideal were the diameter smaller.......
The only thing I can think of doing is to affix a piece of metal piping ( or thick rubber hose?) over the bottom stem of the tree, and see if that would do the trick?
I think this is a problem that needs to be addressed at leisure.......
We shall put the tree and new stand away for now....maybe we can fix it a later date!

Hi, Rusty!
Phew, what an afternoon!
I think my idea to fix the tree may well work out given time, resources and energy!
But for now, we shall simply put it away till we can deal with it at a later date.
We need a fitment similar to the link Ros sent (take a look?) only much heavier.
I'm not very good at explaining technical things!
I might miss a big chunk of SPOTY, as my cousin will be ringing around 7.30 pm
I have my fingers crossed for Dina ( or Kat) though!

Maybe a bandage of some kind, elle. Like an old scarf. Or bubble wrap round the trunk. If you wrapped the bubble wrap with sellotape it would be strong enough. Plus can you not tether the tree in at least one direction? One year I put mine on its stand on a table and tethered the lowest branches to the table legs in 4 places. This was against a large dog and it worked.

It'll be OK. You don't have lit real candles, do you, like a German family we had Christmas with once. The tree caught fire during dinner (and was in a different room)!

Hello, Elle!
I am sure you will work out a solution to your tree problem.
There are probably loads of folk across the country with similar problems.
I am recording SPOTY.
Will watch it tomorrow.

Hi, Rusty!
I have been talking to my cousin for the past hour...she was late in phoning today!
They have had some snow!
I didn't watch SPOTY in the end....
I spent the earlier part of the evening , lying on the floor, wrapping bubble wrap around the lower part of the Christmas tree trunk!
Grrh! I am done with Christmas trees!
Coffee...strong...that is what I am needing!



Hello, Ros!
You read my mind! When I read your last post , I had already enveloped the lower part of the trunk in bubble wrap!
It isn't going to be sufficient.....but the principle can be worked upon!
Some time!
Right now, I am banishing the tree to an used room - I have had enough!

Hello, Elle!
There are flurries of snow here, but not lying, so far.
Are you winning with your tree?
Spoty 1, 2, 3, is,
1, Stokes,
2, Hamilton,
3, Dina.
And there we have it!
I'll watch it tomorrow.

Hi, Rusty!
Oh dear, I am sorry about your snow!
It looks pretty initially, but can be treacherous once it lies and freezes over.
Hopefully it will not stick.....
We shall not speak any more of Christmas trees.......nor of black cats that are causing all this hoo-ha!
Mind you, I wouldn't be without my cat.
And yes, I am onto a winning theory...now it has to be put into practice.....
Perhaps next year!
Disappointing news about the Sports Person of the Year ward....albeit not surprising.

Hello, Elle!
Ach, the snow is not lying, we'll be fine!
Sounds like you need some wadding packed tight around the base of your tree and then clamped firmly?
Get your thinking cap on!
I suppose Ben Stokes must be popular or he would not have won the votes.
It is incredible that someone as talented and successful as KJT can not get in the first three in a six contestant field, though.

Hi, Rusty!
Did you discover when and how Eliud Kipchoge was chosen to be the World SPOTY?
Or who the other candidates were?
That would be interesting to know.
Tomorrow, I am hoping to do more of my Christmas present buying.......hopefully, I can then tick off most of what is left on my "To do" list!
You definitely have the right idea in giving money...much less hassle!
I shall work on installing this idea into the minds of the more senior members of my family....but the little ones will still expect gifts of toys.
They are not yet old enough to appreciate money, or gift vouchers.
I can well remember, as a child, the joy of receiving a book voucher, and the excitement of going to choose .....
(I still feel like that!)
How about you?
Did you like going to the bookshop to "spend" your voucher?

Good morning, Elle!
Looks dry outside and 2C .
I don't know when Kipchoge was chosen, but I know how.
It was an online vote on BBC Website.
There were six candidates,
There was a cricketer and a rugby player whose names I forget, and Simone Biles, the American gymnast, Tiger Woods, the golfer, and Megan Rapinoe, the American footballer.
Simone Biles is superb!
I would have voted for her had I known about it.
Money is far easier for presents, Elle!
I have done this for years, much less hassle.
I never got a book voucher, Elle.
New Year was the big thing here when I was small, not Christmas.
Changed days now, though!