California weather - again

Kat Hein wrote:
> m_thomas[numBksInLastHrldMage] wrote:
>
>> Kat Hein wrote:
>>
>>> m_thomas[numBksInLastHrldMage] wrote:
<snip - LED lights>
>> Maybe I just didn't notice them in the stores, last year. I'm
>> depressingly good at not seeing things. (Shouldn't reading scads of
>> murder mysteries make a person more observant? Nero Wolfe, Hercule
>> Poirot, Miss Marple, et al, always notice all details, why can't I?)
>
> We bought them in 2005. We got some from Costco, some from Target, and
> some from Walmart. The ones from Target are definitely the best of
> those, and they've extended the line every year- including novelty
> lights and the wire figures. I've also seen them at Lowes, Rite Aid,
> Ace, and OSH both this year and last. They were in fewer places, but in
> some ways easier to find the first year. Then PG&E started advertising,
> trying to get people to switch, and they sold out FAST last year when I
> just needed one more set. It was better this year.

Ah. I don't think I visited Target, or Walmart, or Costco near Xmas in the
last few years (all those nasty, long lines!); perhaps that's why I didn't
spot them.

This year, I found my LED Xmas lights at OSH. Can't avoid stopping there
regularly -- I always seem to be in need of household thingies.

> The ones we got for outdoors this year, we got at Michael's and they are
> AWESOME. They are the kind that have the different blinking patterns
> (okay, most of them annoying, but still LOL) and I couldn't see a
> flicker at all.

I believe I specifically purchased non-blinking lights. :>

>>> We think for next Christmas, we're going to get a pre-lit LED tree.
>>> The prices of them have come down to about what it costs for a
>>> non-LED lit one.
>>
>> I'm sticking with rosemary bush/trees, for now. Plenty of room in my
>> yard/weed-land for more nice smelling, drought tolerant shrubs.
>>
>> Though, boy, I'm really wondering if this years Xmas bush will pull
>> through and get healthy. Indoor life did *not* agree with it, and
>> it's looking darn sad out there. Lotta brown, not much green.
>
>
> If we were ever at HOME for an entire Holiday season, we'd get a real
> tree. But that never happens. This year, we were gone twice, for a week
> each. My parents stopped getting live trees, since they are still
> impossible to keep alive- they just die slower than cut trees. LOL They
> thought they were doing something wrong, but know someone who owns a
> Christmas tree farm, and he told them no, it's just the nature of them.

Live Xmas trees are too ambitious for me. They always seem to be some tree
that, full size, will be a very, very, very FULL tree size. I do know
someone who has kept their Xmas tree alive, in a container, for years at a
time... but she's a skilled gardener. And it is a hard-to-find tree, one
that does not want to grow to monster size.

> I did have a tiny rosemary tree one year. It died by February.

The last couple years, I've managed to get the rosemary in the ground by
mid January. :> It worked, last year, and the bush -- while no longer
resembling an Xmas tree in the least -- is thriving. But those rosemary
Xmas 'trees' are horribly, horribly root-bound. Rosemary needs ample room
for roots, much more than they get in those (pretty and decorative) red
plastic containers.

<snip>

--
Megan
Journeyperson Dancing Barbarian
Keeper o' the FAQ: http://home.earthlink.net/~m_thomas3/abml/

<snipola>
> Ah. I don't think I visited Target, or Walmart, or Costco near Xmas in
> the last few years (all those nasty, long lines!); perhaps that's why I
> didn't spot them.
>
> This year, I found my LED Xmas lights at OSH. Can't avoid stopping
> there regularly -- I always seem to be in need of household thingies.

What is OSH?

>> The ones we got for outdoors this year, we got at Michael's and they
>> are AWESOME. They are the kind that have the different blinking
>> patterns (okay, most of them annoying, but still LOL) and I couldn't
>> see a flicker at all.

We have a couple sets, last year we put the color changers in a window.
We put little globe style on the (artificial) tree this year. I was
looking for some plain white, or whitish blue, non-blinkers to be used
year-round as low level 'night lights' in and around the house, but they
sold quickly.

If you are looking for LED light bulb (120 Volts) I got a catalog from
cyberguys.com that had some. Their website has a handful, but I had to
do a search for "LED Bulbs" to find them.

--
I'm glad my Mom named me Aaron,
That's what everybody calls me.

Hemidemisemideity of Anonymous Eponymity
Patron Saint of Hair Color Changing
Currently: Dark Intense Red - Hydrience 3RR.
Holder of a provisional pedant licens/ce
(limited to the area of physical sciens/ce)
Member of ABMLNCSC - Base singer, very base
"Mommy, make daddy stop singing".

I dye my hair so much my driver's license
has a color wheel. Nancy Mura