Succumbed to an artificial tree

In the last two countries we have lived in, we have always had access to a living Christmas tree. At times we have paid too much, or gotten something a little bit scrawny, but we've appreciated the smell of pine in our house. Now that December has rolled around, we thought we should think about decorating the house for Christmas.


So we put up our advent calendar...
Hung up the stockings.....


Set up the winter village... (still searching for batting to make a snowy landscape)...

But we understood that there were no live trees in Doha. So on Thursday evening we went searching for an artificial tree. We have not had an artificial tree that I can remember (although I think we may have had one at one point in Beijing, China). There is one store that we have found with some Christmas decorations and that's where we found our tree.. It actually has a Sears label on it and comes with lights. My hunch is that these trees are the floor models from last year (some trees even had remnants of tinsel on them). It was discounted from the Sears price tag, but not a great deal. We have since decorated it and I'm happy not to have any needles to sweep or watering to do, but I do miss the pine smell. This one seems to have a bit of a musty smell. I have since been on the search for anything pine scented. The closest thing I could find was a toilet bowl freshner, so I have it hanging on one of the branches near then center post. It doesn't make a difference. I have been looking for pine sprays, but haven't found them yet. I will keep looking.