Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Pud you believe it? The tree transformed into a giant Christmas dessert... by the HOLLEY family

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Christmas... with all the trimmings: The festive dessert dominates the front garden of Roger and Valerie Holley's house in Yeovil, Somerset


With such a festive-sounding surname, Roger and Valerie Holley might have felt obliged to bring some Christmas cheer to their quiet residential street.

So the couple decided to clip their 20ft conifer tree into the shape of a Christmas pudding - then completed it with lashings of cream, huge holly leaves and big red berries.

The front garden hedge also has a giant robin perching on top and has become a popular landmark in Yeovil, Somerset, over the past five years at Christmas time.


Fun house: The specially trimmed hedge has become a local landmark at Christmas time


Grandfather-of-three Roger, 62, said: 'We are really proud of our Christmas pudding and robin.

'It has taken a lot of work to make it look this good, but the effort was worth it.

'The tree is still a real favourite with the neighbours. They kid us about it but I think they really look forward to seeing it every Christmas.


Watch the birdie: The robin that sits on top was made in just a fortnight using a gym ball for its body, golf balls for its eyes, a light bulb and fibre glass for the red chest and carpet to create the look of feathers


'My wife came up with the idea of having the robin sit on top of it eating a berry so we got to work and made the bird using a 65ml gym ball.'

The incredible pudding is made up of two 26-year-old conifers which Roger merged together to make a single bush outside their three-bedroom detached home.

They spend hours every summer intertwining its boughs and trimming its tips to give it the cylindrical shape.


Delicious: The real thing


In contrast the Robin that sits on top was made in just a fortnight using a gym ball for its body, golf balls for its eyes, a light bulb and fibre glass for the red chest and carpet to create the look of feathers.

Retired Roger, who worked at nearby Yeovil District Hospital, said he was given the idea to create his Christmas masterpiece by his 12-year-old granddaughter.

Father-of-two Roger said: 'She took one look at the tree and said "That looks like a massive Christmas pudding".

'So we decided to take things a bit further and decorate it appropriately.
'Little did we know that it would become something of a tradition.'


source: dailymail