Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the tree. Somehow we’ve taken it into our stride, and almost every home sports its own unlikely specimen of tree, mostly fake, many times snow-speckled and as un-Mediterranean in character as they make them.

But for all its worth, the Christmas tree has acquired a homely feel that encourages young and old to partake of the magic of the season; Christmas minus the tree would seem strangely barren. Yet some trees tend to be more ‘magical’ than others, as I discovered when I saw what goes onto a celebrity tree – that of TV presenter Ruth Frendo (pictured right) who boasts a very particular and curious collection - Christmas tree decorations made exclusively of wood.

Seeing this tree in particular is really a case of missing the tree for the wood. It is simply groaning beneath the weight of close to 1000 Christmas tree decorations – all rigorously made of wood. This is a collection Ruth has been coveting and accumulating slowly but surely since childhood. “It all started simply enough when I was six, after my aunt brought me a wooden Christmas decoration as a souvenir from Sweden. At the time glitzy glass ornaments were fashionable, so this ornament really stood out! It is really quite a simple little decoration - a half chestnut with a hand-painted bead on which there is a miniature Christ Child covered by the tiniest blanket. But it is still the star of my collection of course – the first to go on the tree, and the last to come off.”

And with this kind of ceremonial practice, the first item of this marvellous collection marks the start of Ruth’s annual Herculean enterprise. “Rigging up the tree, which I purposely chose to be enormous, is a massive job. It takes me close to eight hours to decorate it, another eight to dismantle it. Quite a hassle really. There is one major hitch - as I proceed with the job, I start from the bottom and work my way upwards and I have to watch out in case the tree topples over with the sheer weight of all the ornaments! Lights on my tree? No need for that of course – it’s way too attractive to need them!”

The tree is truly a sight for sore eyes, and a surefire way of getting sluggish conversation going over Christmas lunch. “People are just amazed by it. And when they get to know the story behind it and behind each and every decoration it sports… they are generally mesmerised.”

After the first lone wooden decoration, family members eager to quench the little girl’s enthusiasm, started buying her wooden Christmas decorations. First a set, and then a box full and soon enough she knew this would be the collection to vie for. Today the decorations come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from the cheapest which cost a mere 10c to the most expensive one that made Ruth spend some Lm 20. Sizes also differ from the tiniest possible bauble to a 12 inch-long snowman which is more of a toy than a Christmas tree decoration.

“I buy these decorations whenever I go abroad and anywhere I find them. Basically whenever I come across a wooden Christmas tree ornament, I purchase it. So my decorations come from ebay.com, from local shops, but also from aboard a cruise ship and from countries as diverse as Russia, the UK, Japan, Mexico, Hawaii, Portugal, India and Jerusalem.”

Ruth tends go overboard in her enthusiasm to augment her collection with the most innovative wooden items she can find, as happened when she purchased all the different ones on sale on a cruise ship – eight in all – lovely hand-painted balls which are miniature works of art. Some of the decorations are as traditional as they come, others are less common, such as the cat in shocking pink which Ruth’s husband claims sticks out like a sore thumb, or the Noah’s Ark that is not quite Christmassy but looks great on the tree anyway.

Many are particularly quaint, such as the skiing Santa or the sliver of moon with a slumbering Santa resting upon it. But then her special Christmas decoration sets are something really special. These include a set of Winnie the Pooh characters in Christmas garb, a set of snowmen, a selection of Santas, mobile puppets; balls, cribs, nutcrackers with traditional costumes, soldiers with musical instruments, elves, fireplaces, stockings, skaters, puddings, sledges, miniatures Christmas trees and a medley of angels which come in all shapes, forms and sizes.

So what gets the place of honour right at the top of the tree?

Ruth smiles, “That was a big problem for many years. I needed to get something impressive but not too heavy to perch right at the top. Finally I found a pretty angel I really liked, but unfortunately it isn’t made of wood, but at least it’s light enough to stay put at that altitude.”

And then there are the minor disasters which happen each and every year. At the top of the packing box are the relics of decorations that need attending to before they are re-hung up on the tree – re-tringing, the fitting of detached parts, the fixing of breakages. “Thankfully these are generally minor damages but some of the wood is very delicate and tiny bits and pieces do tend to come off every so often.”

Her one regret is that the collection has become so massive that she can only afford to keep it tucked away in boxes all year round. “I like to set the tree up as early as mid November and put it away as late as mid January so I get to enjoy it to the full even slightly beyond the season. Then after I pack everything up, I tend to miss it all year…. But I guess that’s the magic of Christmas – you only get to enjoy it once a year and then dream about it till the next one!”