Christmas has started. For me it has always started with putting up the tree and Rich and I traditionally do ours on the Sunday before Christmas. It's one of the nicest moments of the year doing this together. I remember as a child opening the box of decorations and getting them out each year, remembering which ones one liked and where they had come from. Mum had some that came from before the Second world war and Rich and I have tried to build a collection from over the years. Friends have brought us a guardsman, two reindeers. We have kangaroos and koalas that we have bought in Australia. Glass icicles from Chicago, Twirlers from Toronto and Glass stars and some penguins from Macy's in New York. And taking them out of the tissue paper and hanging them on our tree - a bargain several years ago from the Christmas shop at London Bridge - helps one think through all the nice times we have spent together. It's traditional, which for me is what Christmas is. Time to wallow in things comforting and familiar with friends and loved ones .

Hope you like it and a very Happy Christmas to all


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