Celebration!

I hope you will have a lovely holiday season.  Will you be decorating?  S and Little A helped us decorate the tree yesterday, and it really was fun.    Every item has memories, from the dough ornaments we made one year to the beautiful star at the top that V coloured in wax crayon

and the little Thomas the Tank engine ornaments dating from when S was so obsessed with Thomas.
Globes large and small that came from my mother, a bead angel from South Africa, and glittery glass Volkswagens that recall trips to Germany with Little A (who for years was convinced that it ALWAYS snowed in Germany whatever time of year it was, since he has always gone in winter). There is a very handsome frog prince from Zurich, who wears a grand golden crown.  There's also a cheerful bauble we found discarded in the street one wintry walk in London, and rescued.   And K and her best friend took about an hour to choose this mouse one year, when they were into cute mice.

The latest acquisition is a jolly cardinal bird which we bought in an "Everything $1" shop in the USA.  Can you spot it in the middle of the tree?  It's supposed to whistle when you go near - but of course it doesn't. Just as the kiwi we got in New Zealand doesn't.  Do these birds ever whistle?  Never mind.  We love them anyway. The tree is from last year and has grown outside all year.  It's got so much bigger that T went and bought some new lights for it.

More blog posts of our trip are on the way. Meanwhile, enjoy the coming days!