A spot of decorating...

Christmas is fast approaching so I've spent the weekend preparing the cottage in Wales for the festivities - giving it that Christmas look.

The Christmas wreath is firmly fastened to the door (it blew away last year in a strong wind and ended up over the hedge, I got it back though) and the Christmas trees are all in place. Yes, trees - this year we have fifteen, maybe a little excessive but...

We've a dozen arranged in pots around the outside of the cottage illuminated by tiny white lights, we have two slightly larger ones (again illuminated with white lights) in each of the deep living room windows, and of course there's the big tree. We've gone for a real tree again this year, but only after weeks of thinking about an artificial one. We always think about 'going artificial' but that's about as far as it gets, the real tree always wins in the end (well you can't fake the smell of pine and dropping needles can you) and once again we've decided upon white Christmas tree decorations.

We've a tradition that all the decorations have to be up by the Gaynor's birthday which is on December twelfth. It's always a bit of a panic and this year was no exception, I got the ladders out and put up the white icicle lights around the guttering and then hung the two hundred and three (and growing) individual decorations that we always hang from the wooden beams in the living room. We've collected them from all over the place - America, Lapland (when we visited Father Christmas for Gaynor's fortieth), Scotland, Wales, even Woolworths - and we have all sorts - snowmen, angels, reindeer, robins, postboxes, puddings, cats, elves, icicles, hearts, stars, bells (you name it and we have it) and each one is a memory of somewhere or something.

So we are ready for the big day now that the decorations are up - Christmas can begin now.