The start of Christmas...

I've avoided thinking about Christmas too much so far this month. I thoroughly enjoy the food, the traditions and family, but the gratuitous spending just seems unnecessary, and the preparations go on for way too long. I can remember the stress of trying to aim for perfection when I was younger, but now realise that the more relaxed I am, the better everything goes - and any disasters will either be forgotten or become part of the family history, to be laughed about in future years. 

Yesterday we decided it was time to get the tree, as we're having our first family Christmas Day on the 18th December, before Chris and Lizzy leave for The Gambia.  We'd been planning to buy a medium sized fir tree, but there were none that were quite the right shape for our space. I then spotted a large tree, which was decidedly bald at the base, but quite slim and elegant in shape, so cheekily asked the assistant whether they'd give us a discount on it. The supervisor was called and generously slashed the price by 50%! This morning, Alex removed the bottom branches and a piece of stem and now that it's decorated it looks wonderful!