Happy Christmas everybody...

...well, it is November 5, after all.

This monster reindeer has made an appearance in Bristol city centre, along with bright red baubles strung from shop fronts.

And it's only a matter of time before that guy in a red and white coat joins them.

It's a good job the churches don't pay any attention - if they did, it would wreak havoc with their calendar. Advent, which is the spiritual season of preparation for Christmas, doesn't start until November 28. Christmas itself is way off in the far distance.

But maybe we should just simply bow to commercialism and bring forward all our celebrations.

We could have Valentine's Day on December 25, Easter Day on February 14 and Bonfire Night some time in April. We wouldn't have to inform the card or firework suppliers - their products are already out by those dates anyway.

The trouble is, in the not too distant future it would all have come full circle and Christmas would be in December again.

Oh, I know I'm being daft, but I really don't want to see a 15ft high silver Christmas reindeer on November 5, thank you very much. Even if it is a rather impressive creation.