Five from the tree for Christmas Eve.
As the decorations are put on the tree I always remember where they came from, where they were bought and who was with me at the time.
My favourite little mouse came from the Chatsworth Garden Centre. We had taken my step-sister shopping there on a day out from her home in nearby Chesterfield. We ate slices of Christmas cake and sipped hot coffee from the little shop in Baslow before we started shopping.
aThe wooden hare was bought at the Token House in Nottingham. For years it was in an old building on Bridlesmith Gate that stretched both backwards and sideways. The floors were uneven and sloped up to the back of the shop and the floor boards creaked. I loved that shop; it was full of cards and paper, pens an pencils, toys, ceramics, jewellery and all things scented, an Alladin's cave of sheer delight. I noticed last time we were in the city centre it had moved premises to a smaller more modern building behind St Peter's Church, which although still full of lovely things, didn't have the same sense of excitement and adventure as the other one.
I bought several of these hand painted wooden trees from a Christmas Shop at Pot House Hamlet which is near the village of Silkstone in South Yorkshire. We'd been to a funeral in Wakefield the day before and stayed overnight there. The next morning we visited Nostell Priory, walked in the grounds and visited the Courtyard Cafe for a coffee and Christmas pudding flavoured scone. We came upon the quirky Pot House Hamlet (the site of an old pottery works) as we headed home and thought it looked too interesting not to stop for a quick visit. I remember we were met at the door of the Christmas shop by a jolly man dressed as an elf.
The little crochet gingerbread man was made for us by a friend. His pal, the snowman, is also on the tree with some soft white snowflakes. I smile each year when I place him on the tree and he smiles back. This friend also made us masks last year at the start of lockdown plus two festive ones a few weeks before last Christmas. When I put the festive ones away last year I didn't think forward to this year but here we are wearing them again for shopping and in places where there are likely to be more people out and about.
The newest recruit to the tree is this brown felted fox. I spotted it in Waitrose a few weeks ago and it's been waiting in a drawer for its first outing on the tree. As we have foxes visit our garden I couldn't resist popping it in the trolly.
A couple of those memories are tinged with sadness. In particular the first and third ones both December 2015, by the time Christmas 2016 came along things had changed so much. I won't go into the stories here as it is Christmas Eve, a time of joy as well as reflection.
I wish you all a peaceful, happy and healthy Christmas wherever you are.
Stay safe. Take care.
