On the ninth day of Christmas

Big Ben #2. First day back at work after the long holiday is always difficult but it makes it even lovelier to come home to Christmas still in the house. Our tree decorations are from our adventures and include the gifts mentioned in the carol 'The twelve days of Christmas' which were collected while Mr & I were still courting.

The foreground captures one of the 3 French Hens (the 9 ladies dancing are represented by mini ballet slippers just out of shot) but I blipped to show the latest acquisition - Big Ben!

This, coming so soon after my last Big Ben shot, suggests something of an obsession with the timepiece which is not entirely incorrect. Toph has been in love with it since he was able to express himself (the first expression of this love consisted of wild pointing which was easier to explain than the second - a loud roar of 'Clock! Big Clock!' which, before he could pronounce the letter 'L' properly, resulted in several shocked tourists). This decoration was bought for him to mark his third Christmas - conveniently showing 3 o' clock which may help me remember this in future <birdbrain>.