Christmas shopping

It suddenly occurred to me this morning that we're actually quite close to Christmas now, and while I don't like to make a fuss about it too early, now seemed like a good day to be starting to panic.

As we all know, my housekeeping standards are pretty low, but I do have some standards, and one of my absolute rules is that you cannot put up Christmas decorations in a dirty room, so with R's assistance I bottomed out and decorated the sitting room and hall. This may not sound like much, but they're quite big spaces, and I always think that if you're going to do Christmas decorations at all, you might as well do the job properly. R made a witty quip when we'd finished about there being a few surfaces left that didn't have anything glittery festooned over them, which he may yet live to regret.

Having walked 5,000 steps by this point, most of them seemingly up and down the staircase, we felt that we were entitled to go out for coffee, cake, and Christmas shopping. Broadway was a bold choice on a December Saturday, but the parking gods were smiling, and with the liberal application of sharp elbows we quite rapidly fought our way through our favoured shops, bought the stocking presents we'd come for, and retired to a café to reward ourselves appropriately.

Caked up, we then strolled through the village so that I could take some photos. I was carrying too much lens, if I'm honest (the reason being that I'd hoped - in vain - to capture a buzzard or a red kite en route to Broadway) so this is a closer view of this gallery than I would usually take; but I love their huge wreath (could I get one that big on the front of our house, I wonder...?), and I think that the red interior décor adds to the festive atmosphere. It's certainly one of the most photographed buildings in the village at this time of year, and I didn't get where I am today without being derivative.

All in all, it was a good (if tiring) day.