Santas from Afar

When I'm on holiday I keep an eye out for a xmas decoration to bring home from that country, particularly if they're a bit different. I love putting out the decorations and seeing these old friends and reminding myself of their place of origin and the holiday I had.

From the top left we have a Russian doll santa and you can see the ones inside on the bottom row (the exception being a Swarovski santa which I bought in the UK!!!). 2nd top left is an enamel Father Christmas from Malta, The differently coloured one top middle is from Sicily which I think is quite cute. Next is a Father Christmas from Norway. 

Top right is one one of the Yule Lads from Iceland https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2654749034824075310 This is Kertasníkir the "Candle Begger" whose arrival on Christmas Eve marks the beginning of the Christmas holidays. Kertasníkir, the most popular santa, was known to follow children around in order to steal their candles, which in the olden days were made from tallow and therefore edible. So keep your candles safe tonight from Kertasnikir!

Diary Note
A busy couple of days. Yesterday afternoon my car warned me of a deflated tyre. I went straight to the Nissan garage and they confirmed it had a nail in it. Their workshop is being refurbished and all the tyre places in Holt were full. They got me into their other workshop at Mundsley who did the repair - fingers crossed. Today was my roof repair. it was bad work by the firm that fitted my boiler and replaced the vented ridge tile. The concrete is cracked, there's a small hole and two tiles were replaced badly. They've done a temporary repair which I need to get fixed properly next year.