Christmas is Coming

In the past I have kept to the old family tradition of not trimming up until the last week before Christmas.  It became a tradition in recent years to keep the tree up until Candlemas, forty days after 25th December, which retains the bright sparkle and light of the midwinter festival until the days are getting lighter.   This year, on my own in my own home, I have decided to start early.   I'm adding something each day, at the moment it's just tree, lights and a string of tinsel plus a Poinsettia by the tree.

On another day of very limited photo opportunities it's a debut for Massonia longipes, another of this South African genus that has two leaves flat to the ground and a central flower.   Most of the South Africans that I grow spent a few days in the porch while the weather was very frosty.  They're back in the greenhouse now but I kept this one in the porch to get a better view of it.

A few chores, some miscellaneous laundry, made Broccoli and Stilton soup plus an evening listening to assorted folk songs, many seasonal, while doing a bit of this and that.   Nice gentle day.