Pound Street Santa

I didn't go out till after three, so my circuit of the village was an opportunity to see the Elham illuminations. The main valley road through the village and the Old Road which runs parallel to it both have little lighted Christmas trees attached to the upper storey of many of the houses, decorated with plain white, silvery or sometimes golden lights. This is organised by the village hall committee, people pay a modest contribution to have a tree to display on a house which can be seen from the road and they are delivered, with help putting them up available for those who need it. The overall effect is very pretty, more unified and more muted than the much more colourful and flashier decorations in the next village. I'm not a fan of flashing lights or profligate use of electricity, so I like it very much, but haven't found a way of capturing it in a photo. Of course there are also more individual displays, especially in gardens and on the side roads or the edge of the village. The Santa figure in the front window of this house has appeared for several years now, and the pretty, colourfully lighted tree is this year's addition. 

J had her usual nice Friday with S. They started work on a watercolour painting for the December art challenge, to show light on snow. J loves Monet's snowy haystacks, so was excited to see what colours she could use, and they watched a couple of YouTube tutorials to garner some ideas. J also enjoyed her weekly arm massage: S has trained and qualified in therapeutic massage in the past couple of years, and it's hugely beneficial to J, who constantly suffers from stiffness, pain and spasm in her arms. 

Meanwhile, I finally completed and ordered the calendars, which we make annually with photos of J's art and animation. I was short of a couple of pictures this year: she's done a number of portrait format posters and prints which don't really work on the calendars, and one very pretty collage is still unfinished. I also finished most of my card making, ordered more blank cards and a couple of little things for J's stocking. I still want to write a letter to send with cards email to people with whom we are not in close or regular contact, but I haven't managed one for several years so it feels a rather daunting task, with a lot of less than happy news of health issues to condense into a summary we are comfortable to share.

I've now back-blipped three more days from my week, with only today (Saturday) still waiting. It's not been the best of week's for photography, though Thursday's sunrise was beautiful.