Of trees and cribs

I felt things moved on a bit today - surprisingly, because I was so tired all day. Last night's lateness resulted in my putting out the light too close to the time (around 2am) when my body clock tends not to want sleep, so I tossed and thumped the pillow for far too long before sleep finally arrived. The result of this was that when Himself woke me with tea I was dead to the world and couldn't think why he was up ...

However, I didn't hang around too long; instead I did all the ordinary morning stuff but also assisted in getting the tree down from the loft, along with the decorations - only then realising, because we visit the loft less often in our declining years, that there was some nice wrapping paper that I could well have done with using, sitting tidily in its roll on a bag. Ah well - if we can still get up that ladder next year ... 

After coffee Himself went to the church to practise and I assembled the tree and festooned it in three lots of lights. I also climbed up the wee shoogly step-ladder with the missing foot and managed to fasten on the 54 year old home-made tinsel star that I go on about every year. It's getting a floppy bottom, which makes fixing it harder. 

After a fairly hasty lunch I was off again - my turn to go up to church with Di, who came for me, to find the figures for the crèche and assemble them in their by now customary stable under the altar. We had an annoying return to the house to find the starry night backdrop that I took home to wash and iron last year and decided to keep at home instead of in the damp church - and had forgotten all about it. (Remind me, someone, that the bright Easter morning sky is also in my spare bedroom). We had to be careful with the lights because of the dodgy circuit, so we only lit the standard lamps standing in for the chancel lights, which gave the dramatic photo I've used today and which I'm absurdly pleased with - I think it's one of the best photos I have of the church. 

A couple came in to look round while we were debating the need for more hay in the stable (we did: I foraged among the older graves in the churchyard) and we stopped to talk. People are almost always struck by the atmosphere and the great acoustic of the building, even as they are appalled by our struggles with water ingress, but we hasten to assure them of the warmth and liveliness of the congregation which is in no way dampened by our surroundings. I have to say, however, that we did have the odd hairy moment retrieving the Holy Family from the tower room with the dodgy stair ...

And that was it, really. I had to go the the pharmacy as it got dark, only to be told I'd have to wait 20 minutes for my prescription, so I went a chilly walk round town and back along the prom to avoid sitting in the shop with all the coughing people. Then it turned out they didn't have 2/3 of my prescription because the supplier had let them down ... Fingers crossed for Monday. 

Curry for dinner, a bit of an Eastenders catch-up and the second part of this week's Dalgliesh saw me falling asleep downstairs. If I stop rattling on now, I may be abed before midnight. 

Maybe ...