Silver Birches

Silver Birch twigs used to be hung over cradles in the western isles of Scotland to protect the babies from mischievous fairies and in Wales the birch was associated with love. These three stand in a quiet corner of town, it is a favourite place for people to meet and sit on the benches nearby. I love their clean pale trunks.

Today I ventured out to the shops to start planning for Christmas. This means a visit to the book store, toy shop and a good look at everything else! In the old days present shopping was for many elderly aunts, uncles and grandparents but today there are a lot of young folk on the list which is much more difficult!

Went to see Philomena last night with Judy Dench playing the main part. Enjoyed it and the film really made one think about those poor Irish girls thrown into the convents to have their babies and then treated as slaves afterwards. This went on right up into the '60's.