Shy Okapi

Today after work (and school, first day back, INSET training) I took down the Christmas tree and decorations, for epiphany, the coming of the kings.

I felt so sad to see them go (along with the Blipster app, co incidentally) that I decided to blip the crib before I took it down. Despite the impressive range of wooden animals supplied, we also have a cardboard Okapi in our crib. This dates back to the time, some five years ago, that my sister Tanya (TMLHereandThere) sent me a book, around about Christmas time, called "Paper Jungle". I made some of the animals, and the Okapi ended up in the crib, checking out Baby Jesus. It has been visiting there ever since.

Who knew there were Okapi in the middle east, or even in Stroud? Having just googled Okapi, I am saddened to see that the one I made is not a patch or even a stripe on the original! One would be hard put to even detect a resemblance. I kept out some of the smaller strands of LED lights, to brighten up the dull corners of the room. Everything looks so bleak without the daylight, which is still a bit patchy.

Good news is that CleanSteve saw a great spotted woodpecker on the squirrel-proof nut feeder today! I bought this feeder last year at vast expense because it said it was woodpecker-friendly, but this is the first woodie we've seen on it. They tend to visit our feeders only between March and June. This year I will get a shot!